The TV series of Buck Rogers brought along a rather fine Starfighter in the large scale with firing missiles and a corgi junior version with sliding wings. One of Corgis most notable inclusions however was the wonderful Starship Liberator from Blakes Seven, although it only appeared in Junior scale, it was a surprisingly accurate and good model. Corgis artistic licence produced it in classic white and also later in a silver and yellow version. Yuk.
The Corgi 1985 catalogue was a real revelation for sci-fi enthusiasts, including all the above models, but headlining with a beautiful model based on a Frank Hampson design for a 'Dan Dare' car. Presumably to tie in with a proposed TV series again, the iconic fifties shape of the 'car' would have made a fine model in both large and small scales. I say 'would' because no trace of the toy ever appeared on the shelves and it disappeared from subsequent catalogues soon after as the show never got off the ground.
Apparently based on the Aranjet Supersport Aquagyro from the Operation Saturn strip (and again ill defer to more educated Dare afficianados for confirmation!), the toy would have had a rotating 'radiator' grille and flip out wings. The bubble canopy and sleek red body had me at the outset to be honest.
Wow, now that's what I call a revelation. I do like Dan Dare but I ain't never heard of that. If it had been April 1st I'd have been suspicious but I'm knocked out. What a pity it never surfaced. A cracking little toy.
ReplyDeleteAs a young child (back in the 60's) my father worked for Mettoys (Corgi) in Fforestfach, Swansea. I was regularly treated to new models - The Bluebird record car and Chitty, Chitty Bang, Bang being two that I remember fondly.
ReplyDeleteTo earn extra money my mother and Gran would pack the little 'extras' bags and envelopes that came with such toys as 007 Aston Martin or the Batcar (and Batboat). These usually contained things like spare missiles, additional flying baddies (from the 007 Aston) and cloth stickers.
I remember being paid to make-up these packs, a couple of (Old Pennies) per hundred!
At one stage I had a bike that was covered in 007 stickers - Oh boy did I feel so proud.
I sometimes wonder what these toys or additional bits would be worth today - in our time we just threw them out.
Additionally there was a Scrap Merchants just around the corner from where I lived (Rodney Street, just behind the jail) and this Merchants T. J. Bevan was contracted to dispose of the old metal and waste from Mettoys. I can recall, searching through one of these scrap lorries and finding hundreds of Corgi figures, wheels and scrap that today would be worth thousands.
I hope that these memories are of interest.
Tony
http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.com/
Well Mike, im pleased you hadnt seen that. I assumed you of all people would be aware of it, having the strong Dare connection in Southport!
ReplyDeleteTony - I had those little cloth stickers on my bike too! Bloody nightmare to position as they were so sticky. The little blue ejectable figure from the Aston was always a sore point with me as a child as my dad always confiscated them in case I lost em. Years later, I found the beggars in a cupboard! Theres a big landfill site in Widnes, Cheshire where a lot of the old Dinky scrap was buried, my bro in law lived nearby and used to unearth cars on a regular basis!
Yeah, it's a real shame about the DD car. Seems like their timing was out There was a lot of interest in Eagle and Dan a few years later, what with the fortieth anniversary coming up and the New Eagle comic retro -inventing the character in 1989 and the following year releasing a summer special celebrating the original fifties character. A limited amount of general merchandise was released. I seem to remember kids could buy Dan Dare socks and vests in Marks & Spencer.
ReplyDeleteIts interesting to note the model featured on both pages is the large 132mm one, both shots from the same sequence. I wonder whether the 'wings' are shown in or out and which part of the ship it referred to ? Preumably the long side vanes and not the vented tailplanes. Id assume the visible switch on the side operated the cockpit dome. It was shortly after this that I gave up on Corgi and cars generally as the bulk of new releases were heading towards Marvel comic inspired recasts and cartoon figures.
ReplyDeleteI remember going to see your exhibition models in the Atkinson on Lord Street, Mike and seeing the god-awful Dan Dare Amiga game playing in an adjoining room with the floppy disk gaffa-taped into the drive so no light fingered kid could nick it!
ReplyDeleteHow about dusting off those old models for us.. ive got some old prints of photos I took through the glass somewhere, but they were awful as the gallery didnt have the lights on properly
Be glad to , Wote - when we've finished playing with our cars. :D
ReplyDeleteFor the record, the Corgi Junior Liberator also came in a metallic blue (again with yellow plastic parts) and was marketed a 'Starship Liberator' with no mention of Blakes 7.
ReplyDeleteand yet no large version and no Scorpio or Pursuit ship model either! Booooo...
ReplyDeleteI have just purchased The Corgi Starship Liberator off e-bay with the intention of re-modelling it and painting it white.
ReplyDeleteI do not expect this to happen soon, but keep checking back, I may surprise you all.
Tony
http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.com/
The blue ones are much rarer than the white and normally fetch a lot more money, you might want to hold off on the respray!
ReplyDeleteThere's a two page spread of the Dan Dare car on pages 420/421 of the Big Book of Corgi 1956-1983 by New Cavendish (Marcel R.Van Cleemput), with a high def. shot of the finished prototype, a storybord for scene 32 of the TV series and the story of what happened to it. Basicly it was pulled due to licesing problems.
ReplyDeleteThe canopy is a double clam-shell, the outer onw being transparent, the inner one yellow (some solar radiation shield?)
Dan Dare was first resurected in 2000AD, albeit with a starship apparently made out of Lego!
Doh...should have read the catalogue page first...
ReplyDelete'Canadj'...Naughty-step for Maverick to contemplate his enthusiasm
No Mav - what you should do is scan the catalogue and send it here! We need to see!
ReplyDeleteYes indeedy!
ReplyDeleteI beleive the later Dan Dare/Eagle artist Keith Watson was involved doing designs for the series. I wonder if the car was one of jis designs?
ReplyDeleteChecked my Corgi Book too, interesting how Mr. Van Cleemput assures that there were absolutely no examples - besides of prototypes - produced of the Dan Dare Car, despite persistent rumours to the contrary.
ReplyDeleteGuy's - I don't mind copying things like catalogues as they are for 'publicity' anyway, but this is one of the unique selling points of a book, and as such are so copyright, I wouldn't re-publish without the authors permision.
ReplyDeleteAdded to that, the 'Great Book of Corgi' would brake my scanner!!!
You'll have to track down the book...sorry
Maverick - you are such a tease!
ReplyDeleteYes indeedy!
ReplyDelete