"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things... well, not really..."
One of the odd things about being a cashed up (relatively speaking) retiree, is I can now sometimes have those things that were denied to me as a kid. I remember standing in Boots Chemists looking at a Corgi Yellow Submarine toy. There was no way I could afford it, so I ended up making my own -out of balsawood!
The real thing eluded me however. It is far too expensive to buy on eBay or from antique shops, but Corgi has reissued a 50th Anniversary Edition and at around AU$ 52 it's sort of affordable, so I got one.
As a toy, it's very nice compared to previous versions, it has both hatches in their correct colours, and the red pinstriping that has been absent from past issues.
However, there are a couple of details that really annoy me. One is the Smarties like portholes and the other is the fact that it only has one propellor!
I've decided that as it's a brand new model, I'm not ruining some antique by "improving" on these shortcomings.
Here is the actual toy...
and here is my version which required a bit of metal grinding, repainting and propellor moulding!
The decals for the portholes featuring the Fab 4 are a little small, but what the hell! I was going to make them as waterslide decals but ended up just printing them on glossy paper so they look like factory applied stickers!
The base references the original vacuum formed plastic seascape, but is actually just paperclay on a wooden plinth.
The Corgi banner is based on the original box art (I have a DVD of die-cast toy boxes which is wonderful, although the image quality is generally poor) My Corgi font is not 100% but it's close enough!
So what's next? Well the other Corgi set I never had as a kid, but I would love would be The Avengers!
These are of course prohibitively expensive, so I'll make my own (I'm actually already in the process!) however, I thought if I'm going to all that trouble, why not do something a little different, so my set will feature Steed's Rolls Royce and Tara King's Europa!
Stay tuned...... Cheers, Lewis
WELL DONE! The best of both worlds, a factory version that can be reworked to 'make it your own'.
ReplyDeleteIf you enjoy making your version of The Avengers, don't forget that at the end of some of the episodes of Steed and Mrs Peel they travelled off in such things as old taxis or a canoe to add variety to your collection.
When Corgi first reissued the Yellow Submarine sometime back in the '90s, the original moulds were used (though altered to remove Corgi Toys from the base and replace it with just Corgi), but some parts had to be re-created, such as the Beatles' heads, and perhaps the periscope. (I was told at the time by someone at Corgi, but can't remember precisely.) I'd only had a 2nd-hand one in the very early '70s, acquired from a jumble sale, but I bought two of the '90s reissue. It's been reissued a few times since then, sometimes with the heads permanently in position on show, and if memory serves, with unopening hatches which are part of the chassis. (I'd welcome someone correcting me if I'm mistaken.)
ReplyDeleteWhat I wondered is, is there space for the propellers to turn in your altered version, or are they fixed in place? Good job anyway.
Ah, yes Kid! The props in their new position actually just foul on the tail fin, but visually they look much better than the single prop version. (I actually have a blow by blow picture gallery on my Instagram feed https://www.instagram.com/lewispmorley/)
DeleteThe weird thing is the propellor is black instead of red, yet it's been moulded in yellow plastic and painted! If they were going to all that trouble, why didn't they make it the right colour?
-Oh well, down that train of thought lies "Why did they paint UFO Interceptors and 1999 Eagles metallic green?"
The Hot Wheels Yellow Submarine, which is smaller than the Corgi version, has twin fixed propellers, usually in red. This first came out in 2016 in the Screen Time sub-series of film and TV vehicles, and later in the more expensive Entertainment series. All versions run on yellow plastic wheels hidden in the base. A very nice model.
ReplyDeleteThere is something very appealling about the Yellow Submarine as a die-cast toy all round.
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