Husky Toys - Legacy

Legacy

The small scale models were produced by Mettoy as either Husky, Corgi Jr., Corgi Rockets or later simply Corgi until the company was declared insolvent in 1983. Corgi was purchased by Mattel in 1989 before being sold again in a management buyout in 1995. During this time, models were sold in blister packs as the Corgi Auto-City line. Some of these castings, such as the BMW 850i, were later re-packaged as part of the Hot Wheels range. Hot Wheels had its own casting of the 850i, so for a time they had two separate castings of the same car. The Corgi version, with opening doors, was more realistic.

Today it is Corgi Rockets that have become most collectable, no doubt helped by their scarcity. However, the film and TV related models in the Husky range, such as the Batmobile, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the Man From Uncle 'Piranha' car and the James Bond Aston Martin (though the smaller car produced was a DB6, not the DB5 seen in the larger Corgi Toys range) have realised surprisingly high prices in recent years. In 2009, an original manufacturer's trade box of 6 Husky James Bond DB6s was sold on eBay for $1,300 U.S., and in January 2010 a Corgi Rockets James Bond "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" four car set was sold on eBay for £3600, making it the most valuable of all Corgi branded products.

Today, the Corgi brand is owned by Hornby, and called Corgi International Limited. The company specializes in collectibles of various types including a range of 1/76 scale (00 scale) commercial vehicle models called Corgi Trackside.