Corgi Classics - The Corgi Toys Era: 1956 To 1995

The Corgi Toys Era: 1956 To 1995

Corgi Toys was launched in 1956 as a new range of die-cast toy model cars by Mettoy Playcraft LTD, the toy car company founded in 1936. These new toy cars were soon a huge hit because at the time they were the only toy cars on the market that included transparent plastic windows, they soon became known as "the ones with the windows".

Although Corgi has had many model car competitors ranging from Dinky Toys to Lledo, its name is well known to this day. In its first year of trading Corgi sold an 2.75 million cars, making it a clear leader of the British toy car industry. In 1966 Corgi won both The Queen's Award to Industry and the National Association Of Toy Retailers' Highest Standards Award, two prestigious awards. In March 1969, a year's supply was destroyed in the factory in Fforestfach in Swansea by a fire, a major setback, which cut profits tremendously. Despite this, Corgi continued to remain among top collectables for many years.

Sales increased in the late 1960s and early '70s after the James Bond Aston Martin DB5 and the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car was released, but sales were fell sharply after the 1969 fire, which led to substantial ground being lost to its main rival Dinky, but by 1971, the Swansea factory was back to full production again after major repairs costing over £1.3 million. The Queen's silver jubilee model edition released in 1977 was an instant bestseller, along with another nostalgia model, Edward VII's coronation state coach of 1901. After a rapid decline in sales, in 1983 economic analysts said that decline was inevitable; children and adults had moved on to more sophisticated toys, others however did not agree; they believed if it had not been for the fire there would have been no problem.

Corgi reformed as Corgi Toys Ltd. in 1984 and turned its attention to regaining the British toy company's confidence. Three years later Corgi turned to the export market for profits, soon distributing in Australia, Continental Europe and the United States. Shortly after this Corgi started the Collectors Club, which quickly gained worldwide membership.

In 1989 the company was taken over by Mattel, the worldwide toy manufacturing giant (manufacturer of Barbie Dolls and Hot Wheels cars), and production was moved to Leicester, the Mattel headquarters. Corgi then introduced a new range: Corgi Classics, selling nostalgia cars, vans and trucks from the 1930s, '40s, '50s and '60s, aimed at those who had grown up during that period. At around the same period in the US, Corgi released a new range of trucks, fire tenders and buses based on North American prototypes, though these were not as successful as had been hoped.