Toymaker celebrates 70th anniversary with exhibition

Toy brand Corgi is to celebrate its 70th anniversary with a free exhibition at Coventry Transport Museum on Friday.

The 70 Years of Making Memories event will showcase iconic Corgi models from across seven decades, including classic die-cast models, collector's pieces and a first look at new products too.

Corgi has been producing famous die-cast models since 1956, from James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 to classic British cars and more.

Guy Stainthorpe, managing director of Corgi, told the BBC: "I think we've kept the DNA of what entertains and what people enjoy when they buy die-cast models. They're miniatures, they're metal miniatures and they're perfect."

With the company celebrating it's 70th anniversary, which models have proved to be the most popular over time?

"The best selling Corgi toy of all time is not actually the Aston Martin DB5, it's the Land Rover, and we've sold about 10 and a half to 11 million of them.

"The James Bond car is just below on about 10 or 11 million, and number three is the Batmobile, with about 6.8 million and counting", Stainthorpe said.

The brand started in 1933, under the name of Mettoy or the "Metal Toy Company".

But in 1956 Mettoy began producing a new range of die-cast cars from a factory in Fforestfach, Swansea, and named them Corgi in honour of the tiny Welsh dogs.

As well as being the first toy cars to have plastic windows, other features to appear in Corgi cars were fibre-optic style working lights, friction push-along motors, removable wheels, horns, sirens, guns, and even ejector seats.

Toy expert, Laurence Lambert, says being a collector of Corgi toys is "an emotional rollercoaster".

He added: "It's a connection from me personally, being a kid, looking in a toy shop window when I was about 7 or 8 and pointing out to my Dad, 'I really want that car!'. I was the Corgi kid."

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