Happy Anniversary Corgi and Vanguards, shame we have nothing new to celebrate with.

2016 is the year of Corgi, well, for the rest of us it is, for Hornby Hobbies, that now owns Corgi Toys, they have not really bothered, for the first time since the Vanguards range has been launched, with is also celebrating an anniversary this year, 20 years for them and 60 for Corgi, there is NO NEW CASTING, which considering the fact it is a major milestone within the companies history, shows us, the buyer, collector and fan, that they really are in trouble.

There was a recent piece of news that stated they had "lost" a million pounds in stock, how in gods name do you lose that much, and then we had the releases for 2016, all recolours of old over used castings, yet another Oxford, Yet another Stag, yet another Morris Minor, Yet another Mini and so on.

The collectors were up in arms, comments came flooding in, berating Corgi for there lack of new castings, and the rehashing of over used existing ones, they dont listen, that is clear, as there has been so many castings asked for by the collector, yet they make models of cars that have already been done to death by so many other brands, the Mini 4 million, thats been done before, and better, the BMW 3-Series, yes, done before, by numerous brands, again, better.

And then we have the major issue, they have increased the cost of the models from around £17.99 to £24,99, more if it is police or sports branded, no other brand has increased there costs, if anything some have dropped, there is NO excuse for the increase, materials have dropped, transportation has dropped due to teh crash in fuel prices, so we can only think they are in so much of a pickle they want us, the apparent loyal collectors to bail them out.

Well i think you will find we are not going to do that this time, if you had decent new products, then maybe yes, but i have loads of Oxfords, Minors, Marina's, Allegro's etc in my collection, i really dont want anymore, so, whats to do, unless they can refinance teh debt, they will probably go into administration, and then sold on to another brand, which will hopefully give it the much needed relaunch with products that us, the collector/buyer wants to see.

Anyway, now we have that out of the way, you can see all the umm, new (ish) models for this first half of the year, lots of very garish colours and tampo's the Escort MK I i like, but another thing i cant fathom is why they releaseing TWO colours on the MK I Escort, but one at £14.99 and the other at £24.99, why is there a tenner difference? It would be nice to have Corgi answer this, but as they never answer any other questions, i doubt we will get an answer to this either. oh, and i wont go into why there are sooooooo many Ford products either.

I will let you look at the pictures, as, they say, a picture tells a thousand words.

HOT WHEELS - The custom '77 Dodge Van is one of the not bad customised vans, done but not in your face.

A strange one this is, i would not normally like anything like this, but it must be the eyes on the side, they make me smile every time i see them, and thats probably why i got this one model, the Custom 1977 Dodge Van is a real van, with MC5 wheels and MOONEYES livery on the side, it is quite a heavy model too, compared to a lot of the others in the range.

The short card has great card art, and really gets this van off to a tee, it is part of the HW City section and is numbered #20/250, the black and white stripes on the side are not normally a favourite of mine but they really suit this van a lot, like the slightly smaller front wheels, it's a customised van, but done subtly and without being vulgar and garish.

HOT WHEELS - The Super Volt, based on the Chevy Volt but taken too far into fantasy land.

This model is based on a real car, but taken a few steps further, and not good ones at that, the Chevrolet Volt is there first proper Electric Vehicle (EV) and had some success, not the sales they had hoped for, but it was a reasonable seller throughout its first generation life, it had some interesting looks, some of which are here on this casting, but they get lost with the garish paint scheme, which i really do not like, and the giant silver plastic engine and spoiler that protrude from the car stupidly.

The black PR5 wheels with a red rim also to a degree look out of place, i would have had silver rim rather than red, but hey, i am just the customer, not the designer, the scaling of the model also looks a little "out" with the space between the wheels looking squashed.

Both these models are on long cards and the card art looks far superior than the model it looks down on, it comes from the HW City section of the range and is numbered #22/250, that's all i really have to say about this, as i am not a fan, and don't know why i bought two, or even one to be honest.

HOT WHEELS - The Lamborghini URUS in White and in blue, a super car SUV, more on road than off i think.

Years ago, Lamborghini had an SUV within it's range the LM200, it was more like a HumVee, a huge luxury off roader that crushed everything in it's way, and then it was gone, no replacement, no updated model, nothing, then Lamborghini was taken over by Volkswagen through it's AUDI brand, and things changed, the world changed, the SUV took over the world, and as an aside, the SUV Market in Europe, has, in 2015, become the biggest automotive segment, out performing all others for the very first time, and not the last.

New cars came for Lambo, and then we had this, the URUS Concept, a vision of what a new Lambo SUV could look like, and it is being built, with very minimal changes from it's concept, the pointy straight edged design style of the brand continues into this model which is it's self based on the underpinnings of the Audi Q7, Bentley 9 F, Porsche Cayenne and VW Touareg.

The Hot Wheels version has come in three colours to date, deep red, White and blue, and later this year there will be an Orange version (Below), the blue one at the bottom is on a short card, the rest are on long cars and are numbered as #23/250, and are with within teh HW City section or teh new for 2016 HW Hot Trucks section, PR5 or OH5 wheels are on these models, my preference is teh PR5, the OH5 looks a little to weird on this, the card Art is, like always brilliant.

HOT WHEELS - A great looking concept car from Cadillac, the Elmiraj in two colours, and multiple models.

Another realistic model from Hot Wheels, this time a concept car from the US Luxury brand Cadillac, a company that's been on the move for the last couple of years, new cars, better specified, decent interiors and new "design language" has made Caddy a brand of choice once again, the Elmiraj is a two door coupe, a BIG two door coupe, that just hits the spot nicely.

The models here, in red and blue, will be joined in about two weeks by a black version, i have these models on the way to me now, so like the BMW M4 in red, i will do a separate report on these when they get here, again, both colours have the same code number #25/250, the two models at the top are on short cards, and the rest, all below, are on long ones, the card art is stunning and brings out the front light treatment well, this has been a Caddy favourite for some while now, the thin lights that bend over the top, both front and rear on some of the real cars.

the Ten Spoke wheels give the car an added air of speed or sportiness, it is therefore a shame that, for me at least, the side vents have not been picked out in silver, this would have been a nice touch, but without, it does not detract from an overall, good casting, I am eagerly awaiting the black as that's my favourite paint scheme, on any car, this car will not make production into a real model, but it showcases design hints at what other cars within the brand may well take note of.

HOT WHEELS - The BMW M4 a double hit here, with the blue and gold versions from 2015, a nice realistic model.

2015 was a great year for realistic models from Hot Wheels, this is a case in point, the BMW M4 was a bit of a surprise to many, and they have mastered this quite well, but first, a little info about me and BMW, I hate the company, with a passion, ever since they screwed Rover Group into the ground, striped it of everything they wanted and left the unprofitable parts to the Phoenix Four to cock up, it also has to be said that the end of this car company can be traced back 50 years with all the merging, cost cutting, unreliability issues and so on.

So, you can see that when i say the model is quite good, it actually is, the M4 is nothing but a rebadged 3-Series like the 2-Series is a re-badged 1-Series, they have taken the coupe and convertible and M range and given them new numbers, now that does not mean anything really, except that it gives them another range of cars, which is great for the collector.

I love the baby poo, or goldy colour one over the blue, and the new deep rich red one which will be with me in about a a week, looks even better, i will post that as a separate post, the PR5 wheels are also a great choice, and really suit this model well, the blue ones are on short cars the gold on long, and the card art is great too, my only gripe is that it maybe sits a little too high for a sports saloon, but then that's it, i love the fact that they have not ruined it with garish colours and liveries, but a nice Euro spec race car might be a nice addition after the red one, but we will have to wait and see what's next.

Both models come with the same code, #24/250 so keeping them together in my picture file is a lot easier, 

HOT WHEELS - The 1971 Buick Riviera, not my cup of tea, but then it was free.

This one was given to me by one of my model suppliers, he has a habit of putting in the odd car like this or a few sweets, i like the sweets, LOL, but back to the model, the long card on this 1971 Buick Riviera is part of the HW City section, and is numbered 15/250.

The black PR5 wheel with red rim and the colour scheme do little to make this model look anything other than mega MEH! what is already a long and low car, the lines on the side just make it look even longer and lower, The "MR Gasket Co" logo in the centre of the door is very vague and again adds little to the look of the model, if it were not for the fact it was a freebie, I would never have purchased it.

HOT WHEELS - The Honda S2000, drifting is the name of the game in this car.

The Honda S200 was a really decent sports car that was sold the world over, and for some reason they never replaced it, so to get this model from Hot Wheels, is a nice addition to the Japanese range of models the Silver PR5 wheels also bring out the model and make it stand out as something really nice.

This one here is, i assume, some sort of drifting car, nice green splashes over the car and TEIN logo on the side and bonnet, and a huge spoiler on the back, to finish off the overall look, this model is on a long card with some great card art, and is part of the HW City section, numbered 17/250.

HOT WHEELS - The 1971 El Camino in two colour ways, both for "Ed's Garage", a tidy looking model.

Usually American cars do nothing for me, they either have to be very special, or very brutish, currently i can only think of the Chrysler 300C, Dodge Challenger and Dodge Charger and possibly the 2017 Ford Raptor, and surprisingly, the first generation Edsel's, other than that they a bit meh! for me.

That said, i can appreciate something special, and different, the 1971 El Camino is one of those models that removes its self from the Meh! list to the Mmmm list, and last year Hot Wheels brought us two, the black and pink one, above, and the purple and pink one, below, the top two are long carded versions, and short card for the bottom one.

The card art is really nicely done too, HW's really has pushed out the boat where this is concerned, and i really hope they continue it, and not go all generic and have one design that fits all, as that will take away the overall goodness of the item.

Ed Pinks Garage livery is on both and the subtle yet brilliant way they have completed the tampo's both on the side and bonnet really bring these models out from the normal, over the top, street drag cars, the MC5 wheel are black with white rim on the bottom model and silver micro wheel on the top, both give the model a great stance.

HOT WHEELS - Two different colours of the same car with the same livery, and they both work well.

Another Hot Wheels, this time the 2009 Corvette ZR1, and in a livery scheme that has been used many times on various HW models, this one, is Gulf as in the Oil company, I currently have four of these, three in Blue and orange the other in white and orange, and all with the same livery.

All four are on the short card, and have black PR5 wheels with an orange rim and with the range of HW's now running at 250 per year, this one at number 12/250 has been used a number of times in differing colour schemes.

Unusually it has side, top and front tampoing, which for mattel these days, is more than normal, but is a nice touch.

HOT WHEELS - The awesome Aston Martin V8 Vantage, the 2005 first editions looks great in bright yellow.

Ah, an Aston, everything seems OK after you look at one of these, a beautiful, svelte, British brute of a car, and this one with the V8, is up there with the best of them, this model, dates back 11 years, from 2005, the year MG-Rover, the UK's biggest British owned motor manufacturer went bust with the loss of 6,000 direct jobs and up to 25,000 indirect jobs.

At the time Ford still owned Aston within the PAG (Première Automotive Group), along with Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover and Lincoln, Ford still owns Lincoln, the rest were sold off.

The model here however, is the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, and is the 2005 First Editions model, meaning this is the launch car, a car that would in various colours and sets remain in the HW range for years to come, the generic card art is not pretty, and this would not last like this for long, until they decided to have art on the cards of the model within the blister.

This is a great little casting, not spoiled with garish graphics or flames, which is something HWs are famous for, and the PR5 wheels look spot on for the model too.

OXFORD DIECAST - The next recolour for the Bentley T2, Black and beautiful.

Ahhhhh, just look at that, is that not just perfection, shame about the picture, blame the photographer, oh, that will be me, LOL, but this is another of the stunning models from Oxford Diecast, i have already blogged about the Blue version of this, you can find that >>> HERE but the black one, is, well, so much more. 

The Black Bentley can be used for so many more things that a coloured version would not seem appropriate, like for instance, a funeral, or company executives car, Royalty or just as a statement, this Bentley T2, can do all that, and so much more, with ease, style and grace, this is what some would call the last real Bentley.

HOT WHEELS - The Eight piece Porsche sports car set, one of the first brand sets, and one of the best.

At roughly the same time as the James Bond set launch we had another from Hot Wheels, one we did not expect to find in the UK, but fortunately they arrived, and i managed to get three full sets (24 cars) from this Porsche cars set from the old to the modern, each car is represented to near perfection.

Hot Wheels have again decided to not paint these cars in garish colours, but in proper sports livery, genuine Porsche colours, proper stickers and labels, to make this set a brilliant one, and it can continue too, they have just launched an old 356a, they have the Panamera, and a few other sports cars that are not within this set, so, who knows, Hot wheels could come back and do a series II, with all new cars, new colours, new liveries, and new card art, i do hope so.

HOT WHEELS - The James Bond five car set, HW's have produced probably one of the best sets ever.

The name is Bond, James Bond, 007, Licensed to Kill, and to have some of the most beautiful cars in the world, and it all started with the 1963 Aston Martin DB5, the most iconic movie car ever, nothing beats it, not even the DeLorean from Back to the Future.

Part of every Bond film, you have a certain sections that are a must, you must have the Tuxedo, you must have the gadgets, you must have the Bond girls, you must have a villain and you must have a car that can do all the things that you want you bog standard Ford or Toyota to do.

Sean Connery had the Mustang Mach 1 in Diamonds are forever, you know the one, where the car went on two wheels into a thin pathway, and somehow managed to come out the other end on the other two wheels, Roger Moore had a brace of Lotus Esprit's, one got blown up the other was a submarine in disguise, The black evil looking Lincoln Continental from Goldfinger was the perfect choice of car for the villain from that film, It then brings us nicely to the current Bond, Daniel Craig.

In his first outing as Bond in Casino Royale, he had the awesome Aston Martin DBS, and has had various Aston's both new and classic in each film since, and who is the maker of these cars, well, surprisingly it is Hot Wheels.

Most people would associate Hot Wheels with US cars, with wild and bright paint schemes, low slung modded cars and awful generics, but in the last couple of years, they have been producing some stunning road cars, without the garish paint and silly wheels, this range, is one of a large number they have released and they are all amazing.

It has to be noted that Hot Wheels ALSO has produced the new Aston, the DB10, a bespoke car made just for the latest film, SPECTRE, and that looks perfect, and i really can not wait to get my hands on these, lots of them.

The card graphics are also to be noted in that they are really great, and go well with each film, Hot Wheel, and Mattel, should be applauded for this set, as it is truly one of the best to date..

OXFORD DIECAST - The Triumph 2500 in Lancashire police trim, this brings back so many memories.

Another Gem from Oxford a true 70's icon, A car that deserved to be far more successful than it was, a car that spawned a V8 legend, it's self a flawed and unreliable stunner, the Stag was and still is a head turner, the 2500 here in Lancashire Constabulary paint scheme, was another flawed car, but it was loved by those that knew how to look after them and those that own them now.

This version modelled here looks great, the lines are spot on, the recessed glass is a bit of a disappointment, but over the months and years, OD has gotten better and better and the glass house is nearer to the edge of the car rather than recessed back, it's not a dire point, just one of note, but not detract from the over all look of this car.

The blue lamp on the roof, the "Jam Sandwich" look are all straight from the 1970's, and it is where this model shines, bringing back memories from an era, that I remember, just, it is such a shame that the real cars are now few and far between, as cars were just not made to last in that time, but those that take time, effort and an awful lot of money, have this car still in use, and the models keep that brand and model alive for another generation after generation.