More disappointment from Corgi

Today was the day that Corgi revealed details of their new model release programme for the first six months of next year. Once upon a time this would have been an exciting and keenly awaited event, but those days are long gone and as has been the case for several years I once again greeted the announcement with disappointment, proving how far they have been left behind by the competition. As a collector of 1/76 scale models, Corgi now have very little to offer me: the Trackside and Roadscene ranges showed promise but are both long dead, leaving just the Original Omnibus Company in this scale, and recent releases in this series have lacked sparkle.

How many red Routemaster models do we need?

There are just nine distinct new models in the OOC range for this six-month period, although most of them follow Corgi's established but often criticised practice of appearing in A and B versions that have different destinations but are otherwise identical. I have to say they are rather predictable: a handful of classic half-cabs, some modern Wright buses, yet another red London Routemaster and the inevitable glut of Borismasters, but at least the latter aren't all red this time. Once again there are no new castings, the last having been the Wright Gemini 2 well over two years ago, and the chosen vehicles are from the same small selection of fairly recent castings, most of the older ones in the large OOC range having seemingly been permanently retired. Yet again there is nothing from my locality of Beds, Bucks, Northants or Oxon, which seems not to be a popular area with Corgi.

Particularly disappointing this time is that all nine releases are double-deck service buses, meaning less variety than ever before and a complete absence of anything to interest coach fans such as myself. One in particular is bound to be controversial: a Roe-bodied Daimler CVG6 in Glasgow Corporation livery. While it may look attractive, it is quite well known among enthusiasts that no such vehicle ever actually existed, and exact details of the prototype are conveniently omitted from Corgi's description of the model. It has the registration SGD 249, which in reality had a typically Scottish Alexander body that looked quite different, so I have to wonder at the thought process that created this model when far more accurate liveries have been overlooked.

 

A fictional model of a bus that never existed!

On top of all this, retail prices have increased again, back to £34.99 after a previous reduction to £29.99. One has to question if OOC models are really worth that much when the likes of Oxford Diecast can produce a much wider range to similar standards for less than £20 and with few exceptions second-hand examples don't hold their value particularly well. A couple of the new models, the Routemaster and London United Borismaster, are actually a little cheaper at £19.99 as part of the 60th Anniversary range, but considering Corgi have reached this significant milestone they don't seem to have done anything especially exciting to celebrate it, which is frankly a missed opportunity.

So once again, a matter of minutes after viewing Corgi's new release announcement I have already lost interest and will not be buying any of these models. Contrast this with the excitement that always surrounds announcements by Oxford Diecast, who virtually every month have something of interest to me, and it is clear that Corgi have lost enthusiasm for the OOC range with a continuing series of uninspiring releases in small numbers and an ongoing lack of new castings. In fact, on checking my records, the last new OOC model I bought was the Luton Corporation Crossley way back in September 2012, and even EFE, often the subject of criticism themselves for inaccurate and ageing models, have done much more to interest me since then.

Yet another bloody Borismaster! At least this one isn't red.

I have no doubt these models will still sell, especially the Borismasters as these are always keenly sought by fanatical London bus collectors, and therein I suppose lies the problem: if these unadventurous releases are selling well enough then there is no real incentive to do anything offbeat and exciting. By way of consolation though, 2016 looks set to be a good year for resin kit releases, and in all honesty I would rather spend my hard-earned money on these as not only do they provide hours of pleasure while building them but buying them also supports small UK-based cottage industry manufacturers rather than a large multi-national corporation.

That's me done with Corgi for another six months. Maybe next summer I'll have something more interesting to report but we'll just have to wait and see and their current form sadly suggests that is unlikely.

Full OOC release programme for Jan-Jun 2016:

OM41230A/B: Wright Eclipse Gemini - First West Yorkshire (Yorkshire Rider heritage livery)
OM41417A/B: Daimler CVG6/Roe - Glasgow Corporation
OM41418A/B: AEC Regent V/Roe - Ipswich Corporation
OM41913A/B: Leyland PD3 Queen Mary open-top - Southdown
OM46310: AEC Routemaster - London Transport (60th Anniversary series)
OM46510A/B: Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 - Transdev Burnley & Pendle (The Witch Way)
OM46613: New Routemaster - London United (60th Anniversary series)
OM46614A/B: New Routemaster - Go-Ahead London (silver)
OM46615A/B: New Routemaster - Arriva London (Coca-Cola all-over advert)

All photos used in this piece are of pre-production samples and are hosted on Corgi's own website at http://www.corgi.co.uk/shop/new-for-2016/brand/the-original-omnibus-company.html