| EFE Zone Site User Guide |
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| About this Website Index | ||
EFE Zone - An Introduction |
| Firstly thanks for taking the time to visit my site dedicated to the products produced by the UK based Gilbow (Holdings) Ltd who are better known as Exclusive First Editions or EFE. This site contains details of all the models known to have been produced since the company entered the collectable model market in July 1989. In the years since then well over 1500 different items have been produced and released in various scales depicting various forms of both land and water based vehicles. |
| EFE Zone - Using the Site | |
    
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I've tried to make the site as easy to navigate, with only three or four mouse clicks needed to find any particular model. To achieve this I've separated the site into sections dealing with the different categories of models produced by EFE. EFE's range is dominated by models depicting various types of buses & coaches, for the site these have been further divided into double and single deck sections, other sections cover the various truck models and gift sets while the remaining items not fitting into any of the above categories are located in the Other Models section. |
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The news section is the place to visit to get the latest information about such things as future models, new releases and other EFE related news. |
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The Model Series section covers the various themed sub-series produced by EFE over the years, these include the De-luxe models, Brewery & Grocery Truck series, War Time Buses, Routemaster Collection and the Gilbow Railway Collection. You can also find a full list of all casting variations indexed by catalogue number and a selection of model reviews of the most recent new castings. The third party Hong Kong models supplied by EFE via their Subscription service are also covered here. |
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The Commissioned Model section contains listing of the numerous Code 2 models produced for various commissioners over the years by EFE. The list also contains a selection of the more widely available code 3 models that are based on EFE models that have been modified by third party suppliers. Separate lists of the commissioned models are provided indexed by either commissioner or catalogue number. |
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The Fleet Focus section lists all the models produced by EFE & OOC depicting a particular operator or group. This section is still under construction and in time I hope to include brief details of Britbus & CMNL related models on this lists. |
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The Model Releases section lists all the known forthcoming models and has a complete list of all the models released each month going back to EFE launch in July 1989. |
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This page lists all the updates made to the site in the current month and includes an archive of all the monthly updates since the launch of the EFE Zone in 2004. |
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A selection of web links relating to both model and real vehicle related sites together a number of well known model dealers. |
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Bearing in mind your reading this means you may have already found the About EFE Zone section. Apart from this User Guide there's also a list of Frequently Asked Questions and answers and page giving some tips on model photography. You'll also find a list of the sources and contributors that have provided information and pictures for this site. In the future I hope to add a brief history of EFE and details of the various packaging used for EFE models since their launch. |
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Use the enquiry form to contact me with any questions, corrections or suggestions, if you provide your email address I will endeavour to reply within 48 hours whenever possible. Alternatively you can use the email address shown on the contact page to send me standard email. Due to spammers harvesting my earlier email address from the site I've now been forced to remove all my clickable email address links from the site to protect my new email account from a renewed flood of spam mail. |
| The Model Pages | |
 A link to a collection of larger sized images of the models covered in each section is also provided in the form of a Fotopic Gallery button this gives access to images with a width of up to 1200 pixels (use the Fotopic page "Full Size" option to view the images at their optimum size.) All the model releases are listed in catalogue number order along with some brief details to aid identification of each. Click the catalogue number links to view the models full details. Each model normally has it's own page that contains at least two pictures and a standard set of information fields describing it.  Most of the information fields are fairly self explanatory but below are some notes explaining exactly what I've included in each. Model Description This describes the casting used for the model and is also a link back to the section index page Catalogue Number The models catalogue consists of a five digit number, the first three digits relate to the casting type while the final two digits indicate the particular model issue in that series. EFE sometimes adds a suffix letter (A,B C etc) to this number, which usually indicates a variation or re-working derived from the original base model. Where a variation is known to exist within the production of an individual issue I've indicated these with a slash followed by a variation number. i.e. 15802/1 & 15802/2 it should however be noted that the box labels for these two model variations would both just show 15802 as their existence is the result of a production error. Additionally EFE have also used some two letter suffix codes to indicate the model is part of one of their special series. The codes that have been used are DL which indicates De-Luxe Series and DR which was used on some of the early De-Regulation Series models, the DR code has now been discontinued and for this reason I've not added it to any of the model numbers on the site. A couple of unofficial suffix codes have been used on the site to identify certain model issues: GS - The model was issued as part of a gift set. (These models are also given a catalogue number in there own casting series by EFE) BS -- Brewery Series truck model. GY -- Grocery Series truck model. GRC - Gilbow Railways Collection model 996xx series (These models are also allocated a catalogue number in their own casting series by EFE) None of these codes are actually used on EFE packaging. Some EFE models have been released that have their main catalogue numbers shown on the packaging prefixed by a C or E. The exact significance of these prefixes is unknown but it's believed they are used by EFE as part of their internal ordering system. To keep things simple these prefixes have been ignored on this site. Operator / Model Variation This normally indicates the company name or livery depicted on the model, sometimes additional information will also be shown to help identify a particular release where similar models exist, i.e. route number and/or advertisements on buses. If the model was issued as part of a gift set this will be indicated below the operators name. When Fleet Focus pages exist for a particular operator the operator's name becomes a links to these pages. Pictures Normally two pictures are provided for each model. Front near side and a rear off-side. Some additional pictures may also be included below the information box to show certificates, or any special features or packaging. Fleet No. If the model carries a fleet number then it will appear here. Registration Only some De-luxe and code 2 models were issued with registration numbers before June 1995. After this date registration marks became a standard feature on all the road vehicle releases. A list of the registrations that would have been suitable for those early models issued without them can be found on the Missing EFE Registrations page. Route No. (Bus Models Only) The route number or letter, if present on the model Destination (Bus Models Only) This will usually be the ultimate destination shown on the front of the vehicle. The via points are not normally listed. Adverts (Bus Models Only) This field will give the exact wording of any advertisements carried on bus models. This will list the advertisements in the following order near side, off-side, front, rear and other. Slogans (Truck Models Only) This field will give the exact wording and locations of any text carried on lorry models. Livery The field hopefully has a description of the livery carried by the model, Please bear in mind that some colour schemes are hard to describe. This field was originally included to help identify models where I had no available photographs. Notes This is a general field containing all sorts of nuggets of information. The name of commissioners, Limited edition quantities, unusual model features, and other bits and bobs will all appear here. If the model is commissioned then a link is provided here to a full list of all the commissioner's other models. Issued This will give the month and year in which the model was issued in the UK. Release EFE models have been issued in various ranges over the years. I've listed these as follows - |
| De-Regulation Series | Boxes with orange, red and blue diagonal stripes on the front left bottom corner. This series is used for bus models depicting operators or liveries from mid 1980's to date. Some of the early releases had a DR suffix added to the catalogue number shown on the box labels. |
| De-Luxe Series | Originally bright blue and now light blue boxes used for re-worked models. The provided link will display the relevant casting section on the De-luxe Series Index page. |
| Brewery Series | Green boxes. Models in liveries of well known Brewery Companies. (Trucks only) |
| Grocery Series | Cream boxes. Models in liveries of well known grocery retailers & suppliers. (Trucks only) |
| Gilbow Railway Collection | Dark blue boxes (Trucks, buses and cars aimed at the model railway enthusiast) |
| Gilbow Ocean Liners | Yellow box (White Star Line Ocean Liners) |
| Tinplate Classics | Special themed box (1:8th scale tinplate Miller Racing Car) |
| Commercial Series | Light brown box. Used for all the recent truck models not issued in either the Brewery or Grocery series. Early truck releases before 1996 were issued in standard boxes. |
| Gift Sets | Special themed boxes. Early versions were designed to resemble a book and called volumes. |
| Routemaster Collection | Rust coloured boxes used for the first eight issues of the re-tooled Routemaster models in 2006. Later models were issued in a re-designed fawn box. |
| Victoria Coach Station | Standard boxes wrapped in special branded card sleeve. All the models were commissioned by the London Transport Museum. |
| Sleeved Sets | Pairs of models packaged in normal individual boxes which are then enclosed in a themed outer card sleeve. |
| Special Box | Special packaging or box design. Details can be found in the Notes field. |
| Standard | This is the normal issue box. Originally light grey until 1992 when black packaging was introduced. The current fawn coloured boxes with a map design were introduced in 2002. |
| War Time Series | A series of eight models issued during 2005 in special grey boxes to mark the 60th Anniversary of VE Day. |
| Unless indicated all models are Code 1 which means the model was produced by EFE, and available from all normal retail outlets. Code 2 - This is applied to models produced by EFE for a third party and originally distributed only by that commissioner. Code 3 - I've only shown a selected number of code 3 models, mostly only those that have been produced in larger quantities. These models are altered or repainted by a third party without the consent of EFE and are usually only available from a limited number of sources. When a code is indicated this will form a link back to the page showing the other commissioned models based on the same casting. The EFE animated arrows   at the top and bottom of the page can be used to view the previous or next model release in the current series. | |
| and Finally... | |
| Above all I hope you find the information on this site, will help you enjoy the EFE models you already own and provide the necessary information to expand your collection. I'd had plans for this site for several years, but had until the end of 2001, no idea how to go about putting a web site together. The lists provided here have been compiled over the last 20 years, originally they were designed as a catalogue of my own collection, but in 1997/8 I expanded them to include all the EFE models produced to date & have since updated & revised them on a regular bases. This site is my way of making this information available to a wider audience and as a web user who gets entertainment & information from other people's sites a way of putting something back in the true nature of the net. | |
| About this Website Index |