The Gerry Brown Pages

INTERACTIVE INTERVIEW 4
COLIN SUMMERBELL OF CORGI CLASSICS (4th June 2004)

Gerry wrote: "We asked you for your questions to be put to Corgi's Colin Summerbell; Colin found time to answer a good many of the questions in this follow up to our original interview which took place last year. Apologies if your question did not get answered but Colin was, as always, very busy; on behalf of dbi readers I would like to thank Colin for his contribution."

WELSH BUSES

Dear Colin, Congratulations on deciding to return to 1/50 scale model buses. I have all that you produced previously in Welsh company liveries and others too. Can we expect more Welsh liveried vehicles in the future and, if so, which ones?

Bill Price Corgi Collectors' Club Member

We are only producing a small number of 1:50 scale buses at present. We are testing demand and if these are successful we will do more. I will pass on your request for Welsh liveries to our Product Managers. We have as yet not decided what the next if any 1:50 bus liveries will be.

FELTHAM TRAMS

Firstly let me thank Corgi publicly for producing the King of Trams in 4mm scale. Needless to say, my tramway is "infested" with running models! I am saddened that no new version was included in the second half 2004 programme especially as there are many colour schemes left for both the Standard version and the Centre Entrance prototype. After re-engineering the exit door on the Standard and a whole new Upper Deck window moulding for "Cissie" it seems a shame that the moulds are not re-used. Are there any plans for more Felthams in 2005?

Mike Beard at Baschurch, Shropshire.

Yes there are plans for more Feltham Trams. There is likely to be one or two in the 2nd Half of 2005.

ADD YOUR OWN DECALS

I would like to ask Colin if Corgi have any plans to release more 'blanks' so that customers can add their own decals - as was the case with the Tilling Red Bristol L5 and Tilling Green Bristol K6.

Keith Wilson

No plans to do more of add your own decals - to be honest the sales were poor on this concept which is why you have not seen more.

WILL IT BEND?

What are Corgi using for the articulation on the Wright's Fusion bendibus body and how flexible will it be and given that other manufacturers have had big problems with the articulation will the model see the light of day?

Thomas Wing Luton

Yes the Wright Fusion will see the light of day. You are correct, it is difficult to do. We are working hard on making it work and look right. The proof will be in the model when it comes out.

INVESTMENT

Given that the number of 1:76 scale bus models has now reduced to three per month are you in a position to reassure us that Corgi will not reduce any further the number of new bus castings from the present two per year?

Dave Malton, Shrewsbury

Corgi invests over £2 Million a year on new tooling and every new tool has to justify its costs. OOC models are being reduced in both releases and in the quantity of each new release. We feel there is over supply in the 1:76 bus market at present from both Corgi and other manufacturers. This is likely to mean less new tooling in 2005.

TRAMS AND TROLLEYS

The question I would like to ask is if it is the intention to do a Trolleybus version of the Utility in 1/76. There have been strong rumours around for some time that Corgi intend to produce a Trolleybus version of the Utility in the OOC range. Given that Corgi have done both bus and trolleybus version of the Utility in 1/50 scale and the Utility bus in 1/76 along with Corgi's track record of modelling trolleybuses when other manufacturers have not taken this step, is it likely that this is ever to appear. (I do hope so.) What are Corgi's views? Are we to see more Trams and Trolleybuses in 1/76?

Niall of New Mills, High Peak, Derbys

We have been considering for sometime doing the utility version of the Trolley bus. It is an expensive modification and has yet not been given tooling money to produce it. It will be produced I'm sure in the future. We do intend to produce more trams although the types have not yet been chosen.

OLD v MODERN

Do you perceive the balance between casting older double-deck vehicles and the more modern to have appreciatively moved in favour of the latter the last year or two? The acclaim CMNL have received has been responded to well by Corgi with the Vyking and (especially!) the Gemini. Do you see a shift in Corgi's thinking for future releases?

Jim Smith, Reading

There is a shift to more modern buses at present. The sales figures reflect this. This does appear to go in cycles every two to three years. The sales of the Vyking and the Gemini have been excellent and with other manufacturers also doing well it appears we are in a period of Modern Buses. I'm sure it will swing back again but to many younger Bus Collectors the older Buses do not have the appeal that the Modern ones do so you never know for sure.

1:50 GEMINI

Do you have plans for a 'modern' 1:50 release? A 1:50 Gemini would make many stop, think, and, maybe, favourably review their opinions of this scale.

Steve Sims

No plans for a modern 1:50 release. But I cannot disagree that the Gemini would look great in that scale.

OTHER VEHICLES

With recent advances in the casting and decorating processes well recognised, when will it be possible to produce smaller viable 1:76 models? I think of the London taxi (FX3 and FX4, perhaps - sure winners), and bus-allied service vehicles.

Dave, Walthamstow

Really the Lledo Trackside range covers other model categories in 1:76 scale, whilst less detailed it is cheaper. We have looked at producing smaller vehicles in real life such as the Taxi in this range. Smaller models would not necessarily be cheaper and the perceived value for money of smaller vehicles concerns us and has stopped us taking this forward at present.

ADVERTS

Are you able to help give us a better understanding of the joys and pitfalls from a manufacturer's point of view of producing adverts on model buses? There's always talk of huge sums of money being asked by manufacturers to reproduce their adverts, but in reality this can't be so, surely, especially for historical adverts?

M Farnham

You're correct in the case of many historical adverts on Buses there is no cost. On Modern Buses this can be very different. Many bus adverts on Modern Buses today are paid for by big corporations who are protective (even paranoid) of their brand. Permission seeking can be an endless task, expensive in itself and can often lead to a refusal. Sadly if a Marketing Manager at e.g. Sony is not a bus collector, he wouldn't understand what we are doing and may ask thousands of pounds for permission. In many cases it's not worth it but we do try where we can.

MOST WANTED

As you are probably aware, a recent dbi discussion threw up the following 'most wanted' castings: 10) Metro-Scania single decker 9) Marshall 'Capital' bodied Dart 8) Bristol VRT/SL MkI or MkII flat screen 7) Daimler Lowbridge Utility 6) Leyland National Greenway 5) MCW Metroliner 4) Irizar Century tri-axle 3) AEC Swift/Merlin 2) Optare Excel/Spectra 1) Alexander R-type. Should we hold up any hope that we might have at least one wish granted!!?

Tony Price

It's a great list of suggestions. All I can say is we only have so much new tooling money to spend each year and, believe me, we spend a lot across all our product ranges. An Aviation Collector could send me a list as long as yours. Of course, we just cannot do everything but as I often say, if we all live long enough Corgi will get to a lot of them eventually.

RESEARCH

Colin, as a diecast collector I am aware of the great restraints placed on producers in the processes of manufacturing accurate scale models. However, it would be interesting to know what research processes go into the production of a new release. What are the primary sources of your research? Would it be possible for the packaging to give references to photo resources, for example? I ask because, earlier this year, OM40903 PD2 Orion UTA was released with an open platform and single rear downstairs window, when a few minutes on the internet would have been enough to discover that this vehicle had a closed platform, platform doors, and twin rear windows., and the present owner could also be traced! I don't like to criticize for the sake of it, but these discrepancies altered the whole appearance of the model. On a more positive note, may I commend Corgi on their recent Gemini releases, quite, by far, the best models the firm has produced to date. (In my humble opinion!)

Andy McClelland

Believe me, we spend a vast amount of time on research. We have to keep the packs as generic as possible to reduce costs and it would not be possible to include reference on the packs. The PD2 Orion UTA was not totally authentic and we knew this when we produced it. Sometimes we do take this option. Some collectors are delighted to have a model like this because they know that it is unlikely that the manufacturer will tool up for buses that were not used by many bus companies. In this case it is the collectors’ choice to buy or not.  We are not perfect and do make mistakes but a massive effort is always made to get things correct.