Corgi Toys is the brand name of a line of die-cast vehicles produced in the United Kingdom. The brand is currently owned by Hornby Railways.
The direct ancestor of Corgi Toys was a line of vehicles known as Castoys produced by the now-defunct British toy manufacturer Mettoy. The Corgi Toys name would be used starting 1956, with Mettoy founder Phillip Ullman naming the brand after the Welsh Corgi in honor of the location of the company's factory in Swansea, South Wales; this name was also chosen as it would be simple to remember, aligning the brand with its main competitor Dinky Toys and their line of vehicles.
The first vehicles manufactured by Corgi were a series of eight vehicles introduced in 1956, depicting contemporary British sedans and sports cars. By the next year, vehicles from other European countries began to be manufactured and further expansion occurred throughout the 1960s. In 1964, a second line of vehicles from Corgi known as Husky Toys was introduced; depicting smaller-scale vehicles, Husky Toys were intended to directly compete with Lesney's Matchbox line. Additional lines based on a specific theme of vehicle such as Corgi Classics would soon follow. Husky Toys was renamed to Corgi Juniors in 1970.
Sales remained strong throughout the 1970s, with Mettoy later attempting to diversify to keep its products in demand; this move proved ill-fated, significantly draining company resources and causing Mettoy to go into receivership in October 1983, three years after Dinky and a year after Lesney, its main competitors. Corgi was reformed as Corgi Toys Ltd. in 1984 after a management buy-out, still producing vehicles but in smaller numbers than before in addition to other products.
Corgi was bought out by Mattel in 1989;[1] around 1991 products were released under the Corgi Auto-City, Corgi Superhaulers, Corgi Collection, and Corgi Turbos Collection lines with new colorways and liveries. It wasn’t until 1994 when all were merged with the Hot Wheels lineup. After the end of the Hot Wheels Auto-City line in 1995, a number of Corgi models were included in the mainline or retailer-exclusive boxed sets. Corgi returned to independence in 1996 following another management buyout; many ex-Corgi Juniors models would last be seen in the Hot Wheels basic range in 1997, with some toolings being used as late as 2003 when the last Corgi casting in use, the Porsche 911 Carrera, was officially retired.
Corgi was bought out by Zindart International Limited in 1999 and remained under Zindart ownership until 2008, when Hornby purchased the brand. Both of Corgi's initial competitor companies, Dinky and Lesney, would also ultimately come under Mattel ownership in the following years.
Ex-Corgi designs[]
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