As it was, the baddie’s supersonic upward trajectory was arrested only by the ceiling (unless you played with your toys outside, in which case he was in your neighbour’s garden), from where he would fall to the dark and heavily patterned carpet that characterised the 1960s and 1970s and become invisible. He was, you remember, less than an inch long and not even a complete man, all of his legs below the shins having being sacrificed to make way for the mechanism. From the Hoover bag he made his way to the dustbin and a rubbish tip far, far away. I for one would love to have another example of this model waiting for me on Christmas morning. Return of 'The Cooler King' There was no time for the usual modelling process involving painstaking drawings, beautiful 1:12-scale masters in hardwood, resin casts, and accurate reduction by pantograph to produce the moulds for diecasting. One of the first suggestions offered was a range of models which rarely receive much attention here on Diecast Diaries, but could hardly be more perfect for this time of year. This one was more in relation to an appropriate gift for us to give to younger members of our family, but models which are most definitely designed to stand the test of time. We all know that we wouldn't let inquisitive young minds loose with the latest limited edition model addition to our collections, but we would love to see them playing for hours on end with a range of models designed specifically for them.

Thank you for continuing to support our Die-cast Diaries blog. Our next edition is scheduled for publication on Friday 1st December. Corgi released a 50th Anniversary edition of the Goldfinger Aston Martin in 2014 which was a complete sell out and has also become collectable but is not to be confused with the original issue. To open the roof and trigger the ejector seat to jettison Bond’s adversary, Marshall positioned a tiny release button under the Aston’s sill. There was a similar control to deploy the concealed machine-guns, while the pop-up bullet shield in the boot was activated by pushing in the exhaust pipes. Corgi management had to be convinced the miniature mechanisms were strong enough to withstand being played with relentlessly. The ‘as seen on TV’ tag was clearly an enormous draw among toy-car buyers, so Corgi brilliantly exploited the goldmine awaiting a successful collaboration with 007. Your right to cancel within 14 days. Our terms are wholly in accordance with The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 and your statutory rights are not affected.

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The Batmobile was even more successful than the Bond Aston, selling five million near-identical examples and helped enormously by Batman’s near-permanent place on Saturday morning children’s telly of the 1960s and ’70s.

As we find ourselves at that point in the year when he have to start thinking about the presents we're going to need for a special day which is now less than six weeks’ away, we thought it might be a nice idea to ask a couple of the Corgi team to nominate which models they would love to see waiting for them under the tree this year, just in case we decide to go down the Secret Santa route.As a member of the Corgi Model Club you will receive a monthly delivery of an officially licensed die-cast Corgi Toys re-issue from our collection. Each Corgi Model Club model has been carefully chosen and curated from Corgi’s ‘golden era' of the 1960s and early 1970s. This was a dream toy for kids of all ages and sizes. It’s only issue was its colour. ‘ Why was it painted gold’ instead of silver like in the movie? Apparently, Corgi’s marketing team didn’t like the proposed silver finish from the movie and decided to paint it gold to reflect the movie’s title instead. Release

Time is running out for this stunning model, and its highly likely that it won't survive the Christmas gift buying season. Corgi’s first involvement with moving-image merchandising had been straightforward. Peter Katz, Mettoy’s regional sales manager for Scandinavia, was talking to a Swedish wholesaler one day when he asked if there was anything Corgi could do for the territory that would boost sales. He was told: “Well, a popular programme in Sweden is The Saint, and he drives a Volvo P1800; can’t you sell that as The Saint’s Volvo?” Look, childhood is formative, and those of us who love cars loved them first as die-cast toys. In the first year of production more than 2.5m Corgi Bond Astons were sold, making it the fastest-selling car of all time. It was revised and enlarged in 1968 ( No 270, toy nerds) and is about to be relaunched again as a 50th-anniversary tribute. It has therefore been more formative than any other toy car. QED. There are some major new model projects advancing towards their release dates at Corgi HQ at the moment, including the significant advancement of the new 1/72nd scale Martin B-26 Marauder project which was teased via our social media channels earlier this week. Unfortunately, none of these are quite ready to be included in a Diecast Diaries update just yet, which presents us with an opportunity to feature a couple of recent releases which have thus far evaded our attentions on the blog.The most popular advice topics — we've got you covered 2035 petrol and diesel car ban: 12 things to know Welcome to the latest edition of Corgi Die-cast Diaries, your regular blog review of all the news, updates and topical stories from the captivating world of Corgi die-cast model collecting. Corgi and their legendary Swansea factory prided themselves in making models with unparalleled detail and accuracy. ‘The ones with windows’ was their much-trumpeted mantra – a dig at Dinky who had commonly produced toy cars with unglazed windows. The ejection of the baddie from a Corgi Bond DB5 is a quantum event. He is in the seat and then he is somewhere else altogether — there being no discernible transitional phase between the two states. Where did he go? Into the vacuum cleaner.