My childhood Dilemma

My Childhood Dilemma!

(Also titled: Can I afford a Matchbox this week? Gee, those Husky Cars look nice!)

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Back in 1965, my parents gave me an allowance. At this time, I got that tidy sum on Saturday morning. All week, I had kept my room clean, carried over the dinner dishes, and generally helped out wherever mom and dad wanted. Thirty Five Cents! Wow, It was a fortune to this 4 year old boy.

I was nuts for a little car collection known as "Matchbox". I loved those little cars and still do. Ever since I went to my cousin Billy's and John's, where my cousin John had given me one of my first Matchbox cars, a yellow #45A Vauxhall Victor Sedan with no windows. I longed to have more of them. My parents wanted to instill a sense of value and monetary worth in their young child and had decided upon the sum of 35¢ for my allowance. I was ecstatic at the prospect of getting cars all the time.

I remember it well, although I do not remember the place exactly. We may have even been on vacation, as it was that time I remember seeing the Hershey water tower in Hershey Pennsylvania and thinking it was full of Chocolate! It could have been over near Erie, too...such is my memories of back then. It was a "Woolworth's" five and dime store, with a wooden boardwalk/sidewalk in front and a screen door. I got my allowance as my family went into the store...

Wow, all the Matchbox cars! I was really trying to figure out which, of all the ones on display, was going to be my new toy. I settled on a #63 Ford Service Ambulance in Olive Green and a great big red cross sticker on the side. My father, bless him, pointed out that I had 35¢...and the Matchbox cars were 39¢. I thought that was not a problem...Daddy had always come through for me. He had to explain, for the first time, to his son about a price of a toy...and the reality of what was in my pocket to purchase my toy with! I was not liking this new freedom, and tried to give him the allowance back, thinking he would buy the car for me as he always did. ....Only one problem, he wouldn't have any of that, and I was going to learn what "saving for a rainy day" was all about.

Oh, I was really crushed. All my dreams of fortune and Matchbox cars in every pocket...gone...

My parents always told me that I was one of the sharper tools in the shed. My father was smiling, and probably expected, that next week I would purchase a toy car by learning this valuable lesson. His son however, had decided there was going to be a purchase...

Right beside the Matchbox display, there was another small display of pegs with cars hanging on them. Lo, and behold, there was a Olive Green Ambulance with an identical red cross sticker on the hood! It was a "Husky" car, and it even had a blue "bubblegum" siren light on top. I was smitten! Daddy!!!! I'd like this one! Doesn't that mean that it is 34¢, is that less than 35¢? Can I get this one? Please!!

It was not more than a minute later, I plunged through the front screen door, yanked the blister off the cardboard, and extracted my new car. Tossing the remains of the blisterpack into the trash that was right beside the door, I triumphantly started admiring my new Husky Cars Ambulance!

Although parents would perhaps deny back then that this was intended to be a lesson on saving and money, I had fallen for a less expensive, but affordable toy. At the time, a Husky car was a good substitute for the more expensive Matchbox in this youngster's eyes. Probably, that was the very market that the Mettoy Company had in mind. I would come to purchase many Husky Cars over the next few years of my childhood. It grew into a love of Corgi Toys when Corgi Toys became the main line of Mettoy.

Later, as an eight year old, I had the black and white Corgi Impala Police Car. I remember going to GEMCO and Toys R Us in Santa Clara, California and peering longingly into the Corgi display at all the wonderfully detailed, and larger, Corgis. I wished that I could get that Big Ford Holmes Wrecker with the double booms, tilting cab, working winches, and red light. I never did get that wrecker as a child. It took years later, and a little phenomenon called "eBay" for me to finally find one that I could afford. It now is one of my most treasured diecast in my collection.

We even got a family pet, a little Corgi puppy named TJ. It started a trend, as my family and I have had many Corgis as pets. What a wonderful little dog they are. This is my current Corgi, "Charlie" and along with my daughters.

Husky Cars in My Collection

When handling Husky cars, be careful not to press the car and "use" the suspension. The plastic base is made to utilize two tabs cast into the plastic for the "spring" on the axles. This plastic is now very brittle, and you can easily ruin a Husky by breaking the suspension just by pressing down on the car.

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In 1966 and 1967, I was a a huge fan of Batman!! ...Batman and Zorro were just great role models! I had my black cape my mother made for use as both of my heroes! Napolean Solo sitting in the Man from U.N.C.L.E. car

This little jewel is a mint VW Van that recently came into my collection. Here we have both front and rear views.

One of my favorite diecast cars, and my first Husky car...the OD Green Citroen Safari Ambulance on the right.

On the left, the white variant of the Ambulance.

A gold Citroen Safari, large casting on the right. (Note the smaller Ambulance casting to the rear.) Anybody have a spare boat?

On the left, we have the blue Lancia Flaminia made in 1065-66.

A Studebaker Ambulance on the left, and a Forward Control Land Rover Army Truck on the right of OD green.

A Husky Fire Truck. I recently purchased a Hot Wheels Fire Truck very similar to this and with the exact same snorkel boom casting. It makes sense, since Mattel now owns the Husky and Corgi Legacy.

On the left, a Jaguar Mark X Fire Chief Car. There is not an actual possibility of this car being modeled on a real car, as it is my understanding that not only was an expensive Jaguar used for this purpose being improbable, but the English do not have Fire Chief Cars like this!

On the right, a battered and scuffed Husky Ford Lift Truck. On the left, we have two variants of the Walk Through Commercial Van. The "odd-colored green" van has red doors that match the Red van. Note the driver molded into the base.

More of my favorites, my Husky Sunbeam, along with Two Aston Martin DB6 cars. The silver one is the James Bond car with the ejector seat. (Anybody have a spare "ejector man"?)

As a kid, I could not believe that the German Police used Volkswagen Beetles for Police Cruisers! A more "typical" Buick Electra Police Cruiser is on the right.

Here is the Buick Electra in red as made in 1965-66. The regular plastic base is shown on the right.

On the top left, you will see a Guy Warrior Coal Truck in orange. This particular model is a "Corgi Junior" as evidenced by the sticker over the "Husky" name on the base. When Mettoy lost the contract to provide Woolworth's Stores the "Husky" car line, many of the same castings were employed in the new "Corgi Juniors" line. On the bottom, we have two variants of the Guy Warrior Trucks. The yellow variant has a load of sand. The red was noted to have been loaded with coal in the catalog below.

On the left we have the Super LoadMaster 3000 Loader Shovel. Over on the right, There is the Ford F-350 Camper.

On the left is the ERF Cement Delivery Truck. Beside it is the BM Volvo Farm Tractor and Farm Trailer.

I used to yank these out of the blisterpackage to place into my display. I have decided that is not the thing to do. Here is the No. 27 Bedford Skip Truck and the No. 8 Tipping Farm Trailer.

Here are two versions of the VW Aircraft Luggage Elevators. The rubberbands have usually seen better days, as the white example shows. Note the little thumbscrew that turns the belt for operation of the conveyor!

On the top left is the Guy Warrior Shell Gasoline Tanker and on the bottom left is the later blisterpacked Milk Tanker. Notice the squared tank on the one and the rounded tank on the other. The rounded tank model is earlier and has a metallized plastic base. The milk truck base is diecast and has no suspension. The bottom Husky Shell Tanker is the only known version of this model with the metal center wheels.

Here is the pinkish red Thunderbird Convertible. Is it a case of red, after 35 years, fading to pink? On the right is a blue Jaguar Mark 10 sedan.

Finally, here is the Husky Removals Delivery Van. This is considerably larger than the other Husky toys shown here and is a part of the "Husky Majors" lineup of related toys.

A Husky Catalog from 1966

My Favorite Corgi Models

In my opinion as a child, this was the "Holy Grail" of Diecast: The Corgi Holmes Twin Boom Wrecker. I never could afford the $14.95 as a child. Thanks to eBay, I found this one just last year. It is still one of my favorites.

This was the other model I yearned for as a young man. The Simon Snorkel Fire Truck. Note the outriggers pull out and the little thumbscrews the maneuver the snorkel boom. Simply awesome!

Two versions of the Corgi Impala Police Cruisers.

Two versions of the Corgi Impala Fire Chief Cars.

An early Chevrolet Impala, Corgi # 220, Version 1. Perhaps the earliest Impala Corgi made.

An early Chevrolet Impala, Corgi # 220, Version 4??? Light Blue with red interior, smooth hubs. I've heard from Bill Manzke that this is a previously undocumented variation of this model and will appear in the next edition of the Encyclopedia of Corgi Toys he is completing.

Here is a little later version of the blue Chevrolet Impala with the spun wheels.

Here is a tan variant, unlisted in "The Unauthorized Encyclopedia of Corgi Toys" by Bill Manzke. Note the spoked wheels, and the little "Corgi" lettering on the sidewalls!

Here is a Taxi variant of the Corgi Impala #221-A2.

Here are two Corgi "AutoCity" models made after Mattel® took control of Corgi. The Tipper and the Tanker were made as a Hot Wheels® in (the Tipper in Blue, as pictured on the far right, and the Tanker as an Oil Refinery Truck) in early 1998. Many of the (formerly) Corgi Juniors Castings were made into Hot Wheels.

A Corgi Porsche Carrera Police Model.