Some of my favorite toys are the pieces included in the circus set manufactured by Corgi in the 1960′s.  The Chipperfields Circus  crane truck pictured here is only one  piece of the set and what I’ll cover today.  Other pieces (which I wish I had) include : 

1.  Circus animal cage with animals

2.  Platform trailer with elephant cage and elephant

3.   Bedford tractor unit (truck with cargo case), animal cage with lion

4.  Articulated truck and trailer with horse box and horses

5.   Scammell Highwayman crane truck

Our truck today is described as having a chassis-cab with the rear body resting on a base that extends off the bottom of the cab.  The rear body section contains a working crane with a yellow base.  The crane actually works by way of manual crank.

Other features of this truck are clear windows, silver grill, headlights, case wheels (rubber with light blue metal hubs), ‘silver’ sheet metal boom, raised lettering on either side (Chipperfields Circus).  The truck also came with a die cast hook attached to the cord on the crane, however, it is missing off this truck. 

The bottom of this toy is marked:  International, 6 x 6 Truck, Corgi Major Toys, Made in GT Britain.  According to my reference book – The Unauthorized Encyclopedia, Corgi Toys – this particular style of truck has the designation 1121 A1…. meaning the wheels are free on the axle. 

Overall length (including crane) is 8-1/2″; truck length is 5-1/2″.

The Corgi Supermobile was introduced in the late 1970s. There were two (2) different variations of this ‘two-fisted’ Superman model produced. These models were

1.  Supermobile Junior

2. Supermobile 1/36 scale

In an attempt to compete with Hot Wheels and Matchbox- the most popular car being manufactured at this time – Corgi quickly dropped the ‘Junior’ from the Supermobile Junior name to make the car more appealing to collectors. This effort – along with some other marketing efforts – did increase their sales; however, Corgi was never able to achieve the mass market appeal of Hot Wheels and Matchbox.

The Superman Junior pictured above has the following characteristics:

• Blue diecast body
• Red plastic interior
• Red ‘two-fisted’ sluggers (button activated)
• Superman logo on front of car
• Diecast skids (no wheels)
• Clear plastic cockpit (fixed)
• Made in Great Britain embossed on bottom
• DC Comics embossed on bottom
• Corgi Supermobile embossed on the bottom
• Length: 3 inches

The Superman Supermobile was one of Corgi’s more popular cars – both the Junior and the 1/36 scale. However, because the company was in transition to the 1/36 scale models and made many package changes to compete in the diecast market – it should be noted that the larger version of this car, i.e., the 1/36 scale model which was identical to the Junior – was the most popular and as such was more valued.

One final thought, the Superman Supermobile is a unique diecast toy in that it has a button mechanism. This button mechanism – located on the rear of the car- when pushed would cause the ‘two-fists’ to deploy. This novel action was a great attraction to the market – young and old – making it a fun toy.

While there is quite a bit of information available for Corgi toys in general, there is very little information out there on the Monkeemobile made by Corgi Juniors. This car is from the television show of the late 1960′s and is a replica of the car driven by the four (4) members of the band in the show. For those that may not remember that particular group they had several songs that were quite popular and as such merchandising of items with their name became popular.

The Monkeemobile Corgi Junior had a catalog number of 1004 along with the following features:

• Red with white top
• Four figures inside car
• One year production – 1971
• Wheel – dark grey hub with black tire
• Length: 3 inches
• Open engine
• Clear plastic windshield
• ‘Made in Great Britain’ embossed on base
• Monkeemobile guitar logo on base
• Corgi Junior embossed on base

With the open engine and with actually having figures inside the car, along with the limited production, you can imagine that in today’s market it is very hard to find one in mint condition.

As in most cases concerning popular items, there were a few knock-offs produced that looked like the Corgi Junior in an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the Monkeemobile and it’s collector value – so beware if you purchase one of these cars. Inspect carefully before buying making sure the car you buy has all of the listed features.