Corgi 1/50 Forward March Series (1 Viewer)

[zulucollector]

Does anyone still collect these figures? I got started with the skirmish series when Corgi started to add 3 soldiers to their tanks to reinvent their armour series. I had just finished my corgi WW2 armour collection. I have each of the 8 regular series of sets of 6 soldiers and I think they are understated in the toy soldier world.

Beyond the skirmish which included figures from the series for the most part (with the exception of the Tiger and Sherman which had riders produced for the US market - there were also couple of unique figs from the D-day dioramas

I have about 200+ of these figures as I plan to display with my corgi ww2 armour - all the figs were acquired after they were retired via painstakingly searching thru ebay and old stock from online stores

If anyone is interested I will post what Corgi planned to release but did not end up releasing based on old Corgi catalogues? ie Russian, Canadian, 8th Army etc.....

 

[Phantom Warrior]

I never got any of the figures, but still have a few of the Corgi AFVs, Solido, Vereem and Tank Museum. Most of my 1:50 AFVs got sold when I got into 1:30 scale leaving several unusual 1:50 vehicles which I still have.

Terry

 

[zulucollector]

I believe this was the complete series that Corgi produced.........................

WW2 US INFANTRY SET 1944 US59003
WW2 GERMAN INFANTRY SET 1944 US59004
WW2 GERMAN PARATROOPER SET US59009
WW2 BRITISH PARATROOPER SET US59010
WW2 US RANGERS US59011
WW2 US INFANTRY IN WINTER US59012
WW2 GERMAN INFANTRY IN WINTER US59013
WW2 US AIRBORNE INFANTRY US59014

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

What a blast from the past...
I sculpted these for Corgi when Richard Walker was still with them. I still have a resin copies of the two Arnhem diorama sections that were never released and a few figures buried in the collection too. There were plans to do quite a few more figure sets and vehicle variants when the range came to an end. I was a bit disappointed to see these go.
All the best,
Ken

 

[zulucollector]

In the Corgi 2007 catalogue they show the proposed figures for the next year....

Russian Infantry

Canadian Dieppe Infantry

German Winter Infantry

British 8th Army

Sadly the proposed soldiers for the skirmish series never went into production

 

[zulucollector]

What a blast from the past...
I sculpted these for Corgi when Richard Walker was still with them. I still have a resin copies of the two Arnhem diorama sections that were never released and a few figures buried in the collection too. There were plans to do quite a few more figure sets and vehicle variants when the range came to an end. I was a bit disappointed to see these go.
All the best,
Ken

Wow small world..... Would love to see any pics you have ...... I believe these are the arnhem dioramas you are mentioning and you could put them together similar to the D-Day sets

 

[zulucollector]

In the Corgi 2007 catalogue they show the proposed figures for the next year....

Russian Infantry

Canadian Dieppe Infantry

German Winter Infantry

British 8th Army

Sadly the proposed soldiers for the skirmish series never went into production

Only silhouettes but gives you an idea where they were going

 

[zulucollector]

What a blast from the past...
I sculpted these for Corgi when Richard Walker was still with them. I still have a resin copies of the two Arnhem diorama sections that were never released and a few figures buried in the collection too. There were plans to do quite a few more figure sets and vehicle variants when the range came to an end. I was a bit disappointed to see these go.
All the best,
Ken

Here are the 3 dioramas that went into production. The two D-day dioramas are meant to connect. The kursk diorama was a limited edition set. I supplemented the figures with some riders from the skirmish series.

 

[zulucollector]

I believe this was the complete series that Corgi produced.........................

WW2 US INFANTRY SET 1944 US59003
WW2 GERMAN INFANTRY SET 1944 US59004
WW2 GERMAN PARATROOPER SET US59009
WW2 BRITISH PARATROOPER SET US59010
WW2 US RANGERS US59011
WW2 US INFANTRY IN WINTER US59012
WW2 GERMAN INFANTRY IN WINTER US59013
WW2 US AIRBORNE INFANTRY US59014

Based on certificates of authenticity - production runs varied between 1,200 to 2,500 sets worldwide

 

[zulucollector]

I believe this was the complete series that Corgi produced.........................

WW2 US INFANTRY SET 1944 US59003
WW2 GERMAN INFANTRY SET 1944 US59004
WW2 GERMAN PARATROOPER SET US59009
WW2 BRITISH PARATROOPER SET US59010
WW2 US RANGERS US59011
WW2 US INFANTRY IN WINTER US59012
WW2 GERMAN INFANTRY IN WINTER US59013
WW2 US AIRBORNE INFANTRY US59014

Some pics of the winter figs & waffen SS with corgi armour

 

[zulucollector]

I believe this was the complete series that Corgi produced.........................

WW2 US INFANTRY SET 1944 US59003
WW2 GERMAN INFANTRY SET 1944 US59004
WW2 GERMAN PARATROOPER SET US59009
WW2 BRITISH PARATROOPER SET US59010
WW2 US RANGERS US59011
WW2 US INFANTRY IN WINTER US59012
WW2 GERMAN INFANTRY IN WINTER US59013
WW2 US AIRBORNE INFANTRY US59014

Just some pics including figures exclusive to the D-day dioramas. I also the pics from the 2005/2006 catalogue

 

[zulucollector]

Corgi Skirmish Line

Here are 5 of the 8 sets of the Corgi Skirmish Lineup... The armour themselves were some of the weakest that Corgi produced in terms of detailing. It was likely Corgi reinventing itself towards war gaming with a lower cost point. You can still find some of them on ebay and online stores. The most thought after ones being the tiger and sherman with riders as the others had production runs of over 2500 and those two had more limited production runs. Now combining german infantry, british red devils, and german paratroops sets you could also form an equivalent to a forward march set. Sorry to say these were the last of the line for Corgi WW2 armour...............

 

[zulucollector]

Corgi 50th Anninversay

I thought I would close out today pics with the rest of the skirmish line and Corgi 50th anniversary tanks

The gold plated sherman with a production run of 50 to match their anniversary

The other one is the thunderbolt with a production run of 1956 or the first year of Corgi's existence

 

[Eazy]

Nice thread Zulucollector. Before i got into collecting K&C I bought quite a few of the Corgi 1/50 vehicles. They are gathering dust in the loft but this thread makes me want to dig them out. I might take a few pics and add them to the thread.
I don't have too many of the figures. They weren't widely available here in the UK I think.
I did manage to get the D-day diorama sets. Luckily I got them on sale as they were pretty expensive normally I recall.
The figures look really good. I kind of wished I'd bought the Tiger and Sherman with the riders.
You are right though- the tanks in the Skirmish sets were kind of weak. Especially compared with the earlier D-day and Push Through Holland and Germany sets.
Any chance of some pics of the figures sets if you get the chance?

Cheers
James

 

[OzDigger]

Until my big clearout I had a large collection of 1/50 scale items including Corgi, Solido, Verem, Gaso-line etc together with dozens of 1/48 Aircraft from CDC/Franklin Mint etc. It is an excellent scale for vehicles and aircraft as they are large enough to have decent detail but not to large for mass displays. The only issue I had with the scale was the figures, they weren't large enough to provide decent detail. For example the Corgi figures had impressive detail for their size but didn't approach 1/32-30 scale figure standards. That was a shame because in many cases the detail on the 1/50 tanks was often better than the detail on most 1/30 scale models. Hopefully technology will one day enable manufacturers to improve detail in the smaller figures but until then I will concentrate on 1/30 scale. The other downside with Corgi etc was the relatively high RRP of their models, and this still applies to their 1/72 diecast aircraft. Lucky for collectors Corgi produce such a high production run that in time sets sell on ebay etc well under their original RRP.

 

[zulucollector]

Nice thread Zulucollector. Before i got into collecting K&C I bought quite a few of the Corgi 1/50 vehicles. They are gathering dust in the loft but this thread makes me want to dig them out. I might take a few pics and add them to the thread.
I don't have too many of the figures. They weren't widely available here in the UK I think.
I did manage to get the D-day diorama sets. Luckily I got them on sale as they were pretty expensive normally I recall.
The figures look really good. I kind of wished I'd bought the Tiger and Sherman with the riders.
You are right though- the tanks in the Skirmish sets were kind of weak. Especially compared with the earlier D-day and Push Through Holland and Germany sets.
Any chance of some pics of the figures sets if you get the chance?

Cheers
James

As requested....

 

[zulucollector]

As requested....

Here are the last 4 sets....

 

[zulucollector]

I believe this was the complete series that Corgi produced.........................

WW2 US INFANTRY SET 1944 US59003
WW2 GERMAN INFANTRY SET 1944 US59004
WW2 GERMAN PARATROOPER SET US59009
WW2 BRITISH PARATROOPER SET US59010
WW2 US RANGERS US59011
WW2 US INFANTRY IN WINTER US59012
WW2 GERMAN INFANTRY IN WINTER US59013
WW2 US AIRBORNE INFANTRY US59014

I forgot WW 2 German Waffen SS Infantry US59015 so there are 9 sets in total....

 

[Eazy]

Here are the last 4 sets....

Great thanks for that. Those figures look really good to me.
I wonder why they never released the Arnhem 2 piece set? Maybe lack of sales on the first sets?
i think it was the cost that put people off. I know i waited until i got the D-Day dio at a bargain price,

 

[zulucollector]

Great thanks for that. Those figures look really good to me.
I wonder why they never released the Arnhem 2 piece set? Maybe lack of sales on the first sets?
i think it was the cost that put people off. I know i waited until i got the D-Day dio at a bargain price,

I would love to hear Ken thoughts on the demise as he did the arnhem diorama prototypes.. Also some pics would be amazing of the mock dioramas and any figs...