Corgi Knight Bus

[Dogmatix]

A few years ago, I got a mauve Corgi triple-decker RT a.k.a. 'Knight bus' for about £15. It's not really a model - the detail is not impressive, but it is robust, and about 00 scale. Nice for kids to play with, and as an amusing addition to a model railway layout.

 

Last weekend, my visiting nephews (5 & 7) saw it and played with it. They enjoyed themselves so much,  when they left, I thought  I'd try to get one for them (each).

 

So I looked in Ebay, and Amazon... and I could hardly believe it. £44 on Amazon (1 left), and nearly £60 on Ebay. For a kid's toy. Because collectors see it as a collectible collector's item, its value shoots up - way out of reach for kids. And so the kids get none. If it were a highly detailed model, I could understand such prices, and wouldn't let kids play with them as they'd be quite delicate. But not this Corgi toy.

 

How do you explain collector economics to kids? You can't  - not without making collectors look like mean, miserable child-haters.

 

There are plenty of non-toy collectable model buses around - why do collectors have to go for kid's toys, and deny kids their fun?

 

If I were Corgi, I'd release two versions - one limited edition detailed collector's version, at a premium price, and one like the one they did release - a toy for kids to play with, no easily breakable bits, reasonably priced, and in quantities to put collectors right off.

 

Sorry, collectors, but this one really got me cross.

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

Sadly, even if Corgi did release collectors' and kids' versions, it'd likely still be the kids' one that would end up commanding the high prices, because there would be far fewer boxed, unplayed-with examples around. The collectors' models would also possibly end up making a loss for anyone trying to sell them on.

[BernardTPM]

Surely a real 'collector' would want both (plus any minor variations, of course).

[petee19]

A few years ago, I got a mauve Corgi triple-decker RT a.k.a. 'Knight bus' for about £15. It's not really a model - the detail is not impressive, but it is robust, and about 00 scale. Nice for kids to play with, and as an amusing addition to a model railway layout.

 

Last weekend, my visiting nephews (5 & 7) saw it and played with it. They enjoyed themselves so much,  when they left, I thought  I'd try to get one for them (each).

 

So I looked in Ebay, and Amazon... and I could hardly believe it. £44 on Amazon (1 left), and nearly £60 on Ebay. For a kid's toy. Because collectors see it as a collectible collector's item, its value shoots up - way out of reach for kids. And so the kids get none. If it were a highly detailed model, I could understand such prices, and wouldn't let kids play with them as they'd be quite delicate. But not this Corgi toy.

 

How do you explain collector economics to kids? You can't  - not without making collectors look like mean, miserable child-haters.

 

There are plenty of non-toy collectable model buses around - why do collectors have to go for kid's toys, and deny kids their fun?

 

If I were Corgi, I'd release two versions - one limited edition detailed collector's version, at a premium price, and one like the one they did release - a toy for kids to play with, no easily breakable bits, reasonably priced, and in quantities to put collectors right off.

 

Sorry, collectors, but this one really got me cross.

 This was released about 3 years ago as part of the Harry Potter series,the last time I saw this model was in Model Zone at sale price of £5.00.