[Gambit]

Originally Posted by MigAlley

I do think it's a shame that this range has been canned, though. Some of the later models went a bit over the top with regard to the weathering and those silly toy soldiers, but by and large Corgi's armor range was very well done imo. It's just a shame that too few were willing to pay the (very high) price - which was definately not helped by the cut-price Legend range - and that they ended up doing the same thing over and over again (HOW many green Shermans?). God knows why they never did a Panzer IV, that would strike me as an obvious success. Shame that none of that is likely to ever happen now; still, I'll cherish the ones I have, they look very nice with the recent 1/48 line by Hobby Master. What do you guys think?

I agree and was dissapointed they haven't done any new molds.

[Cardinal]

Originally Posted by MigAlley

I managed to bag this one for a very good price on the Bay, and struck an even better deal with the seller for postage - he left out that stupid slab and sent me just the two models, which saved me a fortune! First impressions are very good - like some of you noted, it may not be accurate for Kursk (the Tiger being a later model), but it's an excellent example of life on the Eastern Front. I really like the fact that Corgi have finally done a WWII T-34 that is actually green, and the mudsplatters make this one look really well worn. The Tiger looks the business as well, you can hardly see the original color save for the turret and, strangely enough, the bottom - that is a bit of a weird oversight. Still, it's the heft of these models and their well-judged "used" look that make these stand out from the crowd. I never baulked at the price of Corgi's armor because you know you're getting the real deal, rather than a premade plastic kit ("die cast", yeah right). So I'm very pleased; perhaps I'll snap some pictures sometime later so you can see for yourselves.

I do think it's a shame that this range has been canned, though. Some of the later models went a bit over the top with regard to the weathering and those silly toy soldiers, but by and large Corgi's armor range was very well done imo. It's just a shame that too few were willing to pay the (very high) price - which was definately not helped by the cut-price Legend range - and that they ended up doing the same thing over and over again (HOW many green Shermans?). God knows why they never did a Panzer IV, that would strike me as an obvious success. Shame that none of that is likely to ever happen now; still, I'll cherish the ones I have, they look very nice with the recent 1/48 line by Hobby Master. What do you guys think?

I really like Corgi's 1/50 armour range and appreciate those that I've collected thus far - their T34/85 (North Korean, but could have been 'generic' WWII Eastern Front) is also vastly underrated - for pics see see post #10 here Corgi 1/50 T-34/85?

[Cruver Collecter]

I have only have twelve of the Corgi 1/50th scale tanks and think they are pretty nice looking. I especially like the Cromwell, Centaur and Comet. I wish they had put some tanks like the Crusader and the Valentine.

[MigAlley]

Yes, those English types are great, I love those as well. I was also hoping for a Crusader (one of my favorites, it looks so cool with those slanted sides to the turret!), Valentine and Matilda, and perhaps a Honey as well (I do have a nice one from Gasoline). If you check out Mike's Diecast it is truly amazing how many Shermans Corgi managed to pump out - you'd have to say in that light that a Panzer IV would have been an obvious choice as well.

I've bought a lot of Corgi's releases over the years, and the weight and weathering really does set them apart for me. The line from the Italian campaign is nice and colourful, and features many of my favorites. The ETO line is a bit samey if you ask me - there are some really neat subversions (like the Sherman Duck), but too many Shermans and Tigers look alike to me (they also managed to pump out an amazing number of Centaurs, compared with only very few Cromwells!) The Battle of the Bulge series was one I really looked forward to, but I'm not convinced by many of their attempts at whitewash. One of the mistakes I think is that Corgi diverted only very little attention to the Eastern Front - there were loads of different schemes that could be used there, and if you're going to try to sell the same again and again, then you really need some distinctive schemes. This is why I was particularly pleased with this diorama, and I thought the recent History Channel brown/green Tiger was impressive as well.

Overall, though, if you look at the releases, the impression you get is that of milking the existing casts to the maximum, and that is a real shame if you ask me. There have been so many versions that are so obvuiously redundant, some even immensely ugly (the white HC T-34, didn't like that one at all) - and this will have done no good for anyone who was still paying RRP for the full-on versions. Now they may be gone forever, and without ever doing a WWII T-34/85, or any German tank in Field Grey. HM is filling the void somewhat, but many of theirs are too light if you ask me, and too clean. I do like Dragon's colours and weathering, but the plasticness just kills it a bit for me - my CDCs show how much nicer Dragon's line could have been. Still, there are some gems to be had among Corgi's later releases, and I'll still be on the lookout for those - the D-Day diorama Sherman, for example. I do feel that there's a real need for a Tricatus-like site for Corgi's armour releases - sometimes you just want to see some impressively big photos before you take the plunge. Doesn't anyone feel like taking some high-quality snaps of their collection?