Re: Donk's Modest Bond collection
Voituer wrote:Hey Donk,
My vote for one of the rarest juniors is the one in the Heroes Giftset - whats your vote?
Well once I would have said the Husky/Corgi Juniors 1001 but realistically I guess it has to be the carded 1010 OHMSS VW Beetle. I remember seeing one at the Lea Valley collectors fair back in 1984 for I think 60 Quid but did not know what the hell it was & passed on it...Dohhh!
Well, since you have the car in the OHMSS set I can imagine you can live with that 
Voituer, which car do you mean with "the one in the Heroes Giftset"?
At first glance these both look like the Corgi Juniors packaged 1001 James Bond Aston Martin DB6 however the first diecast issued in 1968 is technically the 3rd and in my opinion the superior variant of the Husky Bond DB6 with metal wheels and rubber tyres & matt silver coachwork, this example being made for the American market, the baseplate featuring a Corgi Juniors sticker covering the husky branding. The second diecast issued in 1970 featured metalic silver coachwork, a new casting for the baseplate featuring Corgi Juniors branding and the less aesthetically pleasing Whizzwheels. Not surprising the first diecast which I class as a transitional model for the Husky/Corgi Juniors change over is the rarer version which took this collector many years to source
Woohoo, two models from Donk's modest collection that are also part of mine! 
So, now I just need the OHMSS Rockets and Juniors sets, the gold-plated Corgi premiere models, the Eidai Grip Lotus, the ... 
Just two modest remarks: The Juniors were introduced in 1970, not 1968. And while the non-Whizzwheels version was available only for a few months until they adapted the baseplate to accomodate the larger diameter wheels, this Whizzwheels version was introduced sometime later the same year and produced until 1972.
Interesting is that the Corgi Juniors sticker did not cover the Husky baseplate - the HUSKY wording was machined off the mould, leaving a larger, empty space.
I think it's true that the non-Whizzwheels Corgi Juniors were only available in the U.S., I have never seen a card without the 75c price. Maybe in Britain there was still enough stock left of the Husky DB6 until the Whizzwheels version arrived.
The Whizzwheels cars are rather ugly - but they can keep a collector happy hunting for variations. There are (at least) four different #1001 wheel versions: 
The first had the deep-dish Rockets wheels with recessed spokes which prevented chrome-foiling. Later came flat 5-spoke wheels in unchromed and chromed versions - these are a bit smaller than the earlier wheels. And finally, again a bit smaller (but still far oversized), 10-spoke wheels; shown in the 1972 catalogue. The two cars to the right are the 1979-83 release #40 which show the far smaller wheels, clear windows and a redesigned ejector mechanism with larger button.
Looking forward to the next pictures of your treasures, Donk! 
