Priestman Cub Shovel

This toy stayed in the range for 13 years and you can see why. It was a splendid piece of miniature engineering. Not only is it an accurate model of a Priestman digger, the engineering has been well thought out and it is beautifully made. The knob on the side takes the digger through a continuous, circular cycle of a digging action, emptying the bucket at the end of each pass. It must be one of Corgi's best engineered items, better even then the Simon Snorkel fire engine.

Later releases differ in many details from the earlier ones, not surprising with such a long production run. The knob on late releases is a newer casting, you will also see this same knob on the very late issue Land Rover wrecker. The attachment of the swivelling body to the tracked base is different too. On later ones there is a screw and washer with a car tyre under the washer - the earlier ones had a metal spring circlip type arrangement.

The early releases have much more character and are much more attractive objects altogether. It is interesting to see how the mechanism changed over time. and how corners were cut during 13 years of production, presumably to take out costs. One example is the cables, at one stage in the cycle they lose tension, on the old one this was handled by them being allowed to fall out of the bottom of the bodywork with a weight tied to the end, on the later one the cables are elastic. There's also a little lever at the front of the cab on the old one - thanks to Dave who left a note in the Guest Book I now know that this locks and unlocks the swivel mechanism (hence 'Luffing Shovel'), allowing the cab to swing over the tracks, the lever has disappeared on the newer one.

By the way - the cables are just for show, the digging action is direct from the knob on to the boom / jib, it works just as well without them.

1997 Onwards, Corgi Classics

In 1997 Corgi revisited this casting and re-released it as a companion piece to the Corgi Classics truck range. It was released as a single item, as part of a 'Building Britain' set with Wimpey branding and paired with a number of different low loaders