Corgi; James Bond Icon Figure; Blofeld; You Only Live Twice

Year of Release: 1998

Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a villain from the James Bond series of novels and films, created by Ian Fleming. A criminal mastermind with aspirations of world domination, he is the archenemy of the British Secret Service agent James Bond. Blofeld is head of the global criminal organisation SPECTRE and is commonly referred to by the codename Number 1 within this organisation.

The most recurring antagonist in the franchise, Blofeld appears or is heard in three novels: Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service; and You Only Live Twice; as well as eight films from Eon Productions: From Russia with Love (1963), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), possibly For Your Eyes Only (1981; the pre-title sequence of which shows an unnamed character resembling Blofeld fall to his death), Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2021). The latter two films are set in a rebooted continuity, which started with Casino Royale (2006). Blofeld also appears in Never Say Never Again (1983), a remake of Thunderball that was not produced by Eon.

It was initially a convention of the films not to show Blofeld's face, only a close-up of him stroking his white, blue-eyed Persian cat. His face's first appearance is in You Only Live Twice as he introduces himself to Bond (whom he is meeting face-to-face for the first time) after previously appearing in the "traditional" way in earlier parts of the film.

In the books he is killed by Bond at the end of You Only Live Twice, in the film franchise he lives on.

This Corgi was sourced in April 2019 from a private collection