Corgi James Bond Golden Opportunity 24k Gold plated Aston Martin DB5 Gold Ingot

This is a 2002 overrun issue of the item described below. The condition of the car is mint with all special functions fully working. The high quality 24K Gold plating is superb with no rubbing, tarnishing or scratching in any area. The slide open gold bar/ingot display box with fold out flap is very nice with only mild storage wear.

It opens fully and closes smoothly. The original operating instructions remain sealed. In 2002 Corgi wished to encourage CEO's of blue chip companies to use products from Corgi's Definitive Bond Collection in their promotional advertising.

They produced 99 of these special edition high quality 24k gold plated James Bond Aston Martin DB5's (Production Designation CP04301). Functions included the ejector seat and opening roof with baddie, pop up rear bullet screen and pop out machine guns and over riders.

These are not the same as the gold plated cars that were released at various times since 1993 as the plating on the "Gold Ingot" models has multiple layers of 24K gold to give a greater depth of finish and so is of a much higher quality. The baseplate is also different from all other gold plated examples. They were presented in special slide open gold bar packaging with "GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY" embossed on the front face.

This enhanced the Goldfinger theme from which the original hugely successful model sprang. More embossing on the upper surface shows a Corgi logo, a Bond logo and the production date (02).

The bar was contained in a plain white card box. The original 99 were individually numbered and each car's number was printed on a flap that folds out when the bar is opened.

Accompanying this original issue was an A4 brown envelope containing a manilla folder with a mission letter from "M" and order paperwork (see picture 23 for an example of a genuine and complete original from the 99 that is not part of this sale). The sealed operating instructions were also present with this issue.

Each of these pieces were then hand delivered by Corgi employees to the blue chip CEO's in the London area. Due to the economies of manufacturing, 200 more pieces were produced than were actually needed for the promo. A percentage of the 200 were offered to Corgi Club members through the magazine. These were supplied as the car only and packed in a small white plain card box with a signed letter from The Corgi Collectors Club stating the car's origin. A genuine example of this letter is shown in the last picture. Some of the earlier car only issues came with number plate stickers in situ. However, an unknown percentage of the 200 were supplied by Corgi (often to retailers) in the original sliding gold ingot box. These retained the fold out flap but were not individually numbered so the flap contains no information. They did have the plain white outer box and sealed operating instructions but did not come with the letter from "M" as it did not apply. None of these pieces have number plate stickers and some have chrome screws to the base rather than the black screws.

The piece offered here is one of these but has lost the plain white box. 45 of the 200 were acquired by Comet Miniatures from Corgi directly.

They manufactured the gold bar boxes but in a thicker card and without the fold out flap. The upper embossing was replaced with large satin finished gold stickers with black text depicting the same logos that were embossed on the originals. The "GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY" title on the front face did not appear at all. Each of the 45 were numbered but with the absence of the fold out flap, the number appeared on a Comet Miniatures headed certificate that was issued with each car.

Again, some earlier versions have number plate stickers but later ones do not. The piece on offer here is 100% Corgi and it would be fair to state that not many more than 100 were ever produced. It is the very definition of rare and a serious die cast collector's item but more than just a rarity, it is a dominating centrepiece for any collection.