Corgi International Limited ''(formerly known as Zindart International Limited)'' is a company rooted in the old Welsh

Corgi Toys Corgi Toys (trademark) is the brand name of a range of die-cast toy vehicles created by Mettoy and currently owned by Hornby Railways, Hornby.Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

around 1990, then made independent. Today, Corgi consists of three distinct brands that manufacture movie prop replicas, die-cast collectibles, and gift and toy products. Corgi International also distributes trading cards and movie memorabilia through a separate brand.

History

In July 1977, Zindart International Limited was incorporated in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

as a

limited company In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...

under the Hong Kong Companies Ordinance initially to operate a manufacturing facility. In February 1997, the company’s ADSs were listed on the NASDAQ Global Market. In July 1999, the company acquired

Corgi Classics Limited Corgi Classics Limited is a British die-cast scale model manufacturer established as an independent company in 1984, which has its origins in the Corgi Toys brand introduced by Mettoy in 1956. It is known for its British and North American vehic ...

, who made the classic diecast cars. Corgi was founded in 1956 in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Mettoy Mettoy (an abbreviation of "Metal Toy") was a British manufacturing company founded in 1933 by German émigré Philip Ullmann, who was later joined by South African-born German Arthur Katz who had previously worked for Ullmann at his toy company T ...

. It is one of the oldest marketers of collectible

die-cast Die casting is a metal casting process that is characterized by forcing molten metal under high pressure into a mold cavity. The mold cavity is created using two hardened tool steel dies which have been machined into shape and work similarly t ...

models of lorries, buses, cars and aeroplanes in the world, with its principal markets of its products in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and Northern

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. After renaming the company to Corgi International Limited, in December 2006 the company sold their Zindart Manufacturing division. Corgi also operated a book and paper division, Hua Yang, which Corgi acquired in February 1998 and had sold in May 2004. In December 2006, Corgi acquired Cards Inc. and merged with Master Replicas. After these acquisitions, Corgi began the process of reclassifying product categories and channels of distribution to be more closely aligned with the strategic direction and organization structure of the company. In April 2008, Corgi International sold the Corgi Classics brand, tooling and intellectual property rights to Hornby Hobbies Ltd. This sale did not include licensed properties such as

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

and

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

. Corgi International Limited is a global Pop Culture company, which develops and markets licensed and generic toys, gifts and collectables distributed via direct, specialty, hobby, collector and mass retail channels worldwide. Marketed under the brand names Master Replicas, PopCo and H2go, the Company’s line of products range from entertainment prop replicas and limited edition memorabilia to traditional toys and gift merchandise. The Company holds varying licenses for entertainment franchises including

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

Halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * ''Halo'' (franch ...

and

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

, amongst others.

Master Replicas

The Master Replicas brand ''(also known as MR)'' produce

movie prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

replicas A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Al ...

and high end

collectibles A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...

. Based in

Walnut Creek, CA Walnut Creek is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, about east of the city of Oakland. With a total population of 70,127 per the 2020 census, Walnut Creek se ...

, the company was founded in 2003 by

Michael Cookson Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

. Cookson has served as Chairman of Master Replicas since it was founded and chief executive officer since August 2004. Master Replicas develops and markets licensed collectables distributed via direct, specialty, hobby, collector and mass retail channels worldwide. Master Replicas holds varying licenses for entertainment franchises including

James Bond 007 The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

, and

The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...

. Previous to January 2008, the company manufactured and sold product under the

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

brand before The Company chose not to renew the license upon expiration. While many of their items are

props A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...

at full-scale (particularly weapons like lightsabers, phasers, and swords), they also make many

scale model A scale model is a physical model which is geometrically similar to an object (known as the prototype). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototypes ...

items, like spaceships, and characters. Master Replicas has also been commissioned to make items for corporations to resell on their own. For example, MR made a 1/6 scale

Master Sword The is a Fiction, fictional divine magic sword in Nintendo's ''The Legend of Zelda'' series. It is also known as "The Blade of Evil's Bane", the "Sword of Resurrection", the "Sword that Seals the Darkness", and the "Sacred Sword". It was introdu ...

and Hylian Shield for

and

Target Stores Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compon ...

to coincide with the release of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Force FX

Master Replicas is known for their Force FX product line which recreated various lightsabers used in the

movies. Master Replicas no longer produces this product line but has adapted the technology to replicas of other items including the

Energy Sword and Link's Sword from Nintendo's ''

The Legend of Zelda ''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-rele ...

''.

Closing

Master Replicas closed upon Corgi International expiry. The Master Replicas brand is now owned by Darren Epstein who bought it from the administrators.

Relaunch

On December 29, 2022, Darren Epstein announced via Linkedin that he was relaunching the Master Replicas brand, had acquired licenses belonging to Eaglemoss, and will be "starting to put some ranges up for sale."

Cards Inc.

Cards Inc., based in

Watford, England Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, an ...

, was founded by Darren Epstein in 1989 and was a distributor of trading cards and pop culture memorabilia principally in the

and

. The Cards Inc brand name and its trading card game, sticker, and collectible trading card-based business was sold in April 2008 the remainder of the Cards Inc business continues its distribution of pop culture collectibles under the name of PopCo Distribution. On October 31, 2008, PopCo Distribution was placed into administration, which is the rough equivalent to Chapter 11 reorganization in the United States.

References

{{reflist Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq