Changes to The Saint’s Volvo

When the “Saint’s” Volvo P1800 was reproduced by The Corgi Model Club, it was with an understanding that the only license needed was with Volvo. However, it turned out that Paramount Pictures had bought the exclusive rights to use the historic "Saint” logo, so the club has been working tirelessly behind the scenes to obtain full approval to continue to replicate and use this famous asset. With a new The Saint film announced for next year, Simon Templar has unsurprisingly been very much in the spotlight, which made the license discussions a bit more protracted than was originally envisaged.

So, the current Corgi Model Club Saint’s Volvo P1800 will be replaced with a new commission. This will mean that the first editions, which feature a cream-coloured background on the famous Saint’s logo, are now in extremely limited supply after a finite amount have been set aside for new club members until the second version is available. If you want to get your hands on another one of these limited first run models, then place your order in the shop now. Once they’ve gone, they really are gone!  

The new second edition, which is expected to arrive in in June, will have the Paramount Pictures licensing markings on the box and the Saint's logo on the bonnet will have no noticeable background colour. This second edition will be going onto the website as a pre-order.

As always, there's a story behind the cream background on the logo. This P1800 was a relatively early issue in the Corgi Model Club collection and the preference at the time was for the replicas to emulate what a typical original model looks like. Corgi No 258 was somewhat notorious in that the background on the Saint’s logo discoloured quickly to cream, which is how most people remember it. And that’s what was faithfully replicated.

However, many people have since said that they’d have preferred the model to be as originally intended, with a non-discoloured logo. So, the new second edition run will be produced with a pristine, officially licensed Saint logo, with no cream background.

To find out more about the whole range, visit the club’s website at www.corgimodelclub.com.