Husky - Corgi Juniors & Rockets by Mettoy

These were a range of toys made by Mettoy, the Company famous for the Corgi brand of model cars. The first models appeared in 1964 and were sold exclusively by Woolworths in the UK , USA, & Canada into 1969, although from 1966 appearing in other countries through normal Corgi retailers.
They were made to a similar scale as the then current Lesney 1-75 models and the range covered a wide variety of vehicle types. The bodies were made from die cast metal and the bases, wheels and interiors were made from plastic so they were not as robust as the Lesney range. Later the wheels were made from diecast metal and had plastic tyres fitted. The bases were made from chromed plastic and had a 'U' shaped slot at each end for the axles to sit in. These also worked as the suspension springs and were not very strong so when the suspension broke the wheels would disappear up into the body.
The exclusive Woolworths agreement ended in 1969 so the range was renamed to "Corgi Juniors" to cash in on the good reputation of the 1/43 scale range. Corgi's original 1969 response to Mattel's "Hotwheels" was "WHIZZWHEELS" which utilised Husky & Corgi Juniors body castings branded as "Corgi Rockets". Both "Whizzwheels" and "Hotwheels" were premium priced ranges in 1969 retailing one shilling (5 pence) more than traditional wheels cars.
However Lesney's Matchbox Superfast range was widely available from Christmas 1969 offering fast low friction wheels for the same price as any other basic car triggering the collapse in demand for slow realistic wheeled Corgi Juniors. Corgi responded with their 1970 decison to fit "WHIZZWHEELS" to the entire Corgi Juniors range.
Loss of a lawsuit in 1971 brought by Mattel over trackset patents killed the range of Corgi Rockets tracksets and the world wide success of Matchbox Superfast made it impossible to sell Corgi Rockets cars at a price premium so they too were dropped in 1972.
The body castings continued as Corgi Juniors Whizzwheels at Matchbox Superfast prices and Mattel lost more than half of their diecast volume in 1973 prompting the end of fancy Redline wheels, metal baseplates and candy colours as they struggled for the next 5 years to cut costs to compete at Corgi Juniors & Matchbox Superfast pocket money prices.

Our old Husky page can be found Here