Corgi International Limited (formerly known as Zindart International Limited) was a manufacturing company established in 1978 which in 1999 became owner of the

Corgi The Welsh Corgi ( or Corgi, plural Corgis, or occasionally the etymologically consistent Corgwn; ) is a small Dog type, type of herding dog that originated in Wales. The name ''corgi'' is thought to be derived from the Welsh language, Welsh w ...

brand after acquiring the independent company Corgi Classics Ltd.The history of Corgi
on Hornyhobbies.com Corgi International consisted of three distinct brands (''Master Replicas'', ''PopCo'' and ''H2go'') that manufactured movie

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen 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, die-cast

scale model A scale model is a physical model that 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 protot ...

collectibles, and gift and

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and p ...

products. The company also distributed

trading card A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other t ...

s and movie memorabilia through a separate brand. The Company held varying licenses for entertainment franchises including

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

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 ...

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

Halo HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to: Most common meanings * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head * ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021) Arts and en ...

and

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

, amongst others.Corgi International Limited announces a license agreement with Nintendo of America
on Actionfigureinsider.com, June 19, 2007

History

In July 1978, "Zindart International Limited" was incorporated in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

as a

limited company In a limited company, the Legal liability, 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 c ...

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

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

as Mettoy. It is one of the oldest marketers of collectible die-cast 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and Northern

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. 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.CORGI INTERNATIONAL LIMITED – Hong Kong S.A.R., China. November 17, 2006
on Sec.gov 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 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,brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

, tooling and intellectual property rights to Hornby Hobbies Ltd. This sale did not include licensed properties such as

and

Master Replicas

The "Master Replicas" brand (also known as MR) produces movie prop

replicas A replica is an exact (usually 1:1 in scale) copy or remake 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 ...

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. Walnut Creek has a total population of 70,127 per the 2020 census, is ...

, the company was founded in 2003 by Michael Cookson. 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,

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

, and

The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Musical theatre, musical Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Cre ...

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

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

brand before the company chose not to renew the license upon expiration. While many of their items are props at full-scale (particularly weapons like lightsabers, phasers, and swords), they also make many

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 and Hylian Shield for

and

Target Stores Target Corporation is an American retail corporation that operates a retail chain, chain of discount department stores and hypermarkets, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh-largest retailer in the United States, and a co ...

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. They were in production from 2002 to 2007. 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 is a media franchise, video game series created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo; some portable installments and re-releases have been outsourced to Flags ...

''.

Closing

Master Replicas closed upon Corgi International expiry. The Master Replicas brand is now owned by business development Darren Epstein who bought it from the administrators.Master Replicas Interview: Darren Epstein on Stargate & Dune Ships
by Tyler Treese on Comingsoon.net, 7 Oct 2023

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". Legal proceedings were issued against former employees trying to pass off use of the brand in 2019, and that ceased as they had no rights for the brand, domain or usage. In Jan 2023 it was announced that Master Replicas was to return. The announcement and email stated that Master Replicas has purchased Eaglemoss and its stock and will be marketing this product and new product ranges in due course. It was confirmed that Darren Epstein still owns the brand and was involved in the relaunch.A word with… Darren Epstein of Heathside Trading
by Tessa Clayton on Licensingsource.net – November 21, 2023 Master Replicas relaunched in March 2023 with its sister company Heathside Trading owned by Robert Myers and John Nelson. Heathside is a UK owned entity with over 40 staff based in Preston and London, England. It holds many licenses for many different Pop Culture ranges. Each week Master Replicas has been releasing product that was purchased on the Eaglemoss liquidation. There were three parts of the liquidation, UK, EU and USA. It seems Heathside Trading purchased each company liquidation under the bankruptcy and has been working with Master Replicas in sale of this inventory. Master Replicas has announced new licensing agreements with CBS, Expanse, Stargate amongst other for the continued launch of the company.

Cards Inc.

Cards Inc., based in Watford, England, was founded by Darren Epstein in 1989 and was a distributor of

trading cards A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other t ...

and pop culture memorabilia principally in the

and

. Darren Epstein was the winner of the Earnst and Young Young Entrepreneur of the Year as well as the Coutts regional business of the year. 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 continued its distribution of pop culture collectibles under the name of "PopCo Distribution". Cards Inc held the record for the fastest selling TSV on QVC of 12,000 units in 11 minutes on a Lord of the Rings litho print set. This was presented on screen by Darren Epstein. He also ran the Harry Potter, Star Wars and Pokemon hours for QVC for over 5 years. On October 31, 2008, PopCo Distribution was placed into administration, which is the rough equivalent to Chapter 11 reorganization in the United States.

References

External links

Master Replicas

Heathside Trading
{{Scale model brands Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Manufacturing companies established in 1978 1978 establishments in China Companies of Hong Kong Toy companies of China