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 Since the debut of the Routemaster in the late 1950's, there have been many versions available in model form, in a wide range of colors and sizes. Some of these models are now extremely valuable...not a big surprise when you consider that most began their lives as toys (not collector's items). Enjoy this brief tour of model buses...I only wish that I owned all of the examples shown here! Make sure to visit our models pages for lots of pictures. |
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FAMILIAR
BRANDS
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Once
upon a time, buses were actually toys, which meant that we played with
them and threw the boxes away - great for memories, terrible for resale
value. Now everything is targeted to the adult collector, and most buses
are now "collectibles" that may never be taken out of the box
- and will never see the benefit of those memories.  My
favorite Routemaster diecast models are the ones made by EFE. These are
not toys, but rather "collectibles" designed for the adult market.
Because of my bias, there is much more information on this site dedicated
to the EFE products. Visit our EFE RM page One of many variants to the 469 casting.  Of
course, no Routemaster collection could be complete without a few Corgis.
There have been hundreds of variations in the 35+ years that they've been
made.Visit our Corgi RM page   The original 468 casting, which is smaller than the 469 and has different wheels. The bus shown above is the most common 468 and includes the Outspan Oranges adverts. It came in a variety of boxes.  The Corgi 468 casting, produced from 1964 to 1975, is an example of a common model that was meant to be a toy...meaning that very few escaped in mint condition, most of which are quite valuable today.  For those who didn't play with their buses or lose the boxes, a rare MIB New South Wales Australian variant of the 468 sold at auction for over $2,000! Now that's price appreciation.  "The Great Book of Corgi 1956-1983" by Marcel Cleemput is the essential Corgi guide - this bus came packaged with the book. The biggest problem that I've seen with Corgi is that the "odd patch" years (in between owners) led to a lot of variations that are hard to put a true value on. In many cases, extra advert stickers were sold to dealers and applied to a wide range of models. The Ramsey Catalogue provides a list of these buses (Oxo, Pentel, etc) and cautions that they aren't really that rare or valuable. Corgi still makes the traditional casting Routemaster with the nonrealistic wheels (for "play value") under the "Corgi Toy" name.  A more recent release (TY82301), depicting a popular tourist route.  In
the last few years, Corgi has also ventured into the 1/50 scale segment.
Unfortunately, these very nice models suffer from jeweled headlights (you
either love them or hate them) and are pretty expensive - sold as premiums
and fetching a price of $50+ each! The 35010 release honored the Queen Mother's 100 birthday. This Hong Kong Corgi Routemaster is probably my kids favorite bus, issued in late 1997 with a fictional Christmas livery.  The Budgie Routemasters, compared to EFE, are a much more crude approximation of the Routemaster. Of course, they were made 20-30 years ago, so it's really not a fair comparison.  Budgie 236, the usual red color Most of these were red, with a few green and gold ones added for good measure. A number of years after the first casting (236), they released another series with the 704/705/706 model numbers. 
Budgie 704 'Shop Linker", 705 "25 Faithful Years" and 706 "Watford FA Cup Final 84" models A lot of these show up on Ebay, usually overpriced... people seem to like to use the word "rare" in the descriptions. Not really. Visit our Budgie RM page Related to the Budgie, through ownership, are the Seerol versions of the Routemaster. These tend to be very inexpensive models meant for tourist shops. Visit our Seerol RM page  Seerol Routemaster |
 Compared
to Corgis, the Dinky Routemasters seem much more substantial (i.e. heavier).
A lot of these show up on Ebay as well. They were produced between 1964
and 1980. DInky 289 "Schweppes" Dinky even released a kit version of the 289 casting - the 1017 - that you could paint and assemble yourself. An unopened kit will appear on Ebay every now and then. I've even seen people trying to sell assembled nodels. Visit our Dinky RM page As always, having the original box makes a big difference in the overall value of the model. Both Dinky and Corgi have combined in the past the Routemaster with the London taxi...makes a nice souvenir.  I also collect taxis with my son. I scanned this from a mid-70's Dinky catalogue. It's too bad that no one has ever released a model like this one...of course, the tampo printing is hard enough to accomplish on the usual buses, much less a "busy' one like this.  During the 60s and 70s, a number of Routemasters actually sported all-over adverts. My first Routemaster was a Matchbox. There are two castings, the 5C and 5D, the latter 4mm longer than the former.  They must have used paint with uranium in it, because most of the later versions I see for sale now are still very bright red with all of the paint intact. View our Matchbox RM page Because these were meant to be toys, there are some extremely rare promotional variants. These buses in original condition often are valued at $500+.  Oxford
Diecast added a line of Routemasters a few years ago. They aren't bad
for the price...sort of the Budgie Routemaster for the 21st century. They
currently have around three dozen models. The models can only be purchased
(when new) directly from ODC.View our Oxford Diecast RM Page 
Oxford Diecast RM18D "Brantho-Korrux" Another
hard-to-find manufacturer was Benbros under the Zebra Toys label. The
#30 Routemaster Bus with "Fina Petrol" stickers is a $250+ bus, when
you can find one in excellent condition.
Visit our Zebra RM page  Zebra Toys #30  Tri-ang
Spot-On produced two variations of the Routemaster in 1/42 scale. These
substantial models are very valuable in mint in mint box condition, which
is pretty rare considering that they were treated as toys by most owners.View our Triang Spot-On RM page  Triang Spot-On #145, showing type 1 and 2 grille variations The Triang Minic line also had a Routemaster, the #214 with "Routemaster" side decals. This is one of the few models that has the original Routemaster front end design.  Triang Minic #214 Triang Minic also released a series of Routemaster models as part of their Minic Motorways line. These tend to suffer from plastic fatigue. Visit our Tri-ang Minic Motorways RM page  |
As with
the Tomicas, not all Routemaster models originate in the UK. There have
been a number of knock-off brands out of India, one of the most popular
being Milton (which was known by several other names). For these Indian
buses, old UK dies were used to create new toys. Visit our Milton RM page. Shown below is a Milton with "Insist on Milton Mini Cars" side decals.   Tomica
even has a series of Routemasters. I have found it very hard getting
information on this range...probably the biggest problem is my inability
to read Japanese web sites.View our Tomica RM page 
Tomica L8 "St George" This unusual model, by Sakura of Japan, has the body of a Routemaster but a modified flat front end.  Welly is a prolific Far-East producer of diecast models, and makes both a closed and open top version of the Routemaster. View our Welly RM page Packaging seen at tourist sites all over...  Not exactly diecast models...Wells sold a line of tinplate Routemasters, with several variations.  Wells models, showing different sizes and front end designs "M. Persaud" says the baseplate.  Same advert on both sides.  With destination "Big Ben" on the front.  Another Far-East Routemaster, this time by Playart from Hong Kong.  Here's the bus as it came packaged: 
Interestingly enough, Playart also produced this plastic version of the Routemaster:   Gaugemaster
as well as Kerico make a line of 1/160 scale (N gauge) buses. They have
pretty good detail considering how small they are. A few years ago, I
picked up another 1/160 scale RM at the London Transport Museum shop manufactured
by Kerico, part of a keychain. Speaking of that keychain bus....   Lone
Star also produced a line of "toy-like" RMs. These were almost
always red. Pretty crude, but then again for the price they were hard
to beat. View our Lone Star RM page  Packaging for the Lone Star Routemaster |
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OTHER
INTERESTING MODELS
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Any visitor to London
can pick up an inexpensive Routemaster at almost any tourist shop. I've
seen this particular Red Box model at a lot of shops.  I brought one of these Halsall's back for my kids after a London business trip in 1999...they got the wheels off in 30 minutes and removed the upper part of the casting in one day. It must have been Monday or Friday in the Chinese plant where it was made.  This one's by Sun Toys.  Here's a Zyll/Zylmex:  Four anonymous versions.     Here are two"official" LT versions:   |
I recently saw these
two models on ebay, likely purchased on a P&O Ferry. This "Fast Wheels" Routemaster is from Canada, and carries a livery for Victoria.  Just as there have been many diecast versions of the Routemaster, there have also been many kit versions.  Scalecraft kit #506 Most have been white metal kits, with a few plastic hybrid kits thrown in for good measure. I recently purchased this Scalecraft motorized kit, which measures about 7" long when built. Speaking of white metal models of the Routemaster, here are the instructions for one.  Does this count as a plastic kit? Now I'm really getting away from the theme of diecast Routemasters. I'm not even sure if this Lego London Bus is meant to be a Routemaster.  Lego London Bus #760 Not far removed from the Lego bus are these plastic friction Routemasters. I'm not sure who made them.    |
Mettoy, under the
Rosedale name, issued this plastic Routemaster. It has a friction motor
and is around eight inches long. I have also seen (but with no picture)
a silver "Queens' Silver Jubilee" RM.  The example below is missing the decals but has a very nice box indicating the V5488 model number.  Another plastic variant, this one from Lincoln International, carries the BOAC livery. It has some sort of a remote control arrangement.  The Lincoln model below carries the livery of a passenger shipping fleet.  Here's another remote control Routemaster, this one by "An An" of Hong Kong - clearly modelled after the Corgi 471 open top Disneyland bus.  Here's another plastic example, this by Telsada.  Finally, a few more anonymous plastic versions.   |
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NOT
QUITE DIECAST
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This
Routemaster is a telephone! It doesn't look very comfortable to use, however. Here's an RM puzzle made by Wrebbit.  Anyone for a Routemaster rug?  |
It's
metal, it's a Routemaster...it's a belt buckle! Here's a little RM box that opens.  |
One way
to keep track of the time - a gold-plated Routemaster clock. A somewhat less complicated RM clock.  Last but not least, a gold RM pencil sharpener.  |
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