Corgi toys

Corgi has been making its popular die-cast vehicles since 1956. Famous for its logo of a pint-size Welsh dog, its cars, buses and lorries are still popular today with some of the baby boomers who first bought them in their youth. Read the article. Photograph: PR

This James Bond car is Corgi’s best-selling model ever. Painted in gold, the Aston Martin DB5 included an ejector seat and front-mounted machine guns Photograph: PR

Corgi got its name for three reasons - it was short and catchy, because the models were to be produced in Swansea, and because of its strong association with the royal family Photograph: PR

Being die-cast, Corgi’s cars could include innovations such as windows and doors which opened. Details such as intricate engines and jewelled headlights were also popular Photograph: PR

Many of Corgi's models came from TV and film. Its Starsky and Hutch car included miniature figures of the crime-fighting duo, and collectors will happily pay £300 for its Oldsmobile Super 88 'Thrushbuster', from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Photograph: PR

Like Hornby, Corgi has also made model trains. This is its miniature Flying Scotsman - the steam-powered locomotive that ran daily between London and Edinburgh Photograph: PR

Hornby has snapped up another piece of the model market with the acquisition of Corgi, the maker of miniature vehicles. (Read the article) Photograph: PR

Model-making moves with the times. This is a replica of the Eurofighter Typhoon, the RAF's latest fighter jet Photograph: PR

The James Bond amphibious Lotus Esprit driven by Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me is another of Corgi's popular models Photograph: PR

Hornby Railways was created in 1901 by Frank Hornby, who also created Meccano. Its Duplo range of model trains, launched in 1938, helped to bring the 00 gauge to carpets across Britain Photograph: Newscast

Since taking over at Hornby in 2001, chief executive Frank Martin has doubled sales. He told the Guardian last year that moving production to China had kept the company afloat. Read the article Photograph: Martin Godwin/Guardian

Hornby has profited from some canny commercial tie-ins, such as this Simpsons-branded scalextric set and its Hogwarts Express train set for Harry Potter fans Photograph: PR

This Hawker Hurricane is part of Airfix's range of plastic model kits. It was founded in 1939, but fell into Hornby's hands at the end of 2006 after parent company Humbrol collapsed Photograph: Rex