1985–91 blue boxes come with:

“271 James Bond Aston Martin”
“271/1 James Bond Aston Martin”
“C271/1 James Bond Aston Martin”
“C271/1 Aston Martin”
Made in China says “C271/1 ASTON MARTIN”

There are also different box windows – the first are larger and reach to the rear wall and can be found on boxes with two green or orange dots – and later, the boxes got slightly higher so that only one orange dot is visible on the top left instead of two (the other being on the rear wall). I think the change of the box height happened during “C271/1 James Bond Aston Martin”.

Blue box period 1984/85(?)–1990/91(?).

My least favourite Corgi box design but still a lot of variations if one looks closely.

271 James Bond Aston Martin
Corgi Toys Ltd., Swansea, Great Britain © 1984
large window, two green dots

First version of the new box design, introduced in 1985 or maybe already for the Christmas season in late 1984, I don't know for sure. The window is made of thicker material than used before and reaches back to the rear wall. Two green dots are visible on the top left.
The plinths have a small cutout area at the rear top edge that corresponds with the large window. Early plinths have tabs and slots on the sides but these were soon deleted. The tabs make the plinths more stable and the car sits higher, so it can only be displayed with the roof panel closed. (I think the DB5 came with a closed roof anyway from 1981 until the change to the taller blue box but in the other boxes it is at least possible to keep the car with roof open to release the ejector seat spring.)
These plinths were designed for the car facing left as per usual Corgi tradition. Later, the wheel cutouts were moved to the right so it seems likely that the cars were packaged facing to the right. Either way, the plinths show the cars parallel to the box and close to the rear wall.

And the same outer box with a different plinth, designed for the car facing to the right. Otherwise identical to the previously shown issue. Note the dark blue Bond figure and unusually light brown bandit. Generally speaking, as I am not the original buyer of these cars I can not say for sure if the cars and figures are exactly as they came from the factory or have been exchanged at a later time.

271 James Bond Aston Martin
Corgi Toys Ltd., Swansea, Great Britain © 1984
large window, two orange dots

Same box as before, except that the green dots have are now orange. Otherwise unchanged text and graphics.

Note that the plinth on my example has no longer a cutout on the rear wall but I have also seen these box with the earlier plinth style. Probably a running change in anticipation of the next box generation (or a swapped plinth?).

Comparison of plinths:

In addition to the different shades of yellow, note the cutout on the rear wall on the two plinths to the left, with the one behind having side tabs and slots. One has a printed item number 52237 (the boxes have the corresponding number 52232), the others have a “7” needled into one of the side panels.

271 James Bond Aston Martin
Corgi Toys Ltd., Swansea, Great Britain © 1984
medium window, two orange dots

Window size and cellophane material revert back to the style used on the black/yellow/red boxes. Copyright is still 1984, although my guess is that this version was probably released later in 1985 or even 1986.

271/1 James Bond Aston Martin
Corgi Toys Ltd., Swansea, Great Britain © 198? [probably © 1986]
medium window, two orange dots

According to Bill Manzke's “Unauthorized Encyclopedia of Corgi Toys”, the /1 was added to the numbers from January 1987.

Different text for © 1986 box:

C271/1 James Bond Aston Martin
Corgi Toys Ltd., Swansea, Great Britain © 1986
medium window, two orange dots

C271/1 James Bond Aston Martin
Corgi Toys Ltd., Swansea, Great Britain © 1986
small window, one orange dot (= tall box)

Box is a bit higher than previously, so that instead of the two orange dots on the top left there is only one visible on the top. The plinths again show the car turned to the viewer, as in the final Mettoy boxes. Also the window cellophane reverts to the thicker material as used on the large-window boxes.

Comparison of low and tall box – note that the size of the yellow field for the barcode was enlarged for the tall box, and the barcode prefix 0 is now on the same line as the other digits:

C271/1 Aston Martin
Corgi Toys Ltd., Swansea, Great Britain © 1986
small window, one orange dot

Noticeable differences of the blue and orange colours, as these boxes use spot colours of dark blue, dark yellow and red instead of the usual process colours magenta, cyan and yellow :

C271/1 Aston Martin
Corgi Sales Ltd, Swansea, Great Britain © 1989
small window, one orange dot

Large white Corgi Sales Ltd. sticker affixed to the rear wall, leaving the 1986 copyright visible on the base. As Mattel bought Corgi Toys on December 18, 1989 I guess that these were released rather in 1990 than 1989. The barcode now shows a 4 suffix.

C271/1 Aston Martin
Corgi Sales Ltd, Swansea, Great Britain © 1990
small window, one orange dot

Printed Corgi Sales Ltd. copyright instead of a sticker. The text on the base was removed.

Comparison of © 1989 and 1990 boxes:

Also found with a white stripe across the yellow field – also note the short copyright sleeve with three lines of text:

C271/1 ASTON MARTIN
Corgi Sales Ltd, Swansea, Great Britain © 1990 Made in China
small window, one orange dot

First Chinese issue, with the 16mm 4-spoke wheels. Probably released in early 1991. The Swansea factory was closed in January 1991 but when exactly the moulds for the Aston Martin were transferred to China is not known. (Chinese Corgi production started with a few models already in April 1990.)

Dave Worrall writes “There was also no mention of James Bond on the box, and even the wording 'Aston Martin' was printed on a clear sticker and positioned over the front name space. The Eon Productions copyright information was not included in the box either.”
This makes it sound as if the clear stickers were used here because of some fears of copyright infringement, so that the stickers could be removed if necessary. This is not the case; these stickers were nothing special for the Aston Martin – all Chinese production items in the blue boxes had their names affixed in the same way. Obviously Mattel didn't transfer the post-printing machine as they were already preparing the new box design for 1991 and would use the blue box just for a few weeks or months. This Mercedes-Benz Bonna ambulance 406/10 from the same time shows these stickers as well as the small wheels. And the copyright information should be included in this box just as in every other blue box (and also in the 94060 plastic boxes up to 1993). The cellophane on these last C271/1 boxes is unusually flimsy, making finding boxes with the cellophane still intact very difficult.

Comparison of the last British and first Chinese issue – the copyright text is on the base instead of the rear wall. The plinth has side tabs and slots again as on the first blue boxes. The car is secured not only with the usual plastic clamps but rather elaborately with additional cardboard pieces and sticky tape. The windows for the first time have an orange tint.

The new boxes were introduced before the small wheels were replaced. These wheels can be found on some Aston Martins already in the 94060 box (or on the Bonna ambulance in the 91775 box). But only in parts of the 1991 release, the variation with the 007 badge to the right of the car.
That's why I think the blue box including a car with the new 7-spoke wheels is not authentic. Cars and boxes could of course be easily swapped to create that variation.

Evolution and sizes of Corgi boxes, 1984–91

Box 5 blue box C271-1 (un-numbered and printed).