160 and 606 Royal Artillery Personnel (1939-55)

Good evening everyone, I recently happened across this box of Royal Artillery Personnel, has any seen this box before? It looks to be genuine enough but I can't find any trace of it. Thanks in advance, John

Hello John, Welcome to this club of Dinky Toys maniacs and thank you for posting this picture of a peculiar unknown box ref. 160. The text on the packing piece is the same as on the original boxes but the text on the lid is completely different. The caractere type (font) is also different from the original Dinky Toys boxes. If there is anything printed on the box end, a photo would be welcomed. The packing piece is shorter than the box, Meccano would have done better and anyway, the pre-war 160 set did not have a packing piece. The colour of the paper is unknown with Meccano toys.What I can notice on the figures is that their face is not pink and that those guys must have been fighting hard as they all have black eyes which those from Liverpool did not have. Also the string is not original. Are those figure cast in lead, zamac or white metal ? This box has very likely been made in the 21st centuary for a set of repainted figures. Never the less it is a nice way to display and preserve these oldies.Other members may have a different opinion on this.Kind regards.Jacques.

Hi Jacques and good afternoon to you, thank you for the welcome and very informative reply to my post. I am relatively new to collecting military Dinky and every day is a learning day as they say. These figures do have some weight to them and I suspect they are made from cast metal. Luckily, I didn't pay too much for them, and as you say, they do display quite well. I am trying to attach an image of the typing on both ends of the box for your perusal. I assume that re-paints and repro boxes has been going on as long as these things became desirable to collectors. regards, John

Hi John, I have to agree with Jacques, the typography and the material the box is made of do not seem authentic and the black eyes of the personnel are huge. Still, a nice set to have. I do not have a set like that but my AA Unit came with four gunners, three 160b and one 160c. Pre-war and eigthy years old now, they are very fatigued. Nevertheless, the photo below may offer an opportunity for some comparison. I will post the separate men in the individual topics 160b and 160c respectively in due time. Kind regards, Jan