Dinky Toy Sales, Ordering, Promotions, Retailing etc.

A 1950s Toy Shop Dinky Toys window display. What child walking past this super shop display will have been able to resist looking in here??? I certainly couldn't have ignored it. It brings back very happy memories. Dave

buzzer999 wrote: 'Here is an example of a Price Ticket. They are made from aluminium approximatey 0.6mm thick and are 32mm x 12.5mm. The two 12.5mm 'legs' can be bent backwards to allow them to be free standing in either the shop window or a display cabinet. This one is for a Hudson Commodore and 2/9 was the price in 1955. Every ticket in the box had an individual number and this is number 15. Dave' Dave You are quite correct with the price of the Hudson Commodore in 1955. Actually it was from February 1955 to the end of January 1956. In February 1956 the price rose to 3/- which remained applicable until at least October 1956 or even as late as January 1957. I wonder if Meccano produced a small sticker with a new price that could be used to cover the price on an existing metal price ticket? Kind regards Bruce

Hi Bruce Before I acquired the box of tickets I had bought quite a lot of single ones on E-bay and I have never seen any with more than one sticker on it. It is my belief that the box contents changed every year to include new models and to delete discontinued ones. That certainly happened with Dealer Order forms. An annual range change such as this would also allow price adjustments, if nessesary. These are my thought, like a huge amount of other Meccano/Dinky things we will probably never know for sure. Point of sale items and publicity are a particular passion of mine as I think Meccano were excellent in the marketing aspects of the business. The quality of literature, catalogues etc. is in my view unsurpassed. Dave

These were also available in Dutch.

buzzer999 wrote: 'Hi Bruce Before I acquired the box of tickets I had bought quite a lot of single ones on E-bay and I have never seen any with more than one sticker on it. It is my belief that the box contents changed every year to include new models and to delete discontinued ones. That certainly happened with Dealer Order forms. An annual range change such as this would also allow price adjustments, if nessesary. These are my thought, like a huge amount of other Meccano/Dinky things we will probably never know for sure. Point of sale items and publicity are a particular passion of mine as I think Meccano were excellent in the marketing aspects of the business. The quality of literature, catalogues etc. is in my view unsurpassed. Dave' Dave One can see the difference in costings with the Order Forms and all the other paper ephemera, but it must have been enormously costly to produce a new box of alluminium price tickets each year. Does your box have anything on it that can equate to a calendar year? I have never seen a box of unused price tickets such as yours as all of mine have been procured loosely, some used, others unused. I too am in full agreement with your final paragraph. Meccano was particularly conscious of promoting its products as its sales and marketing literature attest. How the Company nurtured its Agents and how they were appointed was a credit to them. It is a shame that competition resulted in complicated products that were ultimately to lead to higher prices and to its downfall, apart from other factors. It is interesting to see how opening doors, windows, boots, bonnets etc soon lost its appeal with toy makers. Had Meccano reversed the trend and returned to simple, well-made, authentic realism, thus lowering its prices, it could have saved the company - who knows! The number and variety of leaflets, catalogues, flyers, printing aids has also been a passion of mine and it is very satisfying to learn that I am not alone! Bruce

I have a decent selection of Factory Drawings, Dinky and Meccano paperwork, Leaflets, Catalogues, Point of Sale material etc. etc. I love them all because they nicely round-off the collection. Referring back to the price tickets the printing you see on the top of the lid is all that there is on the box - sadly no dates or reference numbers whatsoever. It is the range of products and their prices that has enabled me to be certain, beyond doubt, that it is from 1955. These boxes only come up for sale about every five years or so, consequently they are pretty rare and usually expensive. The lid is a little split on mine but I am happy I now have one. I may be able to get a better one in the future who knows? Dave

This sort of set has probably been made in 1955 only with a set of stickers for 1956. It would have been too expansive to make one each year, the dealers would not have bought them. If we had the 1955 and 1956 Dealers catalogue or news letter we would probably have the answer.

The box would originally contain a quantity of blank aluminium tickets with no prices on at all. That way there is no need to date the box whatsoever and it can be used for any year. The self-adhesive tickets were supplied on A4 sheets and were specific to the range and prices for a particular year. This principle is mentioned in Ramsey's and since I posted the picture of the box on here this has been independently verified by another collector. This would have kept the cost of producung these important point-of-sale items to an absolute minimum. I am just about to go out but when I return I will post another photograph to reinforce this way of making these items. Dave

Dinkinius wrote: 'dinkyfan wrote: 'Bruce--Great explanation and pictures showing just how that sign worked. And I think it did work pretty well....I like the orange behind those letter cutouts....makes is really stand out. Where and how did you happen to find that? Very neat! Best regards, Terry' Terry (and Dave) Thank you both for your most appreciated words regarding my sign. Each time I am sitting at my computer, trying to think what to type, my eyes go up to the sign, perched on top of my monitor, and in no time I either think of what to type, or, get sidetracked into things belonging to Dinky Toys!! :laugh: :laugh: I bought a small quantity of dealer selling aids from an auction conducted in Sydney a number of years ago. You will be seeing more of these in the time ahead. I would have bought the lot, except I had a fierce competitor out there who out-bid my 'ridiculous' bid amounts. I scored most of mine when the seller had two of the same item for sale and no doubt my competitor picked up the second example. The only downside, is that not long after acquiring my lots, I experienced a serious deficiency of capital for a much needed project, so some of these ended up on eBay Australia! So all I have left are just a few, but what I think, are quite nice to have! The next one to be posted is one of 'the pick', and although there was only one example in the auction, my competitor did not pose a problem, due mainly to it not being 100% without flaws. I hope I have whetted your appetites to see what is coming! :whistle: Kind regards Bruce' Referring to my second last paragraph above, this is the item I have called 'the pick' simply that as an advertising item designed for the promotion and sale of new Dinky Toys in the 1950s and 1960s it is still in use in the 21st Century, as I use it on my table at the various swap meets I attend in Australia, although my attendance has been somewhat lacking in the past couple of years. Bruce AND HERE IS THE SAME SIGN IN USE IN THE 21ST CENTURY!

Nice item Bruce, I have never seen one of those. Is printed on card or paper or ? and is there something behind such as a foldable stand ?

Here are four of my price tickets. I have just realised that I have two distinctly different types of ticket: One has a label which could be attached in two different ways to a blank ticket and the other actually has the information printed directly onto the label. I have no way of knowing how many years these boxes of price tickets were available, I do not remember seeing them in any of the toy shops I visited. However I always lived in small or medium sized villages which had small toy shops - usually newsagents who also sold toys and games. I suspect that these boxes of tickets went to larger town and city shops with a higher turonver. I am also a member of the Hornby Railway Collectors' Association and in their journal they also comment about discovering new information in almost every issue. I guess the Meccano boy are the same. Dave

dinkycollect wrote: 'Nice item Bruce, I have never seen one of those. Is printed on card or paper or ? and is there something behind such as a foldable stand ?' Jacques The sign is made of a sort of rubber/plastic material and I am uncertain as to how it should be displayed - stuck to a wall or window with the sticky side at the back which at present is covered by paper. The back is rather dirty and has a number of large hairs stuck to it! The plastic surround that can be seen on my swap meet table is a plastic photo frame I bought from K Mart in which the sign can be shown. The print number is 71638/3, so it is possible there is a /1 and /2 in a similar format. Its dimensions are 193mm x 162mm. Bruce