2024 AGM

Has it happened yet?

Yes, It was on july the 6th.

No action on the website/forum fix, one presumes. How nice and courteous it would be if this forum were used by club officials to communicate with members

I see the dreaded adverts are back. Is it because I am trying out a Google CromeBook or are they universal?

Whilst I share your frustration with online adverts in general, I can't say I've ever noticed any when I log on to the DTCA website. It may be because I've invested in an Adblock subscription which deals with ads across all websites for little or no expense.I will also add that, as I write, I'm using a Chromebook and have no doubt that it is no more or less affected by ads than any other means of accessing the website. I've been perfectly happy with my Chromebook (an Acer CB314 series machine) and find it as easy as any notebook or laptop as I'm using Android rather than Windows as an operating system.

The fact that so many committee members are absent from this platform has been bemoaned before and I feel that lack has coloured the views expressed at the AGM by Michael Driver. I quote:' I am not sure how long the interest in Dinky Toys outside the DTCA will continue as collecting habits and what is collected has changed over the last few years. Perhaps there will be a new interest in the later Dinky Toys with their features and of course there are the space models given the current interest in space exploration. Only time will tell.'Now, I know that many of the subscribers here are also active on the Facebook 'Dinky Toy Collectors Group' which has grown very rapidly to a 16,000 membership. If ten percent of those were also members of the DTCA then it would be a healthy, thriving organisation but it proves the point that there IS a wide interest in Dinky Toys from both sexes in the less rarefied atmosphere of Facebook. Let's have some action from the officers to try and encourage DTCA membership among the wider audience.

I of course completely agree with these comments. Though -- not to be a killjoy -- the 16,000 membership of that Facebook Group is deceptive since there are only several dozen (at most) 'members' who regularly post useful, knowledgeable content. Still, even one percent of that Group would be a substantial boost to the DTCA.Apropos of Michael Driver's comment above, there is also another Facebook group called '90 Years of Dinky' where the 'members' are much more receptive to later models with their features, plus the space models and even Chinese replicas. This too would be a good place to publicize the DTCA.Of course, until we again have a fully functioning website, all bets are off.

On the matter of the number of members actually contributing to that group, or ours indeed, it's always like that, with a solid core of contributors. we're blessed with the likes of yourself, the two Jans, Terry, Jacques, et al, who know their onions and write well on their subjects. I have no expertise whatsoever in the matter of Dinkys but enjoy responding to others where possible. Alas, despite undoubted expertise represented by our officers there seems to be not much being contributed by way of scholarly articles other than by Jan W .

I have just tried to post a photo but it still does not work. If the forum does not work by the end of this year, I will not renew my membership. Why spend some money for only the Journal. The AGMs are not what they used to be, no more conferences or special events, very few attendants, nothing planed for the 90th anniversary etc... For me this club is dead and I regret it.

Jacques, I completely agree with you. I sent a message to Al Keeling the day before yesterday asking him to keep us informed about the status of the improvement of the website. I have not received a message back yet. I am afraid that the board is just letting things slide and not doing anything about it, otherwise we should have noticed something by now. There is no movement at all. This irritates me and many other members who are fed up with this weak approach. We have been waiting patiently for improvement for 2 years, but my patience is also running out. This is no fun anymore. If there is no improvement to be expected or if the board does not want to do anything about it, please let them know, so that everyone can make a good decision about whether or not to renew their membership. And the improvement really has to be in effect before the end of the year. I am letting my membership slide and waiting to see if anything really happens, otherwise it is over.

If a working revamped website actually appeared by the end of the year, I might consider renewing my membership, but otherwise definitely not. We overseas members who depend on the forum have been pleading for a fix for more than a year and a half, and the board members will not respond to our concerns.The claim in the latest Journal that 'the Forum is alive and kicking' was an egregious insult. Perhaps the editor expected it to be fixed by the time the issue went to press?

Gentlemen, you have put into words what I have been thinking. Even the Journal relies heavily on the forum and since Jan O., Jan W., Terry H., and numerous others are also on the Facebook Dinky Toy Collectors Group it has largely supplanted this forum. I have enjoyed being a fellow member here but it is wearing a little thin. I'll take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope for a better New Year.