Dinky Toys photography specials

I happened to come across this MM advertisement/toyman story, and remembered that this scene was one of the many photos that Dave took while staying with me in November 2008. They were made for the composition of the DTCA Dinky Toys 75th anniversary calendar that Dave and I produced. Over 150 photos were taken, but unfortunately there are only 12 months in a year ... Kind regards, Jan

What a wonderful earlier and later photograph of the same scene. That turned out so nice, and makes a nice black & white vs color comparison....Best regards, Terry

NOT A DINKY GARAGE, BUT A NICE ONE TOO

Because I simply love this photograph ... (and the model, no. 34a Royal Air Mail Service Car, of course). Anyone else willing to post and share some special Dinky pictures? it's so lonely here ... Kind regards, Jan

Such a lovely photo Jan, and of course, it helps when you have such an interesting, unusual, and iconic model to work with. I always wanted one of these, and you scored a very nice one. Thanks again for posting a classic photo! Best regards, Terry

Greetings from the Southern Hemisphere! I have just spent an interesting 30 minutes or so, reading through the 569 Posts and 19 pages that comprise this Topic to enure that I was not repeating myself by downloading the image below. Terry - While going through each page, I was absolutely shattered to see that about 32 of your Posts have lost the images that you spent considerable time downloading, resizing, etc, as the notice where the photographs once occupied contains a message from 'photobucket'. Crikey if that were me, I would be ditching that mob like the plague! Reading subsequent comments from others in addition to the occasional comment you made on each Post, it is a terrible shame that all has now been lost and I and others only have something of which we have no idea what your Post was all about. And of course, it is most lilkely that you also have no idea what each blank image once contained, otherwise what a job for you on a rainy afternoon, night, and day for you to reconstruct all those Posts! Anyway, here is that image I wrote about earlier and I think parts of the slide have been used in other Topics. I have severely cropped the slide as 50% of it was grass! The slide was not taken using artificial light, nor was a tripod used, and the camera was not one of those latest super-duper wonders of modern technology, nor was it taken in an environment where everyone seems to gladly 'tolerate' one's hobby, nor was it taken to ensure that the image is perfect or as close to perfection as one could get. But, and this would most likely be a very big BUT, it was taken 60 years ago, approaching 61 years, when most photographers used black and white Ilford or Kodak film as colour photography, in the main, slides from Kodachrome, Anscochrome, Perutz and Agfacolor was out of the question as slide film was frightfully expensive. Not only was the film the only deep expense, but one had to invest in a slide projector to view the images! My father, being a wonderful person who loved his photography, allowed his youngest son to use his 'priceless' Voigtlander Vito B to take one, just one colour slide of some of my Dinky Toys, and the following was the result - not the best, but in my view, priceless. How many others have a colour image of their Dinky Toys when they were still playing with them? I have tried to date when I photographed some of my Dinky Toys and have arrived at the summer of 1956, which for us down here was December to January. The toys are not casting a long shadow, so the sun was almost overhead, (around 21 December) and of all the Dinky Toys visible, the 157 Jaguar XK120 in grey and yellow was the latest acquisition. For my birthday that year which falls 5 days after Christmas, I received a salmon pink 131 Cadillac which was not included, so, the photo must have been taken between the 25th and 29th December as the Jaguar was an arrival for Christmas. Notice the wonderfully made buildings with those nicely inscribed windows! What about that 'fabulous' Shell Service Station?? The Bayko cottage seems to have had something run into it! And, not forgetting that overloaded Guy Flat Truck (actually it was a Tailboard version but I broke the tailboard off to accommodate the Centurion!) and the Commer Fire Engine that has lost its front wheels, both toys having been written about elsewhere on this website. The airfield would not pass stringent air navigation rules these days though! All the above, I think, makes for a very unique Dinky Toys Photography Special! Here is that Jaguar taken a couple of years ago. Please excuse the play-wear! It was, after all, a toy. (At that time!) If you have read this far - thank you very much! As a reward, I am downloading a larger image of the 1956 colour slide below. Cheers Bruce Hoy (150) 20171607/1141/0221

Bruce, re-reading your article above I realized that it is quite exceptional not only to have photos of these old days, but even more exceptional to have them produced in colour! I have some similar photos, but they are all in black and white. An article about my Dinky photography is to be published in Auto in Miniatuur magazine, scheduled probably end this year. For this I took decent photos of all spreads of my new private photo album yesterday. I thought you might like to see a tiny selection, below. The spreads measure 30 x 60 cm in reality. Kind regards, Jan

Jan---I have already used up my supply of superlatives for your previous efforts, so little more I can add except they are marvelous.....very nicely done & wonderful layouts indeed!! Best regards, Terry

Fantastic as usual with Jan.

Jan Thank you very much for your nice comments on that slide taken 60 years ago. I was indeed extremely fortunate that my father had moved from monochrome to colour slide film in time for me to take a slide of some of my Dinky Toy collection. Looking at that image again, I included a number of Dinky Toys that actually belonged to my brother; the Muir-Hill Dumper, Chrysler on the Pullmore as well as the Esso Trojan Van, the brown Hillman partly obscured by the Fire Engine, the multi-coloured Hudson Commodore that had been repainted with house paint, and the cream Riley in the foreground. I have no idea why I did not make it an all exclusive BH Collection! Missing was my competition MG received at the same time as the TR2, Ford Fordor Sedan, my better quality Hudson Commodore, Scout Car, and Ferrari Racing Car. But I wonder why I did not borrow Dad's camera to take the image I have also shown on this website that contain later Dinky Toys, although I think I used Dad's old Kodak 'Bellows' camera, rather than his Voigtlander. However, I have located one more colour slide showing my Fire Engine, fighting a fire that I had lit in a 'barn' in the middle of my outdoor play area, the roads of which I had tarred several years previously. The scan will have to be done 'one of these days!' Still seeing what you can do with your camera blows the mind away and certainly puts to shame whatever I have photographed in recent years! Keep doing what you do so very well. Kind regards Bruce Hoy (150) 20172609/1164/2124

The article referred to above was published in the December (06/17) issue of Auto in Miniatuur. The original photo and the cover adoption below. Kind regards, Jan

JanWhat a great job replicating that photo! Best regards,Terry