New arrivals

A wonderful example, complete with box insert! I made an effort to gather some comparative remarks and pictures some time ago, in the British Aircraft > 997 thread.

I recently received this extremely rare gift set from an eBay seller (unfortunately, the price was not $3.95). I have only ever seen two others, via searching past Vectis auctions. I imagine it is as uncommon as prewar Dinky sets, and in fact it has something in common with them, as we will see.I pose the question of whether these are the worst ever Dinky Toys, but there is also the question of whether they can be considered Dinky Toys at all. While sold by Meccano Ltd., the Mini-Dinky range was designed by Lines Brothers in Merton, London* and had nothing to do with Binns Road. While separate leaflets advertising them were published, they were never included in a Dinky catalogue as far as I know. Appearing in 1967, the Mini-Dinkys were produced in Hong Kong. The moulds were well-designed and the models came in attractive (though flimsy) plastic garages, but the paintwork was mostly drab, wheels tended to come off, and -- worst of all -- many of the castings tended to suffer from metal fatigue. This sometimes manifested itself before the toys had even left the shops, although that could be a while since the range did not sell well. How Lines Brothers thought these toys could compete with much-more-attractive-and-sturdy Matchboxes or Hot Wheels is a mystery. When the toys were 'deleted' is hard to say, given slow sales. I recall buying several Mini-Dinky models at London souvenir stands in 1972, but they may have been old stock. Meanwhile, various 1967-model cars (Rambler, Camaro, etc.) were made by Mini-Dinky in prototype form but not issued, suggesting the plug had been pulled on this range pretty quickly. As an aside, as well as passenger cars, the Mini-Dinky range also included construction vehicles, via moulds previously used by Mercury in the USA (and later to be issued under other brands), and several Formula One racers made by Best Box in Holland. Underlining Mini-Dinky's second-class status, these toys were often sold by retailers that did not have regular Dinky Toys. (Perhaps UK readers can comment on whether they ever saw Mini-Dinky and Dinky Toys together in the same shop.) I've already mentioned purchasing some of the models in a London souvenir shop. Here in California, they tantalizingly appeared in a Palo Alto hobby shop at a time when my best friend and I were unable to purchase the real Dinky Toys we wanted. Naturally we quizzed the proprietor, and she reported that her distributor had no other Dinky Toys, only these. So I purchased various samples as a curiosity, even if they were always pretty disappointing for the reasons I've mentioned. As for the present gift set, I never saw it at the time, but they obviously existed in small quantities. I believe the eBay seller when he says that the models in the set were never removed from the box. They all came strapped down in their individual garages, obviously unplayed with. And at first, all looked well -- but you can see the condition of the Jaguar E-type, which has fallen to bits from fatigue. (I have an intact one with which to 'complete' the set -- though I suspect that its original contents were a random selection from the Mini-Dinky range ... otherwise why include two Fiat station wagons, for example?) *Several years ago, an eBay user 'ziggystardust' acquired a quantity of drawings, test castings, and pre-production Mini-Dinky models from a former Lines Brothers designer. These were unfortunately dispersed, auctioned off to a variety of different buyers.

Johnny A similar set has been sold on eBay on September 8, 2007 for 171.

Very much more expensive in 2018, though another of these sets www.vectis.co.uk/mini-dinky-collector-ca...ing-1-no_240212]sold for www.vectis.co.uk/mini-dinky-collector-ca...ding-1-no_240212]620 at Vectis in 2006. A foolish purchase, perhaps, but I do think history is proving how rare the set is. Mind you, the contents of the cardboard case could probably be assembled separately for 300 or so!

Three wonderful acquisitions this month, all within the 1945-1950 time span. An early post-war no. 34b Royal Mail Van, this one with open oval rear windows, early smooth hubs and very nice fresh white treaded tyres. Also a maroon no. 36g Taxi with Driver, although with later ridged hubs still with early open tiny rear window. And finally a no. 14c Climax Fork Lift Truck, an early production example with large black round treaded tyres and packed in a less common green labelled orange lift box. Time to produce new display labels, supports, photos and catalogue descriptions for each of them! Kind regards, Jan

JanMore wonderful acquisitions.....and I really like those early post war versions. They are usually free of the fatigue often present in their pre-war brothers, but still retain much of the charm, such as those finely treaded white tires and smooth wheels. I also like having those open windows. Very nice Taxi too. Has anyone ever really concluded why the English Meccano factory chose to close all those small windows? Their French counterparts kept their open windows. I have heard theories about less flash issues, but that doesnt seem to likely when you look at all the other open windows still there.....just curious! Best regards, Terry

More new arrivals, some of which may still fit in my display ... The ambulance is missing a headlight and a bit scruffy, but I never had an open-window version before!

Another very nice haul my friend! You have found quite a few nice Dinkys lately, and these just add to it. I love the colorful mix of those tiny Saloon Cars....nice variety there. And that Lincoln looks wonderful. That was one of the models to acquire on my list when I decided to retire from actively collecting.....so tempting! And nice you found an Ambulance with Windows. I think of all the models that Dinky made, with windows later deleted, that is the most extreme example and the one that suffered the most. Putting them side by side, there is just no comparison between the windows and non-windows versions.... Best regards, Terry

That is a very nice batch of new additions indeed, Jonathan! As the windows of the Ambulance is concerned: I have a very late example with open windows, as it has ridged hubs already. A closer look at the windows and the condition of the die reveals that there is quite some flash and wear of the die visible. I believe it was both a quality problem and economical problem of Meccano to tackle by switching over to closed windows where they could (blinded windows in the back were no exception for an ambulance after all). Strictly speaking a model with closed windows needed more zamac to produce, but on the other hand the maintenance of the die was less problematic. Kind regards, Jan

Hallo Johnny This is very beautiful models. I have the ambulance in Beidge. Both have the cast in windows. One has the so called 'Blackend' windows. Someone once explained to me that it might have been done with a Koki (permanent marker), but I doubt is as it shown some paint loss in one of the windows. Incidently mine with the non painted windows also have a headlight missing and is well chipped. The other one has only a few marks on it. I am also looking for the grey one with the open windows. Well done on your aquisitions. Dirk Bloem 154

Thanks for the comments, gentlemen! My 'new' ambulance does not look very gray, at least in my photos -- but parked beside my beige sample with closed windows, it is clearly a different color. As for a sample with closed windows that have been painted black, I have never seen one before and would be among those who think it might have been done by an owner. But who knows? If there are any others of these around and they look similar, one could surmise that the factory experimented with that before abandoning it as too expensive!

Here are 3 new arrivals, all aircraft. Firstly the Dinky 708 Vickers Viscount in BEA livery. Secondly the Dinky Supertoys 998 Bristol Britannia Airliner and thirdly the Dinky Supertoys 999 D.H.Comet. All are in excellent condition with good boxes. The Britannia has the internal packing in the box. My only criticism of the Comet is that the engine intakes are not big enough when compared with the real thing. Chris.
















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