New arrivals

Really stunning additions, that pre-war Rolls Royce and the trade box full of Trojan 'Esso' Delivery Vans. Congratulations for both of you! A recently acquired diverse quartet below: A big wooden car transporter, an early Sint Nicolaas present from my granddaughters (for me the simple toys, for them the more sophisticated stuff). A nice fourth type export no. 25t Flat Truck and Trailer, from the UK. A nice no. 25j blue with yellow wheels Civilian Jeep, a gift from a US collector friend. An equally nice pre-war Wiking 1:1250 'Reliance' ship model, from Germany (for just below 10!).

6 December last, exactly 40 years after I resumed collecting Dinky Toys, I received two fine replacements for previous models, one of which I sold recently, a no. 675 Army Staff Car and a red/cream no. 290 Double Deck Bus 'Dunlop'. The picture below that couple shows the two models which I bought 6 December 1979, the no. 172 Studebaker Land Cruiser and a no. 344 Estate Car. Both are so pristine, that they remained in my collection for all these years. When I bought this latter couple 'as an incident' so many years ago, I could not have imagined that this was to be the start of a long-lasting hobby. Kind regards, Jan

Jan---Congratulations on your 40th anniversary, and what more splendid way to observe it than with 2 new Dinky Toys.....very nicely done and lovely examples as always. Best regards, Terry

I think we're all glad that you became hooked on Dinky Toys. Your high standards give new collectors something to aim for and your renowned photography enhances the enjoyment of us all. I know I enjoy your detailed posts and am grateful for the time you must spend in compiling them. Combining them with the excellent contributions from the other stalwarts of the DTCA gives all Dinky enthusiasts something to look forward to. Some time ago I won some American Dinky ephemera on Ebay and hope to post some photos soon. I hope these items may be useful to some members. Kind regards to all John

An interesting coicidence, Jan -- or was it? Also 40 years ago today: some of the 940-odd workers at Binns Road had begun what would become a sit-in more than 100 days long, in an effort to preserve their jobs after Airfix pulled the plug on Meccano Ltd. Given some of the new items that were planned at the time, perhaps it was just as well! But there are mysteries from those last days that we shall apparently never know. For example, what happened to the current and past Dinky tooling that was in the factory. Was it destroyed by management, destroyed by the strikers, or ... ?

Meanwhile, I'm expecting a busy post this week, so had better post three new arrivals today ...

Jonathan--Congrats on some more nice Dinky items....especially that Daimler....it looks quite nice! Terry

Thanks, Terry! This companion for the Daimler showed up today. I am not sure where I am supposed to put these, but I guess I can hang them on the Christmas tree for now ...

I'm sure you'll think of something! How about another Dinky Toys display case???? Here is my similar Vauxhall....nice model of a great car... Terry

Good morning all the avid collectors. I recently purchased the 401 Forklift truck. See pictures below. In the box I found what apears to be the labels of the quality inspectors. Are there any information available on these? Regards Dirk Bloem No154

Thank you very much for the preceding friendly comments on my 40th collecting anniversary! I just can't help writing and photographing, it's both so much fun and very useful for the control over my collection. And I hope you like me sharing it here with you, as John says. The closing of the factory and my starting collecting Dinky Toys are just a chronological coincidence. Although it was a drama, I wasn't interested anymore in the many poor Dinky products Meccano produced at that time. The Vauxhall is a wonderful model indeed, a very nice addition. Next to the brown one my big favourite is the moss-green version. Kind regards, Jan P.S.: A quick check in my catalogue shows that the loose 'tested by' labels do occur in a 561 Blaw Knox Bulldozer box, a 310 Farm Tractor & Hay Rake box and a 661 Recovery Tractor box (2x!), spanning a long period of approximately 1952-1957. It would no doubt have been too much time consuming to attach them to the model with a cord (for which the little hole must have been intended).

More new items! Another Trojan Esso -- no, I haven't gone mad, it was part of a package deal -- and other things including a tow truck I thought would replace an old friend. This breakdown lorry was one of the first few Dinky Toys I, aged four or five, had. On the new arrival, the lack of windows was obvious, but I hadn't reckoned with the different tires, the different baseplate, the alnerate color on the Dinky Service writing, and the fact that the beige and green paints are actually different shades. (I thought fading accounted for this, but looking at the underside of both, it doesn't seem so.)