New arrivals

Richard---More nice additions, and I really like that 24Q Ford Vedette Best regards, Terry

Greetings from Oz Well, this morning I almost needed a larger car to bring home three large boxes from the post office. The first parcel opened contained the 25x trade box filled with Breakdown Lorries. Here are the first pictures of the new arrivals, taken indoors with a flash, which I normally do not use, preferring natural sunlight. Today is a gloomy, damp with misty rain, not what one would call a typical Brisbane, Queensland weather and by necessity indoors was the only option! First one of the end papers. These appear to have been stamped rather than printed. The lid has a note 'Mr Freeman Unable to repair' Not sure what that meant unless the box was used for something else, as its contents of four contain three models that should not be there unfortunately. But the box does contain something that I was not expecting. This will be revealed when I complete writing a new Post for the 25x-430 Breakdown Lorry topic! (After I make a decision on which Topic to use, as at present there are three in existence!!) For the observant, the tow hooks are loose in the bottom of the box, and these will have to be restrung. The parcel also contained a boxed Hornby-Dublo set plus other Dinky Toys and photographs of these will be put up on this Topic as soon as I have photographed them under better conditions. As too the contents of the other two parcels. Wow - what a morning! But the pride of them all is this 25x Trade Box. All I need to find are three more excellent examples of a suitable vintage for the box! Kind regards Bruce H. (150) 20170805/1096/1315

Bruce Very nice acquisition! You just don't see too many tradeboxes for the 25x. You didn't mention a date code....is there one normally on tradeboxes? If not, what is your best guess as to the date? Best regards, Terry

Hello Bruce, it seems that the excitement of receiving new Dinky Toys has not diminished in all these decades! Congratulations with this new batch of models. The remarkable box is very uncommon indeed. I cannot remember having ever seen such a base insert of corrugated fibreboard in trade boxes, but I can be wrong. Original? Looking forward to your more elaborate descriptions! Kind regards, Jan

Hello Bruce, Very interesting the 25x Trade Box!. It looks like the end paper could cover different printing on the box. I have seen that once before on an early 40a Riley trade box. The paper label covered printing on the box itself with a different number for the Riley. KH had this box for sale a couple of years ago. Anyway, it am very curious on what you have discovered! Kind regards, Rob

On 29 April I announced the pending arrival of a number of new additions, one of which was a 170 Ford Fordor Sedan Highline in pink and blue. Well, she arrived from the United States, very well packaged in its box, so I thought I would show a before and now series of pictures of her. 946 900 931 900 The first picture is the image that appeared on the eBay website, and the second, taken in the hope of replicating the eBay image is how she looks now following a nice warm bath with plenty of soap, TLC and a good drying down! Unfortunately I could not quite replicate the lighting or focal length, but it is close enough! Quite a difference, and I can understand why those who were my competitors considered it was not worth very much as the final price was very, very pleasing! I replaced the white non-original tyres with original, Meccano treaded tyres following its bath, and the result is very pleasing. (Or at least it pleases its new owner!) It is not mint, or near mint, but it is near enough for my pocket money! Bruce H. (150) 20171305/1098/1435

Bruce---Very nice buy, and it sure cleaned up nice. It is amazing how well a little soap and water can restore a somewhat dingy model. I have the red and cream low-line version, and it came new with smooth tires. Did these high lines come later and always with the treaded tires? By the way, I sure never liked those heavily treaded tires, either white or black. To me, they were too heavy and clunky for the automobiles they were used on; fine for a Jeep or a truck. Congrats on a nice addition! Attached here is a photo of my low-line version, purchased new from H. Hudson Dobson around 1958. Best regards, Terry

Fine addition, Bruce! A seller must not manipulate a model in order to make it look better than it is, but I cannot understand why some take no trouble at all to make it look as good as it really is by a simple mild cleaning action. Well, advantage for you! The box looks good too. I agree with Terry that the treaded tyres have a rather heavy duty looks. Of course these do occur on the later two-tone Fordor models, but most (if not all) highlines I can discover quickly on the internet show the more friendly looking smooth tyres. Kind regards, Jan

Bruce, she looks considerably better for a wash and brush up. I'm surprised that the seller didn't do the same thing. If I were selling my car, at the very least I'd run it through the car wash. Well done for seeing through the superficial grime. You mention that it's a 'Highline'. I remember that the prototype MkII Ford Consul came in Highline and Lowline versions but how do the Dinky Fords differ and is the difference obvious? Cheers John P.

John Many thanks for your kind words with my latest Ford. I have found that not many sellers on eBay really bother with cleaning the models they are selling, and in many cases, this 'compliments' an equally attrocious photograph! It is almost as if he/she does not really care whether the model sells or not. Those that do take the extra effort, particularly when an uncommon model is on offer usually sets a very high price! Here are the differences between 'Highline' and 'Lowline'. This is the 'Highline' version - it was issued first when the bright two-tone colours were introduced in March 1956. However, apparently the masking process created an unexpected problem on the shop floor when it came to the actual painting as there were no guidelines to be used when positioning the mask. The problem was solved when it was decided to lower the mask in line with the existing cast line that represented the mould or chrome strip on the real car, and as a result, the process became known as 'Lowline'. As far as I am aware, it is only modern-day collectors that have given us this terminology. You will notice with the above, the line before the front wheel arch is not straight due to the lack of some form of guide on the casting. Other models were also treated similarly with 'Highline' and 'Lowline' painting, such as the 172 Studebaker Land Cruiser. and the 171 Hudson Commodore. (You will also notice that the base colour pink is more of a fawn colour, which is unusual. When this model went into the paint shop, the system had most likely not been thoroughly flushed, the result being a slightly different shade than normal due to an accidental mixing of the true pink with some other lighter colour paint. Being a toy, this did not matter as after a few models had been sprayed, the actual pink started showing. The paint underneath and inside the body is exactly the same as on top, so there has not been any fading.) The 'Lowline' was introduced at least by July1957, the date when the 1957 catalogue was printed, although the design of this would have taken several months prior to that. With the 'Highline' version only being issued for a little over 12 months, and the 'Lowline' from 1957 to when the model was deleted sometime after October 1959 it can be seen that the 'Highline'would have had far less manufactured which explains why this version is less common these days. (Some collectors consider that both versions are uncommon!) Mike and Sue Richardson's tome, 'The Great Book of Dinky Toys' is an excellent source of information should you wish to read more on the history and development of Dinky Toys. Unfortunately, it is long out of print although a copy may be found through www.amazon.com , or a good second-hand book store. Kind regards Bruce H. (150) 20171405/1099/0046

Thank you Bruce for a comprehensive answer to my query. it's obvious now that you've pointed it out but I somehow had it in mind that the difference was in the casting. Doh! I have an all tan example of the Ford and an all blue Studebaker but perhaps you'd like to see my multi-coloured Studebaker? It began life as an all blue example but, from the evidence that I uncovered while stripping it, it has obviously had a chequered career. I've tried to determine which colour came before the next but it's proved tricky. Suffice to say it has been Blue, Dark Green, Orange, White, Pink, and ultimately Matt Black. Discovering all these layers was a surprise and I made the decision not to proceed any further with restoring this rather battered example and to leave it as it is. it's history is there for all to see and, to be honest, it's grown on me. What do you think?

Bruce Very interesting article about the high and low line but what about the middle line of the 139 b Hudson ? Jacques.