Richard --    I have never seen nor heard of the Opel Admiral with a black roof, but nonetheless this model of yours does resemble a prototype that J M Roulet mentions and pictures in his various French Dinky books. It is a modified version of the 513 dressed up to look like an Opel Diplomat. The prototype had a black roof, bronze paint, a driver and passenger, and English Dinky-style wheels.

Hello Richard, I like the pre-war Mercedes Benz Racing Car. It's quite good for its age. Perhaps the axles need some straightening and it would benefit from having replacement tyres. But those replacements should preferably be original herringbone tread tyres and they are harder to find. Kind regards, Jan 

Richard—-Your pre-war Mercedes does look very nice and I see no visible fatigue. If it were mine, I would follow Jan’s suggestion, and try straightening those axles and find some herringbone tires. You might be able find another vintage Dinky with those same tires as a “donor”.......I did that several years ago with the Auto Union Race Car, and was very pleased how much nicer it looked, but still original. Good luck with that!
Best regards, Terry

Jan, lovely arrivals and thanks for the account of the DTCA for those of us who are so distant.

This arrived yesterday -- not sure what I was thinking because I have no room for it!

In the Birmingham toy shop, mentioned in post 1171, I was impressed by the models they had for sale, varying from near mint to all sorts of play-worn - and their fair prices. After having returned home I regretted not having bought any toy, especially the shiny near mint red/grey 1st type Foden Wagon. Everthing was fine, except for a stain on the box label and the non-contemporary black block tread tyres. So I contacted the shop and we agreed on a very low price, the model being sent over to me immediately. It arrived and here it is. The rest of the story to be posted soon in the no. 501 Foden Wagon thread. Kind regards, Jan 

Jan—So very nice! Those first version Foden’s have always been dear to me. I did not get one until much later in my collecting career, and then quickly decided I needed to have one of each model. As you and many have noticed, the US catalogs, from 1955 on, for several years, continued to show only the first type, which was very confusing to me as a young boy, as we did not know any of the history. I also really like this particular color combination.....very nicely done, and nice that you were able to re-consider buying it!
Best regards, Terry

Thank you for your comment, Terry. The rest of the story to be found in the Commercial Vehicles > 501 thread!

Hi all,

It has been a long time since I posted on the Forum. I think this special new arrival deserves its post. I just received a very nice 280g Bentalls Van. Virtually fatigue free. Looking at the photos of the other known examples, which I could find, this one is among the best. I bought it direct from the grandson of Arthur Williams, an avid train and Dinky Toys collector who died in 1979. Sofar I have bought 69 Dinky Toys from this collection. Many rarities and many pre war. I have written an article on it and with the help of Jan Werner for photograpy next week, I hope it will be published in The Journal later this year perhaps. 

This Bentalls Van will be one of the highlights.

Kind regards,

Rob

So, Rob, you managed to buy it in the end! Wow, congratulations.

Perhaps it's advisable to count your Dinky Toys before I leave next week ...

Kind regards, Jan 

Rob—Congratulations on what for many would be the buy of a lifetime....at least as far as Dinky Toys are concerned! It is amazing what his grandfather had with those trains!
Best regards, Terry

Rob, congratulations on obtaining the almost mythical Bentalls van. It's a wonderful addition to your collection and I hope we'll see more photos of it.

I feel a close connection with Bentalls as, when I was a small boy, we lived in Kingston-on-Thames and my father's business was just a few yards from the store. I have happy memories of haircuts in the junior hairdressing department, where we had our hair trimmed whilst riding an elephant or a giraffe, or other exotic animal. In the Christmas season a visit to Father Christmas was always an exciting experience as it would involve a magical journey to get to his grotto. The store also had parades, much like today's carnivals, each of which was a highlight for the whole town. The old store has gone and only the elegant façade remains but Bentalls continues to be an essential part of Kingston life.

Bentall's was a marvellous place and it's no surprise that they commissioned these iconic toys in their distinctive livery. I have only a tatty Shredded Wheat version in my collection but it still gives me a good deal of pleasure to own it. I'm sure your pleasure must be enormous to at last include a superb Bentall's van.

John

Thank you Terry and John. Nice to know you have such happy memories with Bentalls, John. It came as a complete surprise and a privilege that I could buy the Bentalls Van before it went on eBay. All other models from this collection, I bought on eBay. The model deserves its place in the article that I am writing and it will enhance it for sure. The collection of Arthur Williams keeps surprising me.

Kind regards,

Rob

Hi all,

It took some time to find one, but I finally was able to buy this nice MG Midget Sports with yellow wheels. As far as I know this wheel color has always been pictured on the box. Most likely the red wheels replaced the yellow wheels after a short time for economical reasons, as the interior is painted red as well. I have only seen a few of these. 

Kind regards,

Rob

I've never seen one like that myself, Rob. What a beauty!

Two new additions, one never out of its box, and the other obviously pre-loved.

The Field Gun set is marked with the original U.S. price of $2.50, while the Sports Car Set has a price tag dated 4/59 with a price of $1.90, over-written in ink to reflect a further reduction to $1.75! Ah, to have been present for those Dinky Toy "closeout sales"!

Jonathan——Very nice score....especially that sport car gift set....most attractive and displayed nicely in that box. Congratulations on these recent additions!
Best regards, Terry

Thanks, Terry. Some of the cars are a bit the worse for wear, and for a couple I already owned better examples, but the set displays well!

Just arrived: an early 551 trade box containing three first type Large Trailers with small towing hooks, inside bent drawing bars, black finished rear wheel covers, ridged hubs, 'T' transfers on the rears and early large black tyres, both herringbone treaded and round treaded. One with black hubs, two with red hubs. Box 1948, contents 1948-1949. I'll take some better photos for the 551 thread.

These bringing my total of Large Trailers to fourteen, eleven of them differing from each other. Kind regards, Jan 

By some happy coincidence it keeps raining Dinky Toys. Today this quartet arrived from various vendors. The Talbot Lago a replacement for an unboxed example, the Daimler Military Ambulance another quality replacement, the Military Bedford Truck a real new addition, now completing my set of US export military models, and the Peugeot 403 a new French addition. 

By the way, the photographs, as announced by Rob in post #1181 above, have been taken last week. They will show stunning Dinky models to illustrate forthcoming articles by Rob in The Journal! Kind regards, Jan 

Jan—Very nice that you were able to complete that little collection of the export military vehicles, and that Talbot Lago looks just stunning plus a super crisp box!
Best regards, Terry

Thank you, Terry, for your comment. In fact those export models are a strange party of mostly unrealistic military models, moreover, hardly compatible with each other, varying in scales from 1/40 to 1/60. Of course I did not count the military models in brown and the ones with crimped axle ends which turned into domed axle ends in about 1952, which were exclusive US exports too. Kind regards, Jan  

Here are quick photos of a couple of arrivals this week.

The Daimler Ambulance is no coincidence, since the posts by Terry and Jan reminded me that I did not have this model, and that in fact it's the only Dinky ambulance I didn't have. (As well as the only one out of the above suite of U.S. export models.) Fortunately the sales of this ambulance in the States must have been phenomenal, making it an easy and inexpensive model to locate today.

Decidedly not inexpensive was my other item, which I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to purchase since I certainly would never have the opportunity to obtain again. Originally from the Parodi collection, it's one of two (or so I have read) resin display versions of the never-issued Steed's Jaguar. (I'll re-post these images in the relevant topic.)

The labels on the bottom come from the period and show what the Italian price would have been.

Jonathan—-A very nice example of the Daimler Army Ambulance....nicely done. I commented on your Steed’s Jaguar in the other thread......you had a very nice day!
Best regards, Terry

Nice additions, Jonathan! As the Daimler Military Ambulance is concerned there is a remarkable price development on my side of the Atlantic. Since the introduction of the internet US export models like this one have become traceable and available much easier than before in Europe, resulting in a spectacular falling down of the price. I bought mine (above) at a price merely 25% of the price I had to pay for the one I will replace now, which I bought at a well-known Dutch fair back in 1995! Kind regards Jan  

Jan makes an excellent point above: Before the Internet in general, and eBay specifically, started providing us with so much information, British collectors tended to think these U.S. export military models were rare, but for the most part they're not. Apart from enjoying hefty sales, these models also benefit from the fact that their olive drab paint was probably the most durable shade used by Meccano Ltd.

It is perhaps a little tricky to find the Ford Staff Car without damaged or misapplied decals, and I've been led to believe the box for the Jeep is also uncommon. (Mine has a plain yellow box with no pictures, but apparently there was also a picture version!)