Jonathan. Again a beautiful acquisition. I love these white tires with a clear Dunlop print. Indeed Meccano had something with Dunlop from the beginning to the end of production. I have a Citroen DS 19 made in France and DS 23 made in Spain (sales number 530). Both have black Dunlop tires, but the big white ones of yours are more beautiful.
Happy New Year to everyone too.
Jan O
Jan -- Dunlop tires also featured on the 407 Transit "Kenwood" and "Hertz" models from Binns Road, and possibly other Transit variants. I believe also on the Lincoln Continental, which had the same style of wheels.
Jonathan---Several more very, very nice acquisitions....especially that Roadster! It is wonderful that you have been able to find these very special pre-war models. You have had a great collecting year in 2019....congratulations!
Best regards, Terry
Can I echo Terry's comment about the roadster - it's a beauty. I also admire your Town Car from an earlier post. I have one but it's missing the right rear wing though otherwise not too bad.
Thanks, gents! 2019 was indeed a naughty year for me -- I will never say never but I'm probably almost done now and will rightly spend more time on improving my displays, dusting, and generally being more responsible! There are, however, several items I bid on during 2019 that I might still win -- we shall see about that!
You may find a 30B Rolls-Royce with Dunlop tyres. In this case it is a rare model assembled in France with french Dunlop tyres. This also applies to the 30A Chrysler Airflow and the 30G Caravan.
Meccano had priviledged contacts with some compagnies such as Dunlop, Esso, Crawfords, Kodak etc ... Dunlop was one of their favorites and Dunlop tyres were used in England, in France and in Spain but there were also Dinky Toys fitted with Pirelli tyres. Those were assembled in Spain by Poch.
A very nice find for my last acquisitions of 2019 -- and for quite a while, perhaps? -- that arrived in today's post. These are new Dinky Toys that the seller had indirectly obtained when a small toy store in Illinois closed down (some time in the 70s, I think). They come from the range that was distributed in the U.S.A. by A.C. Gilbert during 1963, and were being sold from the A.C. Gilbert display case that I also obtained.
A specially pleasing touch is that the prices written by the shopkeeper in pencil on the boxes correspond exactly to those listed by Gilbert in its 1963 catalogue. I plan to stock the display with these new models as well as others that were part of the '63 range in the U.S. -- it will look just as if I had walked into the store (I wish) via time machine.
The models themselves are of course well-known, but the two Fairlanes are interesting because -- as my photo shows imperfectly -- they were obviously released after the RCMP version, so they have the open driver and passenger windows as well as the holes that were punched in the interior for the Mounties.
Jonathan--How fitting that you closed out 2019 on such a high collecting note.....and I love your new display cabinet. You now have likely one of the nicest set of original Dinky Toys display cabinets, which are always special. Congrats once again, and I can't wait to see them in person this coming April!
Best regards, Terry
Jonathan
Very good looking display, I am longing to see it full of your Dinky Toys.
Thank you for the comments, gentlemen! I had to order a new table to support it in my small toy room, but I am hoping the table will arrive next week. I am eager indeed to stock the display with models!
Jan--What a nice, well-rounded collecting month you have had....literally covering all bases! We await your further comments.....I am guessing that the Comet is another variety to add to your already nice assortment, and glad to see you are inching your way into more French Dinky's.....
Best regards, Terry
You make me curious, Jonathan. If I may ask you, what did your 'project' encompass, what was your objective? Kind regards, Jan
Jonathan---Well,I'll admit you've succeeded in making all of us very curious as to what you're up to......I admit I have no idea, so hopefully it will all come together soon. In the meantime congrats on more new Dinky models!
Best regards, Terry
Gentlemen -- I must admit that I've naughtily taken the opportunity to create suspense, and I hope the end result doesn't disappoint. It's a project that may have been of special interest only to me!
Anyhow all will be revealed when the last Dinky Toy completing the project arrives -- by the end of this week I hope!
Jonathan----You are such a tease....but am guessing and hoping it will be well worth the wait!
Terry
Here are some hasty (a bit fuzzy!) photos of today's arrivals. The Dublo Bedford is the last step in the project I have been discussing. Hopefully I will be able to put all the pieces together and share photos in a day or two!
The other three models are not part of the project but the postman brought them anyway.
At last, here is what I have been working on!
This display case is from the year 1963, when Gilbert briefly distributed Dinky Toys in the U.S.A. They offered a reduced range of models -- strangely omitting some that would have done well, including the U.S. school bus -- and as you will see from the price list, I have loaded the display with each one (except for two small airplanes, one of which I do not own).
In practice, of course, a given toy shop may not have stocked every model, or they may have had additional Dinky Toys in stock obtained from previous distributors. But this makes for an interesting look at the Dinky range in the year before the Lines Brothers takeover (and gradual introduction of bloated 1/42nd-scale models).
To enhance the time-travel qualities of this display, which originated in a family-run toy shop in Illinois, I have provided each model with a price tag showing its 1963 price.
Jonathan, what a great project! One of the joys of collecting is the ability to re-create something like this display. I have been doing something similar with a shelf of books - re-creating an illustration in a reference volume.
What may interest you is that I was fortunate enough to buy last year a small selection of Dinky sales ephemera from a US vendor. I've been looking forward to announcing their acquisition but I have had a lot happening in my life lately so I was delaying it. However, this seems a good time to mention the items in case you Jonathan might be able to incorporate one or two in your re-creation. I have a couple of duplicate items.
The items came from a shop in Ohio called HOBBYVILLE. It was located at 10911 LORAIN AVENUE, CLEVELAND 11. I believe all the items came from the same source and they consist of the following:
Dinky Pocket Catalogue USA dating from 1957 (I think!) It has a correction slip inserted with the date 9-30-57 in the American style.
Dinky Pocket Catalogue USA dating from a year (or maybe two) earlier. Perhaps someone can tell me from the photographs.
Large Dinky Flyer USA published by Lines Bros. This has a handwritten date for 9-15-64. It's a folding flyer with NEW models including 134 Triumph Vitese, 135 Triumph 2000, 136 Vauxhall Viva, and 952 Vega Major coach.
Small Dinky Flyer USA published in England and dated January 1961 (16/161/100) A folding flyer showing 948 McLean Tractor-Trailer as "coming soon".
I regret that none of the above items is intended for disposal but I might be persuaded into an exchange for UK material.
Additionally there are the following:
National Model Distributors Inc. (Chicage, Detroit, Columbus) Dinky Toys Check List and Order Form (x 2). This is not dated but should hopefully be identifiable by the model prices. E.g. 666 Missile Erector Vehicle with Corporal Missile and Launching Platform $7.95 or 584 Berliet GAK Covered Truck (identified as "Coming Soon") $3.90.
Nation Model Distributors Inc. Dinky Price List and Order Form (x 2). This is in the form of a single sheet with models listed on one side, and the other with illustrations of several models and marked for folding into a Business Reply Envelope (sic) addressed to the Chicage branch of NMD Inc.
National Model Distributors Inc. Business Reply Envelope dated 11MY62 showing a range of hobbyist items inluding Dinky Toys, Pyro Model Ships, Spray PLA Instant Drying Enamel, and several others. The Dinky Order Form is present but no longer attached and indicates models 987 ABC TV Control Room and 988 ABC TV Transmitter Van as *coming soon. These were presumably the BBC equivalents in suitable livery.
Finally there is the item which your post prompted me to dig out and examine - a sheet of 200 self-adhesive price labels each with model number, name, and dollar price. Actually seven have been left blank but they complete the sheet. The sheet starts with #105 TR2 and ends with #999 DH Comet Airliner. After a bit of research I conclude that the list is incorrect for your display as my 191 Dodge Royal is $1.00 where yours is $1.05 but I'd be willing to part with it.
I shall post photographs shortly so everyone can see what I'm talking about.
Again, congratulations on such a wonderful display.
John
John,
Thank you for your congratulations and for your interesting post. I would venture to say that some of your ephemera from "Hobbyville" might not be valuable, but it is is probably very rare. As you will see (or may have seen previously) in the Meccano Inc. thread (http://dtcawebsite.com/node/7117) Meccano Inc. thread, after longtime U.S. distributor H. Hudson Dobson shut down in 1960, Meccano Ltd for 1961 and 1962 moved to multiple distributors for various U.S. states. (See Post #21 in that thread for a list of them all.) National Model Distributors was the distributor for Ohio and six other Midwestern states only.
The price labels are surely from 1961 or 1962 also, since the 1963 prices I have reflect slight inflation.
This 1961/62 period will forever fascinate me as well as be a source of angst, since I was already an avid Dinky fan at five years old. The distribution mess made models hard to get and the change of sources -- H.H.D. in 1960, a regional distributor from 1961-2, Gilbert in 1963, and then Lines Brothers in 1964 -- meant that many toy shops sold off their Dinky stocks and stuck with what they could get more reliably. In contrast, Matchbox and Corgi always enjoyed stable U.S. distribution (Fred Bronner and Reeves International, respectively).
Well, I had Matchboxes, Corgis, and many other toys too, but have kept few over the years as they were never special to me the way Dinky Toys were. I guess this scarcity at a impressionable time of my life is what really made me a Dinky collector -- just as many colleagues in the UK became adult collectors as a result of postwar deprivation!
Jonathan---well, not sure just what to say....it is just fantastic what you have put together! I don't remember seeing a vintage Dinky Toys display case filled with period correct models like this.....very nicely done and so interesting. I like that you have stocked it with period correct models, rather than haphazardly filling it with models from different eras. I am assuming that all of the models listed on those two price lists are shown.....we can now see why you have been so keenly collecting this past year. Just when did you conceive of this, and how long from start to finish?
Well done, and congratulations! You surely will do an article for the Journal.....
Best regards, Terry
Thanks, Terry! This is a complete set of models on the price list except for the P1B Lightning (which I think I have somewhere) and the Sea Vixen fighter. I should squeeze both in, but I have never been an airplane collector, so they are low priority ...
Hallo Chris
I also have a few aircraft, but not as many camouflaged as your. Well done, I have seen some wonderful planes that I would definately want to add to my collection. They are unfortunately not very available here in South Africa.
regards
Dirk
Dinky aircraft do not seem to get much exposure on the forum so I thought I would show my collection of Camouflaged aircraft that I have spent the last 10 years collecting. Camouflaged aircraft appealed to me because they formed a small area of collecting that I could cope with compared with the much greater variety of commercial aircraft. Also they were all made in a very short timespan - 1940-41. There are variations in the camouflage scheme - light and dark, and also in the type of RAF roundels. Again there are variations in the colour of the underneath of the wings and fuselage. Some, like the Spitfire have no undercarraige, while the Fairy Battle was made both with and without the undercarraige. Some, like the 66a Heavy Bomber and 66b,66c and 66d have tinplate wings attached to the cast fuselage, while the others all have cast wings. A few have the gliding game hole in the top of the fuselage. I still have a few of the variations to collect but I have at least one of every type. There are several post-war camouflaged aircraft but I will leave those until another time.
Below is a list of the camouflaged aircraft -
60s - Fairy Battle Bomber (1940-41)
62d - Blenheim Bomber (1940-41)
62e - Spitfire (1940-41)
62h - Hawker Hurricane (1940-41)
62t - Whiteley Bomber (1939-41)
66a - Heavy Bomber (1940-41)
66b - Dive Bomber (1940-41)
66c - Two Seater Fighter (1940-41)
66d - Torpedo Dive Bomber (1940-41)
66e - Medium Bomber (1940-41)
68a - Ensign Airliner (1940-41)
68b - Frobisher Class Airliner (1940-41)
Chris.
Well, Chris, I like Dinky Toys aircraft very much. So, if it's only for me, you have one admirer at least! This is a marvellous and scarce selection. You might show each of them in some more detail in the respective British Aircraft topics, if you like. Kind regards, Jan
So this is the clue, Jonathan! It's a miracle that you managed to collect (or complete) exactly this selection in such a short timespan. Congratulations!
If the Mobile Crane is the version which you showed in #1272 it is about one decade older (1950-1952) than the display you filled it with (nasty purist as I am) Kind regards, Jan
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Dinky 582/982 Pullmore - Dark Blue Cab/Dark Blue Body
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--33 Mechanical Horse and Five Assorted Trailers
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186 Mercedes 220 SE
186 Mercedes 220 SE
--14a and 400 B.E.V. Electric Truck (1948-60)
--33 Mechanical Horse and Five Assorted Trailers
--25m and 410 Bedford End Tipper (1948-63)
--25m and 410 Bedford End Tipper (1948-63)
Trailer Caravans
Austin Van 470
Meccano Liverpool pricelist French F.A.S. Tarif Exportation 1957
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-274 - A.A. Mini van
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--40h and 254 Austin FX3 Taxi (1952-59)
--40h and 254 Austin FX3 Taxi (1952-59)
-066 Bedford Flat Truck (1957-60)
-066 Bedford Flat Truck (1957-60)
--40h and 254 Austin FX3 Taxi (1952-59)
--40h and 254 Austin FX3 Taxi (1952-59)
--40h and 254 Austin FX3 Taxi (1952-59)