Dinky Toys
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| Product type | Die cast toy |
|---|---|
| Owner | Mattel |
| Country | Liverpool, England - Paris, Bobigny and Calais, France. |
| Introduced | 1934 |
| Related brands | Matchbox, Corgi Toys |
| Markets | Worldwide |
| Previous owners | Meccano Ltd, Triang, Airfix, Matchbox |
Dinky Toys are die-cast zamac miniature vehicles that were produced by Meccano Ltd. They were made in England from 1934 to 1979, at a factory in Binns Road in Liverpool. Dinky Toys were among the most popular diecast vehicles ever made predating other popular diecast marques, including Corgi, Matchbox, and Mattel's Hot Wheels (Ralston 2009, 7; Richardson 1999, 128).
Frank Hornby established Meccano Ltd. in 1908 to make metal construction sets. The company later moved into model railroading with their first O gauge clockwork trains appearing in 1920 (Ellis 2009, p. 15; Wainwright 2013).
In the early 1930s, Meccano had made many types of tin plate and other metal cars, like its Morgan and BSA three-wheelers, mostly in kit form (Interesting 1934, pp. 306–307). In 1933 Meccano Ltd issued a series of railway and trackside accessories to complement their O scale (1/45) Hornby Trains model train sets (Force 1988, p. 6; Ramsay 1933, p. 88). These accessories were first called "Hornby Modelled Miniatures", but in the April 1934 issue of Meccano Magazine they were given the name "Meccano Dinky Toys" for the first time (Meccano Magazine 1934 p. 332) in August 1935, the name Meccano was dropped and the marque became DINKY TOYS until 1971 (Encyclopédie Dinky Toys). By December 1934 the Dinky name was also used for the "Dinky Builder" sets where coloured flat metal pieces could be hinged together to make buildings and vehicles (Esplen 2013).
One story is that the "Dinky" name came from a nickname that a friend gave to Frank Hornby's daughter (Simpson 2008). Another version is when one of Frank's daughters-in-law first saw the models, she called them "dinky", a Scottish word meaning neat or fine.
In the mid-1930s, then, six vehicles were introduced (designated 22a through f), including a sports car, a sports coupe, a truck, a delivery van, a farm tractor, and a tank. They were all cast in lead. Soon after, the first Dinky model car available individually was numbered 23 – a sports car based on the MG Magic Midget. At this early time a series 24 (a-h) were introduced and included a generic ambulance (made until the late 1940s) a grand sport open four-seater, a grand sport two-seater, a coupe and a limousine (Gardner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 46–47). The 24 series was also made in France.
Some smaller vehicles were also produced alongside model track workers, passengers, station staff and other O scale track side accessories (Meccano Dinky 1934 p. 332). All of these early cars were inaccurate representations and had die-cast metal bodies, chassis and wheels with rubber tyres. By August 1935 there were around 200 different products in the Dinky Toys range which included die-cast ships, aeroplanes and small trains. Dinky Toys model cars were available individually in trade packs of 6 cars per pack. Most models would not be available in individual boxes until 1952.
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