METAL MODELS UK
Meccano Dinky Toys Accessories
‘Meccano Dinky Toys Add Realism’ proclaimed the advertising posters
promoting Britain’s Dinky Toys range in the 1930s and 40s. Meccano modelling
kits prided themselves on their ultra realistic approach to engineering matters
and when it came to Dinky model vehicles Meccano were no different. Realism was
the key word. Today the wide range of Dinky Toy accessories are keenly collected
on the secondhand market, with some particular rare pieces making well over
three figures! One such piece is the pre-war Dinky Toys Garage with green
opening doors – a boxed set in excellent condition should make 300 + on a good
day. The Petrol Service Station from the same period (late 30s) is worth even
more. To give you some idea of the verisimilitude that Meccano strove for here
are some of the associated products that the company made to accompany these
sets. You could buy an authentic Shell Petrol Pump, for example (currently worth
£25 -£40 depending on age, cheaper post war models are yellow, pre war ones were
red) or a Pratts Motor Oil Bin (today valued at £50). Meccano also made numerous
road signs to go with their models – including ‘No Entry’, ‘S-Bend’, ‘School’,
’30 MPH’, ‘Steep Hill’, ‘Roundabout’ and plenty of others – these are worth
about £10 - £15 each. Other cool accessories include white telephone boxes
(£30), dark blue police boxes (£35) and a postman complete with post bag
(£25)!
Post War Dinky accessories offered even more variety, with one of
the rarest pieces being a brilliant plastic Fire Station emblazoned with the
‘Dinky Toys’ logo. This is a stunning piece and well worth its £250 + price tag.
Other new accessories for the post war market included Road Hoardings (with
advertising posters! – valued at £65 – with additional posters available as
well), ‘Caravan Club’ Caravans (£45) and Traffic Lights (£20 a set). Other
‘countryside’ themed accessories included male and female hitch hikers (£15
each), various livestock (sheep, pigs, horses, cattle - £15 – 20 each) and a
great shepherd and sheep dog pairing (£75 or a £150+ with sheep as well).
Meccano Dinky Toys accessories are great in their attention to detail and
collectability – expect prices to rise in coming years!
Dinky Toy TV Tie-ins
Die cast model toy collectors are
spoilt for choice when it comes to Dinky Toys TV tie-ins. The company has a long
history of producing particularly nice TV related items – and prices are nearly
always high on the collector’s market. A particularly desirable Dinky die cast
model car is the Lady Penelope ‘Fab 1’ Rolls Royce, especially as the
‘Thunderbirds’ animated puppet series is currently enjoying yet another revival
on British television screens. The Fab 1 comes complete with Lady Penelope and
Parker (“yes, my lady!”) the chauffeur figures, as well as weapons and a
pictorial stand. Two slightly different models were manufactured - a ‘standard’
pink edition (valued at up to £200) and a special luminous pink version (worth
as much as £300). Other Thunderbirds Dinky Tie-ins include Thunderbirds II and
IV, with 60s editions worth twice as much as their 70s counterparts. Another
Gerry Anderson creation to be immortalised by Dinky Toys was ‘Joe 90’, whose
battery powered car is now worth £100 + on the collector’s market. Vehicles from
the ‘Captain Scarlet’ TV show are also in the same price range.
Another
60s TV show to team up with Dinky was Patrick McGoohan’s enigmatic ‘The
Prisoner’, shot in the tiny Welsh village of Port Merion. A white Mini Moke car
with the programme’s distinctive penny farthing logo on the bonnet is now worth
between £200 - £300 depending on the particular version up for offer. In the
70s, a classic 60s show was given a revamp and re-launched for a whole new TV
audience. The show was ‘The New Avengers’ featuring the famous blonde bob
haircut of actress Joanna Lumley (known at the time as a ‘Purdey’ cut after
Lumley’s female character). Typically, Dinky chose for Purdey a fresh and funky
car that was then brand new on the market – the sporty Triumph TR7. Expect to
pay about £50 for a mint boxed copy today. Apparently a classy Jaguar was also
going to be released for the show’s ultra posh bowler-hatted John Steed
character but none were ever officially put on the market. One day a prototype
model may turn up, however – expect it to make a tidy sum if it ever
does!
Prices for Dinky Aircraft Toys
Dinky Aircraft Toys account for some of the most collectible items in the
Dinky die cast model toy range. The company first started manufacturing high
quality aircraft toys in the years immediately prior to the Second World War.
Early models included the Percival Gull Monoplane (valued at up to £150 in mint
condition), the classic De Haviland Comet (£100) and the Cierva ‘Autogiro’
(available both with and without a pilot, the unpiloted version is the more
desirable, perhaps worth as much as £300 on a good day). These early model
aircraft are classic pieces – and boxed examples are worth a premium, although
in all honesty many of the original boxes are quite plain and devoid of the
design touches to be found on later Dinky products.
One of the rarest
Dinky toys of all time is the chromium plated Spitfire fighter aircraft produced
to help aid the war effort during the Battle of Britain. Housed in a special
souvenir box, all proceeds from sale of this toy went to the Spitfire fund. Only
briefly produced in the early 1940s, this Spitfire toy is now worth over £1000,
with non-chromium models worth about half as much. Other great wartime Dinkys
included the Bristol Blenheim Bomber (valued at £125) and a silver Hawker
Hurricane fighter (about £100).
After the War Dinky turned their
attention towards authentic die cast models of commercial airliners. A silver
bodied copy of the propellored Avro York Passenger Airliner would currently make
about £100 on the collector’s market. A late 50s Viking air liner would sell for
about £75. A super rare Dinky aircraft from this period is the mid 50s Royal Air
Force Vulcan Bomber, cast in aluminium and manufactured in very small quantities
especially for the Canadian market. Dealers have been known to charge up to
£2000 for one of these Dinky Aircraft collectibles. ‘Overseas’ Dinkys are very
collectible indeed, a German Phantom II camouflaged fighter aircraft made
especially for the Austrian and German markets is today valued at £250 +. The
domestic version is worth at least half that amount.
Matchbox Collectibles
Matchbox Collectibles are a range of
limited edition die cast models aimed squarely at the modern toy collecting
market. Launched in 1993, the series offers a wide range of vintage cars and
commercial vehicles targeted at the adult collector who will neatly file away
his purchases complete in their original packaging. These so-called “Toys for
Big Boys” are becoming increasingly collectible, with prices creeping up on the
secondhand market. A 1993 Matchbox Collectible model of an 1886 London Omnibus,
for example, now retails at about £40 in mint condition. This bus is part of the
1993 ‘Horse Drawn Carriage’ series, along with an authentic looking 1875 Wells
Fargo Stage Coach and an increasingly collectible turn of the century Gypsy
Caravan. Themed collections are very much part of the Matchbox Collectibles
approach. Other great collections in the series include American Muscle Cars,
Budweiser Delivery Trucks, Steam Powered Vehicles, Trolleys, Trams & Buses
and a Great Beers of the World series.
One of the larger collections from
the Matchbox Collectibles stable is the ‘Fire Engine’ series, first issued from
the mid 90s onwards. Among the more valuable fire engines in this very
collectible series is an 1912 Mercedes Benz fire engine (worth about £30) and an
1880 horse drawn fire cart mounted on a display plinth (valued at £60). A 1930
Ahrens-Fox fire truck with Coca Cola markings is now valued at £60 + as well.
Also for the Coke memorabilia collector, the 1998 Matchbox Collectibles ‘Coca
Cola’ series features a range of pieces priced at around £30. These include a
classic 1912 Ford Model ‘T’ Van proclaiming “Ice Cold Coca Cola Sold Here”, a
1937 GMC Van promoting ‘Nine Million Drinks A Day’ and a great 1957 Chevy
‘Vending Service & Repair’ pick up. Interest from the many collectors of
Coca Cola Memorabilia is helping keep prices for these models particularly
buoyant. The rarest Matchbox Collectibles are the ones with subtle differences
to the other models in the same series. The 1996 issued ‘Chester Toy Museum’ GMC
Van was issued in an edition of just 3000 copies, of which only 36(!) had copper
wheels (the majority were in silver). Tracking down one of the elusive copper
wheeled vans would normally cost between £300 and £400 in mint
condition.
Collecting Crescent Toys
One of the most highly regarded makers of British die cast model toys is
the now defunct North London based Crescent Toy Company. The firm manufactured
high quality model soldiers, Grand Prix racing cars, historical figures, model
aircraft, warships and an unusually excellent range of farm equipment pieces.
Prices for original Crescent toys in mint condition are sure to rise on the
collector’s market over the coming years.
The company was founded in
Islington, North London by Henry Eagles and Arthur Schneider in the early 1920s.
During World War II the manufacture of lead toys was suspended to aid the war
effort, but business as usual resumed after the War and the enterprising company
entered what many consider to be its heyday. Later pieces included coach and
horse sets produced to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s silver jubilee in 1977, but the
directors decided to finally call it a day in the early 1980s. Today interest in
their excellent work has never been higher.
One of Crescent’s most
celebrated productions was a Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future model set, based on
the successful children’s science fiction character featured in the popular
‘Eagle’ boy’s comic. A boxed set comprising five model figures and a state of
the art rocket launcher is worth about $500 on the collector’s market
today.
Collector interest is often focused on Crescent’s renowned line of
model sports cars and Grand Prix racing cars. Models from the late 50s such as
the 2.5 litre Ferrari racing car, the cherry red Maserati and a wonderful silver
Mercedes Benz generally retail for around $150 if complete in their original
distinctive boxes. Interestingly, earlier Crescent post war racing car models
are not worth as much as these more stylish models from the late 50s / early
60s. As one collector is fond of quipping, ‘If they were any more realistic –
they’d leak oil!’.
Crescent Battleships and the majority of their
aircraft sets (with the exception of the 1940 Spitfire set) are regarded as
competent examples of die cast toy making, but the firm’s range of military
accessories is rightly considered as something really special. A typically nice
ensemble is the late 30s General Post Office Telephone Engineers set, including
four figures, a telegraph pole and other accessories – complete in its box this
unusual set could make as much as $250 in the right circumstances.
Dinky Toys
John Condie
Every now and again we read details
about a Dinky toy that has made several thousand pounds at auction. Immediately,
we start to think about all those cars that we owned in the 1950's and 1960's
and how many thousands of pounds we have squandered by ripping open the boxes
and throwing them away, once we got them home. All those motorway pile-ups on
the lounge carpet and high-speed crashes into the bedroom wall, certainly took
their toll! As soon as our treasured Triumph Herald or Hillman Husky had been
unpacked from its box, it was more often than not involved in some sort of
incident involving serious paintwork damage or worse! How were we to know that
by the year 2000, people would be collecting these toys and that we were
destroying our own children's inheritance (or a few foreign holidays for
ourselves) as we played?
The first Dinky toys were made as long ago as
1934 by the firm of Meccano - another name to make 'baby-boomers' go weak at the
knees! Although most early models are sought after, there are several models
from the 1950's that will get collectors raiding their bank accounts. Lorries
are particularly rare. If the names Foden Flat Truck or Leyland Octopus Flat
Truck mean anything to you, you could be looking at anything from £600 ($1,000)
for the former and £1,500 ($2400) for the latter, as long as they are in mint
condition and with their original boxes, looking as crisp and clean as the day
they left the toy shop. Racing cars, saloons, buses and tractors, all have their
own devotees as well, who are prepared to pay good money for the right vehicle.
Rare colourways always increase value but mint condition and that all important
box are essential. At the beginning of the 1970's, Dinky Toys closed down -
another loss to British car manufacturing! Rather than continuing to produce
faithful replicas of modern cars - and in the face of foreign imports - they had
started to produce models of TV and film related toys - though naturally enough
these too are valued and sought after today. A post war British institution came
to an end but thanks to those boys who heeded their mother's advice to "look
after your cars and put them back in the box", the Dinky legacy lives on.....at
a price!
Prices for Dinky Aircraft Toys
Dinky Aircraft Toys account for some of the most collectible items in the
Dinky die cast model toy range. The company first started manufacturing high
quality aircraft toys in the years immediately prior to the Second World War.
Early models included the Percival Gull Monoplane (valued at up to £150 in mint
condition), the classic De Haviland Comet (£100) and the Cierva ‘Autogiro’
(available both with and without a pilot, the unpiloted version is the more
desirable, perhaps worth as much as £300 on a good day). These early model
aircraft are classic pieces – and boxed examples are worth a premium, although
in all honesty many of the original boxes are quite plain and devoid of the
design touches to be found on later Dinky products.
One of the rarest
Dinky toys of all time is the chromium plated Spitfire fighter aircraft produced
to help aid the war effort during the Battle of Britain. Housed in a special
souvenir box, all proceeds from sale of this toy went to the Spitfire fund. Only
briefly produced in the early 1940s, this Spitfire toy is now worth over £1000,
with non-chromium models worth about half as much. Other great wartime Dinkys
included the Bristol Blenheim Bomber (valued at £125) and a silver Hawker
Hurricane fighter (about £100).
After the War Dinky turned their
attention towards authentic die cast models of commercial airliners. A silver
bodied copy of the propellored Avro York Passenger Airliner would currently make
about £100 on the collector’s market. A late 50s Viking air liner would sell for
about £75. A super rare Dinky aircraft from this period is the mid 50s Royal Air
Force Vulcan Bomber, cast in aluminium and manufactured in very small quantities
especially for the Canadian market. Dealers have been known to charge up to
£2000 for one of these Dinky Aircraft collectibles. ‘Overseas’ Dinkys are very
collectible indeed, a German Phantom II camouflaged fighter aircraft made
especially for the Austrian and German markets is today valued at £250 +. The
domestic version is worth at least half that amount.