Every boy, and a number of girls, love their toy cars and truck growing up with many becoming collectors as they mature into adults.
Such a collector has recently decided to part with his incredible collection of Dinky toy cars, trucks and trailers on the 11thof July this year. The collection is expected to sell for around £100,000 ($154,370.51).
The 999 Collection
The collector, who wishes to remain anonymous, decided to sell off his collection, lovingly amassed over the past 60 years, through Vectis Auctions. Cataloguers now have their work cut out for them as the collection contains 999 models (all in mint condition), contained in 80 crates.
Nick Letherbarrow, a cataloguer at VEctis told the Daily Mail that he believes the North West Durham Collection (named after the collector’s area of origin) offers something for everyone.
However the most sought after item will be a Dinky 903 Foden Flat Truck with tailboard in mid blue with light brown (a rare colour combination), that the auction house expects to fetch between £900 and £1,200.
Toys Steeped in History
The history of Dinky toys dates back to 1920 when owner Frank Hornby’s Meccano Company first began producing toy trains. In 1933 that Mecanno created a line of railway and trackside accessories to compliment the trains – a line initially called Model Miniatures. The following year the name was changed to Dinky Toys in the April 1934 edition of Meccano Magazine.
The first Dinky toy car available was simply called 23a and was a sports car based on an MG design. That one little car quickly expanded into a range which included another sports car, a sports coupe, a tank, a farm tractor and a delivery van and more (each baring a number and letter from 22a through to f).
The Design and Materials
The cars weren’t exact replicas of specific models or makes but rather generic representations, made with die-cast metal bodies, tin plate bases and wheels with tiny rubber tyres. The range was so successful that Meccano had upped production to 200 different products by December of 1935.
The first accurate likenesses of various vehicles were produced in the same year and called Series 30. The range included miniature Rolls Royces, Daimlers, Vauxhall and Chrysler Airflow Saloons.
Production on both Sides of the Channel
According to Dinky Toys, the cars were originally produced in both Livepool and Bobigny, France with the two factories occasionally sharing models but “generally producing different but generically related series of models”.
World War II put a stop to production for a number of years with the first post war model, a Jeep, only appearing in 1946. The French Dinky Toy range ceased operations in 1972 with their British counterparts hanging on until 1980.
The Most Collectable Dinky Toy Cars
Dinky Site has an exhaustive list of rare Dinky cars ranging from sports cars to trucks, with their estimated worth. A few of the most collectible models include:
The Dinky Toys 206 Maserati Racing Car bubble pack issue which was produced between 1962 and 1964 – one such a model recently sold for £615 ($950.8).
The Dinky Toys 189 Triumph Herald, from the red dealer issue which was produced in 1963 and sold for £ 1,000 ($ 1,547.50).
The Dinky Toys 25M Bedford Tipper, with an all cream colour scheme (as opposed to red and cream) which was produced between 1948 and 1954. One such a model recently sold for £1,252 ($1,937.60).
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Pippa Green is a London-based blogger who recently had to search of panel beaters listed on Assist247 after getting into a fender-bender whilst on holiday in Cape Town, South Africa.