Dinky Toys are die-cast 1:43 scale miniature model vehicles. They first appeared in early 1934 when Meccano Ltd of Liverpool, England introduced a new line of "modelled miniatures" under the trade mark "Meccano Dinky Toys". The first announcement for the new line was made in the April 1934 issue of Meccano Magazine.
Until their liquidation in 1972 dinky produced various themes and models including; Military, Aeroplanes, Racing Cars, Commercial, Vintage Cars, ships, Figures/Personnel, Buildings and several guides and brochures.
The cause of Dinky's liquidation was largely due to the emergence of Japanese rival "Corgi." They used efficient production methods and cheap placstics instead of metals slashing their overheads. The original holding group of Dinky "Meccano" is of course still in production despite competition from "knex" and "lego."
Corgi seemed to have a better understanding of their market than Dinky too. In September 1958 they launched their first gift set ranges, which dinky had neglected to persue since 1952. Themes seemed to be in high demand in the late 50's and Corgi outsold Dinky nearly 3:1 at Christmas between 1958 and 1962. Parents could buy their children the presents they wanted for a fraction of the price.
Matchbox entered the market in the early 1970's and took a sizable market share almost overnight. A new method of manufacture allowed their toys to have very low friction drive, which added a huge play value. Neither Corgi or Dinky could compete with this.
The "dinky" name changed hands several times, firstly to Lines Bros (owners of Tri-ang and spot-on) and eventually to matchbox in 1972.
Dinky toys are highly collectable at present and the most expensive model ever sold (A mint boxed 1st type foden 505) fetched £11,700 at auction.
The value of a dinky varies depending on original: number in circulation, age (pre/post war) length of production & condition. Any scarce colour combinations can dramatically increase the value. There is a large demand from collecors for French, US and South African issue dinkys- generally the most valuable.
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