Hornby Companion Series - Volume 4: Dinky Toys and Modelled Miniatures
The history of Meccano-made Dinky Toys and Modelled Miniatures (as they were initially known), spans a period which commenced at Christmas 1933 and ended with the closure of the factory in 1979. During all this time, these toys were made at the famous Binns Road factory in Liverpool and the history of all the known production (including items that were planned and never issued) is covered in this book, which forms volume 4 of the Hornby Companion Series.
Dinky Toys were the first British toy cars produced using advanced die-casting techniques. They were in direct response to the American Tootsie toy range, whose importation to Britain in the early 1930s was Frank Hornby's spur to create a home-based rival, in much the sane way as his by then world famous Hornby trains, were a reaction to cheap German imports. Oh, that a latter-day Frank Hornby could turn back the tide of foreign toy imports in today's market!
By the mid-1930s, Dinky Toys were undisputed market leaders, so much so that like other famous household names, their name became synonymous with any small toy vehicle, much to the chagrin of other manufacturers.
Virtually every boy and many a girl, whose childhood occurred in the thirties, forties and fifties, must have played with Dinky Toys.
Motor cars may spring to mind when the name Dinky Toy is first mentioned, but the range has included ships, 'planes, military vehicles, road-making equipment, commercial transport, dollshouse furniture, garden rollers, farm implements and even sheep, etc. - a total well in excess of a thousand different items. Many of the items are now very rare and have never before been illustrated in a book on this subject.
The authors have obtained access to much archive material, not only previously unpublished, but until recently thought to have been destroyed. The husband-and-wife partnership of Mike and Sue, who have both been avid toy collectors for many years, has been fortunate in having the assistance of other specialist collectors in the preparation of major sub-sections of the book. They have also collated the information supplied by many fellow addicts from all parts of the world over the last ten years.
This book, like its fellows in the Hornby Companion Series, distills pure and unashamed nostalgia as well as being a mine of information and essential reference material for every grown-up small-boy, model vehicle enthusiast and toy collector.
Hardback with dust jacket, 30x22cm, 384 pages, black & white and colour illustrations
Condition: Good/Very Good with minor blemish to DJ
ISBN: 9780904568332
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