Dinky Toys

This book on Dinky Toys takes a brief look at the fascinating life of the founder of Meccano, Frank Hornby, and the very varied range of children’s products which came out of the Binns Road factory in Liverpool. It looks at the beginnings of Dinky with the pre-war models but concentrates on the hugely popular post-war ranges from the ‘golden years’ of these wonderful die-cast toys. All aspects are covered; the small Dinky Toys, the larger Dinky Supertoys, accessories, Dublo Dinky Toys, catalogues, marketing material and the unique Meccano Magazine. The threat of Corgi Toys and other similar competitors is covered followed by the very sad demise of Meccano culminating in the ill-fated takeover by the already doomed Tri-ang company and the ultimate closure of the Binns Road factory in 1979. Finally a chapter on collecting, auction houses, internet auctions, reading material, the Dinky Toys Collectors’ Association and possibly a timeline of the Meccano Factory.

Author Biography

David Busfield has collected Dinky Toys for over 30 years and has amassed a large collection of models, publicity material and memorabilia from the Meccano factory. David is a former editor of the Dinky Toys Collectors’ Association quarterly journal and he still is a regular contributor to this and other publications. He is author of Dinky Toys, A Pictorial Record”. He used to be a working photographer and produces excellent quality images of Dinky Toys for all his written work.