THE DIE IS CAST…

DinkyToysweredie-castminiaturevehicles producedbyMeccanoLtdfromtheirfactory inBinnsRoadinLiverpool.JamesKerrlooks backattheDinkycompanythatbecame verybigindeedwithmodelcollectors…

Production line staff working on Dinky Toys at the Meccano factory in Binns Road, Liverpool, where it was based for more than 60 years. Meccano and Dinky inventor Frank Hornby, a local boy, inspired a generation of children. Born in 1863, he also founding the model railway company which bears his name. He began his illustrious career by making toys for his own children and went on to become a millionaire.

Showcasing some of Dinky’s most well-remembered TV tie-ins, many of them for Gerry Anderson productions like Space: 1999, Captain Scarlet and UFO. There was also a model of Stripey, the Magic Mini from Anderson’s Candy comic which ran for 154 issues as well as annuals and story books. The Dinky of Parsley’s Car was not an Anderson project but was created by Meccano after FilmFair the makers of The Herbs, which featured Parsley the Lion wanted suitable transport for him to feature in their spin off show, The Adventures of Parsley, a children’s animated TV series shown in the early 70s. The film company and Dinky designers worked together on the project Thanks to Rodger Moffet for photo assistance

The mid-sixties to late seventies were a paradise for collectors of TV-related die-cast toys. Britain’s two main manufacturers engaged in a war to see who could create the most exciting products, combining high brand recognition, early “must have” advertising, and fiendishly clever design, often verging on the eccentric in search of increased playability. As a child it was always much more exciting to hold in my hand a model of a vehicle which did not exist than anything I could see in real life. A three-dimensional, accurate, model from my favourite Gerry Anderson series, say, bought those fantasy vehicles into the real world and connected me directly to those characters. Frankly, I still feel the same way today. Corgi were the first to capitalise on the market for high quality die-cast models of TV and Film favourites, immediately hitting the sweet spot in 1965 with their James Bond Aston Martin. The story of solid, dependable, Corgi is, however, for another day. Today belongs to the wonderfully haphazard Dinky Toys.

The Dinky name was established in 1935 as a continuation of Meccano Ltd (1908). For twenty years the Dinky range of relatively basic die-cast cars, buses and lorries had no serious competition. This all changed however with the appearance of the more dynamic Corgi from the midfifties, combining increased playability features such as windows with an aggressive sales stance.

In a rare instance of competition generating an increase in quality, both companies would continually up their game throughout the 1960s. This being Infinity magazine and not Model Collector, what follows is not intended to cover every variation of each release but will hopefully capture the excitement, and sometimes strangeness, that Dinky’s TV range bought into the lives of millions.

CORGI LOSES OUT

In 1966, riding high on the massive success of their James Bond Goldfinger Aston Martin, Corgi were keen to expand into a range of licenced TV and film vehicles. Setting their sights on Gerry Anderson’s Century 21 studios, discussions on producing a die-cast of Lady Penelope’s FAB 1 from Thunderbirds were at an advanced stage when, in the words of chief Corgi designer Marcel R.Van Cleemput, “Somewhere along the line all was unfortunately lost at the negotiating table, and it finished up with Dinky.

The worst aspect of this was not the loss of just one item but also all of the same models to come from the same licencing group.”

Although Dinky would produce a small number of TV toys based on other properties as time went on, the Century 21 licence proved to be the gift that kept on giving as Anderson created six series in the course of the following ten years, all stuffed full of unique vehicles crying out to be replicated.

The first product of the licence was the FAB 1 Rolls Royce, as driven by Parker for Lady Penelope. Often overlooked in the Thunderbirds story is the fact that Lady Penelope had her own comic strip in TV21 for months before the programme actually hit the screens, making the Rolls Royce familiar to many children in advance of the Thunderbirds themselves.