DIECAST COLLECTIONS AND THE DINKY TOYS STORY

DIECAST SCALE MODELS are traditionally a collector's market, rather than one for builders. But there are plenty of times when ready-built models make perfectly good sense.

AAAAH, NOSTALGIA... MAKING DINKY TOYS FIVE DECADES AGO

THERE AREN'T MANY OF US WHO didn't have a few diecast vehicles as children. Dinky Toys were one of the premier brands, so it's fascinating to see how they were made, as the video clip shows.

NOSTALGIA CORNER: FINE OLD DINKY TOYS BROCHURE TO READ

Dinky Toys are an ever-popular diecast collector's choice, whether you are a serious collector or would simply like a few to decorate your shelves as a reminder of childhood days.

2012 GET RICH STRATEGY? TRY OLD KITS AND DINKY TOYS

David Jefferis reports:

International finances are such that 2012 could be a difficult year if you’re the investing type. However, a relevant question for the scale model fan is: “Does the model and miniature world offer any money-making opportunities?” Perhaps surprisingly, the answer is a guarded yes, as old plastic kits continue to be valued buys for connoisseurs, assuming they are mint and boxed, in unbuilt condition, and with all parts present and correct.

BEST WISHES TO PRINCE WILLIAM AND KATE MIDDLETON ON THIS ROYAL WEDDING DAY

SMN report

We’ll be joining the two billion or so TV viewers later today, but there’s just time for a quick look at some of the aircraft flown by British royalty - who knows, there might be a model there somewhere, perhaps a Westland Sea King like the above.

IT’S AUCTION TIME THIS COMING WEEKEND, WITH SOME TASTY SALES TO TEMPT YOU

SMN Report

If you enjoy hunting for a bargain, then auctions can be the way to go - though for rare items, prices can sail through the roof to ‘infinity and beyond’. But nearer terra firma, there are all sorts of interesting items coming up this coming weekend, with guide prices that should suit most buyers’ pockets.

Dinky Toys for sale

For diecast collectors, there are some very handsome articles with Special Auction Services (SAS), including the attractive group of Dinky Toys shown here. Just think, I owned no less than five of these six items when they were new, my pocket money was not a lot, and I looked forward to birthday presents with a 'Dinky' on the box. Sad to say, all those toys of mine bit the dust in some shape or form maaany years ago! But for new owners this time around, the Dinkys pictured, plus a number of other items, have the very reasonable lot estimate of just £70-£90 GBP ($113-145 USD).

CASH IN THE ATTIC WITH OLD DINKY TOYS?

SMN report
We’re on something of a Dinky Toys hunt at the moment, helped by the discovery of the trio of childhood sweethearts seen in the pix above. They’re in a bit of a state and need more than a hint of TLC to bring them back to life, which will be a nice indoor project for those long winter evenings to come – and they’ll be even longer in the UK when the clocks change to the deep, dark dungeon of Winter Time** at the end of the month.

Familiar Dinky
So far as the vehicles are concerned, the Austin Van was a familiar sight in my childhood home town. One that belonged to the Daltons electrical dealer spent much of its time trundling around delivering black-and-white TVs, with cases big enough to denude half the South American forests. Actually I’m not kidding - restrictions on mahogany were imposed in the 1990s. Note the aspiring-signwriter daub on the van side! The Commer Breakdown Truck was a favourite in the Dinky Toys range for many years, as was the Dinky Caravan, though this resembles nothing like any caravan I saw on any vacation site, ever.

Caravan towing mechanism
A similar design is now in production again in 1:76 00-scale for UK rail fans, so maybe the ghastly thing predated the era of my caravan vacations. I recall at the time really disliking Dinky’s cunning (but inaccurate) towing mechanism, meaning that the Caravan ran on three wheels, with its upswept hook nestling into the tinplate chassis rear cut-out of most Dinky cars at that time. To a literal-minded boy (especially one who helped his Dad to hook up a real thing), this was cheating - where was the towhook? Real caravans didn’t roll on their jockey-wheel!

Dinky Toys values
Pricewise, these Dinkys are worth little in their present state, and even refurbed they’ll command (rightly) nowhere near the price of a mint-and-boxed original example. And these are pretty good - a current quoted price for a clean breakdown truck is in the region of  £105 GBP ($166 USD). Still, if the aim is to bring back three Dinkys from the grave and make them shelftop wonders, then we’ll be well pleased.

**Note to politicians: Please keep Summer Time, or at least bring the UK into line with Europe!

See Dinky Toys stuff here.

Online valuations at the useful Toy Mart site here.

AARGH! DEATH TO DINKY TOYS! ZINC PEST STRIKES OLDER BEAUTIES

SMN report
It’s one thing to enjoy a beautiful collector’s item dating back 70 years or more, but you have a tale of doom and gloom if it starts falling apart before your very eyes. And it can happen, thanks to the curse of ‘zinc pest’, a form of corrosion that can affect diecast toys manufactured anytime from the 1930s to early 1950s.

Zinc pest explained
Zinc corrosion is caused when the metal has been mixed with impure lead, and it may be accelerated by damp, and big changes in temperature. Once the pest hits, it’s unstoppable, and over time the affected item cracks, buckles, and eventually falls to pieces. There’s no cure as such, because the fault lies in the zinc-lead mixture itself. The only real answer is to steer clear of any model that shows the slightest sign of it.

Dinky Toys Empire boat
The 1930s-era Dinky Toy shown above, a Short Empire flying boat, displays the sad destruction wrought by the pest - as you can see, it’s nasty stuff! Luckily, modern manufacturing processes, which are far more precisely controlled than those in the past, have made the pest largely an accident of history, and later diecasts (a range of mid-1950s Dinky Toy aircraft are shown above) are largely free of the problem, leaving collectors to consider more mundane issues such as bent propellers or missing parts.

And not forgetting the nasty tin pest
For tinplate collectors, there’s a similar-sounding but different condition called ‘tin pest’. Here, low temperature is the villain, and it’s possible for a tin toy to end up dissolving into nothing more than a pile of grey powder. Hmmm... I think I’ll bring those rare and wonderful tin robots out of the garage and tuck them up in my nice warm loft!

Diecast Toy Aircraft book
You can learn about collectible diecast aircraft by leafing through the 352 pages of Diecast Toy Aircraft by Sue Richardson. The book was written in 1997 but is still regarded as the authority on the subject. It makes an utterly fascinating read, although you may have to track down a used copy, as fresh ones are presently in short supply.

See Diecast Toy Aircraft here.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1-2  Dinky Toys Short Empire flying boat, with closeup.
3  Dinky aircraft featured in a 1954 brochure.
Pictures of the Short Empire boat, courtesy Andy Dingley.

BLASTS FROM THE PAST - BOOST YOUR SAVINGS WITH COLLECTIBLE DIECASTS

SMN report
There’s little doubt that in these difficult financial times, it pays to have some form of savings scheme beyond a bank account and a pension company. And for model fans that can be a pleasure, combining financial commonsense with a hobby, for unbuilt kits and diecasts represent pretty decent items to have in your portfolio.

Rare Dinky Toys
Of the two, diecasts show the most spectacular prices, with auctions regularly achieving astonishing levels - even in a recession, or perhaps especially in a recession, prices hold firm and there have been bidding wars between individuals and fund managers at some salerooms. Dinky Toys in particular are a high achiever where values are concerned, with models from small production runs being very highly prized. Examples include the Avro Vulcan jet V-bomber, of which only 500 or so were released, or virtually anything from the mid-1930s to 1943, when Dinky production stopped for three years until after the end of World War II.

Dinky prices at auction
There’s no real price peak in sight, as ‘they aren’t making them any more’, and in March 2008 a Type 22 Delivery Van fetched £19,975GBP ($31,080USD) which was a record for a single Dinky Toy, though boxed sets achieve much more. For many present-day collectors, the 1950s and 1960s are a happy hunting ground, for there are more Dinkys available in this period and generally in fair to good condition, too. The brochure cover we show above represents a nostalgic boyhood piece for many collectors, and is reckoned as the company’s golden age, before the onslaught of competition from Corgi Toys, a range that was launched with the catchy phrase: ‘The Ones with Windows’.

Dinky Toys - our take
However, collectible as Dinky Toys are, it’s still best to buy them because you like them. Prices can go down as well as up, so if you enjoy them just as items of miniature model art, then you get pleasure whatever the current value - but if prices are on the up, and your collection also boosts your savings, so much the better!

Have a look at a nice book on Dinky Toy collectibles here.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1  Dinky brochure from 1954.
2  Lineup of Dinkys from the same period.
3  Record breaking van in the markings of W.E. Boyce.

COLLECTIBLE DINKY TOYS MODEL AIRLINERS

The Guernsey Model Show included some highly collectible Dinky aircraft, including replicas of several airliners dating from the 1950s, a transatlantic turboprop Bristol Britannia, medium-range Vickers Viscount, and the turbojet de Havilland Comet. At the time, the real aircraft were leading-edge four-engine machines, the Viscount in particular being a big success, with 445 being built. Yet today, just four airworthy Viscounts exist, and no flying Comets or Britannias, though the Comet-based Nimrod patrol plane is likely to be in service until the 2020s.

However, Dinky Toys miniatures of these aircraft are available in fair numbers, and represent an appreciating asset for collectors. As ever with collectibles like these, buying what you like is the best plan - even if prices drop (unlikely with Dinky Toys) you've still got a desirable item.

Prices on eBay are a good guide to achievable values, and for a good condition Comet or Viscount with box, you can expect to pay north of £100.00 GBP ($167 USD). A Britannia is rarer and you are likely to pay around 50 percent more, but whatever price you end up paying, any of these will make a fine addition to your collection.

Find out about Dinky Toy and other diecast values at Toymart Auctions here.