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**jt3** · 03-07-2020, 02:00 PM

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**jt3** · 03-08-2020, 03:18 PM

Dinky / Meccano footnotes

*The Dinky trade-name changed hands many times before ending up as part of Matchbox International Ltd in the late 1980s*

ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinky_Toys

**French production ceased as of 1972, though the Spanish firm of Pilen manufactures some French Dinky Toys later in the Seventies and Solido made an effort to do the same in 1981. The British branch struggled on until 1980, farming out some production to Polistil in Italy as well as the Universal firm of Hong Kong.

Since then the name of Dinky Toys has changed hands at least two more times, and now and then Hong Kong Products have appeared with the Dinky Toys name on theirs bubblepacks. In 1987 the Kenner-Parker firm, whose branches include Tonka Toys, sold the Dinky Toys name to Universal International of Hong Kong, already the owner of another time-honored and originally British trade name: Matchbox. Soon afterward, Kenner-Parker took over Polistil and acquired some of the last old Dinky Toys dies. Other dies had previously been sold to a firm in India, which markets them as Nicky Toys, and for a time some models were produces in South America as well.

Late in 1987 Universal brought the Dinky Toys name back to some semblance of life by applying it to new color variations of six Matchbox cars. The firm subsequently announced that the name would be used for a new series of cars in the Fifties, with further details to follow.

This is where the history of Dinky Toys stands as of the summer of 1988.

-and-

The Swiss-French Atlas publishing house launched a new edition of various French Dinky Toys models in the 2008. The selling takes place at subscribers in French-speaking countries (France and Belgium).

It concerns rather accurate copies of the French models out of the 50's and 60's-years. They are manufactured in China. The models can easily differentiated. The base of the new models are marked with: "Made in China" "Edition ATLAS, © Mattel".

ref: http://www.dinkytoys.ch/history.htm

(So there is a late connection to Mattel for Dinky at the end of all of this!, -jt3)

***In August 1985 French accountant Marc Rebibo bought Miro-Meccano from General Mills, reverted the French company name to Meccano S.A. and reintroduced some of the discontinued Meccano sets. In 1989 Rebibo was bought out by Finamec (Financière de Serbie), who continued the manufacture of Meccano in France. In 1990 Meccano France purchased the "Erector" trademark in the U.S.A. and started selling Meccano sets marked "Erector Meccano" in the U.S.A.

By 2000 Meccano France was faltering and was bought out in May 2000 by the Japanese toy company Nikko, who continue to manufacture Meccano sets in France and China, although very different from the Meccano originally manufactured by the Binns Road factory.

In 2013 Meccano was acquired by Spin Master.

ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meccano_Ltd

****Mini Dinky (1968-1971?) of note, the 1:65 scale cars are Lines Bros ltd originals, but the heavy equipment models had their beginnings elsewhere and were in turn used down the line by others...the tooling was used and sold as Mercury of Italy, Mercury USA, Gibbs Metal Miniatures, Lit'l Toy, and Universal, including Champ of the Road, Kidco, and possibly others.

The two open wheel race cars were supplied by Best Box of Holland

**dinkycollect** · 08-19-2020, 01:41 PM

I do not agree with some of the facts in the post above so here is what I think is correct but this can be argued.

Originally posted by jt3 View Post

Dinky / Meccano footnotes

*The Dinky Toys trade-name was owned by Meccano Ltd until the company was taken over by Airfix who did not buy the marque and registered the new marque of Dinky® which changed hands many times before ending up as part of Matel*

ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinky_Toys

**French production ceased as of 1971 in Bobigny but some models were made in Calais for a short unknown period, though the Spanish firm of Auto Pilen manufactured some French Dinky® later in the Seventies and some Solido were sold in England as Dinkys in 1981. The British branch struggled on until November 30, 1979, farming out some production to Polistil in Italy as well as the Universal firm of Hong-Kong. The conditions and dates of production of the two models made by Polistil are not known. The same applies to the Big Cat Jaguar ref. 219 made in Hong-Kong.

Since then the name of Dinky® has changed hands at least two more times, and now and then Hong-Kong products have appeared with the Dinky® name on theirs bubblepacks. In 1987 the Kenner-Parker firm, whose branches include Tonka Toys, sold the Dinky® name to Universal International of Hong-Kong, already the owner of another time-honored and originally British trade name : Matchbox. Soon afterward, Kenner-Parker took over Polistil and acquired the last two Dinky® dies. Other dies had previously been sold to S. Kumar and Co. Ltd. of Calcuta in India (1963 - 1969), which marketed them as Nicky Toys, and for a time some models were finished in Spain by Joal, in South Africa by Arthur E. Harris (Pty.) Ltd. and in Chile by Grubner.

Late in 1987 Universal brought the Dinky® name back to some semblance of life by applying it to new color variations of six small scale Matchbox cars. The firm subsequently announced that the name would be used for a new series of cars of the Fifties, with further details to follow. The aim of this series was to retain the rights to the Dinky® marque. Matchbox models made in Bulgaria and in Thailand were sold in Matchbox blisters with the marque DINKY® cast or printed on the baseplates.

This is where the history of Dinky Toys and Dinky® stands as of the summer of 1988.

-and-

The badly run Italian owned Swiss-French Atlas publishing house launched a new edition / counterfeits of various French Dinky Toys models in 2008. The selling takes place at subscribers in French-speaking countries (France and Belgium). Subscriptions for other Dinky Toys models could be obtained in England and in the Nordic Countries.

It concerns rather accurate copies of the French models out of the 50's and 60's-years. They were manufactured in China by two different companies under licence from Mattel. The models can easily be differentiated. The base of the remakes are marked with: "Made in China" "Edition ATLAS, © Mattel". The quality was from good to unacceptable.

ref: http://www.dinkytoys.ch/history.htm

(So there is a late connection to Mattel for Dinky at the end of all of this!, -jt3)

***In August 1985 French accountant Marc Rebibo bought Miro-Meccano from General Mills, reverted the French company name to Meccano S.A. and reintroduced some of the discontinued Meccano sets. In 1989 Rebibo was bought out by Finamec (Financière de Serbie), who continued the manufacture of Meccano in France. In 1990 Meccano France purchased the "Erector" trademark in the U.S.A. and started selling Meccano sets marked "Erector Meccano" in the U.S.A.

In 2006 four 1/43 Matchbox models were issued, they were made in China by or for Mattel and packed with yellow Dinky like card boxes. The aim of this series was to retain the rights to the Dinky® marque. The models were : Porsche 356, Citroën 2cv, Mercedes-Benz 300 SL and Jaguar XK 150.

In 2013 Meccano was acquired by Spin Master a large Canadian toy compagny.

ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meccano_Ltd

****Mini Dinky (1968-1971?) of note, the 1:65 scale cars are Lines Bros Ltd originals, but the heavy equipment models had their beginnings elsewhere and were in turn used down the line by others...the tooling was used and sold as Mercury of Italy, Mercury USA, Gibbs Metal Miniatures, Lit'l Toy, and Universal, including Champ of the Road, Kidco, and possibly others.

The two open wheel race cars Cooper and Lotus F1 were supplied by Best Box of Holland. Best box is the trade mark of EFSI which is a Dutch government organisation employing handicapped persons.

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Mini Dinky and Dinky Dublo, Gibbs and Lit'l Toy (Mercury) model lists

Mini Dinky and Dinky Dublo, Gibbs and Lit'l Toy (Mercury) model lists

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