Dinky Toys

Established by Frank Hornby in 1908, Meccano Ltd was a leading British toy manufacturer that made a wide variety of model toys and playing kits. They manufactured three popular lines of toys: Hornby Model Railways, Meccano and Dinky toys.

In 1934, Meccano launched a new line of modelled miniatures which were known as "Meccano Dinky Toys." These Dinky toys were die-cast scale model of cars, trucks and other vehicles. There were six scale models of vehicles in this initial set of toys which were had the number 22 assigned to them. These original Dinky toys were 22a Sports Car, 22b Sports Coupe, 22c Motor Truck, 22d Delivery Van, 22e Tractor and 22f Tank. Later the 22g Streamlined Tourer was added to this line. Within the next two years, Meccano offered as many as two hundred different models in their Dinky toy line.

A new series, Series 30, was launched in the year 1935, which included scale models of specific vehicles of manufacturers such as Rolls Royce and Vauxhall. There was considerable enthusiasm for Dinky toys in the early 1950s. Today, old dinky toy cars and trucks have become collectible items due to their vintage value. Dinky toy prices are quite high because of their popularity and the quality of the material used. Several toyshops in the UK offer various models of Dinky toys for sale.