Dinky Toys
Established 1934First produced in 1935 by Frank Hornby as the Frank Hornby Firm, Dinky Toys was a manufacturer of die-cast miniature vehicles. The Frank Hornby Firm was best known for its electric trains and intended the vehicles to be used as accessories on model railroad platforms. The product line included figures of people and domestic animals, mailboxes and railroad signals.
Dinky Toys, along with Solido, were the most notable diecast vehicles ever produced – predating the competition. However, in the late sixties the market was strongly influenced by the first Mattel Hot Wheels, who were making cars with more gimmicks, more play value, and more character cars based on children ‘s television shows and films. Companies that brought only scaled models, like Corgi and Dinky toys, took big hits. In 1979 production of Dinky toys stopped.
Trivia:
* during the Sixties both Dinky an Corgi began to make their models to a larger scale, approximately 1/35, instead of 1/43. So models from the sixties are a bit smaller.
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