Old diecast toys - Dinky etc.
Discussion
I wonder if anyone out there collects/restores/modifies old diecast toys? I started collecting in my teens when most kids were giving up on such nonsense. Even then, when the hobby was just starting, I couldn't afford some of the prices so made do with repainting and repairing. A club started locally and I was able to make some pocket money from resurrecting models. I did a nice line in Dinky XK120 Jaguar coupes with the roof removed to make dropheads or roadsters. At university some years later I built some early white metal kits for local enthusiasts, again some useful cash. Over the last few years I've sort of taken up the hobby again, focussing mainly on Dinky toys of the 1950s. The advent of the internet has been great for information and sourcing parts, so that pretty much anything can be restored. And I'm still not forking out silly prices - I like to restore them and reflect that they were toys when all's said and done.
I also have a lot of Meccano from various eras, so models made with this are strangely battered and coloured - still great fun and lots of exercise in ingenuity!
I also have a lot of Meccano from various eras, so models made with this are strangely battered and coloured - still great fun and lots of exercise in ingenuity!
I've got more than a few diecast toys/models. Some are what I kept from my childhood days others are what I have collected over the years.
Some are the ones that I always wanted when I was a child but could never get to others that I did own but got lost/sold/broken.
Part of the collection is new in box. Most of those are in storage & come out to be looked at occasionally.
I have quite a large collection of captain scarlet diecasts. Ranging from the original releases to the modern rerelease collectors versions.
Captain scarlet & space 1999 were my favourite when I was a child & I managed to get the space 1999 toys but the captain scarlet ones always eluded me when I was young.
I have a couple of dinky space 1999 eagles on my desk in grey primer at the moment.
They were my favourite back in the day & were very playworn so I am restoring them to how I want them.
They are not being returned to the original green/blue colours but a more realistic to the tv show models.
I know that might make them less collectable to some but that doesn't concern me as these are never to be sold and the mods make them better in my eyes.
I have a couple of toys/models from the tv show UFO also from my childhood that are to be done after I have got the eagles finished.
With the amount of repro parts that are easy to find it makes restoring older toys/models a lot easier than it used to be.
Some are the ones that I always wanted when I was a child but could never get to others that I did own but got lost/sold/broken.
Part of the collection is new in box. Most of those are in storage & come out to be looked at occasionally.
I have quite a large collection of captain scarlet diecasts. Ranging from the original releases to the modern rerelease collectors versions.
Captain scarlet & space 1999 were my favourite when I was a child & I managed to get the space 1999 toys but the captain scarlet ones always eluded me when I was young.
I have a couple of dinky space 1999 eagles on my desk in grey primer at the moment.
They were my favourite back in the day & were very playworn so I am restoring them to how I want them.
They are not being returned to the original green/blue colours but a more realistic to the tv show models.
I know that might make them less collectable to some but that doesn't concern me as these are never to be sold and the mods make them better in my eyes.
I have a couple of toys/models from the tv show UFO also from my childhood that are to be done after I have got the eagles finished.
With the amount of repro parts that are easy to find it makes restoring older toys/models a lot easier than it used to be.
As a youngster I progressed from building plastic model kits to collecting and restoring old Dinky toys. In those days the cars could be picked up for a maximum of £10 and the Supertoy commercials for less than £30 in restorable condition (ie not with damaged castings).
I still have a box of 20 or 30 still to restore that I got from my parents house last year. This resurgence in interest was brought about after I bought several of the Atlas reproduction commercials.
I've bought some rattle can primer and various paints, so when the weather gets a little warmer and and I have more spare time on an evening I hope to get some more of them restored with the help of my kids.
At my parents house there is a display cabinet full of Dinky's that still look good today 25 years after they were restored.
There was a member on here Red Firecracker who restored die casts and at one point ran a forum about them. I don't know if he is still about and I believe the forum has ceased.
These days with the internet and forums there is loads of information and sources of spares. In my youth it was a case of buying from Mick & Sue Richardson (both have passed away now) or visiting toy and train fairs.
I still have a box of 20 or 30 still to restore that I got from my parents house last year. This resurgence in interest was brought about after I bought several of the Atlas reproduction commercials.
I've bought some rattle can primer and various paints, so when the weather gets a little warmer and and I have more spare time on an evening I hope to get some more of them restored with the help of my kids.
At my parents house there is a display cabinet full of Dinky's that still look good today 25 years after they were restored.
There was a member on here Red Firecracker who restored die casts and at one point ran a forum about them. I don't know if he is still about and I believe the forum has ceased.
These days with the internet and forums there is loads of information and sources of spares. In my youth it was a case of buying from Mick & Sue Richardson (both have passed away now) or visiting toy and train fairs.
I was poking around in Mum's loft the other day and discovered that, basically, I've still got every single one of the diecast toys I had as nipper. They're pretty playworn but (unsurprisingly, I suppose) they still have all their tyres and wotnot.
But I also discovered that Dad had been quietly acquiring old Dinkys from the 1950s, and a quite big boxful too, before he died. So I'm going to dig a couple out and have a go at restoration.
But I also discovered that Dad had been quietly acquiring old Dinkys from the 1950s, and a quite big boxful too, before he died. So I'm going to dig a couple out and have a go at restoration.
Ayahuasca said:
Like many other, I wish I still had mine.
I had:
Spitfire - with flick start propeller
UFO Interceptor
Was that the spitfire that had the strange sized battery in it that needed a screwdriver to change.I had:
Spitfire - with flick start propeller
UFO Interceptor
I have memories of owning one but don't recall seeing it in any of the boxes from the loft I looked in recently.
Hope its still around somewhere. If not I might have to try and find another.
I used the enjoy the effect of the propeller spinning infront of the tv.
Still have my UFO interceptor and UFO mobile both looking very sorry for themselves but they are on a shelf in the cupboard next to me so after the eagles are finished they are next.
I do hope that this can become a 'legendary' PH thread. I still have most of my diecast models starting with late 50's stuff. Dinky and Corgi of course but my favorites are Spot-On. I remember being aware of 'scale' at a very early age and the big Spot-on commercials were my first chance to play with buses and lorries at the same time as cars. IMHO the Dinky lorries only worked with Matchbox cars.
There's a suitcase-full in the attic. Playworn but restorable. Next to me right now is a Spot-On Zodiac MKII becoming a first restoration to match its full size counterpart in the garage.
And....... I recently found my Spot-On collectors badge!
There's a suitcase-full in the attic. Playworn but restorable. Next to me right now is a Spot-On Zodiac MKII becoming a first restoration to match its full size counterpart in the garage.
And....... I recently found my Spot-On collectors badge!
I've been delighted to read the responses to my original post. I have a few Spot On cars - they were always a bit more expensive as I recall, especially their range of commercials, and still seem to command a premium among collectors. I agree with the comments about scale, and it's entertaining to see a Spot On Meadows "Friskysport" lined up beside the giant Rolls Royce! Part of the appeal of Spot On was of course their sometimes weird choice of models - who in their sane senses ever bought a "Friskysport" anyway?
With my own collection, I now have nine of Crescent's range of ten 50's racing cars - these really are excellent models, as good as if not better than the contemporary Dinky range and including such wonders as a Connaught and a V16 BRM. The missing one is a Vanwall, which is both rare and expensive.
I recently bought a small job lot, mainly to get another Dinky GMC cabover from 1954. This was a big model with a trailer made largely from plastic, which often ends up broken or lost (probably both). Now I need to decide what to do - my wife puts up patiently with all this junk, and she suggests a circus lorry of some sort, complete with plastic tigers!
With my own collection, I now have nine of Crescent's range of ten 50's racing cars - these really are excellent models, as good as if not better than the contemporary Dinky range and including such wonders as a Connaught and a V16 BRM. The missing one is a Vanwall, which is both rare and expensive.
I recently bought a small job lot, mainly to get another Dinky GMC cabover from 1954. This was a big model with a trailer made largely from plastic, which often ends up broken or lost (probably both). Now I need to decide what to do - my wife puts up patiently with all this junk, and she suggests a circus lorry of some sort, complete with plastic tigers!
Sadly all the originals from my childhood have gone, but I have bought many '60s and '70s Dinkies and Corgis for restoration over the years. Most of them have been sold on but I did photograph many of them so will post them here when I get round to scanning them (all are negs and prints from the '80s).
I probably have about half a dozen left, which one day I will restore. I can't remember which ones are left now - I know one's a Corgi Ford Thames camper van, and there's also Dinky Plymouth Plaza taxi, which will need a roof sign. Steve Flowers is a good source of spare parts, paint and decals.
I probably have about half a dozen left, which one day I will restore. I can't remember which ones are left now - I know one's a Corgi Ford Thames camper van, and there's also Dinky Plymouth Plaza taxi, which will need a roof sign. Steve Flowers is a good source of spare parts, paint and decals.
I just found another lot in my own loft (that my younger daughter has claimed as her own – we'll see about that 
) also this little selection that Dad had obviously recovered from around the garden (they were in his potting shed stuff). 
I don't know where that Rolls came from
Which one shall I restore first?
) also this little selection that Dad had obviously recovered from around the garden (they were in his potting shed stuff). I don't know where that Rolls came from
Which one shall I restore first?
Edited by Yertis on Saturday 25th February 16:59
Yep, if you drill out the rivet(s) on the base, it should all disassemble, although sometimes there are additional rivets holding interior parts in. (I even came across one with the window moulding held in with a rivet.) Make sure you can remember how it all goes together when you've finished - make notes or take photos if you have to.
For reassembly you could simply glue the base back on with an epoxy, but you can buy reproduction rivets to maintain the looks. I used to drill and tap the remains of the rivet, and put M3 bolts in.
For reassembly you could simply glue the base back on with an epoxy, but you can buy reproduction rivets to maintain the looks. I used to drill and tap the remains of the rivet, and put M3 bolts in.
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