Category:Dinky

This section of the Museum's KnowledgeBank is undergoing drastic expansion during 2013, as part of the Museum's Heritage Lottery Funded Frank Hornby 150th Anniversary project

Toy Brands and Manufacturers
Dinky

The "Dinky Toys" brandname was another offshoot of Frank Hornby's toy empire, along with Meccano and Hornby trains. Early members of the range were marketed as Hornby Modelled Miniatures. Dinky had a strong focus on wheeled vehicles, but the brand also branched out to include Dinky Planes, and even dollhouse furniture.

Dinky and scale

Dinky Toys originated as accessory packs for Hornby Trains, mostly produced to 1:43 scale in order to be compatible with Hornby's large gauge 0 model railways. Once owners had a train layout and trackside accessories including buildings, people, and street furniture, the next step was road vehicles.

Smaller 1:48 scale was used for some larger models, such as the large lorries and industrial vehicles in the Dinky Supertoys range, and some UK cars started to be produced in 1:42 scale after the company took over Spot-On, who'd used that slightly larger scale to produce finer detail.

By this time, compatibility with 0-gauge model railways was becoming less of an issue, and Dinky started producing 1:76 models to go with the newer half-sized 00-gauge "Hornby Dublo" railway sets, although this "Dinky Dublo" range was short-lived.