HOBBY No.6 Reading the Broadsheet has prompted me to write about my hobby, which is collecting Dinky toys that were made by Meccano Ltd. Dinky toys (modelled miniatures) were manufactured from the 1930s until 1979 when production at the Binns Road factory in Liverpool came to an end. When 1 was a young boy, about five or six years old, the Dinky collecting bug was born and I received a model every birthday and Christmas and occasional presents throughout the year. 1 still have some of the first ones that I was given. Then for quite a few years after I left school and went to work, Dinky toys were forgotten. In the 1990s I discovered a magazine called ‘Die-Cast Collector’ that contained quite a lot of information on Dinky toys and also gave dates of forthcoming toy fairs and auctions and this kick-started a renewed interest in model collecting and it is now my hobby. Through reading the magazine each month I find out dates and venues of toy fairs and often visit them, some as far away as 70 or 80 miles. I find this is a good way of purchasing items for my collection. Some Dinky toys in poor condition, can be just a few pounds, but mint condition models in boxes can be several hundred pounds – a bit beyond my pocket.

I usually buy the ones in poor condition, play-worn or slightly damaged, as I enjoy restoring them to their former glory. I take them apart completely and strip off the old paint, then after doing any repair work that is required, they are repainted in computer matched colours as near as possible  to their original colours. The new paint does not contain lead as that is now a banned substance. Paints, spare wheels, tyres etc. are all available from a company in Leicestershire. The picture shows a group of some of the original models that I received as presents when I was a child – the start of my collection!