….the day I wanted to repair a Berliet PCM bus from Dinky Toys. A door had come off, so I started to take it apart to put it back in place. The dismantling, two screws, was quick. Putting the door hinge back in the hole too. On the other hand, putting the whole thing back in place, with the chassis, took me some time. I was impressed by the complexity and ingenuity of the creation. Later, Claude Thiviliiers revealed to me that his first job at Meccano was to create a model in stretched polystyrene based on the plans, in order to validate them. You can imagine the work that consisted of forming, shaping, cutting, and assembling these pieces of polystyrene in order to bring the model to life! This work had allowed him to detect a design error in the plan. This was the aim of the operation because it costs much less to rectify the plan before developing the mold. Once the mold is created, the modifications are complex and expensive. I wrote a blog on this subject a long time ago (“mea culpa”). Since then, I have recovered the polystyrene model that was owned by Robert Goirand.

An electric headlight system was also planned! It is an exceptional Dinky Toys and surely one of the most beautiful buses ever made.

Dinky-Toys-France-Berliet-PCM-Bus-Lyon-889U-prototype-polystyrene-etire-systeme-eclairage COLLECTION PERSONNELLE AUTOJAUNE

This week a copy in Parisian livery is for sale.

Claude Thibivilliers also made for his employer a Saviem Sinpar iron carrier from these famous stretched polystyrene boards. If we understand the usefulness of such work for a complex model like the bus, in order to verify the functionality compared to the upstream study, I remain doubtful about the interest of such work for the Saviem iron carrier. The only functionality of this model resided in the sliding doors. Such work had a cost. I could make the same comment for the trailer of the unic Estérel, or the Carrare Caravelair, also made by “Tibi” as his colleagues in the design office nicknamed him.

This week a beautiful Saviem iron carrier without box, at a reduced price, will be offered. This model is a success; I appreciate its originality and its production. Very beautiful Dinky Toys, but which nevertheless leads to questioning the management of the company and its sustainability.

Coincidence of the programming, the competitor of the Berliet PCM described above, the Saviem, is also on the menu. It is a model from C-I-J produced at the very end of production. It is made of painted sheet metal. The Briare firm which perfectly mastered this material did a beautiful job of assembling stapled sheet metal… we can however see the limits of the use, in 1967, of this material for the manufacture of toys. The model is touching because of its archaic design. It sums up the will of the Briare management to survive at all costs. We know the end. It is near.

Still in sheet metal, but at JRD, a very elegant Willys jeep equipped with a sheet metal body decorated in the style of a shooting brake with wooden panels is also on the menu. JRD also offered this body in a first aid firefighter version. This shooting brake version is very successful.

At Solido, the notion of sustainability is the keystone of the family business. In the mid-fifties, Mr. de Vazeilles and his two sisters inherited the company from their father, Ferdinand. In my eyes, Solido will be the firm that will best cross the 1968 milestone. Not that of the events of May and the barricades, but that of the arrival of needle axles and standardization in the manufacture of miniatures. Solido will stay the course, continuing to offer high-quality products and managing its finances as best as possible. This would be true until the sale of the company in the mid-seventies due to retirement. This week, several models offered for sale illustrate this thinking. Let’s take the Berliet Stradair van in Trigano colours released in 1967. The production is superb. It is the first new product in the heavy goods vehicle range since the four cabins produced in the early sixties. Solido knows that this is a small market. Manufacturing costs are high, and depreciation can only be done over a certain period. We can draw a parallel with the plethora of trucks at Dinky Toys France at the same time. How did Bobigny think they would depreciate them? By the mid-sixties, Corgi Toys had reduced the number of its creations in the field of industrial vehicles. One per year.

This week, two other miniatures offered for sale and produced in 1972 and 1973 are in tune with this rigorous management. The Renault 5 inaugurated the 10 range in 1972. Solido standardized the rims, which were still equipped with tires. Fans of the 100 series were not disoriented. On the other hand, in an effort to reduce manufacturing costs and also to be competitive, certain details were not reported. We think of the rear lights and the air vent on the rear pillar. The same goes for the Peugeot 104. However, we will appreciate the beautiful grille and headlights. Solido had the good idea of ​​releasing these two competitors on this same customer segment. Dinky Toys was no longer there and Mr. De Vazeilles understood that there was a niche to fill. These two miniatures will be released in the middle of the March 707 Can AM, Lola T280 and especially the two Matra 670s from Le Mans 1972 from which they will borrow the white background of the display boxes. These two miniatures benefit from very beautiful personalized boxes which are a real plus.

Finally, this week, still in connection with this idea of ​​depreciation of the tooling, a rare variation in the “Greder racing” version of the Opel GT. For this Solido had to slightly modify its mold and remove the boss on the hood in order to be able to affix the decal on the engine hood. I really like this model very representative of French car racing of this period. After having defended the colors of Ford France, Henri Greder was responsible for doing the same with the products of GM, Ford’s competitor: Corvette, Pontiac and of course Opel.

In 1966, Corgi Toys celebrated its tenth anniversary. The English firm dominated the world market of 1/43 thanks to a proactive policy. It was Corgi Toys that set the tone. The other manufacturers followed, adapted. Dinky Toys, which was subject to the law of Corgi Toys, had just understood the interest of “licenses”. This consisted of buying the right to reproduce vehicles from television series or films. The success in 1965 of the Saint’s Volvo P1800 and Goldfinger’s Aston Martin impressed the world of miniatures. When the series “Thunderbirds” arrived on English television, Corgi Toys approached Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, the owners of the license. Discussions were going well. Everything seemed to be going well, to the point that the design office produced the prototype. It is pictured in Marcel Van Cleemput’s book. However, Dinky Toys snatched the contract from them.

collection personnelle AUTOJAUNE Dinky Toys GB présentoir Thunderbirds captain scarlet spectrum

This failure would leave its mark on Corgi Toys because all the models in the series as well as the other vehicles belonging to this Gerry Anderson license would escape them. This week, we offer you the famous Lady Penelope car… from Dinky Toys. Now you will be able to better appreciate this miniature and better situate it. An English newspaper would have fun reporting the frantic race between the two entities, Dinky Toys and Corgi Toys, to be the first to supply toy stores, for the end-of-year holidays, with its “licensed” model. It’s 1966. Batman (Corgi Toys) versus Lady Penelope (Dinky Toys). This battle was won by Corgi Toys.

 

Extrait-journal-d’époque

Modèle en vente cette semaine : Dinky toys GB Lady Penelope Fab 1 100

Before producing beautiful and sophisticated miniatures in zamac, Politoys started by offering a large range of cheap models injected in plastic. Racing cars, heavy goods vehicles, sedans, military vehicles, vintage cars, the Milanese firm had more than a hundred references in its catalog. This range is relatively unknown beyond the Italian borders. It was intended for the local market. This translates into the reproduction of mainly Italian cars. In the sixties, French enthusiasts shunned them because of their uneven quality. They have charm, but the bodies are sometimes reproduced in an approximate way. These are toys and not models. The later productions in zamac will fall into this category. I became interested in this firm very early on. I don’t regret it. Putting it all together is far from easy. In Italy they have their audience: enthusiasts who seek out the (numerous!) variants and different colours, a bit like the Norevs in our country. Let’s take the Alfa Romeo Giulia TI. It is a late model. Its reproduction is faithful, the lines are well rendered. It is one of the most difficult Alfa Romeo Giulia TIs to obtain. The reproduction of the Citroën DS19, which is older in design, is more approximate. The colour on sale, dark green, is quite rare. I had the opportunity to come across a DS19 in this shade in Italy. It is the third, the Fiat 1800, which I prefer. The reproduction is certainly less successful than the Alfa Romeo described above. But the many colour combinations and variants due to its long career make it a model apart in the series. Colors, screwed or unscrewed chassis, plastic or zamac rims, Politoys then Polistil engraving are some of the variadue to its long career make it a model apart in the series. Colors, screwed or unscrewed chassis, plastic or zamac rims, Politoys then Polistil engraving are some of the variants that the enthusiast can attach himself to. When Politoys will move on to the production of zamac models, it will modify and create a sub-brand, Polistil, to differentiate its two ranges. It is the plastic models that will receive the Polisitil brand. On this occasion they will borrow the newly created zamac rims. These models are much rarer.