Ordered as early as mid-November this lovely example of the final edition of the well-known maroon Horse Box, now in bright grey and yellow, arrived just before Christmas. Both the UK vendor and myself became almost desperate if it would ever arrive at all. Fortunately it turned out to become an unexpected major Christmas present this way - and the final Dinky addition for this year.

Strictly spoken this 1961 issue is a little beyond my collecting era, but it's a logical extension of the primary no. 581 Horse Box issue of 1953, and it is a really beautiful clean, near mint gem in the old 'without windows' and without any 'extra features' tradition. Both plastic horses are still sealed in their little plastic bag included (the only plastic items).

Most probably extremely busy parcel services because of a combination of Christmas, Brexit and the pandemic caused this unusual long delay, which I have never experienced before. Very happy after all! Kind regards, Jan

Jan--Very nice, and as you said, a logical extension of your normal collecting era, and very fortunately without the windows and the later plastic wheels too.  A great way to end your collecting year and a really nice Christmas present!

     Best regards,  Terry

What a reflief! The loss of that model would have been sad, since it is not an easy find, especially in that condition.

Here is my final arrival for 2020 ... not a hard model to find, and not in pristine condition, but I didn't have one with the tan decks before ...

Best wishes to all for a better New Year!!

Jonathan---That may not be perfect, but it does look very nice, especially in that nice scene.  I have come to like these early versions, even better than the later two-color versions.  A very nice, late in the year ad to your growing collection.  You have added a number of very nice Dinky's this year!
    Best regards,  Terry

Terry, thank you for your comments -- so very kind as always. I must admit that I get no credit for the scene as it is just a picture of the model sitting on the fence belonging to a deck at the rear of the house, with our customary view of Fremont Peak behind.

I'm afraid I can offer neither such a scenery nor similar weather conditions for my Christmas addition. It's dark, dull, cold and wet here, circumstances which would hardly contribute to the presentation and preservation of a vintage Dinky Toy. Anyway, a very nice early Pullmore you have there indeed, Jonathan.

As my new horse box is concerned, after one month the seller and I had agreed on a refund already. Then, only a few days after this refund was done by him the model arrived, and I re-refunded the money immediately. You can imagine both of us were very happy with the positive outcome of this adventure in the end. Kind regards, Jan 

The weather is finally miserable (dare I say almost British?) here today so I could only photograph the first arrival of 2021 in the display space I carved out for it. (Hence, bad light and poor depth of field -- sigh.)

Jonathan--Congratulations on another nice Aston Martin DB3S.  That one was always one of my favorites in that nice little series of sports/touring cars from England.  Did you make room by just crowding a bit more?
     Best regards,  Terry

Two fine additions arrived today, both real beauties. In order to avoid unpredictable initial import complications I bought these from a fellow-countryman. The no. 735 Gloster Javelin was present already, but I fell for the untouched, clean, creaseless new box. There is only a very neatly written tiny note on it stating the date of acquisition by the initial owner: 11.12.58. I like these small evidences of a model's history. I did not have a Peugeot 203 yet. This one to accompany my 403 and the 403 'familiale'. I do not intend to collect the numerous variations of this model, so I prefer this one, of which I like the colour and the shiny hubs best. 

Jan--Congratulations on your new acquisitions....both very nice!  The Peugeot 203 was one of my earlier French Dinky Toys 
purchases.....I bought mine in 1958 from H. Hudson Dobson, and was rewarded with the same wonderful color.....Petrol Blue, which happens to be my favorite too.  The French Meccano factory did another very nice job with this model....it's a very nice rendition of the real car.

      Best regards,  Terry

Terry --yes, it was a combination of more crowding and moving a collection of 410 Bedford Vans to another display case. 
 

Jan, what a wonderful Peugeot. If I ever find one of these I would like that color too!

Two arrivals today ...

Jon—-Both very nice! I especially like the Mercedes in that color.....much nicer than the white I have.
Best regards,
Terry

Yes, I had only the white too, and I agree that the silver is nicer. Meantime the French Austin-Healey should have been a nicer color,     but as you know this is the only color they produced.

This morning they arrived: two proof copies of a tiny little 40 pages 10x13 cm booklet, showing all my additions over the past year.

It looks great - in my opinion. I can recommend you trying yourself. They cost only 15 euros each, the mail included, and the quality is superb! Kind regards, Jan 

New items for 2021    :)

In the last image, it is the very rare display sign that is new. Unfortunately I had to mount it on a case from a bit later period ...

And in the Ford D800, I wonder if the stamps numbered "3" are some kind of inspection sticker I haven't encountered before. The box was taped shut with what appeared to be factory tape, and the model was sold as "new old stock."

Arrived today at last, twelve weeks after dispatch (November 1 2020) by the UK seller! This may be a consolation and a source of hope for those who are still desperately awaiting a parcel from abroad for a long time. Because the model was so cheap I had it sent by regular mail, without track & trace, which may be the cause of the delay, the mail handling links probably putting parcels like these temporarily aside, giving way to track & trace and signed for.

It was cheap indeed, because it is not point mint (a visible factory flaw on one wheel) and because the box is poor and with the wrong colour dot. This was no problem for me because I do not need the box, this was an excellent candidate for completing my Luxury Coach trade box with a correct example. Three maroon ones have red wheels, all but one, having the same maroon hubs. This is the one to be replaced, and the contents look great now! Kind regards, Jan   

Jan, that's a beauty, and I suspect your "cheap" would not be my "cheap." I'm so glad it arrived after such a long delay.

My acquisition today was this snow plough, adding to my fleet here in the land where it never snows. (Only Californian children who go to the mountains would even know what a snow plough is for.) Actually I already had a mint/boxed one just like it (I have pictured the blemished side of this one; the other side is fine) but at $45, this was begging to be adopted  :)

New today ... should be the last for a while!

The other day I picked up a nice grey companion to my blue Frazer Nash and three additions to my traffic lights: 2x 2-face and 1x 3-face. The Frazer Nash unveils a surprising tyres composition, which I hope to show in an appropriate thread. Kind regards, Jan  

New yesterday ...

Two this week ...

Jon----Very nice score on that early 2nd type Foden Flat Truck with Chains, and the box looks to be in very nice condition too.  Nicely done!
     Best regards,  Terry

The early all-maroon Foden, with its radial tread tyres, is one of my big favourites, a lovely example. The Ami was an often seen car on the roads in the mid-1960s and the model is a good representation of this remarkable body style. I am not very familiar with these 1960s Dinky's: I wonder, doesn't the bonnet fit well? If so, is that an incident or structural for this model? The latter would be a pity for the rest of the Dinky. Kind regards, Jan 

The AMI 6 is the first French Dinky Toys with opening bonnet and boot, the tool makers did not have the experience yet. I must admit that the Morris 1110 ref. 140 which is the first English Dinky with opening bonnet is much more accurate and its bonnet fits much better.

Thank you for your comments, gentlemen. And thank you, Jacques, for adding the Ami topic.

It is true that the bonnet of the Ami does not fit well (it almost looks as though it would open by tipping forward and has not been closed properly, but in fact it opens from the front). However I really like the way they realized the grill and bumper overrider at the front.

In real life a curious car, which sounds like a 2CV. And later it even got fitted experimentally with a Wankel rotary engine!

Meccano Ltd., especially in Liverpool, did not do opening parts very well (unlike Lesney, where parts opened on the little models well and closed crisply). The "first again" opening doors on the MGB are especially bad and can even scratch the paint of the model when operated.

In France they eventually mastered this. The four opening doors on the Ford Galaxie and Peugeot 504 are really impressive.

Getting back to the topic of the thread, the Foden actually has wear around -- not scratches as such, but the patina from being loved for many years -- but the maroon paint is forgiving. The box is tired, too, but I never had one of these before and the price was very attractive.