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Finally I have managed to acquire a Bronze Zodiac to complete the set.





Yellow is an unusual base colour for any Dinky

Fabulous Zodiac and I was going to mention the base, quite a hard colour main body to find anyway, but then you come up with one and it has the Yellow base, what a stunner!

Ghosthunter.

A great find and in such good condition. I also have this model with the yellow base, although unfortunately the paint on mine is somewhat the worse for wear.

Given the size of your Dinky collection have you ever considered photographing it in Chronological order (30s to 70s) in the style of Dr Edward Force book? I am thinking about doing this with mine although condition wise it won't be a patch on yours. The drawbacks as far as I can see would be 1. finding the time to do it, and 2. having to re do the photos after adding more models!

A nice set of Zodiacs there, and all in super condition! I have a late Police car which also has the yellow base. I'm sure you've noticed that the later baseplates feature an extra exhaust pipe, and later models have different wheels which are the same style but don't have hollow tyres, so there is no extra rim on the hub for locating these (only visible when the tyre is removed).

Some very nice zodiacs and in nice condition. The bronze zodiac I do like very much.

Hi Bako

Thanks for the comments, Rephotographing everything I have would not be a viable option and putting everything in chronological order would be a nightmare that I couldn't think about. Finding things over three bursting full display cabinets would be a logistical exercise and a half. May be one day when I retire I will put things in some sort of order.

Fred7A wrote:A nice set of Zodiacs there, and all in super condition! I have a late Police car which also has the yellow base. I'm sure you've noticed that the later baseplates feature an extra exhaust pipe, and later models have different wheels which are the same style but don't have hollow tyres, so there is no extra rim on the hub for locating these (only visible when the tyre is removed).

I wasn't aware of the different baseplates and I had bought the additional silver version below to use the box for the bronze one. Different base also means different mounting arrangements.











Now on to the new arrivals.

A couple of French Dinky's from our local swap meet here in Auckland:

Buick Roadmaster





Ford Vedette





Lastly the group below was the result of a combined lot buy with Idris (Thanks Hugh!), he got the Moko Trailer with drawbar shown elsewhere and I picked up the Dinky toys which made up the rest of the the auction photos weren't that great and the colour balance was well off, but I am more than happy with the items that turned up.

Guy High Sided Wagon





Austin 30S





Dodge Stake Truck





Petrol Tanker













Hindle Smart





Foden Mk1 Tailboard, a bit ropey and requiring replacement tyres, but a relatively hard colour to find.





With my other original and a repaint.

Yes I agree photographing in chronological order would be a big project, in my case it may also have to wait until retirement, I may not have many left to collect by then

On the Zodiacs I think the change to the box locating holes on the base came quite early in production. I have two Police versions with black rivetted bases and different hole spacing

Baseplates with the plynth holes far apart are the earlier design. These do appear on the Silver Zodiac. On a picture I have (below), of the POLICE car, the close plynth holes appear, but the old positions are still evident in the same way Lesney Models of Yesteryear baseplates have the same circles from being used Twice as normal models and plated 'Giftware' models.


The patent number you can see on the base of the Zodiac only relates to a spring suspension and steering idea which utilises a couple of different spring steel strips for this, but I don't think it affects the plynth holes.

Ghosthunter.

Thanks Kevin, That is very interesting. It's good to know whats early and whats late.

I picked up the small group below recently, the seller was selling them as her father had recently passed away. The Dinky's I am familiar with 1 Matchbox Dinky, plus 1 Repaint and 3 Original paint, 2 Seater Salmson looks like it has prewar hubs. But what interests me and what I know nothing about are the Small Dark Blue Austin(?) similar size to a Dinky 35 series but looks slush cast, The green Tractor unit and the Red car with Driver. This last one was what really attracted me to the lot as it is very unique looking.

All help appreciated and as always more detailed pics once they arrive.









Cheers

Dave

The little Blue Austin looks like the 'BARCLAY' Bantam. The single seater with driver is most certainly a 'BARCLAY' with the frontal appearence of a Packard.

The Green Tractor unit is also 'BARCLAY' and would have been towing a flat trailer designed to carry Two Barclay cars.

Ghosthunter.