As happens when we all get on a topic, it drifts off topic. We do not generally police or moderate discussions unless they violate forum rules. But for the interest of vintage die cast followers, here is some of that discussion:
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from Barry angelreader
Ah now we are getting engrossed in something that fascinates me personally ! how they decided those subjects,the play value,the famous types as opposed to the aircraft that were either in the news or could be expanded into different colour schemes,the choice must have been endless,and how many types never reached the production stages ? we all know about the Dinky directors table whereby a small hand crafted model would be passed around the room,no Blackburn Roc,Avro Tudor,De Havilland Dove,Handley Page Herald ever got past those directors as a viable subject even my own tiny Dragon Rapide that I sent in for consideration must have got the thumbs down for some reason,so likewise at Zylmex what went around the table before those big decisions were made ? it would have been great to be a fly on the wall observing,will we ever get to know ? you never know if someone who worked for Zee sees our dialogue then they might just come forward to reveal all,there were probably Americans on that team,Brits even ? who knows these manufacturers employ the very best in marketing strategy,I would also love to see some prototype models from this line,and did anything appear at the big international toy fairs ? I bet they it did,where do we start the search for this early history that is probably lurking deep down in the annals and records of Zee.
If the company still exists then why not write to them and see what is still available ? they may be proud to reveal a few things,I did this with the late Doug McHard when he was with Meccano,still have the correspondence from him somewhere,he was responsible for suggesting those large Dinky aircraft like the Junkers Ju.87 etc he also worked for International Model aircraft and was responsible for suggesting the aircraft types for their cheap range later taken over by NOVO in Russia,but that is another story,we need people that were involved and they must be still around ? if any of you are reading this then please get in touch,there are people here with their ears on wanting to learn more about Zylmex,more power to your records Michael !
Barry.
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from GR
I was able to obtain one of those Dinky prototype models.
It is all wood with India ink markings. Has a clip underneath so I assume there was a modified Empire Flying Boat to go with it. This one came from the Phillips Auction of the Dinky engineer who had kept everything they did. George Cox got the other prototypes in that auction, in fact he bid on this one for me. This was expensive but is priceless.
I also got for almost nothing a few other 'Director/Boardroom prototypes. Most people who are not obsessed by their hobby don't see the value and interest historic items, but when toy dealers have no interest in them we can get lucky sometimes:
From French Dinky engineer's tool box bought by a train dealer I got the brass prototype of the Mystere and Vautour. He had no interest in them.
I also have a Solido prototype of their F-100 which was used for the same purpose. Same thing with this one. the guy I bought it from practically gave it away since it wasn't 'originial'!
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from barry angelreader
Excellent find GR,well if anyone ever comes across a Rapide then I built it ! strangely enough I repeated the same exercise some years later with Lledo when they did their Tiger Moth and PT-17 etc I told them if they wanted a best seller then do a Rapide even enclosing one in one of their boxes to good effect,then Matchbox took them over an who knows what happened ?
Those orginals were certainly finely crafted,it takes a lot of skill to build in wood to that scale,if you had not told me so then I would have thought it was a pukka Dinky ?
We can but try.
Barry.
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from barry angelreader
This is getting interesting,when Doug Mc Hard commenced his employment at Meccano he was given permission to take into his possession all of the old Meccano museum contents as the museum was not rally serving any purpose any more,this included lots of aeroplanes mostly in boxed sets,there were masses of old photographs of times gone at the factory including pictures of diecasting machinery and prototypes,Frank Hornby figured a lot in those pictures,the huge desk that Frank had in his office realised mega money,it went to a Meccano enthusiast in South Africa I think his name was Matthews ? Doug also had prototypes such as a fibreglass Junkers 87,these were all in that sale.
After his passing these was a massive auction,the collection was dispersed,did you purchase any of these GR ? he went under the name of Somerville his company that produced limited runs of vehicles in miniature,he was a crafstman supreme,Somerville were sold and became part of another company,all history now but all part of the historical equation.
If you had not saved those items GR then they would probably have been scrapped,sometimes interests overlap,a worthy custodian indeed.
Barry.
