It’s very rare for a former Meccano employee to be involved with the collecting community. However, Vic Mumby, ex-chief draughtsman for Meccano Ltd., is active in the Hornby Railway Collectors Association (HRCA) and Dinky Toy Collectors Association (DTCA). This interview was conducted shortly after he first joined the DTCA.
Vic Mumby with his favorite Dinky design, the 102 Joe’s Car
Image courtesy Vic Mumby
Welcome, Vic! As you know, the late Doug McHard (Meccano marketing manager) started his own firm (Somerville) catering to model car collectors. Do you know any other Meccano alumni who are engaged with the collecting community?
I’m afraid not. I believe that given my recent involvement with the DTCA — plus the HRCA since 2015 — any other ex-Meccano employees would have made themselves known. My elder brother is a past employee of Meccano, and I exchange Christmas cards with a couple of others who are not DTCA members. Sadly, several other colleagues have passed away in recent years.
You joined Meccano in 1961. What led to the choice of working for this particular company? And had you any Dinky Toys, Meccano, or Hornby trains as a boy?
After achieving very good grades in GCE exams in 1961 (aged 16), I felt I wanted to get a job and earn some money, despite my teachers recommending I should go onto college. After I had applied for several engineering jobs, most of which meant long commutes, my father suggested that my brother Jim could see if he could get me employment with Meccano Ltd.
In September 1961 I was taken on as an apprentice toolmaker at the Hanson Road factory. The wages weren’t great initially, but I received one day a week release to further my education.
I have no regrets about going to Meccano. The knowledge gained during the 18 years from 1961–1979 (which included a one-year break) with them proved invaluable during the remainder of my working career, all the way up to retirement in 2009.
From the age of about 3 or 4, I was given and then collected Dinky Toys, Meccano, and finally Hornby Dublo. Thanks to Jim’s employment with Meccano Ltd as a toolmaker, he was able to make staff purchases which reduced the cost by 33%.
I sold off my complete set of Army vehicles, some commercials, and modern aircraft during 2012–13. Prior to this I gave all earlier toys away to nephews, or they became play worn. The only Dinkys I now possess are those I designed.
After starting work I lost interest in my 3‑Rail Hornby Dublo, which found a good home with a friend of my father. Since retiring in 2009 my interest in 2‑Rail Hornby Dublo has been rekindled.
Your career began when Meccano Ltd. was still in Hornby’s hands, continued when Lines Brothers purchased it, and ended when Airfix were in control. Did you ever meet Roland Hornby? Did the changes in ownership cause any upheavals?
I don’t recall meeting Roland Hornby face to face. Changes of ownership only affected senior management, with some reshuffling of middle management. There was very little effect on design and manufacturing apart from streamlining processes.
An inescapable fact is that industrial unrest plagued Binns Road. Depending on who’s writing the history, this was either the result of poor management and workers being forced to use antiquated methods — or restrictive union practices and refusal to use new equipment. Are there any thoughts you can share on this today?
I believe — and this is my personal opinion — that most labur issues were due to management not engaging fully with staff and unions to discuss the pros and cons of proposed changes. I left the drawing office for twelve months in 1973, along with several other key draughtsmen, due to a union “work to rule” trying to pursue a change in working conditions (I can’t remember exactly what); that was never going to happen.
Over the years Meccano had “too many eggs in the basket” consuming revenue and resources. For example, they:
- Bought out the Plimpton Engineering Co., manufacturers of Bayko, spent money on new tooling, and re-introduced it as a Meccano product.
- Bought the rights and all tooling from Jones Sewing Machine Co. to manufacture their children’s sewing machine. It was a very difficult product to manufacture consistently.
- Badge-engineered Circuit 24, a slot car racing game to combat Scalextric. Manufactured in France, it turned out to be unreliable.
- Manufactured Play-Doh under license. Why?
- Released Puzzle Maker, a cutting tool to chop up an existing picture into a jigsaw. Not popular with the public, with poor sales.
- Created Prima Meccano, a slot-together construction toy aimed at the generation below that who would play with the Plastic Meccano Range. Beautiful moldings, but I think tricky for tiny hands to engage the slots.
- Sold Astro Lite, a large spinning wheel with flashing lights and whistle sound. The wheel was spun by pulling the looped cord passing through the center with both hands. Merely a modern twist on a very traditional toy that kids made using an old button and thread.
- Created MOGUL steel toys to combat the Tonka market. Now these were beautiful, sturdy, and well finished products with 6mm diameter axles. Several of the range could be integrated with metal Meccano. Interestingly, you don’t often see these at Toy Fairs or Auctions. I guess owners are hanging onto them in the hope they will eventually be sought-after and valuable.
Finally, the Mini-Dinky diecast tooling was not up to Meccano standard. Many needed rectifying, taking up valuable toolroom resources.
I think Meccano should have mothballed the 2‑Rail Hornby Dublo until the slot racing craze died down and trains became popular again. They should have stuck to what they were really good at, diecast models and Meccano construction sets, especially the theme sets. But I guess Lines Brothers and Airfix dictated the product program.
Lines Brothers designed the Spot-On-style American cars that Dinky manufactured in Hong Kong and the Mini-Dinky range. Apart from these, were there any other Dinkys that were not designed by Meccano?
Yes, the 1/32 “Battle Lines” VW KDF, PAK gun, US Army Jeep, and 105mm mobile gun were all foist onto Meccano by Lines Brothers. Later, there was the DT 180 Rover 3500, the DT 219 Jaguar XJC “Big Cat”, and the DT 113 Steed’s Jaguar (from the TV series “The New Avengers”, the same casting as the Big Cat but not officially released due to the factory closure).
Dinky 113 Steed’s Jaguar Coupe Resin Prototype
Image: Jon Angel
For the Rover 3500 and Jaguar XJC models, Meccano dealt with a very good contract model-making outfit who were very good at producing prototypes in some sort of resin. If my memory serves me correctly, Meccano then drew up the final toy specification which went off to Hong Kong with the prototypes. In the Design Office, we always thought the final diecast Rover was not quite right, being somehow narrower than it should have been.
After the factory closed, Airfix also released a lot of other smaller Dinkys, clearly not designed at Binns Road.
The last two Dinkys based on Gerry Anderson designs had to be revamped after the Investigator TV series failed to sell. Are there other Dinkys that had to be modified at the 11th hour — or cancelled entirely?
The most notable 11th hour cancellation was the Boeing 2707 SST (with swing wings), America’s answer to Concorde. The Dinky was designed by me and tools were 50% completed, but then Boeing abandoned the project and Meccano followed suit. A shame really, as Meccano could have marketed it as a “Supersonic Aircraft of the Future”. Maybe Boeing forbade that option. Anyway, Meccano donated me the model prototype, long since sold off.
Another 11th hour modification was to DT 102 Joe’s Car, where Joe Fallman (Managing Director) insisted on a flashing light in the engine exhaust cowl. So, I had to shoe-horn a bulb holder, switch and AAA battery compartment into an already-complex body with its swing wings, extending tail fins and suspension.
Finally, in 1974 there was a model that got no further than the drawing board, a 1/25 scale Jaguar XJ6 – deemed too expensive to tool up.
Mattel (Dinky trademark owners) has allowed many Dinky Toys to be copied using 3‑D scanners and manufactured in China. Among them there’s even a “clone” of your lovely Aston-Martin DB5 design. Of course there is no involvement with, or credit given, to the original designers. What do you think of these copies?
These reproductions by Mattel and others are beautiful models but are too “perfect”. The mask spraying of grilles and other color effects is crystal-sharp. Original Dinkys often have a fuzzy border.
You’ve revealed that the registration numbers on Dinky Toys often included the initials of Drawing Office staff. Please tell us the names behind these commonly found prefixes: FTR, INJ, MTB, and UVR. (But why wasn’t VPM used as well?)
FTR (Fred T Risk), MTB (M Terry Boland), UVR (U Vernon Rogers). Sorry I can’t place INJ. I’ve no idea why VPM wasn’t; possibly there was too much stock of previous names and I was the last to be included. Maybe I’m out there somewhere?
You left Meccano just months before the factory closed. Why?
I left Meccano in April 1979 after being offered a job as an Injection Mold designer for a growing mold-making company in Liverpool. Another reason for my leaving then was the despondent atmosphere that seemed to have gripped the whole factory. When I handed in my resignation, I remarked to my then boss, Technical Manager Trevor Douce, that there weren’t enough people working hard enough. He agreed.
Have you ever heard what happened to the tooling for Dinkys after the factory closed?
The fate of the tooling for the Dinkys is a complete mystery, especially for those produced from 1965 — 1979. Earlier tooling (pre-WW2) would have been scrapped to make room in the tool stores. However, there were several thousand diecast and plastic injection molds on the shelves when the factory closed.
I think the tooling for Meccano sets would have been taken up by Meccano France — although this is just a guess on my part.
Of all the Dinky Toys that you designed, do you have a favorite?
Yes, undoubtedly the DT 102 Joe’s Car!
I sometimes get annoyed at the unfounded criticism aimed at the products of Binns Road, especially when they are compared with the modern highly detailed diecasts and trains manufactured abroad. Dinkys and Dublo were designed to be played with and maybe get battered and bruised in the process. Try dropping a beautiful Bachmann or modern Hornby locomotive on a hard floor and watch the bits fly off. I wonder how many of these modern offerings will still be usable 100 years from now!
Vic Mumby is DTCA member MUMBY655 and HRCA member 8801.