Dinky Toys (Hongkong)

Dinky Toys was a registered trademark of Meccano Limited, a British toy manufacturer based in Liverpool. The brand’s Hong Kong production formed part of that established range. Between 1965 and 1967, six American car models were made in Hong Kong for the United States market. The Industrial History of Hong Kong Group identifies Hong Kong Industrial (HKI) as the manufacturer and reports that the cars followed the 1:42 scale used by Spot-On. It says the models were originally intended for Spot-On and were marketed as Dinky Toys after Tri-ang bought Meccano Limited. The Science Museum Group dates Lines Bros Limited’s takeover of Meccano to 1964; the two cited accounts do not explain the relationship between the names Tri-ang and Lines Bros.

Hong Kong production resumed in 1978 and 1979, as Meccano’s Binns Road factory in Liverpool approached closure. The Hong Kong history article dates the factory’s closure to November 1979 and describes the later Hong Kong-made toys as Meccano’s last new Dinky products. This end point applies to Meccano’s production at Binns Road; it does not by itself establish when Hong Kong production or the Dinky Toys brand ended. The two Hong Kong production episodes show how the established Dinky range was manufactured outside Liverpool.