Encyclopedia Dinky Toys
Book Reviews
| Author/s | Jacques Dujardin |
| Type of Media | CD |
| No. of Pages | 2800 |
| No. of Illustrations | 7500 |
| Publishing Date | Updated Constantly |
| Publisher | Jacques Dujardin |
| Language/s | English • French |
A website-on-a-CD-Rom format encyclopaedia covering all Dinky cars, as well as providing lots of other useful related information.
The CD-Rom contains just about everything about every Dinky Toys model issued (or not issued!) and is available from This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
It runs on both Macs and PCs and copies are burnt from the master whenever an order is made. As the master is constantly being updated, you always get the latest edition whenever you order.
Presented as a website and loaded from a CD, this useful encyclopedia covers ALL the various branches of Dinky, including Dinky France, GB and South Africa, as well as all the other assorted offshoots like Nicky Toys, Pilen and Joal.
Each model has its own listing page which includes production details in terms of years produced, construction description, list of opening features and colour variants, as well as pictures. The database can be searched by type of car (ie TV tie-in, military vehicle etc) or by maker (eg Peugeot, Volvo, etc) or by Dinky Series (Mini-Dinky, UK Dinky, French Dinky etc.)
Text is in French and English and the CD has additional features including a scale chart showing exactly what scale each model is, a section on identifying the various types of wheel and tyre, Code 3 models, a gallery of box types, a list of different versions of models (eg Ford Transits), a renumbering table showing how some models can be found under two numbers and what the numbers are for each, some reprints of articles from the French Meccano Magazine, a bibliography, a list of other Meccano products like Bayko, some useful links to parts suppliers and a list of errors found in other commonly-known Dinky reference guides.
Editor review
An Impressive Comprehensive Resource
| Overall rating: | 4.4 | |
| Completeness: | 4.0 | |
| Informative: | 5.0 | |
| Good Images: | 5.0 | |
| Presentation: | 4.0 | |
| Value for Money: | 4.0 |
Once you put the CD in your CD-Rom drive, you open the "Read Me" file which instructs you on how to open up the site, which then loads from the disk into your internet browser. Navigation is very easy, with a basic menu and nice interlinking so you can see all the models from a particular car maker in the left hand column and view them individually on the right.
The encyclopedia is remarkably complete - it includes obscure things like Marusan copies of Dinky cars, a list of modern Dinky copies, prototypes, never-issued models like the French Dinky Facel-Vega Facellia, and even has a complete listing of all the Kidco 1/64 cars issued by Airfix under the Dinky name when they briefly owned the company in 1980. The listings themselves are thorough, containing excellent basic information, and some have a really nice feature where if you mouse-over the images, you can see the model with its opening features open. The images are a nice mixture of new photos, contemporary photos and original advertisements.
The links and other sections are incredibly helpful as well, making a large amount of often-confusing information like the numbering systems, easy to understand and follow. Plus the compendium of spare parts manufacturers and similar will be extremely useful to collectors and restorers.
Text is in French and English throughout and is easy to follow. There are a couple of slightly-odd choices here and there, but this really is nitpicking. The only deficiency I could find is that a couple of model pages for the very-much-more obscure models (like the Dinky kits and the very hard-to-find Mini-Dinkies like the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow) are missing information and/or photos as yet, but this really is a minor issue and as the site says - if you can help the author fill these out, you can get in touch with him via the email address on the main page.
Overall, an excellent investment as it's a treasure trove of information - and an excellent read to boot!
Member reviews
Average member rating from: 3 member(s)
A Canadian point of view
| Overall rating: | 5.0 | |
| Completeness: | 5.0 | |
| Informative: | 5.0 | |
| Good Images: | 5.0 | |
| Presentation: | 5.0 | |
| Value for Money: | 5.0 |
One of the most complete works on Dinky Toys that I have come across. Very descriptive and informative. I would highly recommend this to novice and expert alike. A must have in any good Dinky Collection, in my opinion.
Thank you Jacques for all your hard work and thanks to all the people world wide who have contrubuted to this fine work of love.
A Canadian point of view
| Overall rating: | 5.0 | |
| Completeness: | 5.0 | |
| Informative: | 5.0 | |
| Good Images: | 5.0 | |
| Presentation: | 5.0 | |
| Value for Money: | 5.0 |
Reviewed by NoblecoFebruary 06, 2013
Top 10 Reviewer
Comments (0)
View all my reviews
DUPLICATE
Encyclopaedia update.
| Overall rating: | 5.0 | |
| Completeness: | 5.0 | |
| Informative: | 5.0 | |
| Good Images: | 5.0 | |
| Presentation: | 5.0 | |
| Value for Money: | 5.0 |
Since the above review has been written, a lot has been added to the CD which has become a DVD because CD's do not have enough capacity.
o The read me file is of course in English and French.
o Access to the program has been improved for Windows.
o A new chapter has been added for the DINKY TOYS made in China. This chapter is up to date with the latest model, the Renault 8 issued today.
o All the Dinky Toys advertisements and articles from the English and French Meccano Magazines from 1921 until 1981 have been scanned and filed.
o More variations have been found.
o Several pages have been added with pictures and history of the four Meccano factories : Liverpool, Bobigny and Calais France and Elisabeth New Jersey U.S.A.
o Several Dinky Toys catalogues have been added.
And a lot more.
...
Its a dual language, both French and English. Not surprising as the Author is French, so I'm grateful the Dinky Encyclopedia is also in English. As it is in the browser I'm wondering if the page can be automatically translated. I'll explore that possibility later on.
The DVD cover is customized for the customer and a number is issued. Its nice to have a personal touch on something as unique as this.
Would love to see this in print someday when Dinky Toys history will be completed. Many models are popping up all the time and it will be fantastic to have it in print. But as all this information is hot-linked to other chapters maybe an eBook application will suffice. After all, iPad's are growing in popularity.
Thank you Jacques for making this book possible.