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Sunday, October 15, 2017

Rare Flea Market Find: Mini Dinky Cadillac Coupe De Ville!

Mini Dinky is a curious brand of toy cars.  An offshoot of the market leading Dinky Toys, but with cars made in 1/64th Matchbox size.  I wasn't even aware of the brand until I bought a set of cars containing one...  And even now, in my entire 7,000+ diecast collection, that one car is the only passenger Mini Dinky car that I have - the white '65-ish Ford Mustang.  For years I've been periodically scouring EBay for Mini Dinky diecast cars (made difficult since searching for Mini Dinky invariable returns normal Dinky scale models of a Morris Mini...) with very little success.  Those that I do occasionally find have obnoxious price tags on them. 
(Note that I DO have the nice yellow Mini Dinky construction toy set (road grader, etc.), which while still rare are more readily available on EBay).  
 
But today I ran across this model at the flea market and scooped it up.  It's an early '60s Coupe De Ville, with opening hood and trunk, in a scale that is close to true 1/64th scale, meaning that the car is a smidge longer than a typical Lesney Matchbox, such that it is slightly too long to fit into a standard Matchbox carry case.  Given the length of an actual Coupe de Ville, the longer-than-normal length of the Mini Dinky seems very appropriate (though perhaps still a tad short).
The detail is excellent, with a beautifully detailed old-school metal grill, nicely detailed rear end with long and narrow tail lights, and a detailed baseplate.  
As is typical of a toy from this era, both baseplate and body are made of sturdy metal.  The wheels have a high quality rubberized feel to them, gripping reasonably on a hard surface.  
My particular model is in good/great but not mint condition.  While nothing is broken or missing, it is a bit dirty, with non-lustrous and scraped-up paint.  
Overall, a very valued find for me and a worthy addition to the collection.  




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