BAYKO and 'The Times'

“Meccano Ltd., have acquired the entire share capital of the Plimpton Engineering Co., manufacturers of Bayko toy construction sets. The directors of Meccano state that it is their intention to redesign this product, although the basics principles will be fully retained. Further details will be announced at the Meccano Trade Exhibition in February.”

“As in almost every year since 1945 British toy manufacturers are again anticipating peak sales this Christmas. The reintroduction of credit restrictions has had little adverse effect on this market, and some sources even suggest that money diverted from cars and consumer durables is finding an outlet in the toy sales rooms. It has been estimated that sales this year will total about £38,500,000, against £37,500,000 in 1959, and that exports will rise about £500,000 to £8,500,000. These figures compare with total sales by British manufacturers of only £3,500,000 in 1938 when some 75% of toys sold in the United Kingdom were manufactured on the continent, mainly Germany, and in Japan. Now about 90% of the toys sold in the United Kingdom are British made, and the British Toy Manufactures Association has 355 members, including Lines Brothers, claimers to be the largest toy manufacturers in the world, with its Triang, Frog, Pedigree and Rovex products. Other large producers are Meccano, incorporating Hornby Trains, Dinky Toys and Bayko: D. Sebel & Co. with its Mobo range, and Chad Valley Toys.”

“…This did not deter me from building bigger and better battleships as my Meccano set grew. They looked magnificent. One imaginary dreadnought won me a model-builder's Certificate of Merit.”

“When it was not Meccano, it was Bayko. This was a set of BAKELITE building components, modelled, I now realize, on the modernistic villas and roadhouses of the London suburbs in the thirties where we lived. The manual gave instructions for swimming pools and golf clubs galore, as well as the more routine features of suburban architecture.”