BAYKO Parts Price Lists

Arguably this document is, at least in part, a Flier, but justifies its inclusion in this section as well by also containing the earliest published Parts Price List that I've seen outside the BAYKO manuals.

Sets prices are at the top of the reverse side...

...with standard spare parts prices lower down.

To view a correctly orientated version of the front of this document, just click the image [above, left].

This Price Card shows the entire range of spare parts and sets available following the launch of the 'New Series' BAYKO sets in 1939. The 'New Series' period ran to around 1941 before the war needs overtook BAYKO. Based on the Set Prices quoted, I believe this card dates from 1940. There are several points of interest in the Parts Price List [top of section] : -

The wide range of [now] rare white parts which were available, including all three styles of Window, all four styles of Turret and the Bay Window Cover.

'Oak' Domes, which are extremely rare, are mentioned - but not Red ones! If you look [below] at the 1945 Price Post Card, you will see that this omission was continued...

'Oak' Pinnacle Roofs and Platforms, both of which are extremely rare, are not mentioned at all, though they certainly exist.

'Oak' Turrets are mentioned, in all four styles, though I only know of one Long Turret.

The Small Roof is, like its two larger cousins, stated as being available in Green - alas I have never seen one!

There are two further points of interest on the Sets Price List [above] which was on the back of the card : -

The similarity of prices between the 'New Series' sets and the earlier sets - compare those here with the first BAYKO Price List at the top of the page...

The fact that the Conversion Sets for the earlier style sets are still available, presumably as a service to existing owners, is interesting. This, perhaps, set the precedent which MECCANO followed some twenty years later after they too fundamentally change the product.

It is interesting to compare this Price Card, and of course its prices, with the one immediately below, which is around a year later.

There is one final, slightly confusing detail. The card actually has what certainly looks like a contemporary hand written comment "War Prices" on the Sets Prices side - I have cleaned this off the image shown. This makes no sense at all as the card below is certainly more relevant to war time, not least because the newly introduced Purchase Tax is included.

This is a later version, from 1941, of the earlier 'New Series' Price Card [above], and the differences are interesting. The right hand column of the Parts Prices [top of section] includes two new entries : -

Small Floors [9 x 13 holes] - we know from elsewhere that these were introduced just before the war as part of Plimpton's response to the metal shortage and high prices which lead them to replace Tie Bars.

Medium Floors [11 x 15] - this is slightly confusing as observation tells us that these were introduced in the early days, probably 1935. I therefore suspect that this was simply the correction of an initial omission from the earlier card, though that doesn't entirely explain the presence of Floors [23 x 15] in the list, these having been dropped, from sets at least, in 1935.

All the [then] standard Bricks have increased in price compared with the earlier version. We tend to think that 'price point' is a relatively modern marketing concept, yet the way that the increase has been implemented maintained the price, but reduced the number you got for your money.

The Set Price List has three points of interest : -

The conversion sets for the old series sets are still available.

The prices of all sets, and conversion sets of both series, have gone up substantially.

This Set Price List, for the first time, includes Purchase Tax [here charged at around 22.5%] which the budget introduced on April 6th, 1940.

BAYKO slowly but surely was unwinding itself from the second world war and Plimpton's war work.

The range of parts is based entirely on the pre-war 'New series' range and includes many of the more ornamental colours we all cherish, though the 'oak' and orange parts have gone...

...oddly though, the Domes are still only shown as only being available in White.

Notice that it doesn't include the Flat Roofs which were a key post-war innovation...

...nor does it include any of the pre 'New Series' parts.

You may also have noticed that the Steps are recorded as being red, which, as far as I am aware, never materialised - only grey Steps were produced after the war, or were they...

Chris Reeve owns a delivery note, dated October 17th, 1945 which specifically lists Straight Steps (red) as part of the dispatched order...

Also significant is the fact that there is no mention of ½-Brick Rods which were available almost immediately after the war, in sets.

This leaflet, shown courtesy of Peter Crook, represents the first post-war venture back into the familiar mix of set and parts prices on the same sheet. Peter owns one of these with a 1948 British Industries Fair sticker on it which nicely confirms the date for us, and places it fairly early in the year - the leaflet itself is undated.

In many ways this leaflet is most interesting for what is missing from the parts list. While the Turrets, Domes and Pinnacles are still there, though we know from elsewhere that availability was intermittent, the range of new parts featured on the leaflet [below] are conspicuously absent here.

Continuing a theme developed earlier [above] there is still no direct reference to Red Domes being available.

There is also a pricing detail worthy of note, compared with the postcard [above] - the Bay Window Roof has gone up by 50% to 3d!!!

I debated quite a long time with myself as to exactly where I should put this parts price list in this run of post-war Parts Price Lists. I settled on here, early 1949, for four main reasons : -

Its larger size and use of coloured paper point to its being an early, 'posh' post-war Parts Price List, an example of improved availability of such material as austerity slackened its grip.

There is a very careless error on the document [explanation below] which has been corrected in later documents.

We know from elsewhere that the increase in the range of 'Supplementary Parts' began in 1949.

There's another rather strange clue in that the Corner Bricks are only offered in White [possibly creating a range of 'fencing' with the Balustrades and Wall Bricks], Red not being offered until the April, 1949 Parts Price List [below].

I'm pretty confident that this is the right sequence, though it is feasible that this document was prepared for Christmas 1948.

So what was the error I referred to above? Well, if you look at the front of the document, [left, above] specifically at the "Price List of "BAYKO" Supplementary Parts (Not Contained in Standard Sets No. 0, 1, 2 and 3)", the bottom half of the list includes the four different Turret pieces.

Now turn over, as it were, and look at the rear of the document [right, above]. If you now look at the "Price List of BAYKO Separate Parts (Contained in Standard Sets)" you will see, just below half way down, that the four different Turret pieces are displayed there as well! Slide your mouse over the two images to highlight the 'Turret Trauma'.

For the record, if you exclude the 20s series sets, in which they were launched, none of the Turret pieces were ever included in any of the standard BAYKO sets.

I like this document, not just for its rarity, but because in it you can see the germ of the format which morphed into BAYKO's international standard Parts Price List that then served until Christmas, 1952.

This is also the first Parts Price List I've found so far which includes the ½-Brick Rods.

This is the first of only two documents [to date] in which the wording on 'longer' rods has been changed to the rather clunky phrase, "Larger Lengths of Rods Can be Supplied to Order".

One final, rather strange detail, for some reason, no less that three times in total, Plimpton found it necessary to intimidate poor little Johnnie, or Jenny, into obeying the instruction, "When ordering Spare Parts state Colour required and Reference No."

This document continues the segregated 'Supplementary Parts' section, but with the 'Turret error' on the previous document [above] now corrected.

This Parts Price List is printed on a not particularly good quality, off white, matt finish paper - and not very accurately. I have had to do quite a bit of work to tidy and straighten these images. Was this, perhaps, indicative of the speed with which the 'Turret error' was corrected, with quality being sacrificed in the hurry‽

Continuing a theme developed earlier [above] there is finally a reference to Red Domes being available.

This is one for the 'cock-up versus conspiracy' argument. According to the supplementary parts list on bottom half of the front of the sheet [left, above] Corner Bricks were still only available in White!

This is the last document in which the wording on 'longer' rods has been changed to the rather clunky phrase, "Larger Lengths of Rods Can be Supplied to Order".

Finally, this is the last parts price list to refer to the Bay Window Cover as the "Bay Window Roof".

The above document, dated April, 1949, is the earliest example I have of what, for a while, became a standard format for both domestic and export markets : -

Sets and supplementary parts prices on one side...

...and standard spare parts prices on the other.

The Price List below is dated only a month after this one, and yet the prices are significantly different. I think the difference is due to a change in the purchase tax rates catching Plimpton by surprise.

This is the first Parts Price List I've found so far which specifically mentions Red Corner Bricks.

This is the first parts price list to refer to the "Bay Window Cover" by that name.

The launch of this document, with its significantly enhanced range of parts, is quite well synchronised with the first post-war adverts in 'MECCANO Magazine', and 'Toy Trader', a leading publication for the toy trade. It strongly suggests that Plimpton were beginning to throw off the shackles of post-war austerity and rationing...

The above document, printer's coded February 1950, is the next to follow the format : -

Sets and supplementary parts prices on one side...

...and standard spare parts prices on the other.

The above document, printer's coded May 1950, is the next to follow the format : -

Sets and supplementary parts prices on one side...

...and standard spare parts prices on the other.

This is the first parts price list to mention the Side Windows and Bricks; the Opening Window; the Small Chimney; and the Gate and Matching Balustrade.

If you examine the parts prices, you will notice that they have taken a major price hit, while set priced remain unchanged - is this indicative of the significance of spare parts in the overall profit generation strategy?

The above document, printer coded October, 1951, yet again follows the by now tried and tested format : -

Sets and supplementary parts prices on one side...

...and standard spare parts prices on the other.

This is the first spare parts price list to mention the "3X Instruction Booklet".

The above document, printer coded December, 1951, yet again follows the by now tried and tested format : -

Sets and supplementary parts prices on one side...

...and standard spare parts prices on the other.

The set price list contains the earliest mention of the availability of set #4 that I've found, though I suspect that the print date here is a little ahead of the actual release date and that the generally accepted date of February 1952 still holds good.

The above document, printer's coded May 1952, yet again follows the format : -

Sets and supplementary parts prices on one side...

...and standard spare parts prices on the other.

One notable point of interest here is that this is the last parts price list to offer from 9-Brick up to 12-Brick Rods as standard, subsequent lists stop at 8-Brick.

From early 1952, Plimpton settled on a standard, 4-page format for the BAYKO Parts Price List [below]. It survived, beyond the MECCANO takeover, into 1960. The 4-pages were achieved by a simple vertical fold down the middle. As well as the common format, they were all printed, in red and green ink, on the same, cheap, mat paper.

I feel I must make one comment on the standard of printing of many of these leaflets - it could be absolutely atrocious. The main problem being an inability to correctly align the print registration of the two ink colours.

Technically this form was intended to allow the young collector to order more spare parts from their BAYKO dealer and contains two unchanging scripts [the first on the front, the second on the back] to explain this : -

Everyone who's ever seen a BAYKO set will know these. They're, by far, the commonest BAYKO price lists and, in various guises, thousands survive - unsurprisingly, as millions [literally!] were printed, with individual print runs of up to 250,000!

There are, I believe, nine domestic versions of this document and there's also at least one Irish version...

...but I will gradually add others, if any, as the opportunity arises.

Though the earliest versions don't have one, where there is a printer's code, I've included the batch number from it as an extra guide to identification. All these codes include the document identifier "Ref No 25", but, sadly, no date code information - just to make life easy!

Where different versions [with different batch numbers] of otherwise identical price lists exist, I've only included one of them, the changes in data being the key focus, rather than an exercise in piling up images of otherwise identical documents.

A small point of interest, before we move on - these Parts Price Lists were the first to restrict the range of standard BAYKO Rod sizes to 8-Brick, with sizes 9-Brick through 12-Brick now requiring special ordering.

One final, rather strange detail is the reduction in the colour intensity used for the BAYKO logo from June 1953 onwards.

Just click on any of the eighteen images below to see a version four times the size. Enjoy!

Back to a much simpler format with this much more utilitarian document from MECCANO - a BAYKO price list.

Surprisingly, given the date, this leaflet shows both BAYKO sets and the full range of spare parts from the Plimpton era.

There are several items on the list where there is no price quoted, and the young collectors are advised to, "Ask your Dealer for price". Slightly confusingly the affected parts include both those that survived into the full MECCANO era, and those which didn't - indeed, the same is true of those where a price is quoted, so it's difficult to spot a logical reason for this.

This BAYKO price list is dated as May, 1960.

This all seems to suggest that MECCANO's flirtation with Plimpton era product was more structured than previously thought...

...though there are several parts [and all the sets] which have no marked prices, so they may not have been available.

Sadly there are no MECCANO part numbers for the Plimpton era parts which MECCANO dropped when they restructured BAYKO.

This Price List should be viewed in contrast to those below, which are identical in style, but, of course, they contain details of MECCANO's own production.

Thanks to Mick Burgess for this one.

The above document, printer's coded July, 1961, is deliberately shown out of date order as it is so different from the other documents with Spare Parts prices, allowing me to show them in an uninterrupted run.

You could put together a strong case that this is really a Flier, aimed at the non-BAYKO-set owner, particularly with its emphasis on the on-going play value of completed buildings, however, given that it includes the prices of all the MECCANO era BAYKO spare parts, it seems appropriate to include it here as well.

Either way, in Spare Parts Price List terms, this is the first to use the full pounds, shillings and pence format for the sets, continuing the precedent set by the document below.

Here MECCANO is repeating the price list format from above, but this time with the more predictable MECCANO era BAYKO sets and parts.

This shows the prices for both BAYKO sets and the original range of MECCANO era spare parts as, they applied shortly after BAYKO's relaunch.

This BAYKO price list is dated as February, 1961.

This Price List should be viewed in contrast to the one below, just six months later...

...you'll notice that the prices had already gone up!

This particular MECCANO BAYKO parts price list does not feature the dimensions of the four Roof sizes - most of the others [below] do, though I've never fully understood why.

This is the first Spare Parts Price List to use the full pounds, shillings and pence format for the sets, rather than just shillings and pence, setting a precedent for all future documents.

Thanks to Neil Baldry for this one.

Again the same price list format as above, indeed, with the same prices...

...though it's worth comparing them with the list below, just three months later...

...guess which way they changed!

For some strange reason, this particular version of the leaflet is 6mm [= 0.24 inches] longer than its stablemates!

This, again, shows the prices for both BAYKO sets and the original range of MECCANO era spare parts as they applied still less than a year after BAYKO's relaunch.

This BAYKO price list is dated as May, 1st, 1961.

One of the more unusual features of this price list is that it still does not include details of the actual dimensions of the 4 different sizes of Roof pieces, which all subsequent versions do.

This Price List should be viewed in contrast to the one below, after the launch of the new parts...

...you'll notice that the prices had gone up again!

One minor detail, the printer's code includes the phrase "(3rd P.)" which I can only assume means this is the third print run.

Again the same price list format as above, but, alas, not the same prices...

...guess which way they've changed!!!

This, again, shows the prices for both BAYKO sets and the original range of MECCANO era spare parts as they applied still less than a year after BAYKO's relaunch.

This BAYKO price list is dated as August, 1st, 1961.

One of the more unusual features of this price list is the inclusion of details of the actual dimensions of the 4 different sizes of Roof pieces...

...apart from the similar price lists below, I can't bring to mind any other example in BAYKO's history where dimensions are given in inches...

...every other example I can think of uses the number of holes or, in the case of Rods and Pillars, how many Bricks match their length / height.

This Price List should be viewed in contrast to the one below, after the launch of the new parts...

...you'll notice that the prices had gone up again!

One minor detail, the printer's code includes the phrase "(4th P.)" which I can only assume means this is the fourth print run.