BAYKO Retail Packs - MECCANO Era

Detailed below are the complete parts lists, and other details, for the BAYKO Retail Packs from the MECCANO era. I hope you find this both interesting and useful.

The launch of these BAYKO Retail Packs can be dated, with some certainty, to June, 1962, when they were included in both a BAYKO parts price list, having not been included in the April equivalent, and a MECCANO general products order form, also dated June, 1962…

Surprisingly, even though it was approaching 3 years after the take-over, they were being offered to retailers alongside residual Plimpton era stock!

Each pack had a variety of different contents [see below], but…

The price for all the 6 packs was
2 shillings and 6 pence
[=12.5p, 16 cents US, 14.1 Euro cents]
The $ and € exchange rates [above] were last updated on December 1st, 2018.

Retail Packs were sold from a plastic-covered wire 'Dispenser' [left] which was available “FREE on loan” to any shop ordering ten of each of the six different Retail Packs.

If you'd like to know more about these 'Dispensers' or Retail Pack Display Racks…

Size - 584 x 457 x 457mm = 1' 11" x 1' 6" x 1' 6".

I would guess that pack #6B was the best seller as they seem to be the most difficult ones to find. A small word of caution, it could be that modern collectors found these 'more plunderable' for their personal building stock.

If you've any idea why the packs were designated 1B [as distinct from 1 or 1A] I'd be interested to hear from you. The most likely explanation is to avoid clashing with another MECCANO product - but which?

An announcement on page 31 of the March, 1964 'Toy Trader and Hobby & Model Stockist', a leading publication for the U.K. toy trade, suggests that new packs of BAYKO accessories would be available, however, sadly, these never materialised.

It's almost certain these packs survived until BAYKO's death - they were certainly present in the February, 1966 MECCANO Products Order Form.

The Dispensers to display these packs were also mentioned in a leaflet intended for BAYKO retailers as late as 1963…