MECCANO Era “Confused” BAYKO Leaflet

What lead MECCANO to produce such an inaccurate flyer which effectively advertises a product which never existed?

The most likely explanation is probably time pressures - but, during the MECCANO take-over period, BAYKO was effectively off the market for not far off a year, though Plimpton product was supplied for a time, leaving ample time, with a craft knife and paint brush, to have done a much more convincing job - even if the pukka product wasn't available. Having said all that, the printer's code includes a date code for September, 1960, so they really did have plenty of time to have got it right.

If you look at the windows in the 5 models shown on the flier, and also the one depicted on the set lid, they are all the correct MECCANO era moulding and colour - which makes it all the more confusing to my mind.

There is a fuller description of this Flier, and similar ones, in a separate section…

…click here for more general information about this Flier.

[Almost] unbelievably, MECCANO were still repeating this error in their first full colour BAYKO advert in 'MECCANO Magazine' in February, 1961, getting on for three months after the sets staggered into the shops.

In most cases I tend to support the 'cock-up' theory of life rather than the 'conspiracy' theory and that's probably what applies here too - but you've got to admit it's odd!

Perhaps it's best viewed as an early pointer to the troubled history of BAYKO under MECCANO control, a period which, from a BAYKO perspective, was riddled with inconsistent decisions. There are many among fans of other MECCANO products who blame the focus on BAYKO for issues in their favourite hobby - they're wrong, the incompetence was shared out equally!

This document is, almost certainly, the one referred to in a similarly confused MECCANO brochure from 1960…