The
Matchbox Classic Thunderbird List
The Dinky® Thunderbird Story
------------ From my point of view! &nnbsp; Under
Reconstruction
March 1999
Edited July 2000
by Dot Lang
The
Dinkys are in the 1955 list under Matchbox/Dinky
| Short & very sweet - that's the story
of the Dinky 1955 Thunderbird Model. Meant to appear on the market
in the mid 80's as Model #31.1294, it never actually made it to production
until the early 90's. Matchbox acquired Dinky in the 80's and finally
released the model in 1992 with it manufactured in China. This is
one of the nicest models of the '55 for that size - in 1/43rd scale. |
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As you can see
it is RED with no top. The box is open enough so the car can be displayed
without removing it from the box.
The model was available only thru mail
order from Matchbox for several years. It was not mass marketed in
retail stores. |
| In 1996, Matchbox offered the
car in a new color, with a hardtop, but only as part of a series called
"Oldies But Goodies." Again, this is a mail order set straight from
Matchbox but the set was also offered to dealers who in turn are willing
to break up the set and sell the models individually. This model
has a turquoise body and white removeable hardtop. |
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In 1997 Mattel acquired Matchbox
and it's rights to the Dinky model. In 1998, the Dinky Model was
introduced as a Coca Cola promotional item with very striking colors, reminescent
of the colors of the mid-fifties autos. The basic body is Black with
a red hardtop, red & black interior and yellow Coca Cola graphics on
the sides, a red hood scoop and red line down the side. Again, this
model is a mail order special but now from the Matchbox division of Mattel. |
|
Wow! For Y2K, another Coca Cola
model. This time it's red
with a white top - more of the colors we are used to seeing for Coca
Cola. This model has been even easier to obtain than the past ones, showing
up in numberous retail stores. |
*1999 Update information:
Alan Hayward sent in some more information from his webpages.
There were three special issued t-birds for the Toronto Thunderbird Club
over the past few years. You may
view them at his site [link updated Nov. 03], code 2 models.
The search is on!!
| Matchbox Article | Matchbox
List | Matchbox / Dinky |
|
I'm always looking for more information on the Thunderbird model.
|
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©1999-2004 Dot Lang
