United Kingdom

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Transports of Delight

Toy collecting is an increasingly popular pastime in the UK with over 30,000 avid collectors searching for toys made between 1910 and 1970. This so-called 'golden age' was a period of mass toy production with a handful of manufacturers accounting for nearly 75% of all UK toy sales. Frank Hornby was seen as the father of the British tin toy industry as he created the Meccano, Hornby and Dinky brands. Mettoy and Wells-Brimtoy were famed for producing toys of great quality and charm.

MECCANOWELLS-BRIMTOY
  • FounderFrank Hornby
  • Formed1901
  • LocationLiverpool
  • Closed1979
  • FounderAlfred Wells
  • Formed1932
  • LocationLondon
  • Closed1965

HORNBYDINKY TOYS
  • FounderFrank Hornby
  • Formed1920
  • LocationLiverpool
  • Closed1979
  • FounderFrank Hornby
  • Formed1933
  • LocationLiverpool
  • Closed1979

METTOY
  • FounderPhillip Ullmann
  • Formed1933
  • LocationNorthampton & Swansea
  • Closed1983
Technical Details

Number of stamps: Five
Date of issue: 18 September 2003
Photography: Martin Langfield
Design: Trickett & Webb
Acknowledgements: Meccano biplane, Wells-Brimtoy bus: Pollocks Toy Museum; Hornby train, Dinky Toys car, Mettoy spaceship: private collections
Printer: Joh. Enschedé Stamps, Haarlem, The Netherlands
Process: gravure
Stamp designs © Royal Mail Group plc 2003
Format: landscape
Size: 41mm × 30mm
Perforations: 14 × 14.5
Number per sheet: 50
Phosphor bars as appropriate
Gum: PVA

Cover design: GBH Ltd
Acknowledgements: Colour illustration by Andrew Davidson; Black & white illustration by Greg Kirkland
Words: Leigh Gotch
Cover design © Royal Mail Group plc 2003
All rights reserved
 

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