The Merchandise GuideDinky Eagle Models
Compiled by Martin Willey
The Merchandise GuideThe Dinky Toy catalogue was sold in toys ships alongside the models. The prestige of Dinky was sufficient that it could charge for it's own toy catalogue. The 5 pence cost was pocket-money friendly, but the same as a comic. It was issued annually, although the year was hidden in the copyright notice. Originally 12.5cm x 16.5 cm, it swapped with issue 9 (1973) to a wider 15cm x 11.5cm (the same size as rival Corgi's catalogue).
In the USA, Ava International reprinted a version of the catalogue ("catalog") with the same numbering. There was a French catalogue, with different covers but similar in style,which ended in 1972.
Each catalogue was about 48 pages (13 and 14 were 44 pages), and included a 4-page checklist in the centre (this is from 11).
Reference: Dinkyeagle.space1999.net, Dinky Toys Space and Specials, and Fanderson's FAB Book of Gerry Anderson Dinky Toys (2010), pages 44-51 showing these pages.
A Captain Scarlet SPV made the cover of catalogue 4 (1968), Joe 90's car on catalogue 5 (1969), and this unusual full-page painting of the UFO Interceptor on catalogue 7 (1971). Until this date, the models had accurate colours; with UFO Dinky went wild, even redesigning Thunderbird 2 in blue instead of green. Admittedly, in the UK until the late 1970s, most children were watching the shows in black and white, and had no idea of the correct colour.
Pre-Space: 1999, an example of the prominence of Gerry Anderson series.
Still prior to Space: 1999, with the UFO Interceptor on the cover, and on the side of a London bus.
"Blast into the future with Eagle"
The Eagles arrive. The cover Eagle is white, but the interior version is green. Two Anderson models are dropped, the Captain Scarlet MSV and patrol car.
"Through the barriers of space and time, Dinky blasts onto your TV screen"
The Star Trek Enterprise joins the Eagle (and Cinderella's coach, a tie-in to the film The Slipper and The Rose, one of Dinky's least successful models). Also appearing is the "Armoured Command Car" "designed by Gerry Anderson". Actually this was a version of the car, designed by Reg Hill for the unseen Anderson 1973 pilot The Investigator, which has never been shown on TV.
The Joe 90 car and Straker's car from UFO disappear.
The Star Trek Enterprise is joined by the Klingon ship, and makes the cover (the US AVA cover has the same subjects, but is different and more toy-like art). Later in the catalogue, the "Coastguard Amphibious Missile Launch" appeared, which was the boat from The Investigator, but it was never credited to Gerry Anderson.
After long runs, the FAB 1 car from Thunderbirds and the Captain Scarlet SPV disappear.
The last ever catalogue, again featuring the UFO Interceptor on the cover. The Eagles move from the first pages to the second, usurped by Star Trek and the non-tie-in "Space Battle Cruiser" and "Trident Star Fighter". The "Space Battle Cruiser" is close in design to the Airfix Starcruiser Interceptor, and we know Starcruiser was originally developed from the Gerry Anderson series proposal as a Dinky toy. The Gerry Anderson name was never attached to the model.
This final catalogue also introduces the "Galactic War Chariot", which cannibalises parts from other Dinky models (the Lunar Rover, the Joe 90 car, and the UFO Shado Mobile).
Copyright Martin Willey.