What BAYKO Can Do

BAYKO is an architectural toy and can be used to build a wide range of buildings from a simple shed to a Skyscraper "limited only by the child's imagination" as early literature said.

Painfully, it has to be admitted that LEGO was/is more versatile, but BAYKO wins hands down on realism.

The 'play value' of linking BAYKO to HORNBY and DINKY toys wasn't lost on Plimpton's marketeers, forging a link with MECCANO long before the take-over.

The 'Toyman' articles in 'MECCANO Magazine' epitomised this...

Partly because of its period of origin, BAYKO is usually thought to be in scale with O-Gauge model railways, though it's unlikely to satisfy the rivet counters. [Does anything?]

Personally, for 'public buildings', which are usually more grandiose than domestic ones, I think BAYKO better matches O-O Gauge. I am in the process - an embarrassingly long one to date - of building a modular O-O Gauge BAYKO model railway which can be made up to to a full scale mile...

Like many of the world's most successful toys, BAYKO was intended to be expandable through repeat purchases both of conversion sets and spare parts.

That way you could build almost anything that took your fancy - "limited only by your pocket" as the BAYKO literature perhaps should have said!

The instruction books BAYKO provided with each set showed a wide range of models which could be built with the set.

Today's BAYKO collectors / modellers generally enjoy producing original designs for the models they build...

...the occasional masochist even copies real life...

...though few people would contemplate what Leo did!

The model to the right is Leo's truly magnificent BAYKO model of the Empire State Building...

...that's Leo on the right of the group.

Today there are still plenty of people who collect and play with BAYKO - why not join them? - join the BAYKO Club!

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