BAYKO Trade Papers

Oh all right, I do know that this isn't a 'Trade Paper' as such, but communication should always be a two-way thing…

…so I thought I'd begin the other way!!!

This image [right] simply shows a pre-printed envelope for BAYKO retailers to communicate with Plimpton on any matter that didn't require a big envelope!

The address, Gibraltar Row, tells us that this envelope dates from somewhere between 1938 and 1954. A wide period I know, but the logo in the top left hand corner suggests it would be in the post-war, second half of this period.

This leaflet was sent by Plimpton to their BAYKO retailers, almost certainly in 1948, to announce their new “spare part service”.

The leaflet is a simple sheet, printed double sided, and folded to produce its four page booklet format.

For a more detailed discussion on these Cabinets in general, and this leaflet in particular…

The images above are both actually a scan of a scan, as it were, so the quality may not be quite as good as usual.

The leaflet is a simple sheet, printed double sided, but, somewhat surprisingly, is based on the standard Spare Parts Price List [Ref. 2], a fact which is echoed in its reference number - Ref. 2Q.

Side 1 includes the full standard Spare Parts Price List, unchanged as far as I can see.

Side 2 retains the Set Price List, but not the Supplementary Parts Price List - an odd omission, meaning that parts such as Turrets aren't included at all!

It also contains the commercial terms and conditions, etc. : -

The price of a full “Cabinet of Spare Parts” is quoted as “£16/15/0” [£16.75] - if only.

“Trade Discount - Less 33⅓%” - effectively allowing a 50% profit margin for the BAYKO retailer.

“Settlement Discount 2½% 30 Days” - allowing almost 4% additional profit to the retailer.

“All consignments to the nett value of £2 are sent Carriage Paid” - a modest little incentive to spend at least £2!

“Showcards, Leaflets, Etc. Can Be Supplied Free Of Charge” - I wish these had been detailed!

“Cartons Free - please return Carriage Forward” - subsidised recycling 65 years ago! Presumably these were robust, 'transport-proof' cartons, and, as such, would have been fairly expensive…

The underlining is faithful to the original - my apologies if you mistook them for hyperlinks.

The purpose of this document is self explanatory, but the fact that the print run was for 1,000, suggests that the need to accommodate any would-be BAYKO retailers was on a substantial scale. Given that we believe there were around 3,000 active BAYKO retailers in the 1950s, there could have been a change in terms and conditions which needed to be communicated, but then, surely, the print run would have been at least three times as big - so I believe the buoyant market argument wins the day.

This document, [left] is clearly dated February, 1955, however, although the card could be used as a conventional advertising Flier, I suspect it was primarily intended for use as a quick reference document for BAYKO retailers.

The suspicion that any newly issued, dated price card such as this heralds a price change are confirmed with reference to 'MECCANO Magazine' where the advertised BAYKO set prices were perfectly synchronised, being changed on the same date, i.e. the February, 1955 issue.

The cynical among you will have suspected a price increase, but, in fact, the prices of sets #2, #3 and #4 and conversions sets #1X and #3X actually came down!!!

Just as an aside, notice that all the prices were still being advertised in shillings, not pounds.

Interestingly, probably because of the contemporary factory move from Gibraltar Row, Liverpool 3 to Tabley Street, Liverpool 1, the address quoted on the bottom line is just restricted to “Liverpool”.

Unusually for a piece of 1950s printing, this card has no printer's details.

This small price card - 150 x 100 mm - [ish] - is dated October 27th, 1955.

There is a second, smaller version of this card [below]. It has identical set price information, but lacks the trade terms information…

…I can offer no explanation for this, I'm afraid, unless this was aimed at the office.

It shows the prices which Plimpton charged their retailers for their supplies of BAYKO sets.

With a little bit of simple maths, you can work out the retailers' profit margins…

…don't forget, Retail Price Maintenance was in force in the U.K., so the margins were the same for everybody.

This small price card - 140 x 90 mm - [ish] - is also dated October 27th, 1955.

There is a second, larger version of this card [above]. It has identical set price information, but additionally includes the BAYKO trade terms information…

…I can offer no explanation for this, I'm afraid, unless this was aimed, literally, at the [toy] shop floor, which I doubt, given it holds cost price information.

It shows the prices which Plimpton charged their retailers for their supplies of BAYKO sets.

With a little bit of simple maths, you can work out the retailers' profit margins…

…don't forget, Retail Price Maintenance was in force in the U.K., so the margins were the same for everybody.

It looks like this was spiked - either that or it was kept on a largish ring[?], or string, for quick access!

This [right] is page two of a letter which was sent, by Plimpton, to Bepin Behary Das and Grandson on Kolkata [Calcutta], India.

The key point of interest here is the list of Wholesale BAYKO Set Prices, which is the first item on the page…

If you click anywhere on the image, you will launch a larger version of the BAYKO Set Wholesale Prices.

You may notice that the quoted prices are similar to those shown [immediately above] for the domestic market just three months earlier.

These differences are, at least in part, explained by the February 1st, 1956 price reductions which the first page of the letter was communicating.

The abbreviated “Liverpool” address is probably related to the September, 1955 factory move.

The second half of the page two contains details of the Wholesale Despatch Packaging, sizes and weights, used for the export business, and probably for parts, at least, of the domestic business as well. However, the cardboard used for the domestic market may well have been cheaper, thinner and hence lighter…

This letter, dated November, 1956, [right] was sent to BAYKO retailers, along with “a new type of BAYKO Window Poster”, reminding them to stock up for the pre and post Christmas rushes.

I find the reference to “a good demand for Converting Sets and Parts immediately after Christmas” particularly interesting…

…obviously I wasn't alone in rushing round to the pram shop, with my Christmas pennies burning a hole in my pocket!

For completeness, the envelope also contained order forms for both Sets and Parts.

I also find the comment “…this year as a result of considerable increased production at our new factory…” to be interesting, Plimpton having moved to new premises on Tabley Street, Liverpool 1, in September, 1955.

The date of this small price card [left] makes it interesting as it falls right in the middle of a period of price chaos as far as BAYKO is concerned It is dated April 8th, 1959, the same date as the document below.

Although, like its near twin [above] this card could be a conventional advertising Flier, I suspect it was intended for use as a quick reference document for BAYKO retailers.

For the record, according to 'MECCANO Magazine' these prices appeared in July, 1959.

Unusually for a piece of 1950s printing, this card has no printer's details - perhaps another sign of the confusion prevailing in Plimpton at the time - but in line with its twin.

I can't be absolutely certain, but this is probably the last flier from the Plimpton era BAYKO as the MECCANO takeover was only 5 months away.

It is interesting to view this Flier in conjunction with a separate 'wholesale' card which was issued to retailers on the same date.

The 'wholesales' card is immediately below.

Just as an aside, notice that the prices are all still in shillings not pounds.

The date of this medium sized - 200 x 120 mm - price list [right] again makes it interesting as it falls right in the middle of a period of price chaos as far as BAYKO is concerned, and, at April 8th, 1959, is identical to the one above.

Again, unusually for the period, this card too has no printer's details - perhaps, as I said before, a sign of the confusion prevailing in Plimpton at the time.

The list also includes prices for full and half Spares Cabinets and Accessory packs.

Again I can't be sure, but it is likely that this is the last flier from the Plimpton era of BAYKO production as the MECCANO takeover was only 5 months away.

An interesting feature of this card is that you can work out the profit that the retailer could expect to make on these key BAYKO items.

This card should be viewed in conjunction with the BAYKO Flier, or price card, [above] of the same date, which is the retail equivalent, and shows the prices which “children of all ages” had to pay for their new BAYKO sets…

It still looks odd to me that the prices are all quoted in shillings and pence rather than £.s.d.

This early MECCANO Trade Brochure [above], which can also only date from 1960, is clearly even more confused as you can see…

This early MECCANO era flier [above], which can only date from 1960, is clearly more than a little confused as you can see…

This document [left] is a MECCANO Dealers Letter, of sorts, clearly not intended for release to the general public - it is clearly marked “Confidential” in the top right hand corner.

I have never seen this type of document before, so I will let it speak for itself - “This Trade and Retail Price List is intended to assist you completing your main season's order for 1960.”

The BAYKO section is to the left hand side of the document, in the second section from the top, of the front of this double-sided document. Slide your mouse over the image to highlight it.

There are two key points to be gleaned from this document.

Firstly the document refers to “New Style BAYKO Outfits”, but lists them as being sets 1, 2, 3 and 4, with “Accessory Outfits” as being 1X, 2X and 3X. [Note, these equate to Plimpton era numbering of sets #0 to #3, and #0X to #2X.] The decision to renumber the set had clearly been made by the time of the printing of the document immediately below, which means that this document must be earlier than May, 1960. The opportunities for confusion between the far too similar systems is self evident.

Secondly, both retail and wholesale prices are listed, allowing me to calculate the mark up. For BAYKO they vary between 73% and 75%. I suggest that the latter was the target, but the importance the actual price point shaved the margin in some instances. This seems to be in line with the prices quoted in the document for both MECCANO itself and HORNBY CLOCKWORK TRAINS.

It's perhaps worth coupling this document, with the one immediately below, the “Confused Brochure” and the “Confused Document”, with their product errors, to sum up quite nicely MECCANO's lack of a consistent, coherent strategy for BAYKO.

This document is shown courtesy of the
HORNBY Railway Collectors Association.

This document [right] is again a MECCANO Dealers News Letter, sent, by Mr MECCANO, to his U.K. dealers and retailers, and is dated 30th May, 1960…

…presumably sent to retailers by MECCANO in June, 1960.

The BAYKO section is the bottom third of the front of this double-sided document.

The script is simple, if, with hindsight, a little optimistic!

There was further optimism in that the prices quoted here for conversion sets 10C [“7/6”] and 11C [[“9/-”] finally actually emerged as [“8/3” and [“10/9”, respectively!

Click anywhere on the image [right] to see the BAYKO section in more detail.

After several thousand years chasing dead ends, shadows and wild geese, I can finally provide proof [above] that the world's first and finest plastic construction toy was actually advertised, on U.K. T.V. - hooray!!! If you slide your mouse over the two images above, you'll highlight the BAYKO content of the document.  Click on them to display a larger, legible image of the specific BAYKO content.

This, sadly undated, double-sided document is another Letter to Retailers and has what is surely a machine fold, exactly halving its height - presumably to fit a smaller envelope. There are no print codes, following the norm of Mr MECCANO's in-house printing operation.

The document emerged on eBay at Christmas, 2021, proffered as being from 1963, as it had emerged among a job lot of documentation from that year. In BAYKO terms this makes no sense, as the programme clearly supports the relaunch of the re-tooled BAYKO from the MECCANO era, [just!] ahead of Christmas 1960. The document actually supports all four of MECCANO's key products and mentions dates as early as Sunday, October 23rd - that day/date combination confirming that it is indeed referencing 1960 - also, given that it encourages Dealers to stock up for Christmas, suggesting that Autumn 1960 is the most likely release date for the document - say early September, 1960.

The BAYKO T.V. advert was to be shown on ALL I.T.V. regional channels on Wednesday, November 23rd, 1960; again on Saturday, December 3rd, 1960; and [everywhere except Ulster] on a third [unspecified] date in the first couple of weeks in December, 1960 - sorry Ulster!  This compares with the planned eight showings of the advert for MECCANO itself.

The BAYKO T.V. campaign was to be supported by “introductory half-pages in Swift, Girl and TV Comic” and, though not mentioned here, full-pages in the last four 'MECCANO Magazine' issues, i.e. September through December, 1960.

Sadly I've not yet been able to secure a copy of the 'SWIFT' comic advert - I'd love to hear from you if you can help…

Now, I was short-trousered and the ripe old age of 10 at the time, and we did have a telly, but I sadly never saw the adverts. Also I can't see the logic behind the choice of comics - 'GIRL' yes, but the other two certainly weren't high on my radar at the time.

I know I risk being shown as repeatedly being down on Mr. MECCANO, but, given the abysmal product delivery achievements, with sets #11 and #12 [alone] only just limping into toy shops by mid-December, 1960, there are too many confidence-sapping factors for my thumb emoji to go anywhere near upwards.

Hidden in the script relating to the MECCANO advertising strategy, though no actual timings are mentioned, is the comment that four adverts will be shown “on Sunday afternoons, when parents and children look in together.” Presumably this was to maximise ‘pester-power’.

For completeness, the full BAYKO-related scripts from both sides of the document are shown below, aligned in the obvious way : -

Oh yes - BAYKO is also included as the bottom item on the mini product list which completes the Christmas bauble decoration!

There is a further entry on the exterior [right, above] under the heading “MAKE YOUR ADVERTISING WORK FOR YOU” which spells out the recommended approach to advertising “In your Local Paper”. The full script reads as follows : -

That concludes the information from this excellent, rich document.

This document [left] is a MECCANO Dealers Letter, of sorts, clearly not intended for release to the general public - it is clearly marked “Confidential” in the top right hand corner.

I can't be sure of the inter-relationship between this style of document and the above "News Letter" format [above]. Maybe this style is intended as a reminder, the "News Letter" for announcements.

The BAYKO section is to the left hand side of the document, in the second section from the top, of the front of this double-sided document. Slide your mouse over the image to highlight it.

There are two key points to be gleaned from this document.

Firstly the document now refers to “New Style BAYKO Outfits”, but lists them as being sets 11, 12, 13 and 14, with “Accessory Outfits” as being 11C, 12C and 13C. The decision to renumber the sets being the only significant change from the near identical document above.

It's perhaps worth coupling this document, with the one immediately below, the “Confused Brochure” and the “Confused Document”, with their product errors, to sum up quite nicely MECCANO's lack of a consistent, coherent strategy for BAYKO.

This document is shown courtesy of the
Timothy Edwards of meccanoindex.co.uk.

This MECCANO Trade Leaflet, date coded January, 1961, took the form of a four page booklet. Shown here are the front cover [left] and the back page [right] showing the [then] new BAYKO set #13 alongside other new members of the MECCANO product range.

You'd better be careful who you tell about this leaflet - after all, it is marked “CONFIDENTIAL TO MECCANO DEALERS”!

It is shown courtesy of Mick Burgess.

This document [left] is a MECCANO General Products Price List, of sorts, but definitely aimed at their retailers, and not one intended for release to the general public - it is clearly marked “Confidential” in the top right hand corner.

This is only the second of these I have seen, and, again, I will let it speak for itself - “This Trade and Retail Price List is intended to assist you completing your main season's order for 1961.”

The BAYKO section is to the left hand side of the document, in the second section from the top, [below the blank bit] on the front of this double-sided document.

There are two key points to be gleaned from this document when compared with the 1960 equivalent [above].

Firstly the document again refers to “New Style BAYKO Outfits”, but this time lists them as being sets 11, 12, 13 and 4, with “Accessory Outfits” as being 11C, 12C and 13C.

Secondly, both retail and wholesale prices are again listed. The prices are exactly the same, and therefore the mark ups are exactly the same - c75%.

Certainly, compared to its 1960 equivalent, MECCANO have now got their act together as regards the world's first and finest plastic construction toy.

If, with today's perspective on not wasting materials, you are wondering just why so much of the top and bottom of this document is blank, it is because the reverse side, requires all the space allocated.

For the record, the other products on the document are : -

On the Front, alongside BAYKO, are MECCANO itself, HORNBY SPEED BOATS and HORNBY CLOCKWORK TRAINS.

On the back are all the HORNBY DUBLO 2-Rail and 3-Rail and compatible items.

Sadly the “DATE AS POSTMARK”, at the top of the letter, means I'm not certain as to the exact date, but have been told it is 1961, and the reference code “LIT/61” seems to bear this out.

If you can help pin down the date more accurately, then I'd love to hear from you…

The reference to BAYKO is the final entry on the first page of the letter [left above]. If you slide your mouse over the image, the BAYKO entry will be highlighted.

The full BAYKO-related script is as follows : -

My apologies if the underlining above [which is true to the original] fooled you into thinking it was a hyperlink!

This document is shown courtesy of Bob Field and Andrew Lance.

This document is shown courtesy of Andrew Lance of the Hornby Railways Collectors Association.

I've put this among the 'Letters to Retailers' section, which I believe to be correct, even if it doesn't actually say so! Getting the chronology right is even more problematic, but I've gone with the date of the July, 1961 overprint on the DINKY TOYS Sales Aids side [above left] rather than the January, 1961 date of the original document.

Obviously the other side [above right] is of more interest, being a full page aimed at the [then] re-emerging product of BAYKO!

The letter offers the retailer the opportunity to buy a choice of four different models, and it is therefore interesting to compare these with future selections of six models, in 1962 and again in 1963 [below].

For more information on this range of choices…

This document [right] is page two of a News Letter, sent, by MECCANO, to its dealers, and is dated September, 1961.

The BAYKO section is the basically the middle third of the rear of this double-sided document - slide your mouse over the image to highlight it.

The five items detailed include : -

[“Window Ball”] [Code 71715/02]

[“Light Thief Sign”] [Code 71713/02]

[“3-dimentional Show Card, Full Colour”] [Code 71705/02]

[“Shelf Strip”] [Code 71701/02]

[“Self-Adhesive Window Sticker”] [Code 71714/02]

The inclusion of “/02” within each code number presumably indicates that there were earlier versions of these items, and, by implication, also of this document.

Click anywhere on the image to see the BAYKO section in more detail.

If you would like more information on the full range of BAYKO Display Materials…

It's so nice - as any collector would understand - to finally get hold of this predictable [indeed, predicted] document, intermediate as it is between its 1961 and 1963 counterparts.

This document is date coded January 8th, 1962, so it's nice to see BAYKO getting such a flying start to the year, particularly as it's so information rich, pretty well all of it new to me. A quick look at the dimensions [bottom of this table] will show you that this is a surprisingly long document for one of its type - 14.2 inches [360.4 mm] - and it's almost all BAYKO. The images have a slightly ghostly quality about them - I think this may be due to my scanner's interpretation of a combination of the pale colours and the document's high gloss finish. Interestingly, given there were around three thousand U.K. BAYKO retailers, ten thousand copies were printed.

Firstly [left side of left image, above] is a MECCANO era BAYKO Sets Display Unit. The uniqueness of this particular item [apart from this being the first of three mentions that I know of] is the fact that the offering - “Net Price £7. 15. 0. (Including Tax) Carriage Page” - is actually built from “MECCANO strips”, rather than the plastic covered wire construction which subsequently took over. I suspect stability, or comparative lack there of, was the issue. Its offering survived only three months - until the April, 1962 document [below].

Secondly both images [above] contain the 1962 offering of Shop Display Models - at significantly higher prices than those in 1961. Three of the first four of these were direct replacements for the original ones, from the previous year, The exception being the ever present “Bungalow”. The other two were heralding the launch of set #15, and conversion set #14C, later in the year.

The final item, is on the rear of the document [above, right]. It is an “Animated Display Stand”, for DINKY TOYS no less - it really would have been nice to have had the option for a similar BAYKO item! As an experienced exhibitor, I know the advantage of movement in any display.

Presumably this was one of many MECCANO Trade Bulletins, in this case dated April, 1962 and print coded the previous month. Unfortunately, I've never seen any of the others for comparison.

Clearly the headlines for the month were all DINKY related, except for the announcement of the availability of the “new and attractive Bayko Dispenser and Display Unit”. If we take MECCANO literally, then that successfully dates this style of display stand for us, just three months after the 'unstable' “MECCANO strips” version [above].

Given that set #15 was launched just five months later, the decision to exclude it from the stand must surely have been deliberate…

…perhaps the set #15 box was too big, and would have needed the stand to be too large.

…then again, there's always the cock-up theory alternative!

The full BAYKO related script is as follows : -

This document is shown courtesy of Bob Field and Andrew Lance.

I can't explain why there appear to be two June, 1962 documents, including the one below.

This is an information-rich document, produced in a single double-sided sheet, folded twice to create six pages.

It was sent out to all their retailers, not just BAYKO, by MECCANO in June, 1962.

Firstly, it heralds details of the launch of the MECCANO era BAYKO set #15 and conversion set #14C : -

“In August supplies will be available of the new Bayko Outfit No. 15. This is the largest Outfit in the range of entirely new up-to-the-minute parts, including shop window, display shelf, French window, dormer window, pantile roofs, boarded and waney edged roof ends. These will provide scope for building a wider variety of models.”

“Also available will be the Accessory Outfit No. 14C for enlarging Outfit No. 14 to the equivalent of the new No. 15 Outfit.”

Outfit	Trade Price exc. Tax	Retail Price inc. Tax
15	43/-	75/-
14C	19/10	34/6

That confirms confirms the gross profit figure as being 75%.

Secondly, the Bulletin announces the launch of the BAYKO Retail Packs, alongside the equivalent for an up-and-coming young product - MECCANO. As an aside, I have to say that I love the terminology they used in this section : -

Thirdly, the Bulletin details the contents of these BAYKO Retail Packs, though in a somewhat idiosyncratic order, which was clearly adopted to balance up the number of lines in the overall display : -

Finally, the Bulletin goes on to describe the details of a Display and Dispenser Unit, which was intended for use with the above six BAYKO Retail Packs : -

This document is shown courtesy of Andrew Lance of the HORNBY Railways Collectors Association.

I can't explain why there appear to be two June, 1962 documents, including the one above.

This is an information-rich document, produced as a simple double-sided sheet, folded twice to create six pages. It was sent out to all their retailers, not just BAYKO, by MECCANO in June 1962.

Just for the record, when it comes to the “Silent Salesman” [Retail Sales Packs] section [below], the 'eccentric' ordering of the content details of the six different packs makes sense only in the context of optimum space utilisation of the print layout.

In case you can't read the larger image, the whole script is as follows : -

This really is an information-rich document…

…sent to retailers by MECCANO in 1963.

Firstly, it shows details of the renamed, “FREE LOAN” “BAYKO Spare Parts Dispenser” for the 6 different Retail Display Packs…

Secondly, it also shows the “BAYKO Outfit Dispenser and Display Stand” for retailers to display their stock of BAYKO sets #11 to #14 [no set #15!] - yours for just £5/15/-…

Finally, it shows 6 Display Models, one from each set [but 2 from set #15] which retailers could buy to enhance their in-store BAYKO promotion…

The Bungalow model remains but the Detached House, from 1961, is rehabilitated!

How could BAYKO retailers resist this document…

…a shame MECCANO killed BAYKO the next year!

As a bit of an afterthought, I've decided to include the script related to the BAYKO Outfit Dispenser and Display Stand, as it is not mentioned elsewhere - there is also a significant change of literary style - so here goes : -