BAYKO Product Details - 1938 to 1941
SPECIAL SETS

Bakelite components were still made using Bakelite and scarab powders - urea formaldehyde - but, by this time, plastic technology had advanced, enabling cheap, reliable, mass production of true colours to be moulded with greater precision.

Although nominally complete in their own right, these BAYKO sets are widely seen as a second range of Ornamental Addition Sets and may, indeed have actually replaced them in 1938.

The launch of these sets was heralded as "Something Brilliantly New in BAYKO" in 'Games and Toys' in February, 1938.

This represents the first step in a significant period of change and range expansion for BAYKO.

As can be seen below, the set lid carried a very attractive piece of artwork, typical of the 1930's.

Domes.

Pinnacle Roofs.

Pinnacle Platforms.

Turrets - 4 types.

1-Brick Pillars - unique to these sets.

Curved Bricks.

Curved Windows.

Bay Window Covers.

The Curved Window colour matched the light green of the 1937 to 1938 production period, though their style matched the [then] new "cruciform" style, not released until 1939 in the mainstream, 'New Series' sets.

The 1-Brick Pillars were unique to these sets.

Sets #20 to #23 had the original large style Bases, but, for these sets, they were produced in mottled green.

The unique, and most conspicuous, feature of these sets is the fact that the ornamental roofing, Bay Window Cover, Dome, Pinnacle Platform, Pinnacle Roof and all four styles of Turret were produced in Orange.

Manuals for these sets [right] were modest but colourful...

...and were the only BAYKO manuals laid out in portrait format.

Floors 11 x 8 holes (not easy to explain this one!).

Curved Tie Bars - to 'control' the new Curved Windows.

Equally unsexy, but longer lasting, Straight Tie Bars were also introduced - though it is possible that they were introduced into some standard sets at around the same time.

Despite the winds of change, Windows were still the 8-pane "Georgian" style in the earlier sets, though they were later changed, in line with the mainstream sets, to the 'New Series', "cruciform" style.

Some of these had a most unusual box, being like a miniature version of the later Retailers Cabinets rather than the, otherwise almost universal, tray and lid format.

It is likely that this version of the #20 set was intended to double as an attractive window display.

Chris Reeve assures me that there was also a set #20 in the more conventional box format, but I don't have one to show you.

These sets overlap 3 distinct, standard set production periods, 1937 - 1938, late 1938 and 1939 - 1941.