BAYKO in 'Which?' - November, 1964
Constructional Toys Report

This is an odd one for me to include as it's not particularly complimentary about BAYKO...

...still, accuracy above all things!

There is one very odd feature about this report...

...given that BAYKO production ceased several months earlier!

Even if you take into account that BAYKO was still included in the January, 1967 MECCANO products price list - it wasn't being advertised anywhere that I can find!

There is a second issue, which is one of judgement...

...the report is with respect to children of 5 and 7 years old.

BAYKO had long since dropped references to "children of all ages" from their literature...

...though, no doubt BAYKO was bought for kids in that age group...

...I was living proof in the 1950s!

Still, onward and upwards...

...'Which?' is the widely respected, flagship publication by the independent Consumers' Association in the U.K.

I am not going to retype the entire article, but the images show the entire thing [click on any of the images to see a larger version]...

...but the limited number of mentions of BAYKO are all included in blue below.

The assessment was split into 3 different sections : -

Building sets - this is the section which included BAYKO.

Rod and Block sets - such as BILDIT MASTER.

Engineering sets - such as MECCANO itself.

The assessments were carried out under several points of comparison : -

Instructions.

How they were made - i.e., how it works.

Fit - how well do the parts go together.

Strength - did the parts stand up to use?

Number and variety of parts.

Safety.

Playing with the toys : -

Popularity - did they like it?

Holding the child's attention.

What they made.

Make-believe - did they go on to play with what they'd made?

Joining in together - how children related to the product and each other?

Putting away - did it fit back in the box.

Value for money.

Somewhat surprisingly, there isn't a single mention of BAYKO on either of the 2 opening pages!

A data page mentioning the following : -

The meat of the review : -

BAYKO is the left hand column above.

Again, there isn't a single mention of BAYKO on this page.

At the risk of being repetitive, I'm afraid that, once again, there is no mention of BAYKO on this page either...

...and this is the summary page!!!

The only consolation I can draw from the article is that BAYKO was better built than the "Best Buy", BILDIT MASTER and was 3d cheaper!

Seriously though, I think the real problem was the age of the children...

...the truth is that BAYKO really didn't attract the 5 to 7 year-olds of the day.

For the record, this review was sandwiched between 3 more utilitarian reviews : -

► Automatic washing machines.

► Carpet underlay.

► Wrinkle smoothing lotion.

Well, that's that I'm afraid.