Brilliant reference book for the serious collector or those interested in social history and the part toys play in it. Although some of the information is dated this book is interesting giving history of the models as well as their manufacturers.

Bibliographic Details:

Title: British Diecasts: a Collectors Guide to Toy Cars, Vans & Trucks
Author: Graham Thompson, G.M.K. Thompson
Publisher: The Promotional Reprint Company Limited
Publication Date: 1995
Language: English
Binding: Hardcover
Number Of Pages: 160 Pages
Special Attributes:
Edition: First published April 1980 by Haynes Publishing Group (c) G.M.K.Thompson 1980. This edition exclusively for Bookmart Limited, Desford Road, Enderby, Leicester LE9 5AD.
ISBN-10: 1856482537
ISBN-13: 978-1856482530

Synopsis: The collecting of diecast model vehicles has enjoyed an enormous growth in popularity over the last few years. Deservedly so, for apart from being very attractive in their own right, these models accurately mirror the history and development of the motor industry.
As with so many things, the collecting of diecast model vehicles is a hobby littered with pitfalls ready to catch the unwary or unknowledgeable. The value and collectability of individual models is determined by many factors such as age, condition, originality and, most importantly, rarity. It may well be the case that a model produced in very small quantities two years ago, is worth more than a pristine model twenty years of age which was produced in relatively large numbers.
This book is intended as a practical, but attractive and readable, guide for all collectors of diecast model vehicles. The author guides the less experienced through the amazing proliferation of models from Britain's major manufacturers - Dinky, Spot-On, Corgi and Lesney Yesteryear.
Through the medium of superb photographs, taken especially for this book, linked to "super" captions, most of the rare and interesting British models are fully described. The reader will also find information on the buying, selling, storage, display and renovation of diecast models as well as the history of the manufacturers.
For obvious reasons, it has not been possible to express the monetary worth of individual models, but every model described has been given a "rarity value" which will enable the collector to establish a relative value and to identify the most collectable vehicles.
Here then is an extraordinarily detailed guide to Britain's diecast model vehicles from the past and present, which no collector can afford to be without.

About the Author: In the early seventies a friend of Graham's mentioned that he had a number of diecast toy vehicles from his childhood which were in need of restoration. Graham offered to under take the work, and so began the rekindling of a childhood interest which has now grown to a level of knowledge sufficient to make Graham one of Britain's leading collectors and an authority on diecast toy vehicles.
Living with his wife, Janet, in Yeovil, Somerset, Graham spends most of his spare time on the building of his personal collection - already sufficiently large to occupy a whole room of his home!
How he finds time is a mystery, but Graham is also very interested in old cars and commercial vehicles (particularly buses), steam trains, aircraft and art.