Spot-on

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Spot-On was a brand name for a line of toy cars and commercial vehicles built in Northern Ireland (UK). Spot-On was a new range from Tri-Ang, a division of Lines Brothers, who at one time claimed to be the largest toy makers in the world. In the 50's Dinky Toys, made in Liverpool, England, had a wildly successful range of cars. These were joined in 1956 by Corgi Toys made by Mettoy. Corgi quickly grew to be the equal of Dinky in their range and quality. Lines Bros. did not want to miss out on the craze, and so started their own range in 1959 using their factory in Northern Ireland. Murray Lines was put in personal charge of model selection.

The aim of Spot-On was the same as Dinky and Corgi, that is to make true-to-life models that also served as toys. They needed to be detailed, but robust. As Dinky and Corgi were already established, Spot-On needed some gimmick. Dinky and Corgi were both a little loose with their scale - typically around 1:48 for cars, but Spot-On decided to be always exactly, "spot-on", 1:42. This scale they kept for buses and commercial vehicles too, which made them much larger than most Dinky and Corgi toys.

Clearly Spot-On tried first to establish themselves in the British market. Even their name was one that was more easily understood in the UK than, for instance in the States where Dinky and Corgi sold a lot of models. They also concentrated on a choice of cars that were familiar to Britons - the first was an English Ford Zodiac.

Spot-Ons were well made, detailed and heavy. This, together with their larger size and smaller production numbers, made them more expensive than the competition. Thus, they made a relatively small impact on the toy car market. However, backed by the Lines Brothers empire, they did not need to make an immediate profit to survive.

Although more conservative than Corgi Toys, Spot-On did make some innovations. In particular several cars were changed to having battery powered working headlights. They also grew to have nicely detailed interiors which often featured interestingly dressed drivers and passengers.

The Spot-On choice of models is interesting. Having chosen the fixed scale of 1:42, they accentuated the scale by making sure that both very large and very small cars were represented. Rolls Royce were represented first by the large Silver Wraith, later by the even larger Phantom V which had working lights and even Royal passengers. At the other end of the scale were the Isetta bubble car, the rare (in real life!) Meadows Frisky, the Fiat 500 and the Goggomobile. In between were exotic sports cars such as the Jensen 541 and Bristol 406, along with more mundane models such as the Hillman Minx and Austin A40. The Morris Minor 1000 is a particular favourite of collectors today, because this car, which has almost cult status, was not in the Corgi and Dinky ranges.

Today, Spot-On models are as collectible as Dinky Toys and Corgi Toys and can command high prices. Unfortunately, many did have artificial "chrome" attachments that have tended to not last the years as well as Dinky Toys of the era. However, there is a market in replacement parts, and some commercial enterprises will undertake full restoration of the models.

In 1964, Lines Bros. took over Meccano, the parent company of Dinky Toys. There was no reason to keep both names going at the same time, and so Spot-On were phased out, though some production lingered in New Zealand. Spot-On did plan to branch out to production in Hong Kong with a range of American Cars for export to the States, but these were re-labelled as the Dinky Toys "57" series - the only Dinky Toys using the 1:42 scale.

Spot-On also made a line of Doll's House furniture, using a different (1:16) scale.

You can see a nice collection on http://www.euronet.nl/users/ramses