Meccano - Tin toy - 1920-1930 - U.K.

Lotto Meccano of the 1920s - 50s Nickel and Color. Two boxes of truly antique Meccano, probably from the mid-1920s with nickel finishes and then colored in the 1930s-50s. As is known, Meccano, invented by Frank Hornby around 1907 in Liverpool, became colored by the mid-1927: the green and red that would last at least until the mid-1960s, with two periods of real worldwide success in the 1930s and then the 1950s-60s. But originally it was iron with nickel finish. This assembly is rather intricate, with many of the piece types produced at the time, of which many later became obsolete and not reissued after the war. The condition is very varied. No piece is broken or irretrievably bent, but ranges from fair, used, to very used with evident rust. The two boxes appear to be contemporaneous but not original to Meccano, adapted by some skilled collector of those years. The internal partitions seem to be laid out according to the various types of parts. Accompanying the lot is a set of instruction manuals dating from 1918 to 1950, essentially complete with some missing covers and the first and/or last pages. In French and Italian; one includes the mythical 1920s/’30s models of the Meccano engraver and the Tessera Machine. One in English for sets no. 7/8 of 1951 and finally a very curious complete English-language manual of the “Delta” printed in Japan (of which some pieces bearing marks are present). There are some spring and electric motors, with evident missing parts and/or apparently complete, but not tested. Dimensions: about 36 x 30 x 21 cm. Very heavy! About 9.05 kg for the lot, excluding packaging. It will be shipped in a box of 39 x 34 x 24 cm, weighing a little over 10 kg.