15 British Toy Giants That Ruled Our Childhood.. and Then Vanished

15 British toy companies made almost everything we played with, and every one of them is gone. Lines Brothers of Merton claimed to be the largest toy maker in the world. By 1971 the receivers were in. Meccano, Hornby and Dinky all came out of one building on Binns Road in Liverpool, which shut on the thirtieth of November 1979 with about a quarter of an hour's notice. Matchbox came out of Hackney Wick at a million cars a day. The gold Corgi Aston Martin came off a line in Swansea at nine and eleven. Airfix sold a Spitfire in a polythene bag for two shillings. Palitoy made Action Man in Coalville. Chad Valley, Britains, Merit, Wells-Brimtoy, Pedigree, Denys Fisher, Subbuteo, Waddingtons and Spear's are all here as well, each told the same way: the founder, the toy that was in your hands, and the documented end. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lines_Bros https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/i... https://www.mertonworkingheritage.co.... https://collection.powerhouse.com.au/... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sindy https://www.dollreference.com/pedigre... https://silvermagazine.co.uk/sindy-at... https://www.oursindymuseum.com/about/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedigre... https://wforalhistory.org.uk/projects... https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Brimtoy https://binnsroad.co.uk/railways/well... https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_Va...) https://www.teddybear-museum.co.uk/co... https://letstalkteddybears.com/chad-v... https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Britains https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britains https://www.wbritain.com/company-history https://www.miniatures-workshop.com/l... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_%26_L... https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/i... https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denys_F... https://www.retrowow.co.uk/retro_coll... https://toytales.ca/denys-fisher-engi... http://www.peter-upton.co.uk/focuson0... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subbuteo https://www.friends-tw-cemetery.org/i... https://visittunbridgewells.com/what-... https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mettoy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corgi_Toys https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1... https://www.classicandsportscar.com/f... https://museum-collection.hackney.gov... https://007magazine.co.uk/factfiles/f... http://www.batmobile.free.fr/English/... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesney_... https://eastendreview.co.uk/2016/09/0... https://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2016... https://museum-collection.hackney.gov... https://www.classicandsportscar.com/f... https://www.museumofplay.org/toys/mat... https://www.hornbyhobbies.com/communi... http://museumofdesigninplastics.blogs... https://nostalgiacentral.com/pop-cult... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palitoy https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Palitoy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Man https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-3... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meccano... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornby_... http://dtcawebsite.com/sites/default/... https://libcom.org/article/meccano-fa... https://www.liverpoolworld.uk/news/pe... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinky_Toys https://www.hornbyhobbies.co.uk/hornb... https://www.frankhornby.co.uk/dinky-toys https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadding... https://www.tabletopgameicons.com/rem... https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/07/... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._W._S... https://artsandculture.google.com/sto...