BAYKO Parts Price Lists

Arguably this document is, at least in part, a Flier, but justifies its inclusion in this section as well by also containing the earliest published Parts Price List that I've seen outside the BAYKO manuals.

Sets prices are at the top of the reverse side...

...with standard spare parts prices lower down.

To view a correctly orientated version of the front of this document, just click the image [above, left].

This price card shows the entire range of spare parts and sets available.

The white parts are probably the most interesting and include the three styles of windows, four styles of turrets and the Bay Window Cover...

...for whatever reason 'Oak' Domes are mentioned, but not 'Oak' Turrets or Pinnacles...

...but perhaps more interesting still is the Green Small Roof - I wish I had one!

BAYKO slowly but surely unwinding itself from the second world war.

The range of parts is based entirely on the pre-war 'New series' range and includes many of the more ornamental colours we all cherish.

Notice that it doesn't include the Flat Roofs which were a key post-war innovation...

...nor does it include any of the pre 'New Series' parts.

You may also have noticed that the Steps are recorded as being red, which, as far as I am aware, never materialised - only grey Steps were produced after the war, or were they...

Chris Reeve owns a delivery note, dated October 17th, 1945 which specifically lists Straight Steps (red) as part of the dispatched order...

Also significant is the fact that there is no mention of ½-Brick Rods which were available almost immediately after the war, in sets.

This leaflet, shown courtesy of Peter Crook, represents the first post-war venture back into the familiar mix of set and parts prices on the same sheet. Peter owns one of these with a 1948 British Industries Fair sticker on it which nicely confirms the date for us - the leaflet itself is undated.

In many ways this leaflet is most interesting for what is missing from the parts list. While the Turrets, Domes and Pinnacles are still there, though we know from elsewhere that availability was intermittent, the range of new parts featured on the leaflet below are conspicuously absent here.

The above document, dated April, 1949, is the earliest example I have of what became a standard format for both domestic and export markets : -

Sets and supplementary parts prices on one side...

...and standard spare parts prices on the other.

The Price List below is dated only a month after this one, and yet the prices are significantly different. I think the difference is due to a change in the purchase tax rates catching Plimpton by surprise.

The above document, printer's coded February 1950, is the next to follow the format : -

Sets and supplementary parts prices on one side...

...and standard spare parts prices on the other.

The above document, printer's coded May 1950, is the next to follow the format : -

Sets and supplementary parts prices on one side...

...and standard spare parts prices on the other.

The above document, printer coded April, 1951, again follows the familiar format : -

Sets and supplementary parts prices on one side...

...and standard spare parts prices on the other.

The set price list [left, above] contains the first reference to set #3X that I've found.

The above document, printer coded October, 1951, yet again follows the by now tried and tested format : -

Sets and supplementary parts prices on one side...

...and standard spare parts prices on the other.

The above document, printer coded December, 1951, yet again follows the by now tried and tested format : -

Sets and supplementary parts prices on one side...

...and standard spare parts prices on the other.

The set price list contains the earliest mention of the availability of set #4 that I've found, though I suspect that the print date here is a little ahead of the actual release date and that the generally accepted date of February 1952 still holds good.

The above document, printer's coded May 1952, yet again follows the format : -

Sets and supplementary parts prices on one side...

...and standard spare parts prices on the other.

After the above, Plimpton settled on a 4-page format [below] and stuck to it. The 4-page effect was achieved by a simple vertical fold down the middle - all the versions [below] are shown flattened out, the outside to the left.

Just about anybody who has ever seen a BAYKO set will have seen one of these. New parts were added and prices changed, but the basic format survived right through until the MECCANO takeover.

These are, by far, the commonest BAYKO price lists and, in their various guises, thousands have survived. This is not surprising as millions were printed, and individual print runs of 200,000 were not unknown! In reality there are an [as yet] unknown number of versions of this parts and sets price list, there is certainly at least one Irish version...

...but I will gradually add others as the opportunity arises.

I have included the printing batch number in each case as an extra guide to identification as well as sequencing.

I will do my best to display them all in the correct chronological order, but please bear with me during the, probably, protracted development.

Just click on any of the images below to see a version four times the size. Enjoy!

One small point of interest, before we move on, these parts price lists were the first to restrict the range of standard BAYKO Rod sizes, with sizes 9-Brick through 12-Brick now requiring special ordering.

Back to a much simpler format with this much more utilitarian document from MECCANO - a BAYKO price list.

Surprisingly, given the date, this leaflet shows both BAYKO sets and the full range of spare parts from the Plimpton era.

This BAYKO price list is dated as May, 1960.

This all seems to suggest that MECCANO's flirtation with Plimpton era product was more structured than previously thought...

...though there are several parts [and all the sets] which have no marked prices, so they may not have been available.

Sadly there are no MECCANO part numbers for the Plimpton era parts which MECCANO dropped when they restructured BAYKO.

This Price List should be viewed in contrast to those below, which are identical in style, but, of course, they contain details of MECCANO's own production.

Thanks to Mick Burgess for this one.

Here MECCANO is repeating the price list format from above, but this time with the more predictable MECCANO era BAYKO sets and parts.

This shows the prices for both BAYKO sets and the original range of spare parts as they applied shortly after BAYKO's relaunch.

This BAYKO price list is dated as February, 1961.

This Price List should be viewed in contrast to the one below, just six months later...

...you'll notice that the prices had already gone up!

Uniquely among its peers, this particular MECCANO BAYKO parts price list does not feature the dimensions of the four Roof sizes - all the others [below] do, though I've never fully understood why.

Thanks to Neil Baldry for this one.

Again the same the price list format as above, but, alas, not the same prices...

...guess which way they've changed!!!

This, again, shows the prices for both BAYKO sets and the original range of spare parts as they applied still less than a year after BAYKO's relaunch.

This BAYKO price list is dated as August, 1st, 1961.

One of the more unusual features of this price list is the inclusion of details of the actual dimensions of the 4 different sizes of Roof pieces...

...apart from the similar price lists below, I can't bring to mind any other example in BAYKO's history where dimensions are given in inches...

...every other example I can think of uses the number of holes or, in the case of Rods and Pillars, how many Bricks match their length / height.

This Price List should be viewed in contrast to the one below, after the launch of the new parts...

...you'll notice that the prices had gone up again!

Again the simpler format with this MECCANO era BAYKO price list.

This shows the prices for both BAYKO sets and the final range of spare parts as they applied at the end of BAYKO's life.

The printer's code dates this BAYKO price list as April, 1962, matching the date at the top.

Clearly the most noteworthy point here is the first mention of set # 15 and conversion set #14C - and, of course, the range of new parts...

...though we appear to be a little premature as the sets weren't actually launched until August, 1962.

The use of actual dimensions for the four BAYKO Roof sizes is in evidence again.

A further point of interest is the comment at the top of the leaflet : -

This flier, apart from the changed date, print coded June, 1962 in this case, is almost identical to the one above. The prices quote are identical.

It maintains the comment, at the top of the leaflet : -

There is, however, one interesting addition, which appears to give us an accurate date for the launch of the MECCANO era BAYKO Retail Packs : -

This date is further confirmed by a MECCANO general products order form, also dated June, 1962...

Yet again the pricing information is the same as the two fliers above...

The reference to the MECCANO era BAYKO retail packs is still there...

The earlier reference to withdrawal of Purchase Tax Surcharge has been replaced by...

...the exception, I'm pretty certain, only refers to the manuals and leaflets, which were exempt - as indeed they would be today from the dreaded V.A.T.!

The Roof dimensions are still there.

I find this very strange...

...unless I've missed something, the contents of this list, including all the prices, are identical to the one above, which is 9 months older...

...but if you look at the type-setting, it is significantly different in a number of ways - it's no wonder MECCANO were having profit problems.

The printer's code dates this BAYKO price list as August 1963...

...I can't be absolutely certain, but this may well be the last of the BAYKO fliers as the product came off the market early in 1964.

Either way, it comes pretty close to being BAYKO's swan song...

...if you know any different and can help with information on a later flier or price list, them I'd love to hear from you.

...perhaps you can explain why the BAYKO Roof measurements are still included!

The dating here is simple - it says 1965 in the top left hand corner! The month comes from the date code in the bottom left hand corner.

I think this document quite nicely supports the theory that, between 1964 and 1967, MECCANO really adopted a minimum spend policy for BAYKO...

...this document is certainly never going to impress!

I strongly suspect that this document was only really intended for use by the retailer, rather than be handed out to the customers, but, as I can't prove it, I thought I'd best include it in this section.

Nevertheless, the full post-1962 range of MECCANO era BAYKO parts is still arrayed in all its glory.

Oddly, the Roof dimensions have even made it this far!