BAYKO Product Details - 1963 to 1964
"FLANGED BRICKS"

This is an enigma, particularly as BAYKO production ended in 1964 - i.e. within months - though, remember, BAYKO sets were still included in the 1967 MECCANO products price list and there was even a Spare Parts ordering form from the same year.

Sometime in 1963, MECCANO began their second retooling of BAYKO.

They reverted to the bright red and white colour scheme of earlier years.

Windows, Doors, Bases and Roofs all remained unchanged.

The biggest area of impact was on Bricks.

They were produced in plastic, moving away from polystyrene, to what is known as the 'Flanged' or 'Minimalist' style, as you can see in the picture [below, right].

Bricks were reduced to a simple front plate with top and bottom flanges, which locked on to the Rods.

► Bricks.

► Long Bricks.

► End Bricks.

► Half Bricks.

For some reason, there don't appear to be any "flanged" red Half Bricks - or do you know differently?

► Curved Bricks.

► Garage Doors.

► Pillars.

► Roof Ends - A & B.

The exact structure of the introduction and longer term use of these parts is shrouded in more than a little confusion. Some of this may well have been coloured by MECCANO's probable decision to 'milk' BAYKO during its extended death throws.

The only MECCANO era BAYKO set which could have been produced exclusively with "flanged" bricks and matching parts is set #11 as all other sets have one or more parts which were never made - as far as we know - in this style. The image [left], though not mint, is such a set.

All other sets, including all MECCANO era conversion sets, require red Half Bricks and / or Roof Ends C and / or D.

The MECCANO era sets #12 [right] can be almost entirely "flanged", as you can see, but other examples exist with a far more cavalier mixture of types of BAYKO parts!

Sometimes you can learn a lot about the timing of a particular style of set from the date codes in the manuals supplied with them. However, "flanged" sets have been found with both of the later versions of the manual, date coded April, 1962 and March, 1964. This supports the link of "flanged" bricks to the final years of production. As all sizes of sets were produced during this period, it can only mean that mixed sets were routinely produced - I suspect there were quite a few disappointed young modellers!

The image [below, left], shown courtesy of Robin Throp, supports, better than anything else I've seen, the theory that MECCANO were, indeed, milking BAYKO and had let their quality and market image standards fall away quite badly. This set #14 clearly has two brick packs upper left and centre] in "flanged" and one [upper right] in the more familiar beige polystyrene. It also contains both colours of Roof Ends. Click anywhere on the image to see a larger image if the colour difference isn't obvious to you.

Opinions on the "flanged" bricks among BAYKO collectors are mixed, but I like them - for one simple reason...

...they are by far the most accurate BAYKO bricks ever made and they produce accurate, robust, good looking models.

Regardless of our nostalgic 21st century perspective, the evolution of various bricks to the "flanged" or "minimalist" style was probably inevitable, given that they use less than 50% of the material needed to produce any of the earlier styles of bricks...

...on balance I think it's a shame they came so late.

As these parts are mainly found in sets #11 and #12, only two versions of the standard manual [left], are directly relevant...

...however, the set #15 leaflets [right] also overlap this production period, so...