Meccano Dinky Toys

"Dinky Toys" began in 1934 as a line of "Modelled Miniatures" and were originally produced by British company under the Meccano Dinky Toys Ltd. brand.

Marketed later as "Dinky Die Cast Toys" to consumers, the line primarily consisted of small-scaled automobile and truck models. The runaway success of Mattel's Hot Wheels line in the late 1960s precipitated the company's eventual demise as Dinky continued to lose market share. Over a long decline, parent company Meccano Dinky Ltd. was owned by a succession of other companies but finally succumbed to bankruptcy and was folded in 1979.

Star Trek association
During the 1967-1979 period, Dinky released twenty-four die-cast vehicles that were licensed from television series such as ', ', ', ', and Star Trek.

In 1976, Dinky first produced the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) and the Klingon D7 class battle cruiser for release the following year. With many "play features" found on toys, they were nonetheless the first Star Trek model releases that were manufactured from die-cast metal. 1979 saw the production of retooled three-inch versions of both ships.

Upon the bankruptcy of Meccano Dinky, competitor Corgi acquired the tooling dies and molds for the three-inch versions of the Star Trek models, and re-released them several times during 1982-1984 period under the Corgi brand.