'Toys are them': The world of priceless vintage collectibles

Mysore, 1996: Neil and Clyde D'Costa walk into a toy store and buy miniatures of a 1992 Ferrari 456GT and 1989 Mercedes-Benz 500SL. It's a purchase that sets in motion India's largest, most enviable collection of scale model cars.

Before their assortment goes on to become 1,752-strong, the cars are placed on the first floor of their home. But this area is insufficient for an ever-burgeoning collection, and matriarch Tessy D'Costa encourages her sons to give their miniatures a home they deserve. So in 2002, a 720sqft Mysore institution known as Autofest City is set up in a separate building the D'Costas aptly name Tessy Block.

"We are selective and only buy models that reflect historical or technological significance. But we're short of space here too," laughs 47-year-old Neil. The cars aren't as much to blame for this as their accompanying dioramas. Neil and Clyde, 51, not only provide information on each collectible (snippet: 'Enzo Ferrari never drove a Ferrari. He drove a Fiat'), but painstakingly craft carwashes, petrol pumps and even mini cities.

"Finding information for scale models was a nightmare before the internet. People also weren't accepting of our choice to pursue this. They'd think these were 'stupid little toys'," remembers Clyde. "The record changed that," he says, referring to the 2009 Limca Book of Records, which recognised Autofest City as a one of a kind and gave it museum status. It's also the world's only collection with all 100 replicas of automobiles making up the influential Car of the Century (COTC) list.

Scale model of the 1929-1936 Rolls-Royce Phantom II, nicknamed 'Star of India'

Die-cast toys come in different sizes – the higher the scale, the smaller the model. Autofest City has mostly scale 1:18 and scale 1:43 cars, although gems like scale 1:12, 1:18 and 1:40 – which are either uncommon or out of production – are present. Most miniatures come from German dealers since the ecosystem of collectibles in India is, at best, in its nascence. The duo currently has 75 cars from the 1900-1929 era and reckons that 80 per cent of all antique models available are in Autofest City. These include the 1886 Daimler Motorcarriage (world's first four-wheel automobile). 1896 Ford Quadricycle (Henry Ford's first car) and the 1899 de Dion Bouton Vis-à-vis (the only car where the driver and passengers faced each other!).

Theirs is more than a labour of love. For the D'Costas, this is a raison d'être, whose roots lay in childhoods punctuated by Dinky Toys, Corgi Toys and Matchbox cars.

The 'Indian Dinkies'
Unbeknownst to many, the pioneering Dinky Toys – whose parent company Meccano Ltd. also made the legendary Hornby train sets – had an Indian version called Nicky Toys. "The major die-cast model manufacturers in India were Nicky, Milton, Maxwell and Leo," says Ragini Bhat, museum researcher and archivist at Delhi's Heritage Transport Museum, which has a vintage collectibles section. Corgi Toys, she points out, became Milton and Matchbox became Maxwell Toys. "In the '60s, Nicky Toys were made by Calcutta's S. Kumar & Co. and marketed as Atamco Ltd. products. Though appealing, paint quality was spottier, wheels were an unattractive plastic and touch-up on highlights was crudely applied."

But the irony isn't lost on those for whom some Nicky Toys are more valuable than Dinkies. Septuagenarian Satish Sundra is no collector, but as the fourth-generation owner of India's oldest toy store, he's a repository of information. "Nicky was founded by tennis player Naresh Kumar, who represented India in few international matches," says the overseer of Delhi's 125-year-old Ram Chander & Sons (RCS Toys). "It shut down within 2-3 years. Because there are fewer Nicky models than Dinkies, some collectors shell out more for them. Many foreigners walk into my store asking for Nickies."

And then there was tin
For Paresh Chawla, the tin toy era – which preceded collectible cars – was a golden one. His Tin Treasures label, India's only large-scale producer of tin toys, is a hat-tip to engineering marvels that revolutionised the toy industry. Chawla owns 30 tin toys and counting, and makes birds and animals, carousels and robots inspired by iconic German brands like Lehmann, Kohler and Märklin. "We had indigenous tin toy manufacturers like Mumbai's Tayyab Ali Ibrahim & Sons and Raja Toys in Mayapuri. Delhi alone had 10-15 factories. All died out," he says, adding that Indian tin toy collectors are a rare species.

Unlike plastic toys, tin collectibles are mostly handmade and can involve up to 40 processes, adds Chawla. Which is why Tin Treasures introduces no more than four-five new toys a year. His personal collection consists mostly of robots – a throwback to futuristic Japanese brands like Nomura, Yoshiya, Noguchi and Yonezawa. The Germans laid the platform for tin toys, but the Japanese took it to the next frontier. They didn't just introduce battery-operated, sci-fi themed collectibles; they gave us Radicon Robot, the world's first wireless, remote control toy. Japan was rising from the ashes of WWII, and nowhere was its technological dominance as pronounced as it was back then in the tin toys.

Lantern Robot box art Flickr/DJ Shin

"They made marvellous clowns too, like the ones by Mikuni. Each brand had its own 'specialisation'," gushes Chawla. "Then, over time, German and Japanese dominance gave way to the Chinese."

Forgotten toys
Anand 'Chiki' Doshi has a soft corner for Hornby and Märklin trains and Matchbox cars. But it's his collection of traditional Indian toys that stands out. These include 19th century iron and wood, instrument-playing 'Bharat Sena' figurines and timber ghodis from Gujarat. The Mumbai-based antique dealer, who also owns several brass and silver miniatures – used in vintage dollhouses – and traditional Indian board games like chaupat, is yet to come across a collector of vintage toys. "It's strange. People ask about antique furniture, but never antique collectibles. I'd like to dedicate a room of 600-700sq ft for these someday and teach my kids to appreciate such toys."
Doshi has several eye-poppers in his Walkeshwar showroom, such as steel-plated pedal cars. But a rocking horse from Cochin gets special mention. Because over 100 years later, it's still in reasonably good shape despite being made from cowdung. Gobar toys were common in villages and would be painted after the dung took the form of the solid wood frames underneath.

Then there are intricately-carved Indian dollhouses with stain-glass windows, brass jaalis and miniature teak staircases. "It's a misnomer that dollhouses are English," he says. "Indians have had them for centuries."
India's forgotten legacy of traditional toys is being resuscitated by the likes of Sanjay Kumar, who founded e-commerce website Shalinindia to sell indigenous toys abroad – because Indians form less than 5 per cent of his buyers. "Toys occupy a big mindshare in markets like US, UK, Germany, Italy and Japan. Collectors there love handcrafted wooden toys from the Saharanpur-Nagina belt. What doesn't sell in India sells there," he laughs. His bestselling toys include the simple wooden labyrinth and the cup-and-ball.

RCS Toys' Satish Sundra is confident Indians will come around to appreciating collectibles in time. Ask him what he misses about the toys of yore, and pat comes the reply:

"If I could get the 1930s, '40s and '50s back in my shop, I'd dunk 90 per cent of my current stock into the Arabian Sea."