This survey ran from 17th February to 9th March 1998. These results were first published on the Spanner list.
"First of all, thank you to all those Spanners who took part in my Number 10 survey. I must say that the response turned out to be a good deal better than I had expected. Because of the high prestige value of the No.10 set, I would say that most Spanners who possess such a set are likely to have responded to the survey. Therefore the results are probably quite accurate, although it is impossible to tell how many people were tempted to overestimate their stocks. I was only interested in complete No.10 outfits, and tried to eliminate all responses such as: "I’ve probably got enough parts to make up another set".
Several spanners had No.7 sets, which were the largest sets of their time, and I have included these in the survey as well. These were all in dark red/green or maroon. Nobody claimed to possess a fabled L set, not even a reproduction one. I know I didn’t ask for information about L sets, but I think that if anybody had one they would have told me!
Before I give the final results, I should repeat that this was a survey purely about No. 10 Meccano outfits. It was not a survey to see who had the most parts. Many people made the point that they actually had a very much larger selection of parts than would be contained in a number 10 set, but they could only claim to be able to make up one No.10 set because of the number of boilers and large circular parts required. This is to be expected, as people buy parts to make the models they want to make, and not because of the arbitrary contents of a particular outfit. Despite this, I was interested in how many people had actually gone out and bought (or assembled) a number 10 set, for whatever reason. This is a survey about attitudes to the No.10 set, as much as quantities of parts held.
The Spanner list currently has 125 members, some of whom could be expected to have only a passing interest in the subject and not actually own any Meccano at all. There are probably less than 100 members on the Spanner list who are actively involved in the Meccano hobby. Out of those members, I got replies from 42 separate people claiming to possess at least one complete No. 10 outfit. This is a higher figure than I had expected, and it means that 1 in 3 of us has at least one No.10 set to play with.
Of those 42 people, quite a few claimed to possess more than one set, in fact those possessing only one set were in the minority! The total number of complete sets owned by Spanners collectively is a whopping 107.
I have split the survey into three parts:
1) Original sets assembled at the Meccano factory (FACTORY-ASSEMBLED). 2) Reproduction sets assembled at home and placed in a No.10 cabinet (SELF-ASSEMBLED). 3) Sets which are stored as a collection of separate parts, usually mixed in with other parts, rather than as a self-contained outfit (UNASSEMBLED).
Not surprisingly, all the original sets were in original cabinets, and all the Reproduction sets were in reproduction cabinets, except for two which were in original cabinets. This is quite feasible as Meccano did sell the cabinets separately.
Rather than give the exact date of each set, I have split the sets up into the various colour schemes. Many people did not know the exact date of their set, but most of them knew the colours (although some did not even know that!).
NUMBER OF ORIGINAL SETS (factory-assembled) zinc/yellow/blue - 14
zinc/light yellow/blue - 7
light red/green - 7
medium red/green - 5
zinc/dark yellow/blue - 2
dark red/green (No.7 sets) - 2
blue/gold - 2
silver/yellow/black - 1
Total sets - 40
NUMBER OF REPRODUCTION SETS (self-assembled in cabinets) medium red/green - 6
zinc/yellow/blue - 4
light red/green - 3
dark red/green - 2 (no originals made in this colour)
blue/gold - 1
zinc/dark yellow/blue - 1
zinc/light yellow/blue - 1
silver/yellow/black - 0
Total sets - 18
NUMBER OF UNASSEMBLED SETS (no cabinets) medium red/green - 16
mixed colours - 14
light red/green - 8
zinc/light yellow/blue - 7
zinc/yellow/blue - 3
silver/yellow/black - 1
zinc/dark yellow/blue - 0
dark red/green - 0
blue/gold - 0
Total sets - 49
TOTAL NUMBER OF SETS medium red/green - 27 - 25%
zinc/yellow/blue - 21 - 19%
light red/green - 18 - 17%
zinc/light yellow/blue - 15 - 14%
mixed colours - 14 - 13%
dark red/green - 4 - 4%
blue/gold - 3 - 3%
zinc/dark yellow/blue - 3 - 3%
silver/yellow/black - 2 - 2%
Total sets - 107
MULTIPLE OWNERSHIP 1 person has 9 sets
2 people have 8 sets
2 people have 6 sets
1 person has 5 sets
2 people have 4 sets
7 people have 3 sets
9 people have 2 sets
18 people have 1 set
Total 42 people have 107 sets
COMMENTS As predicted, the most popular colour scheme by far was 1950s medium red/green, followed by zinc/yellow/blue then light red/green. However, when it came to ORIGINAL sets the top colours were easily 1970s zinc/yellow/blue, three times the number of original medium red/green sets. There were actually more ORIGINAL light red/green sets than medium red/green.
Perhaps the biggest mystery of all was that only 2 sets were reported in the 1964-1970 colours of silver/yellow/black. This is less than the number of blue/gold sets and even less than the 1920s No.7 sets! One of these 60s sets had zinc plated strips rather than the earlier silver painted ones. Zinc plated strips appeared around 1967. These colours lasted for 6 years, and I had thought that it was quite a popular colour scheme. Perhaps very few No.10 outfits were sold in the second half of the 1960s. If I were the owner of the original silver/yellow/black outfit I would look after it!
The oldest set was a reproduction 1926 No. 7 set. The oldest original set was a 1931 No.7 set. The largest number of complete sets in cabinets, owned by a single person, was 8. One person had 9 sets, but only 3 of these were in cabinets.
The largest number of ORIGINAL sets owned by a single person was 4. The biggest bargain recorded was by a person who was given a mint 1950 set free! Another person bought three 3-year old sets at the same auction for 125 GB pounds each. 3 people have sets that they have never opened. 2 of these sets have (or had!*) zinc-plated parts. The other set is light red/green. 2 people own original 1992 sets - the last year of factory production. 1 person owns an original 1979 set - the last year of Binns Road production. Reproduction sets have been assembled in every colour scheme except for 1960s silver (or zinc)/yellow/black Why are these colours so rare? The person with the greatest ‘buying span’ bought his first No.10 set in 1970, and a second set 27 years later in 1997. Both sets were in light red/green. One person bought a set in the 60s and another in the 90s, but these dates are not specific enough to qualify as it might be 1969 and 1990, which are only 21 years apart!
Several people reported No.10 sets in dark red/green. As far as I know, no original sets were produced in this colour, as the No.10 wasn’t introduced until the blue/gold era. When questioned, some people changed their minds to medium red/green. This is an understandable mistake to make because many spanners may never have seen the early dark red/green colours of 1926 and assume that the 1950s shades are dark red/green instead of medium red/green.
WHEN THE SETS WERE BOUGHT (Information only available for 58 sets)
BOUGHT IN 1960s:
light red/green - 4
medium red/green - 3
BOUGHT IN 1970s:
zinc/yellow/blue - 9
light red/green - 2
mixed colours - 2
BOUGHT IN 1980s:
medium red/green - 5
zinc/yellow/blue - 3
zinc/dark yellow/blue - 2
zinc/light yellow/blue - 2
light red/green - 1
dark red/green - 1
BOUGHT IN 1990s:
zinc/light yellow/blue - 9
medium red/green - 7
light red/green - 5
zinc/yellow/blue - 1
zinc/dark yellow/blue - 1
blue/gold - 1
COMMENTS
Only 6 sets were bought brand new, 3 in the 1970s, 1 in the 1980s, and 2 in the 1990s. All of the other original sets were bought second-hand. 7 sets were bought in the 1960s, 13 sets were bought in the 1970s, 14 sets were bought in the 1980s, and 24 sets have been bought in the 90s so far (up to March 1998). This rather refutes the suggestion that Meccano is losing its popularity. In fact no less than a staggering 13 No.10 sets have been bought in the last 2 years! That’s almost one third of the total number of sets. Most of these sets have been in medium red/green, perhaps indicating a surge of 50s nostalgia over the last few years.
Well there it is! I think it has been a very fascinating survey, and I hope other Spanners agree, and found something of interest."
* reference to zinc corrosion when stored for long periods in wooden cabinets
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Copyright 1998 Melvyn Wright supermuzik@aol.com
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