page_title: Spot-On models
section_title: A Tri-Ang product
hierarchical_section_title: Spot-On models / A Tri-Ang product
caption_attribution_description: English: Tri-ang Minic road vehicles last appeared in the 1961 7th edition of the Tri-ang Railways catalogue. The clockwork minic in the foreground dates from the early 50s.
context_page_description: Spot-On models, was a brand name for a line of diecast toy cars made by Tri-ang from 1959 through about 1967. They were manufactured in 1:42 scale in Belfast, Northern Ireland, of the United Kingdom. Competition for Spot-On in the British Isles were Corgi Toys and Dinky Toys. The line was particularly British and rarely produced marques from other countries.
context_section_description: Spot-On models was a range of diecast vehicles from Tri-ang, a division of Lines Brothers, which had been established as a toy maker in 1935 (Johnson 1998, 230). The Lines Brothers made just about everything toy related, from push-along and rocking horses in the first decades of the 1900s to their main staple of trains (King 1986, pp. 118,121). After World War II, Lines Brothers claimed to be the largest toy maker in the world.
  In the 1950s, Dinky Toys from Liverpool, had developed a successful range of vehicles to be purchased apart from railroad sets and then in 1956 Corgi Toys, made by Mettoy, followed suit. Not wishing to miss out on a commercial opportunity, Lines Brothers started its own range in 1959 – made in its factory in Northern Ireland. Murray Lines himself chose a uniquely British model selection.
  The factory had been built in the Castlereagh area of Belfast just after World War II when the Lines Brothers expanded (another factory in southern Wales was opened at the same time) (Hammond 1993, p. 9; Hammond 1998, p. 477). At various times, the Northern Ireland factory produced several ranges of toys for various names within the Lines Brothers' group, including Pedigree Soft Toys Ltd., Rovex Industries Ltd. and Lines Brothers (Ireland) Ltd. (Buising website; Hammond, 1998, p. 17). About 1960, a smaller factory was opened on the grounds of the Belfast site – specifically for the Spot-On range (Buising website; Hammond 1993). There were three main product ranges: Spot-On cars, Spot-On doll house furniture, and Arkitex construction kits (Hammond 1998, p. 477).
  A definitive history of all Spot-On products was published in October 2013. "The Ultimate Book of Spot-On Models Ltd" by Brian Salter (with Nigel Lee and Graham Thompson) is a 500-page large format book containing around 2000 colour images of nearly all the products made at the Belfast factory. This was privately published without an ISBN.
caption: A number of pre-Spot-On Tri-Ang toy vehicles in plastic. Spot-On models, though, were diecast zamac.
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