Triang was a huge worldwide company which made all sorts of toys and introduced the Minic ships range in 1958. Models were based on Portsmouth Royal Navy and Southampton Passenger ports. The range ran until 1964 when there was a fire in the Belfast factory where the ships were made along with the Spot On Cars range. This is known as Series One and amazingly there are many many examples still available in all sorts of conditions in 2021. Made as toys and as tough as they come. Boxes were in blue and yellow and small items were packed in 12s 6s and pairs. Masts were also packed in plastic bags.
In the middle to late 1970s Hornby who had taken over and rebadged Triang created series 2 in Hong Kong. Some old ships were remade but with a plastic attachment to the hulls in which there were two pairs of tiny wheels to add “play value.” The ships were Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Canberra and United States. HMS Bulwark and HMS Vanguard from the first series were remade and new models of Bismarck, Scharnhorst, Yamato and Missouri were made. There were several sets made and individual ships were in plastic see through boxes with blue ends. Quays, breakwaters and some buildings were also made but the range was much smaller.
Then in 2002 Series 3 (Classic) was made on a very limited scale. A range of Royal Navy Ships was made and released every now and again to subscribers only. Each ship had its name cast in the diecast under the hull in the same tradition as the 1st series. These were followed up by a generic range of the same ships and these carried no pennant numbers and underneath would which class they were eg type 23 frigate. These affordable and available good looking models of the Royal Navy attracted much interest and also some retailers such as CNCollectables ordered in quantity. Two Cargo ships were introduced and 2 Container ships too. Also a range of accessories at least as large as Series 2 became available. Over a 12 year period over 200 models were made but the last ones were in early 2014 which is why so many are no longer available. The mighty Nimitz Carrier was made quite early and in some quantity. Later versions (four) which came with a plastic planes kit were perhaps only made in about 200 of each. There were future plans made with Triang by CNCollectables to produce another 2 year plan with some exciting new ships. But Triang which was Charles became ill and also ran out of money to develop new models. We are glad that we tended to buy everything he had in stock on various occasions. That’s why we still have items in the range that you wont find anywhere else. Charles created a brilliant website for his range and of earlier series. It disappeared a year or two ago but you can still find it archived on the internet. We are going to try and create a brief history and list all the models made using information from catalogues and our own experience of commissioning and supporting Charles with Series 3.
May 2021 CNCollectables.
