Jean Francois Consille
Designer
It is not every day that we hear about a model maker from Andorra, the sixth smallest nation in Europe, and a principality nestling in the Pyrennees, but Jean Francois Consille has been making his own versions of Dinky Toys there for 9 years.
As a child, Jean Francois’ favourite toys were all small cars, but especially Dinky Toys. As Dinky Toys were made in metal they particularly appealed to him as they closely resembled the real cars. Years later, when he had married and had children, the desire to search for and collect Dinky Toys returned again. His collection of Dinky Toys soon grew in size.
Subject ID: 82931
MoreIt is not every day that we hear about a model maker from Andorra, the sixth smallest nation in Europe, and a principality nestling in the Pyrennees, but Jean Francois Consille has been making his own versions of Dinky Toys there for 9 years.
As a child, Jean Francois’ favourite toys were all small cars, but especially Dinky Toys. As Dinky Toys were made in metal they particularly appealed to him as they closely resembled the real cars. Years later, when he had married and had children, the desire to search for and collect Dinky Toys returned again. His collection of Dinky Toys soon grew in size.
However, he soon noticed that Dinky Toys had not created all the models that he had expected. The only answer was to make them for himself. He obtained some dental resin, and set about sculpturing two that particularly appealed to him. These were firstly a Renault 4CV, and then Jean Francois modified a Dinky Toys Citroën 11BL sedan to create a coupé. Having created a pattern, he then made the moulds in order to re-create the new model in metal. At this stage, he was just producing models for his own collection.
Soon after, in October 2001, Jean Francois presented the results of his labours to two friends, Joan Villasevil of the Basar Valira model shop in Andorra and Jean-Marie Gianni of 43ème Rue in Paris. They were both impressed, and suggested that he make some models to sell in their shops.
This he did, and these sold like hot cakes! Then in November 2002, a French journalist, Stephane Guillou from Gazoline magazine, discovered the Renault 4CV in the Paris model shop, wrote about it, and as a result many collectors became regular customers.
In March 2003, Guy Girod had reviewed Imit’ Toys in the magazine of the Dinky Club France, and Jean Francois launched his Peugeot 203 coupé. Flushed with success, Jean Francois has made numerous other models, details of which can be found on his website.
Most recently a Citroën DS 19 Chapron Coupé Le Paris was launched in November, 2009, followed by an MG TD in June, 2010.
Subject ID: 82931
Subject ID: 82931
