Scale or the Relationship of Toys to their Original Real-Life Counterparts

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Scale

or

(The Relationship of  Toys to Their Original

Real-Life Counterparts)

    One thing that I never understand is when a seller on E-Bay informs you that the scale of a toy is 1:45. What that tells you is that the toy is 1/45 the size of the real item (e.g. a real car) or that the car is 45 times the size of the toy. My problem is that the seller doesn't tell you that the toy is for example 4 inches long. So how am I going to figure out the actual size of the real car if I'm not given the size of the toy?

   So that's my topic for today - scale. In English, the word simply means the size relationship of 1 item to another. For example, if I weigh 120 pounds,and someone next ot me weights 240 pounds, then the scale is 2:1 for the heavier person.

   I've taken 2 Hubley MG cars that were made in different sizes. The larger car measures 8 3/4" 

(220 mm). while the smaller car measures 5 3/4" (145mm). I checked to see what the original size of a vintage MG was, and it turned out to be 140" (3556mm).

  So doing some simple division:

Original Car : Large Toy                                            Original Car : Small Toy

140" / 8.75"   =  16:1                                                   140" / 5.75" = 1: 24.34 

Scale:  1:16                                                                  Scale:  1:24

   

     When I list an item on E-Bay, I try to remember to include an American Lincoln Penny (even though I'm Canadian, eh!). I also try to remember to give the sizes of the toy or toys, so that at least the person has a rough idea as to how big or how small the toy is.

So that's it for today - short and sweet.  Now toy trains and their gauge is another story for another time!

So thanks as usual for dropping by, 

and have a good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, wherever you may be.