PLEASE NOTE: I will no longer be altering the variation codes. All new discoveries will be inserted in to their correct place in the timeline and given a suffix.
So a new variation that would be nearest to variation 4 would become the new 4a, etc.

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Moko Lesney Matchbox 2a Muir Hill site dumper



The Lesney model of the 2a Muir Hill site dumper joined the Matchbox 1-75 series in 1953. Lesney's toolmaker, A Mr Don Rix left Lesney to start his own die casting business with his partner a Mr Frank Constable,
The company was called Condon products, Like "Lesney" it was a merger of their names, They made the dies for a large scale dumper and produced a few but this was right at the start of the Korean war so when the Zinc stocks were reserved for military use only they went out of business. Lesney bought the dies but never put them into production but later scaled them down to become the 2a.
The dumper had a green body and a red bucket, Gold trim was hand applied to the radiator grille, The front bumper and number plate.
It had a brown metal driver that according to some books is facing the wrong way but this is not true, The steering wheel was attached to the base of the driver seat which could swivel and face either direction, there were two sets of pedals one in front and one behind so the driver can drive facing either way.
The wheels were grey metal which on the earlier issues were painted green, The smaller wheels were fitted prior to painting and the larger ones were fitted after so were only painted on the outside face. The axles were always flat head with crimped ends and the front axle will have been painted on the green wheeled issue.
The bucket was hinged to the body by either a small nail / panel pin with a pointed end that was not crimped or by a round head pin that had the end crimped.
The dumper was deleted in 1957 when it was replaced by a similar but scaled up version of the dumper.
The 2a was packaged in 'A' or 'B' type boxes. There are no known casting variations and the green wheeled version is a little rarer than the grey wheeled one.

above: missing drivers is a common fault on the dumper


Most collectors are familiar with the Japanese AHI copies of Lesney toys but
few have seen the Jadali "Minivoiture Jadanette" (Mini Toy Cars) which were
made in France. Although they are very similar to the Lesney models there are
obvious variations such as the leaning forwards driver which is painted gold and
the small treads on the rear wheels.
photo: courtesy Manuel G

code number general front wheel type rear wheel type axle type bucket pin
code 1 green body, red bucket
gold trim, brown driver 		8.5 x 12 green painted metal 12.5 x 18 green painted metal flat head crimped panel pin
code 2 green body, red bucket
gold trim, brown driver 		8.5 x 12 green painted metal 12.5 x 18 green painted metal flat head crimped crimped round head pin
code 3 green body, red bucket
gold trim, brown driver 		8.5 x 12 grey metal 12.5 x 18 grey metal flat head crimped panel pin
code 4 green body, red bucket
gold trim, brown driver 		8.5 x 12 grey metal 12.5 x 18 grey metal flat head crimped crimped round head pin

box types notes
A none
B1 none

values

with green painted metal wheels £80+

with grey metal wheels £40

values are for mint models in mint boxes
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