Lesney Matchbox 38c Honda motorcycle & trailer

Moko Lesney Matchbox 38c Honda motorcycle & trailer

The Lesney model of the Honda motorcycle and trailer joined the Matchbox 1-75 series towards the end of 1967 when it replaced the Vauxhall victor estate car at the number 38 spot.
The motorcycle was painted light metallic green, It had 11mm die cast wire wheels with 16.5 x 70 black plastic tyres and attached to the underneath was a small black plastic stand which could be flipped down to allow the motorcycle to stand up when it was removed from the trailer.
There were four different castings of the motorcycle which fortunately for us are numbered 1 to 4 on the peg that holds the stand in place. The castings differ in the size and position of the ejector rings. Casting number 1 and 2 have a 5mm ring and casting number 3 and 4 have a 4mm ring but both 1 and 4 can be found with a double ejector ring, A 3mm ejector ring has also been seen but I am not sure if it is a faint double ring or a new variation, Details will be added as more info comes to light.
The trailer was initially painted orange and had no decals or labels but towards the end of the orange trailer's run large "Honda" decals were applied, Then the trailer was recoloured to yellow with the same decal type, Later the large "Honda" decals were replaced by large "Honda" labels and these were eventually replaced by smaller "Honda" labels.
There were three basic castings of the trailer, type 1 had a short axle channel and no raised ejector rings / posts, type two also had a short axle channel but it had four raised ejector rings / posts. The third type also had four raised ejector rings but the axle channed was lengthened.
There were four different dies casting the trailer and all were slightly different in the area of the ejector rings / posts but fortunately the dies were all numbered in reversed digits inside the voids underneath the tool boxes, I have not attempted to show every variation, just the three main base types, taken with this info and the die number under the tool box it should not be too difficult to work out which variations you have, The tool box numbers wore very thin later in the models life but they are usually distinguishable with a loop or magnifying glass.
The trailer was also modified when a decal alligning ridge was added to each side of the body.
The Honda & trailer were packaged in 'E' and 'F' type boxes, It was converted to superfast wheels in 1970 when motorcycle was recoloured to metallic pink and later metallic purple both with a yellow trailer, It was deleted in 1973 but was re introduced in 1977 with a metallic green motorcycle and orange trailer and again 1982 with a yellow trailer when both were included in the TP twin pack sets.

above: with lager "Honda" decal.

above: with small "Honda" decal.

above: decal / label alligning ridge.

above: the first type trailer casting

above: the second type trailer casting

above: the third type trailer casting

above: the plastic motorcycle
stand is very often missing.

above: the 4 versions of the motorcycle. left side view

above: the 4 versions of the motorcycle. right side view

above: the double ejector ring, photo courtesy Chris Poznick

Motorycycle variation table

code number general wheel type cast number general

code 1 light metallic blue-green 11mm wire wheel / 16.5 x 70 black plastic tyre # 1 5mm ejector on left side

code 2 light metallic blue-green 11mm wire wheel / 16.5 x 70 black plastic tyre # 2 5mm ejector on right side

code 3 light metallic blue-green 11mm wire wheel / 16.5 x 70 black plastic tyre # 3 4mm ejector on right side

code 4 light metallic blue-green 11mm wire wheel / 16.5 x 70 black plastic tyre # 4 4mm ejector on left side

code 5 light metallic blue-green 11mm wire wheel / 16.5 x 70 black plastic tyre # 1 double ejector ring on left side

code 6 light metallic blue-green 11mm wire wheel / 16.5 x 70 black plastic tyre # 4 double ejector ring on left side

trailer variation table

code number	general	wheel type	decal / label	decal guide ridge	trailer casting	toolbox number
code 1	orange body	10 x 36 black plastic	none	no ridge	casting 1	#1 cast in
code 2	orange body	10 x 36 black plastic	none	no ridge	casting 1	#2 cast in
code 3	orange body	10 x 36 black plastic	none	no ridge	casting 1	#3 cast in
code 4	orange body	10 x 36 black plastic	none	no ridge	casting 1	#4 cast in
code 5	orange body	10 x 36 black plastic	none	no ridge	casting 2	#1 cast in
code 6	orange body	10 x 36 black plastic	none	no ridge	casting 2	#2 cast in
code 7	orange body	10 x 36 black plastic	none	no ridge	casting 2	#3 cast in
code 8	orange body	10 x 36 black plastic	none	no ridge	casting 2	#4 cast in
code 9	orange body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" decal	no ridge	casting 2	#1 cast in
code 10	orange body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" decal	no ridge	casting 2	#2 cast in
code 11	orange body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" decal	no ridge	casting 2	#3 cast in
code 12	orange body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" decal	no ridge	casting 2	#4 cast in
code 13	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" decal	no ridge	casting 2	#1 cast in
code 14	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" decal	no ridge	casting 2	#2 cast in
code 15	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" decal	no ridge	casting 2	#3 cast in
code 16	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" decal	no ridge	casting 2	#4 cast in
code 17	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" decal	with ridge	casting 2	#1 cast in
code 18	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" decal	with ridge	casting 2	#2 cast in
code 19	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" decal	with ridge	casting 2	#3 cast in
code 20	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" decal	with ridge	casting 2	#4 cast in
code 21	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" decal	with ridge	casting 3	#1 cast in
code 22	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" decal	with ridge	casting 3	#2 cast in
code 23	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" decal	with ridge	casting 3	#3 cast in
code 24	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" decal	with ridge	casting 3	#4 cast in
code 25	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" label	with ridge	casting 3	#1 cast in
code 26	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" label	with ridge	casting 3	#2 cast in
code 27	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" label	with ridge	casting 3	#3 cast in
code 28	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	large "Honda" label	with ridge	casting 3	#4 cast in
code 29	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	small "Honda" label	with ridge	casting 3	#1 cast in
code 30	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	small "Honda" label	with ridge	casting 3	#2 cast in
code 31	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	small "Honda" label	with ridge	casting 3	#3 cast in
code 32	yellow body	10 x 36 black plastic	small "Honda" label	with ridge	casting 3	#4 cast in

box types	notes
E4	light blue sides "new model" blue trailer shown
E4R	light blue sides "new model" yellow trailer shown
F2	none

values

orange trailer, metallic green motorcycle £30

orange trailer, large "Honda" decal, metallic green motorcycle £80+

yellow trailer, large or small "Honda" decal or label, metallic green motorcycle £20

values are for mint models in mint boxes

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