47b Commer Ice Cream Van

Moko Lesney Matchbox 47b Commer ice cream van

The Lesney model of the 47b Commer ice cream van was first introduced to the Matchbox 1-75 series in 1963, It was a wonderful toy and a favorite with children, The only fault I can find is that it should have been painted in more flamboyant colour schemes, The real ice cream vans I remember from the 1960's were painted in bright pinks and yellows, The lesney would have been teriffic in pink, As it was it appeared in three colour schemes, The first to appear was a dark metallic blue, Then a mid blue which changed to a slightly lighter shade on the later issues, Then the final release in cream. It had a black baseplate and domed head rounded axles which usually had black wheels but there was a short run with grey wheels, The interior of the early issues was light tan but this was changed to off white or the more common white, It had clear plastic windows and mask sprayed silver trim applied to the headlights grille and front bumper.

There were three different Lyons maid decal sets applied, The first set had a longer striped roof decal and the side decal had a taller panel with the Lyons maid name on, The decals colours were pink, lime green, orange and brown. The second set had shorter striped roof decal and after some time the Lyons maid panel on the side decal was reduced in height, The colours were changed to plum, lime green red and brown, The third set were a complete redesign with an oval roof decal and red & white side decals. There were at least three different interior molds in use and all were different, Type I had a salesman that was taller than the side window, he had legs and there was a brace behind the drivers seat, The second mold was the same but the brace was behind the passenger seat, The third had the brace behind the drivers seat but the driver had no legs, because his coat reached down to the floor, Stannard lists a fourth version identical to version 3 but with an even shorter salesman, I have not found this variation yet but have kept it in the listing.

Apart from a slight thickening of the windscreen pillars and the rear window divider just before the colour change to cream there was only one casting modification, The original base was a 'snap in' type that had a tongue on the front and rear ends of the baseplate and corresponding slots in the body for it to locate into, The front tongue and slot were removed and replaced by a rivet. It was packaged in 'D' and 'E' type boxes and was deleted in 1968 to make way for the 47c Daf tipper container truck.

above: back row, the three rare variants, the metallic blue, the grey plastic wheels and the cream with striped decals.

above: three types of roof decals, left to right: long stripes, short stripes and oval

above: the interior braces, left: braces behind driver seat,

right: braces behind the passenger seat.

above: Three different colour interiors, left to right: light tan, off white & white. note the smaller

Lyons maid panel and the change of colours on the side decal of the right hand model.

below: I have listed a seperate table for interior colours, to include interior

colours to the main table would give 56 variations but some versions may not exist

body colour	interior colour
metallic blue	light tan, off white, white
blue	off white, white
cream	off white, white

code number	colour	wheel type	roof decal type	side decal type	base type	interior type
code 1	metallic blue	10 x 24 black plastic	long stripes	taller striped	snap in	taller man, brace behind drivers seat
code 2	metallic blue	10 x 24 black plastic	long stripes	taller striped	snap in	shorter man, brace behind drivers seat
code 3	metallic blue	10 x 24 black plastic	long stripes	taller striped	snap in	taller man, brace behind passenger seat
code 4	blue	10 x 24 black plastic	long stripes	taller striped	snap in	taller man, brace behind drivers seat
code 5	blue	10 x 24 black plastic	long stripes	taller striped	snap in	taller man, brace behind passenger seat
code 6	blue	10 x 24 black plastic	long stripes	taller striped	snap in	shorter man, brace behind drivers seat
code 7	blue	10 x 24 black plastic	long stripes	taller striped	snap in	shortest man, brace behind drivers seat
code 8	blue	10 x 24 black plastic	short stripes	taller striped	snap in	taller man, brace behind drivers seat
code 9	blue	10 x 24 black plastic	short stripes	taller striped	snap in	taller man, brace behind passenger seat
code 10	blue	10 x 24 black plastic	short stripes	taller striped	snap in	shorter man, brace behind drivers seat
code 11	blue	10 x 24 grey plastic	short stripes	taller striped	snap in	taller man, brace behind drivers seat
code 12	blue	10 x 24 grey plastic	short stripes	taller striped	snap in	taller man, brace behind passenger seat
code 13	blue	10 x 24 grey plastic	short stripes	shorter striped	snap in	taller man, brace behind passenger seat
code 14	blue	10 x 24 grey plastic	short stripes	shorter striped	snap in	taller man, brace behind drivers seat
code 15	blue	11 x 45 black plastic	short stripes	shorter striped	snap in	taller man, brace behind drivers seat
code 16	blue	11 x 45 black plastic	short stripes	shorter striped	snap in	taller man, brace behind passenger seat
code 17	blue	11 x 45 black plastic	short stripes	shorter striped	riveted	taller man, brace behind drivers seat
code 18	blue	11 x 45 black plastic	short stripes	shorter striped	riveted	taller man, brace behind passenger seat
code 19	blue	11 x 45 black plastic	short stripes	shorter striped	riveted	shorter man, brace behind drivers seat
code 20	blue	11 x 45 black plastic	oval	red & white	riveted	taller man, brace behind drivers seat
code 21	blue	11 x 45 black plastic	oval	red & white	riveted	taller man, brace behind passenger seat
code 22	blue	11 x 45 black plastic	oval	red & white	riveted	shortest man, brace behind drivers seat
code 23	cream	11 x 45 black plastic	short stripes	shorter striped	riveted	taller man, brace behind drivers seat
code 24	cream	11 x 45 black plastic	oval	red & white	riveted	shorter man, brace behind drivers seat
code 25	cream	11 x 45 black plastic	oval	red & white	riveted	taller man, brace behind drivers seat
code 26	cream	11 x 45 black plastic	oval	red & white	riveted	taller man, brace behind passenger seat
code 27	cream	11 x 45 black plastic	oval	red & white	riveted	shorter man, brace behind drivers seat
code 28	cream	11 x 45 black plastic	oval	red & white	riveted	shortest man, brace behind drivers seat

box types	notes
D1	one black side one blue "new model"
D2	one black side one blue
D2	two blue sides
D2	light blue sides
E3	light blue sides

values

metallic blue £80

blue with grey plastic wheels £200

cream with striped decals £180

all other models £30

values are for mint models in mint boxes

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