Lesney Matchbox 69a Commer van 'Nestles'

Moko Lesney Matchbox 69a Commer van 'Nestles'

The Lesney model of the 69a Nestles van joined the Matchbox 1-75 series in 1959,
At first it appeared painted maroon with silver trim to the headlights, grille and bumpers but later the trim was omitted from the rear bumper, part way through it's life it was recoloured to red which it kept until it was deleted,
It had a black baseplate which was attached by a tongue and slot at the rear and by a single spread rivet to the front, It was originally painted flat black but it was soon changed to gloss black.
Early models can be found with crimped dome head axles but later axles with rounded ends were used,
The wheels were usually a variety of grey plastic with knobbly tread but later fine tread grey wheels were used, a short run has been found fitted with 9.5 x 20 silver plastic wheels which is quite rare.
It has been reported with black plastic wheels too but as I have not been able to verify this version so I have not included it in the listing.

To add to it's play value it was fitted with a sliding door to the cab, the door was made from die cast metal and was held in place by a runner in the roof and another in the baseplate,
It was also enhanced by the addition of two decals for nestles (chocolate) with the lettering in yellow with a black shadowing,
There are no known casting variations to the body or baseplate,
The variation with fine tread wheels is no so common but the silver wheeled one is quite rare and has not come up for sale for some time so the value in the price guide is just an estimate,
It was sold in 'B', 'C' and 'D' type boxes and was deleted in 1965 when it was replaced by the 69b Hatra tractor shovel.

code number	general	wheel type	axle type	baseplate	silver trim
code 1	maroon body, silver trim, black base, decals	9 x 20 grey plastic	dome head crimped	flat black	headlights, grille & all bumpers
code 2	maroon body, silver trim, black base, decals	9 x 20 grey plastic	dome head crimped	gloss black	headlights, grille & all bumpers
code 3	maroon body, silver trim, black base, decals	9.5 x 20 grey plastic	dome head crimped	gloss black	headlights, grille & all bumpers
code 4	maroon body, silver trim, black base, decals	9.5 x 20 grey plastic	dome head rounded	gloss black	headlights, grille & all bumpers
code 5	maroon body, silver trim, black base, decals	9.5 x 20 grey plastic	dome head rounded	gloss black	headlights, grille & front bumper
code 6	maroon body, silver trim, black base, decals	9 x 20 grey plastic	dome head rounded	gloss black	headlights, grille & front bumper
code 7	red body, silver trim, black base, decals	9.5 x 20 grey plastic	dome head rounded	gloss black	headlights, grille & front bumper
code 8	red body, silver trim, black base, decals	10 x 36 grey plastic	dome head rounded	gloss black	headlights, grille & front bumper
code 9	red body, silver trim, black base, decals	9.5 x 20 silver plastic	dome head rounded	gloss black	headlights, grille & front bumper

box types	notes
B4	with background
B4	without background
B5	with background
B5	without background
C	with background
D1	one black side one blue
D2	one black side one blue

values

maroon body, knobbly grey plastic wheels £40

red body, knobbly grey plastic wheels £50

red body, fine tread grey plastic wheels £80

red body, silver plastic wheels £800 (estimate)

values are for mint models inmint boxes

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