6b - Quarry truck

[tandyfan]

NJ's listing says that this model was fitted with door decals. This otherwise code 1 has none. Is it conceivable that the first ones had no decals, or do you think those on mine were removed by a previous owner. (No trace of decals on what is otherwise a model in very good condition).

[Idris]

Certainly there are plenty of otherwise mint early 6b Quarry Trucks around which lack the decals, and I firmly believe that a significant number were released like this. In the 1980s in London, there was a rumour doing the rounds that the decals simply weren't ready in time for the first release.
This was discussed on the old Forum and it was suggested that there might be a link with the silver trim to the radiator grille which is known on a handful of examples, the idea being that if the model had both the decal and the trim it would be too expensive to produce. However, I believe that I'm correct in saying that the silver-trimmed examples all have decals whereas the decal-free models don't have silver trim, so that suggestion, appealing as it is, does not seem to work in practice.

[kwakers]

I agree with Idris that there were significant numbers of this 6B released without decals Tandyfan. Your 6B without decals was listed as the first version of this model in Bob Brennen's 1971 NAMC Guide. He had an example in his collection, and we had only found a single 6B without decals years ago in a store for our own collection. Neither had the rare silver radiator trim on these 6Bs, but a handful of silver trimmed radiators and fuel tanks are also known on the earliest 6A Dumpers that were in several older New York city area collections. They still remain undocumented as the 6B silver trim, but I do have one of those 6As out of an early collection. All Lesney trim was hand done in the factory by workers or by their wives at home till 1959, so many variations of it can be found that may not be 'standard' as we have known it for over 40 years. kwakers

[Idris]

...a handful of silver trimmed radiators and fuel tanks are also known on the earliest 6A Dumpers...

I wasn't aware of that. Presumably they're very late in the timeline, just before the GPW?

[tandyfan]

Thanks for the info. FYI I have four other 6b's, all MIB - all have door decals, none have any silver trim at all.

[kwakers]

My 6A with silver trim has all the earliest Stannard details, and I assume Nick's early windshield until I check on that feature undocumented in Mike's Guide. I also thought it would be Great to tie in the 'late' 6A and early 6Bs with silver trim Idris, but sometimes these oddities don't lend themselves to easy explanations. My 6A will remain an orphan unless other Forum owners can present theirs. I know at least 3 others are in collections somewhere now out of some 'veteran' early N.Y. City area collections. These again could have been in the earliest shipments to the U.S., very few people could be alive to accurately document them personally in 2014. The Quarry Truck was released in 1954! Painted axle-less bodies were taken home to worker's homes in tins to have their details hand painted at least into 1955. kwakers

[Wolfie Ginsburg]

I have three of these 6bs in my collection

I'm not sure if you can see in the photos but the one on the right in the first photo is a significantly darker yellow than the one on the left

None have silver trim

However one has never had Euclid decals