58a gold grill code1,flat black

[SMS88]

"strong signs of greasy palm wear"

In the earlier post you mentioned a juicy orange as an example of something "greasy". I'm not a chemist but I know enough to assume that acidic citrus residue would react differently on the surface of a painted toy than skin oils or the grease off the engine block on my TR-4. Is it acid or oil you are identifying as the guilty culprit?
And I still can't understand why it would be that these "strong signs of greasy palm wear" would have such a strong predilection for the 57a Wolseley over and above any other silver trimmed model of the same era. Gold-trimmed 57a's are far from common but there are enough of them to say it simply makes no sense to suggest they all are a result of some sort of environmental (greasy palm wear) corrosion.

Looking at the condition of the paint around the headlamps of the 57a in the link we cannot see 2 fresh dabs from a paint brush. What we can see is 2 worn dabs - how they were worn is unknown however statistically greasy childish hands were the most likely reason for those headlmap dabs looking the worn way they do today. Kids dont just handle toys once, they handle them many times,perhaps hundreds of times. It only takes 1 occasion with OJ sticky hands to have a chance to tint hand temperature silver leaf paint. AFAIK, no mint or near mint obviously never handled 57a has been photographed properly and shared online showing gold trim that matches standard gold trim on commonly gold trimmed models. Indeed I suspect 1950s Lesney would regard gold trimmed modern cars as silly looking errors rather than the intended models in minature

[Moyboy]

I think the problem here was the out workers - they were paid by weight, thrown into bags and rarely checked ( hence the bricks in bags of models. If an outworker ran out of silver and had gold would they not use it to make up their money. All this talk of 'greasy hands / orange juice' etc don't wear it for me I'm afraid as back then when I was a kid unless you were rich OJ just didn't exist ( I didn't see a lettuce until around 55 and rationing was still on till the Coronation - I know - I lived it) and as for greasy hands I didn't play in a garage either. We all try to create mysterious ways how these things happened and its the simplest that is most probably the case in most instances - pieceworkers trying to make their quota for the whole line, throw on some grey wheels, black have run out etc - this was factory work at its most basic - no quota, no one eats at home this week !!

[fixer]

I agree with MOYBOY, I have distant memories of a friends nan painting toy soldiers rows and rows of the things, sometimes she would run out of various colours and just get the nearest one she had or even mix her own, as kids we used to "help" by painting the base uniform colours and she would do the details.
Don't know who's soldiers they were but she lived near Southend in Essex
How many people done this I wonder and would any survivors be considered rare??

[Idris]

I have just double-checked. AIM, Stannard, Houghton, Leake and Jones (who?) all list the gold-trimmed 57a variation. The only catalogue to have it missing is NAMC (both editions).

[SMS88]

I have just double-checked. AIM, Stannard, Houghton, Leake and Jones (who?) all list the gold-trimmed 57a variation. The only catalogue to have it missing is NAMC (both editions).

If it really is in AIM then it implies Harold Colpitts personally saw one or more pre 1972. If thats the case then in spite of lack of great photographic evidence today we have precedent to bow to!

[Tinman]

If it really is in AIM then it implies Harold Colpitts personally saw one or more pre 1972. If thats the case then in spite of lack of great photographic evidence today we have precedent to bow to!

Thank you Captian Obvious

[Idris]

At the end of the day, the only person who knows for sure whether this model is genuine or not is the person who originally added the trim. Since they are not available for comment, we have little alternative other than to sit back and wait. If it is a genuine variation, another example will surface in the fullness of time and it can be added to Nick's listings. If, on the other hand, no matching model is found, it will remain an anomaly, will not be listed as a variation, and it will then be up to individual collectors to make their own judgement regarding its authenticity.

[Diecast]

I can confirm the variation with gold trim (or with the shade of gold)
Antonin

[Idris]

At the end of the day, the only person who knows for sure whether this model is genuine or not is the person who originally added the trim...

I can confirm the variation with gold trim (or with the shade of gold)

...and Antonin!

[Tinman]

I don't understand all the resistance for the discovery of gold trim on another model. Gold trim was in use well into the 1960's. All this silly stuff about OJ and Brasso polish is just extreme resistance to the reality that gold trim was applied to a range of models and even to some models that had the overwhelming majority of the trim done in silver.