K94 Airport Fire Tender (never released)

[Idris]

In front of me I have Bruce & Diane Stoneback book "Matchbox Toys" and on page 32 there is a picture of a K94 Airport Fire Tender.

I knew I'd seen a photo of the K94 somewhere, a few years ago. That was a great book; I regret letting go of my copy.!

That book appears to be missing from The Reference Library. Could I please ask a Member to write a review?

[antoinecalleja]

Hi Antoine,
Congrats on winning the most decorated K94. Regarding how many were completed, I think the number is about 50.
In front of me I have Bruce & Diane Stoneback book "Matchbox Toys" and on page 32 there is a picture of a
K94 Airport Fire Tender. This is what is written underneath the picture:
"This enormous Fire Engine was abandoned after only 50 models had been completed. It was to have featured a
working pump and lights, but was considered too expensive to manufacture".
Below is the model pictured in the book.
Charlie

Hi Charlie,
Thank you so much for the invaluable information! I hope that those members having one here will post a picture of theirs. Hopefully we will have pictures of many of these 50!
Cheers, Antoine

[antoinecalleja]

Well done Antoine, At last you have got the one you want. Probably the most famous one too. Fantastic price. I remember my Silver boxed version going to Germany.

Hello Roger,
Thank you!
Yes, I remember that as I had missed out on your silver one sold on ebay last March. Luckily I found another one which to be honest was the one that I really wanted, and never in a million years expected it to become available so soon!
Cheers, Antoine

[antoinecalleja]

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This is the story of this model from designer Jim Yates and posted on Matchboxmemories in the Prepro section - hope this information of his helps with the start of this model for you.
This is an interesting one as I was contacted by Jim Yates after he saw this model here and here is his story
"I was at the Lesney, Chingford development site until it closed in 1982 and was involved in the development of this particular model, the biggest ever made and the first (and last) of what was to be a new range of models even larger than Super Kings. The model was close to 300 mm long and around 100 mm high. It had a siren, flashing lights and a functional water pump fed by an internal water tank filled via the cylindrical cap on the roof. The photograph is of the prototype. The body was made from soldered brass sheet and the base from plasticard. The exhausts were made from brass tube and the nozzle from many bits of plastic. The seats were also made from plasticard. The walkways on the roof were made from fine metal mesh fixed in place with double sided tape. The wheels had substantial suspension to carry the weight. On the side facing the camera is a statement in German - on the other side was a similar statement in English.
Diecast tooling was made for this model in early 1982 and a few hundred shots were produced. I still have one somewhere in my loft. I do not believe any other tooling was produced as the development was discontinued due to Lesney Products ceasing trading shortly after"
Regards, Jim Yates

And to a further enquiry Jim kindly replied

"Do you mean the prototype Airport Crash Tender in the picture or other pre-production models - I was only aware of the one, the one in the picture, which is definitely the brass and plasticard prototype - I can even see my fingerprints on it.

Then - I remembered seeing a picture of one in a book - but I could not remember which book it was - so I did a bit of digging and found it on page 32 of "Matchbox Toys" by Bruce and Diane Stoneback. Sure enough, there it was, not the brass and plasticard prototype but one made from a diecast body and what appears to be an injection moulded roof, windows, and other fittings. I was not aware that this much tooling had been completed. The book suggests that 50 were completed. See attached and compare the detail with the one on your site.

I was with Lesney UK Operations Ltd. from late 1979 to early 1984 as Senior Control Systems Engineer, initially at the machinery and toy development site in Waterden Road. When that closed most of my engineering team and most of the toy development group moved to the Chingford site - which is where I became involved with the Crash Tender. I also became heavily involved with the sad work of decommissioning and closure of the Lee Conservancy Road site and then the Chingford site. In early 1983 I moved to the Matchbox site at Rochford for almost a year and then left Matchbox "

A fascinating piece of Lesney history again and many thanks for this information Jim. I will try and show the finished version in the book but do not want to broach copyright laws so will try and find out before I post it here.

Hello,
Wow! what a great piece of information! Thank you!
Regarding the artists impression for the decoration schedule, there is a plaque in Hackney to commemorate Lesney Products. on that plaque there is the same drawing shown in that artist's impression. I am attaching the picture I took while in Hackney on a Matchbox Tour with Paul Carr.

[antoinecalleja]

In front of me I have Bruce & Diane Stoneback book "Matchbox Toys" and on page 32 there is a picture of a K94 Airport Fire Tender.

I knew I'd seen a photo of the K94 somewhere, a few years ago. That was a great book; I regret letting go of my copy.

If the gentleman mentioned by Kay does indeed have 20 of them, and the Stonebacks' production number is correct, the K94 enjoys a nice survival rate. Congratulations to Antoine on the acquisition of that amazing piece!

Hello,
Thank you so much!
Antoine

[yellowfoden]

That book appears to be missing from The Reference Library. Could I please ask a Member to write a review?

Done

Bert

[Idris]

That book appears to be missing from The Reference Library. Could I please ask a Member to write a review?

Done

Bert

Thank you!

[kay]

I have asked the German owner of the K-94 prepros for his admission to showing his versions here at the VBD board, and he agreed!
So here's the gallery of the ones he has so far - there are still 6 of his variations missing, as he has not yet taken pictures of all the models.

Enjoy.....
Kay

[matchboxmarcel]

that's great Kay.
Thanks for posting.
Great to see so many together.
marcel

[antoinecalleja]

I have asked the German owner of the K-94 prepros for his admission to showing his versions here at the VBD board, and he agreed!
So here's the gallery of the ones he has so far - there are still 6 of his variations missing, as he has not yet taken pictures of all the models.

Enjoy.....
Kay

SK-94-MAC12-PrePro-01.jpg

SK-94-MAC12-PrePro-02.jpg

SK-94-MAC12-PrePro-03.jpg

SK-94-MAC12-PrePro-04.jpg

SK-94-MAC12-PrePro-05.jpg

SK-94-MAC12-PrePro-06.jpg

SK-94-MAC12-PrePro-07.jpg

SK-94-MAC12-PrePro-08.jpg

SK-94-MAC12-PrePro-09.jpg

SK-94-MAC12-PrePro-10.jpg

SK-94-MAC12-PrePro-11.jpg

SK-94-MAC12-PrePro-12.jpg

SK-94-MAC12-PrePro-13.jpg

SK-94-MAC12-PrePro-14.JPG

Awesome pictures!
Thank you Kay.
Antoine