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Thank You Tinman! Up until now I have never known of such a letter, but that makes the Herbie a promotional model done with Lesneys knowledge and permission. Study up on them ! I do believe there are aftermarket decals kits that have been/are available, so buyer beware. Thanks for a bit of Lesney knowledge that is pure fact and not just folklore Tinman, I stand corrected in my above statements. kwakers

Tinman wrote:The hobby shop model is a code two and a known collector has correspondence from Lesney to prove the claim. While I have not seen the letter myself, Jim G. has viewed the document and has gone on record saying it's authentic. Because of the timing of the project, the Herbie models exist in regular wheels and superfast (I do not know which is more common but I would guess the latter).

So, is the "official" version the one with finer print on the numbers and an offset stripe the full length of the beetle?

As mentioned, some very good reproduction decals exist. Some are even aged and are very difficult to tell apart from the originals. The original decals were produced in the USA and NOT done by Lesney. It has come to the point where you have to get a model with a history that can be verified.

Sadly, that story about the theatre promotion was total nonsense and untrue.

Thanks for the feedback, folks!!