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SMS88 wrote:Interesting that the 1st body type only appears in blue - perhaps Pickfords only sponsered the original tool & when it broke, Lesney remade the tool & was free to recolour it at the same time but still had a million or so already made Pickfords decals which could be used for free in the absence of any new sponser for the van.........

A nice theory, Mick, but Nick's listing indicates that the tooling was renewed very early on in the model's life (only the first three variation codes are body casting 1). Furthermore, the two-line promotionals are all the second-type body casting.
Appealing as it is, I don't see how we can make this idea work given the above facts.

Idris wrote:

SMS88 wrote:Interesting that the 1st body type only appears in blue - perhaps Pickfords only sponsered the original tool & when it broke, Lesney remade the tool & was free to recolour it at the same time but still had a million or so already made Pickfords decals which could be used for free in the absence of any new sponser for the van.........

A nice theory, Mick, but Nick's listing indicates that the tooling was renewed very early on in the model's life (only the first three variation codes are body casting 1). Furthermore, the two-line promotionals are all the second-type body casting.
Appealing as it is, I don't see how we can make this idea work given the above facts.

I can agree -havent read the code table since we discussed Beales here! Odd how shortlived the 1st type front panel was.....

SMS88 wrote:Odd how shortlived the 1st type front panel was.....

...except it wasn't just the front panel, there were changes to both side panels as well.
Quite why such a major retooling was necessary so early in the model's life is very strange. Could it be that Pickfords felt that it was too crude a model and insisted that it be re-engineered? The friction this would have created might explain the apparent parting of the ways and the consequent recolouring of the model.

I doubt very much if Pickford's would have had that kind of power over Lesney. I've been going through the '40 years' book, and it has October 1960 as the release date for the 46b, and 1962 as the year that Pickford's started giving away the 2 line models. It would therefore appear that Pickford's were inspired by the model, presumably after seeing the original. It could have been retooled for any one of a number of reasons - to me the manner in which the area above the cab has been altered looks perfect for decal application but that's pure speculation. As regards the colour change - it's easy to forget that Lesney were in the business of making toys - this is the firm that put a flywheel on a diesel roller and recoloured the famous London taxi to maroon(I'm not criticising btw). There is another comment somewhere in the 40 year book which says that they would look at the range as a whole and that this would influence colour choices. Maybe with the 'Ever Ready' ERF and the Foden Sugar Tanker they felt there were too many dark blue trucks. There was definitely someone at Lesney who felt that bright, light colours were more appealing to children.

As for the existence of 46b Pickfords 2 line in green, there probably is someone who can prove that a number of deliberate fakes were made in the 1980s. Can anyone conclusively prove that none ever left the factory in the 1960s, either off the production line or in a lunchbox - probably not. Is all this discussion, speculation and head scratching part of what we love about Matchbox - yes!!!

Idris wrote:

SMS88 wrote:Odd how shortlived the 1st type front panel was.....

...except it wasn't just the front panel, there were changes to both side panels as well.
Quite why such a major retooling was necessary so early in the model's life is very strange. Could it be that Pickfords felt that it was too crude a model and insisted that it be re-engineered? The friction this would have created might explain the apparent parting of the ways and the consequent recolouring of the model.

What we can see from the seams on the casting is that Jack Odell changed the design of how each side of the tool slotted together so its most likely something to do with metal flowing in the tool

So, this thread appears to have run its course, and my recollection is that Scmcollection prmised us revelations once we had finished our discussions.
Could we have those promised revelations now, please?

Idris wrote:So, this thread appears to have run its course, and my recollection is that Scmcollection prmised us revelations once we had finished our discussions.
Could we have those promised revelations now, please?

It's been a month since his last visit, not sure if he's still interested in the thread. You might want to send him a PM.

Tinman wrote:It's been a month since his last visit, not sure if he's still interested in the thread. You might want to send him a PM.

Done!

Saw this today:

Matchbox 46B: Pickfords Removal Van, 2 Line Decal, Near Mint Model, Poor Box

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261516659402?ss ... 1423.l2649

matchboxrw wrote:Saw this today:

Matchbox 46B: Pickfords Removal Van, 2 Line Decal, Near Mint Model, Poor Box

Mint (what a surprise).