blue 51b barrels ?

[fixer]

are these barrels for the 51b trailer pictured with some "normal" yellow ones
or do they come from a kingsize or speedking model as I have not seen these before , I got them from a fleemarket stall that also had a large amount of unused plastic sf suspension units

[Idris]

I have a vague recollection of Graham (Rocketron) selling a 51b trailer with non-yellow barrels and I think they may have been blue.

[fixer]

thanks Idris
interesting i'll take them to the next few toy fairs incase I bump into him

[numi]

I also read that the Dark Yellow/Orange barrels on the sprue were pre-production.
These blue ones are interesting Reg,
numi

[kwakers]

Tinman had only one of these blue barrels with a Tipper he sold, but I recall on inquiry, could not supply further information on it. I do remember him doubting it was Lesney, having never heard of the blue barrels in his many years of collecting Lesneys. It is very interesting that these were bought from a Lesney vendor with Superfast parts also on his table.
I have a pre-pro 51 without barrels, but was told by Ray Sitch that he had misplaced one or two of the odd gray barrels that came with it. That was in the 1970s, and they were never found for me over the years. kwakers

[Idris]

I have a vague recollection of Graham (Rocketron) selling a 51b trailer with non-yellow barrels and I think they may have been blue.

I was right, they were blue, and here are Graham's photographs to prove it:

[fixer]

Well done Idris do you know if he thought they went with the trailer or a later addition knowing Graham I think he would have been confident that they were right

[jimgallegos]

I bought the gray barrels from Ray Sytch years ago. I spent time with him when I worked in New Jersey and was fortunate to get 11 boxes of goodies before he passed and his collection went to auction. He had some amazing pieces.

[Idris]

...do you know if he thought they went with the trailer or a later addition knowing Graham I think he would have been confident that they were right

if Graham sold them with a 51b, then he must have been confident that it was a valid pairing, but whether this was because they were bought in like that or simply because he obtained the barrels sperately and noticed that they were the same moulding as the 51b barrels, I cannot say.
My gut feeling on these is that they were probably produced for use with something other than the 51b trailer, probably as a very limited trial run and, when that project was aborted, the remaining barrels leaked out of the factory via employees pockets rather than in 51b boxes. I'm not sure about the timelines, but the ubiquitous open-head plastic drums used by industry are always blue and usually have a barrel-type shape (as opposed to the 200 ltr two-hole steel drums which, although often painted blue, are parallel sided). Could these blue barrels have been meant to represent chemical containers for use with e.g. a King Size lorry perhaps?

[tjlglass]

Good thinking Batman lol. Hugh you are most probley right but like a lot of things we will never really know unless a former employee remembers them being made. Had a word with a friend who used to work there and he doesn't even remember the yellow ones lol.