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This was a 7 year run, according to info I looked up. However, it is a very pricey piece, and even though I am willing to have the worst beater of all time just to fill this gap, they don't seem to be out there.

Why is this so HTF and desirable?

Hi Ken, finding a genuine yellow hub version can be tricky but apart from that I've always found that the common variants turn up regularly on ebay. It is a nice looking model but not htf, where are you from, perhaps location plays a part?

I'm in the state of Maine, USA. Yes, I see several on Ebay, but really high prices. Lots of them lost their tires, too, huh? It's a nice model, and because the 72B is from when I was 16, I have no interest in having it represent the slot because my collection is about the castings that marked my play years of 1955-1962 (born 1950).

If we consider this Tractor to be a toy, the designers would not have worried too much about the condition of it many Years later. The materials used in the combination of the wheel rim and tyre was not a serious consideration (pre Health and Safety here of course!), and when other toy companies were fitting rubber tyres to their models, Lesney chose a much harder compound, almost appearing Nylon based for their tyres and relied on a tight fit onto the rim and the way plastics behave over time has caused an issue with many wheel and tyre pairings on Lesney models (toys!), and to find really mint condition models with perfectly fitting tyres today, is a bonus.

Ghosthunter.

GHOSTHUNTER wrote: and to find really mint condition models with perfectly fitting tyres today, is a bonus.
Ghosthunter.

If the model has plastic wheel hubs, it's nearly impossible. I'd go as far to say that if the model has plastic wheel hubs and the tires fit tight and like new: The tires are reproduction replacements.

ken60 wrote:I see several on Ebay, but really high prices

Same in Germany.

GHOSTHUNTER wrote:If we consider this Tractor to be a toy, the designers would not have worried too much about the condition of it many Years later.

Whilst Leslie Smith, by all accounts a businessman through and through, almost certainly considered them toys, I'm not sure that Jack Odell saw them in the same light. If you look at the attention to detail (the one I always think of is the floor support structure on the 62a, easily overlooked, it is only really visible when the model is viewed side-on against the light), it is clear that, to the designer, they were more than mere toys, they were scale models.

Malibu wrote:

ken60 wrote:I see several on Ebay, but really high prices

Same in Germany.

And the same in NZ

Ghosthunter, that is very interesting about the tires. I have noticed that a significant number of these are missing them. Just knowing that it was choice that had to be made to make business sense and be profitable makes me OK with having a no tire piece because it reflects the reality of the situation and how things work out when you make a manufacturing judgement call.

But, that said, I have not even seen a tireless one that was very cheap, and with 13 castings to go to get all 75 (and most of those being high priced also) and a limited retirement income I will just enjoy the hunt for the elusive beater for a while.

It seems, that i´m a lucky guy with 3 good and a beaten one...