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This one has the earlier base with the square differential cover and no hole and can be harder to find

Sebastian

I wouldn't go so far as to call that early base painted in yellow as "rare." Harder to find is far more the case.

i cant remember if i was actively looking for this model but i think i bought a lot one time and this model was in it...so lucky me

Well, if anybody has a spare, I am still looking for one, and have been for more than 25 years with no success...

CHFalkensteiner

This unboxed one took me about 2 weeks to find.

I think there has to be a lot more of them out there - one of the issues is that a lot of vendors don't know what they have and sometimes supply only a limited number of photographs - often they omit the underside of a model.

My next one to aim for is the orange model with the round differential cover and hole that is normally found on the yellow model.

I think this one will be a lot tougher to find!

Happy hunting

Sebastian

I do not normally search for models online. I attend toy shows and flea markets in the real world and for the past 25 years have turned over virtually every 69b that I have seen. So far every yellow one has had the hole on the base, and every orange one has not had it.

There are several similar cases - variations of which others keep on saying that they are relatively easy to find but which I just cannot seem to find anywhere. Other examples are the Ford Fairlane police and fire chief cars with the respective other models' bases, Ford tractors with John Deere rear wheels and hay trailers with racing car wheels.

On the other hand, I now have a Ford tractor with racing car front wheels and a black wheel Rotinoff Super Atlantic Tractor with the smaller spare wheel. Both are examples which had eluded me for a long time, too, but at last I managed to find them.

I guess I just have to keep on searching - most of the time I find other interesting stuff alongside which I had not actively searched for at all.

Christian

It may be worthwhile to go online more often. I have sourced online a few of the tractors you mention including the all blue body version with one large front hub - I have this listed under another forum topic with photo.

I have also sourced a couple of the harder to find weatherhill excavators with the fine grey front wheels - this is the playworn example

Happy hunting

Sebastian

Hi Christian, Kwakers here. These Hatras were changing over to the later all yellow colours at nearly the same time that rear axle casting change was being done at the Lesney Factory. I have a feeling that a lot of these changeover models were shipped to the U.S. during that period of time, and more were to be found in our stores over here. I found 2 mixed orange body with yellow Shovel Hatras in 2 different local displays in our area, but none in their stockrooms to buy as spares. As our good luck back then would have it, one mixed paint model with orange body had the early square cover over the rear axle, and the other mixed colour Hatra found shortly thereafter in a second store display 30 miles away had the orange body with the later round cover with a hole in it. As Joe has suggested, finding the changeover models may not have seemed too difficult for us to find back in 1968, but I am also missing the square axle housing variation in all Yellow mentioned here from our own collection!! What a Great find and a wakeup call for all Forum members AND lurkers alike. Mike Stannard missed this one, and apparently so did Harold Colpitts (AIM), and Bob Brennen (NAMC) in their early Yank "Bibles" over here.......WOW!! Surprise, Surprise! Kwakers

Kwakers

Glad you enjoyed the Hatra find - I was actually looking for the elusive yellow body/red wheel version when this one turned up.

Since the Hatra find I have turned up another weatherhill with the fine grey front wheels - the 3rd one this year and for a lot less than some matchbox retailers are asking!

In my view the hard to find models/rarities are still out there - you just have to be persistent!

Keep the faith

Sebastian

Hi Sebastian! I have never even seen a Yellow Hatra with red hubs in person, they are a model that we do call "Rare". I have watched several fakes on E Bay being passed off as Factory originals, so Please watch your step on this particular variation. Axle ends tell the story, there are plenty of Minty yellow Hatras and plenty of Major Pack/ King size red wheels to cob onto them.
There are quite a few childhood collections being sold off here in the U.S. on E Bay, so when watching them closely, a sharp collector can find an occasional hard to find code among all the "Commons" being sold. It is time consuming, but part of the "Fun" of the hobby. Cheers! Kwakers