Lesney Matchbox time is here again. Today we examine Lesney Matchbox 1c, the Aveling Barford Road Roller This model entered the range in 1956, remaining until 1958, and is a perfect representative of a mid 1950s Matchbox vehicle:
Now we are back to 1-75 series vehicles. Matchbox reviews from this point will be the second oldest versions of a casting I have in my collection (example 1b instead of 1a, 7c instead of 7b etc), as I went through the earlier versions of my 1-75 series collection in the old LaLD - this will eventually loop back around. As we are starting with a number low on the 1-75 list, there will be several commercial vehicles before cars were more frequent in the lineup. This casting of a road roller is typical of mid 50s Lesney products - a commercial/industrial vehicle with high detail for something of its size, age, and original price point. This model has fine line casting detail, and the driver is a feature that many collectors enjoy. The front wheel turns, which adds realism and play value. Scale is tough to determine, but the real world vehicle can't be small - I would guess maybe in the 1:80s range. From all angles, one can imagine this workhorse putting in the hours to ensure roads are paved:
Front and rear have detail to match the rest of the model, one can see this is not the widest vehicle. Note the little tab of cast metal remaining behind the cab, this is a QC item not intended on the actual model:
The base only identifies the maker, as was common at the time - the maker mark is quite deep in the casting and is easier to see using a flash:
This model is lucky enough to live in its pristine original Type B2 box:
I'm pleased to have this vehicle in my collection, as it is a real time warp piece. Pictured with an old dime for scale:
Images of a similar machine from machineryauctions.stags.co.uk:
