The Early Toys

When Lesney first started they made components for electrical companies such as GEC. However during the Christmas period the work took a downturn due to stocktaking by the companies.

It was for this reason that Lesney turned to another source of income - Toys. The early toys were issued around 1949 - early 50's and made up until the start of the Korean war when an embargo was placed on zinc for all items not deemed important enough. There is no actual release dates known for these few items.

Although a relatively small group to collect, they are amongst some of the hardest to acquire. The models described as rare, are just that, extremely rare and hardly ever seen for sale and most within this group fall into that field. It is believed that Lesney made a part for the Space ray gun below and indeed John Kendall remembers the making of a Luger pistol copied from Don Rix' original gun ( He left to found his own company Condon Toys and eventually returned to Lesney) as one of the first toys ever made at the Rifleman pub. I am not sure what was made at the Rifleman but as John Kendall only worked there and remembers lots of cement mixers, I would presume the move was made to Barratts Grove around the era of the Road Roller - Crawler Dozer period.

A toy Space gun made by BCM with parts reputedly made by Lesney, my thanks to Mark Curtis of the MCCH for gaining permission to use these photos

For all intents and purposes the range we are interested in started with the Road Roller and Cement mixer.

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The models of the Aveling & Barford Road Rollers and the collection of Cement Mixers photographs were kindly supplied by Barry Thompson of the UK (1-4-5) and I thank him for allowing me to show you what was on offer at this time in Lesney's history. The red version(5) is fairly rare but there is a version in tan (6) which is even considered rarer and this picture was from Dave Rogers. Dave has also supplied the rare orange & black mixer (2). They show the range of colours that were supplied. These models were never packaged individually but supplied in trade boxes and then sold loose. I have just acquired my very first Road Roller (7-8) and have posted 2 pictures of it at the end of this row. Shows up the great detail in this early model 

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A Caterpillar tractor or crawler and with the addition of a blade it was turned into a bulldozer as seen here. This model was also issued in the Prime Mover set in yellow body and red blade. The wheels on the earlier dozer have 3 kidney shaped cut outs on the inside and the same on the early bulldozers whereas the later Bulldozer does not. These were never supplied in boxes either but packed loose in boxes of half a dozen or so. The rear of the front blade was plain in earlier versions, later ones had 'Lesney - Moko, Made in England' embossed on them.  The collection of bulldozers (10) was kindly supplied by John Pask of the US, and shows 2 of the rarer green colours issued, thanks John. The red crawler is a recent addition to my collection. The metallic blue bulldozer (9) was supplied by Gary Galvin and as far as I know, the only one in existence. Pic 11 shows the model made by Benbros and has ' A Qualitoy' cast underneath but very similar model to the Lesney one.

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The Prime Mover is a beautiful model. It can have either a driver attached by the leg to the door or none at all. The trailer can also be found in a tan colour (2) as seen here supplied by Dave Rogers of the UK and my version in pic. 5. It is not sure, but general consensus is that the tan trailer came with the green bulldozer instead of the later red/yellow one. Gary has a trailer without the description underneath and only one heard of so far.  There was a version auctioned on Ebay that had an orange trailer and I kept a copy of the ad but alas lost the picture. There is no confirmation as yet to suggest it was genuine or not as so far no other has been seen.

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The rarest of the rare is this Soap Box racer. It was not popular at the time and it is believed that only around 10 complete items remain today. The first pictures show a recent example that was auctioned by Vectis in the UK. Pics 3 & 4 show the 2 different bases to this model, either blank or with Lesney on base. The end photo is a repro model from the 'Perfect Toy' range. A superb reproduction range of early toys.

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Included are a Rag & Bone cart in yellow or the rarer green version. This model came with an assortment of junk to place in the cart. The green cart was a recent purchase by a friend of mine, Charlie, and is very rare indeed. The yellow cart was also a recent acquisition by me and this was another model that was reproduced in the 'Perfect Toys' range of reproductions. Pictures  3 - 6 are the newly acquired model. The nice period picture was supplied by Dave Rogers.

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9 10 11 12 The real thing

The larger version Milk Cart, not to be confused with the smaller issued MB 7 is shown here with all the different wheel colours of light grey, dark grey and charcoal (1-3). There was a difference to the casting in several respects, the top front rail may be filled in between rail and roof (5 & 6) or open as on mine (1-3). The shafts also came with differences relating to the inside corners where the shafts joined the main support as they can be rounded or diagonally cut. The horses had two different versions with either a small hole or large underneath the body and may be painted in a thin painted bronze finish or brown with white legs and manes. The drivers seat gap between the roof and underneath of the seat is a lot smaller on the filled in rail version (pics 9, 10 and 11) and in pics 7 & 8 is the extremely rare blue version which are hardly ever seen. In pic.12 is the real thing from Dave Rodgers - the one I drove was much later and electric like the Spot On version!  In pics 9 to 11 the differences to the cart tops are shown. Looking at 9 it can be seen that the original metal feed was from 2 spigot holes whilst on the left a large cast bar now takes the place of the right spigot. This was probably an alteration to the mould for some reason but it results in the gap under the seat being filled in, lowers the seat and causes the front rail to be fully blocked off.

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During the Korean conflict a tin metal 'Jumbo' the elephant was made. This was a clockwork toy and the only diecast parts made by Lesney  were the four legs (pics 1 & 2). It is almost a perfect copy of the German 'BlÖmer & Schuler' Jumbo issued some time earlier (pics 3 & 4) but you can notice that 'JUMBO' is diagonal on the Lesney version.. Jumbo came in several types of box.

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The large Massey Harris tractor was issued as a scale model. A few more models were to be issued in this range such as the Quarry truck and the Road Roller and although trials were made they never eventuated. Both of these non-produced models can be seen in the UK Matchbox club magazine but due to copyright laws I'm not sure on my position to reproduce them here. If you find a model with screws holding the rear wheels on - they are not a replacement! - some models were assembled this way.

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The Covered Wagon (1) was issued either with or without (1) red barrels on the side of the wagon.  Horses came in a dark or light brown. The second picture shows one of the excellent 'Perfect Toys' reproduction models (2).

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The model for the large Coronation Coach was made before the start of the Korean war and was then shelved. At the end of the conflict it was resurrected due to the death of the old King. Unfortunately as it was Queen Elizabeth to be crowned the extra passenger (the King) had to be cut off at the knees, and as can be seen in all these coaches, his feet and legs still remain next to the Queen. Models with both in (5) are fairly rare and thanks to Gary we can show it here. They came in a range which included Plated Silver (1), Plated gold (2) or Painted gold (3) . The normal issue is still fairly common today.

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The Coronation coach was then bought out in this miniature version and sold over a million. This gave Lesney the start they needed to expand and also the idea towards making smaller models. There are 2 casting versions of this model. On the rear wall of the coach it can be either plain or have 'ENGLAND-' cast on the bottom part behind the rear wheels. There are copies of this model in gold by Benbros, another die casting company, but these have 'ER' on the doors.

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After these toys a deal was struck to issue a model of Muffin the Mule, a popular children's puppet character on television with Annette Mills. I well remember the clips around the ear I got for bashing this heavy toy across the polished wood dining table.

Last but not least (but not a toy) was this small device for fishermen which squashed a piece of bread flat to enable it to be placed on the hook and then expand when it was in water. I must confess that it worked wonderfully as I often used one as a kid fishing on the Grand Union Canal at Uxbridge. Not really a toy. I am indebted to Steve Cameron who has allowed these photo's of his POS box to be displayed here, a truly wonderful and historical item that I have never seen before..

There are many toys out there with the 'MOKO' name on them but not made by Lesney. MOKO was a toy factor (wholesaler) and different suppliers used them as a means of getting their products onto the market. Here are a few seen around.

Excavator 

Tower Crane  (seen in blue or green with variations in casting on the model)

  Money Bank

  Moko Compass

  Light meter

Merry-Go-Round 

Tinplate Limousine 

  Motor Cycle Rider

The Don Rix 'Condon Dumper' mentioned in the header, made by his company, Condon after leaving Lesney. Very similar to the Muir Hill dumper made by Lesney later in the 1-75 range. I must thank Dave Rogers for getting this one for me. Also came in green body

List of Known variants on  the 'Early Toy' range

Model colours are listed in no particular order as not known when issued