On Manoevres

 Back in 1973, I was Matchbox car mad. My dad had started me off, even before I was born, by buying me my first toy car and then carried on, as they were released, until I had almost every Matchbox regular series and then Superfast car, available. Apart from,for some reason, the early army series models. Matchbox and Husky both included military trucks, jeeps and armoured cars and most annoyingly a Half Track, which I never got. Then, as I grew older and started buying the cars myself, Matchbox and Corgi Juniors began to include military models again. One of the best of the later army series was the Rolamatics SP Cannon. 'Rolamatics' was an action feature included in certain models which activated a moving part and in the case of the Cannon, as the model was pushed forward, the barrel popped in and out simulating a recoil.

 I still have my original model and somewhere along the way I have picked up a second. At the weekend, I visited a large car boot sale and on the way out, spotted a small container of cars, including the Rolamatic Weasel Armoured Car and an SP Gun. At 10p each, it was a no brainer, so I bought six models.

 Until then, I had forgotten how robust and well made the Cannon was and popped into the attic to retrieve the other two.

The rubber treads had survived and the paintwork was in remarkable condition too, testament to Matchbox fabulous build quality.