Hi Woodsy
In a recent post you mentioned some LP toys from an auction lot. I thought the small red and green vehicle in the foreground looked like the Matchbox Muir Hill Hiway Site Dumper.
This was a small dump truck for use on construction sites, and was based on a tractor. The seat could rotate, so the driver could face forwards or backwards, depending on which way he wanted to go, with no need to turn around in limited spaces.
Matchbox made two versions of this toy, the first in 1953 was in the first group of Matchbox Series toys. A slightly larger and more detailed version followed in 1957.
The one in the auction photo looks to be all plastic (?), and resembles the second Matchbox model.
The Muir Hill Dumper seems to have been a popular model with British die-cast companies in the 1950s. There was a larger Matchbox King Size version, along with examples by Dinky (re-issued by Nicky Toys of India), Benbros, and Charbens.
Here are a couple of photos of the early and late Matchbox models for comparison. Both from Worthpoint.
Anyone got any construction site toys?
Paul Adams from New Zealand
I haven't any construction toys, but i dig the idea!
ReplyDeleteHa ha!
ReplyDelete