We’re all coked up about this new Matchbox Lesney 37A Karrier Coke truck that we acquired by accident a while back. We just figured out that this unassuming little fella is a rare version of the 37A, with grey plastic wheels. 99.9% of 37A’s were installed with metal wheels, with a few grey plastic wheels sneaking in at the end of the production run. Can’t tell you how close we were to just putting this rare item up for sale on Ebay for like 15$ without figuring that out. I can’t stress this enough: Our ignorance is your opportunity!

Proves this passage from the previous post:

Quite a haul. Nice stuff. A small bit of paint damage – most in what we call Excellent Condition (see the explanation of terms over on your right). No super rare ones as far as I know, but I don’t know that far. Experienced collectors could do themselves some favors by sorting through my inventory and checking for whatever jewels might be laying on the ground over there, ready to be plucked. No doubt I’ve sold some highly sought-after pieces for the proverbial penny, simply because I am a stupid, stupid man. My ignorance is your opportunity. Maybe we will paint that on the water tower.

The 37A is not to be confused with the 37B. The 37A does not have a base plate, which means that if you try to drive this thing around delivering tiny Cokes the cold wind will blow right up your knickers.

How much should we ask for something like this? We know it’s very rare (much more scarce than the famed “uneven load” version), we know it’s in very good-to-excellent condition and hauls a lot of tiny Coke very smoothly on its plastic wheels. And we know crazed Matchbox collectors are known to pay a lot for such things. Can’t help themselves. The grey plastic wheels add, oh, up to $100 to the normal value. With that in mind I think the price we have on it now is quite a bargain, and if it doesn’t sell, we’ll happily find a permanent place for it in the barn.