In 1977 United Biscuits of the UK approached Lesney with a view to producing a promotional item for their McVities "Jaffa Cakes" product , these were (and still are) biscuits with a chocolate topping and orange flavoured centre.
A salesman's sample made for the promotion is shown below , as can be seen the vehicle chosen for the promotion was an MB 37 Soopa Coopa in a pleasing all over orange colour and a "Jaffa Mobile" label applied to the roof. I am not sure what the Yesteryear model is doing in there , if anyone has any more information on this I would be pleased to hear from them.
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| McVities Promotion - Salesmans Sample |
To obtain the model , customers had to send in four end flaps from McVities Jaffa Cakes cartons with a 10p stamp for postage. As with most promotions involving Lesney products at the time it was hugely over subscribed and the supply of special Soopa Coopa models was soon exhausted , more were requested but the model had gone out of production to be replaced by the new MB 37 Skip Truck. The solution was to use an alternative model , the MB42 Tyre Fryer in the same all over orange colour with the "Jaffa Mobile" label now affixed to the bonnet.
Both models were supplied in Lesney Blisterpacks and at the time of writing (2009) can still be found at UK Toy Fairs and swapmeets.
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| MB 42 Tyre Fryer |
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