Celebrating Easter with JCB and Britains JCB 3c Mark III

Celebrating Easter with JCB and Britains JCB 3c Mark III

I’ve written a few times over the years about my son and his love of JCB.  From his My First JCB Freddie Fastrac book to toys, puzzles, and spending endless hours watching the real machines at work building our local supermarket and cinema complex, his love is boundless.  I wrote to the JCB Headquarters a few years ago asking about their factory tours.  We’d been to CBeebiesland at the time, and noticed a sign as we made the detour to pass the plant.  We got a lovely letter back, telling us that Monkey would need to be 15, fair enough.  But they also included a number of product catalogues and a poster for his wall.  It’s been a fixture ever since and this year we’ll be celebrating Easter with JCB and Britains JCB 3c Mark III.

Celebrating Easter with JCB and Britains JCB 3c Mark III

As part of the JCB Kids Ambassador programme I was asked if there was a specific JCB vehicle Monkey might like, I knew instantly which to pick. My son has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things JCB.  He’s watched the I Love My JCB DVD’s so many time since I bought them for him 4 years ago.  Don’t ever make the mistake of calling a Backhoe Loader a Digger in his presence, or an ADT just a Dump Truck!

He has a lot of the modern JCB vehicles, and I knew he’d love to play with an older model, one of the earlier designs of the backhoe loader, so I opted for the Britains JCB 3c Mark III.  I had one very happy son when he came home to discover he’d be celebrating Easter with JCB and Britains JCB 3c Mark III!

Celebrating Easter with JCB and Britains JCB 3c Mark III

Mummy!  It’s like the one on my wall.

Celebrating Easter with JCB and Britains JCB 3c Mark III

Cue a mad sprint upstairs to compare features.

Celebrating Easter with JCB and Britains JCB 3c Mark III

He worked his way along the rows, discounting one model after another.  The bucket was the wrong colour, the cab wasn’t white until we reached the 1970 model.  I mentioned that that was the year that Monkey’s Uncle P was born. Wow, Mummy this is really old!  Steady Monkey, he’s my younger brother.  It was fascinating to watch him identify which was the correct model based on the features alone.  We then confirmed that yes, it was the model on the box. He was very pleased with himself.  Now it was time to play and have a look at the features on this ‘vintage’ backhoe loader.

This is a 1:32 ratio replica, made predominantly of die-cast metal with a few plastic connections. The front forks raise up and the bucket can be moved up and down.  It’s got front wheel steering too, which seemed to go down rather well with my 7-year-old enthusiast.

Celebrating Easter with JCB and Britains JCB 3c Mark III

There’s no access to the cab itself, but you can look in to see all the levers which the driver would operate for both the front bucket and rear backhoe.  The backhoe itself can be moved along the back of the vehicle (although we’ve found this a little stiff), the backhoe arm can be moved sideways as well as up and down.  The backhoe bucket can scoop up and down too.

Now the stabilisers on this model are a fixed part of the moulding, but this hasn’t stopped Monkey from getting it to take part in a dancing diggers show.  The vehicle is well made and aimed at children aged 3 years and over.

He’s had so much pleasure with his new JCB, and he’s loved to compare the old and the new, seeing how one machine has evolved over the years.  He really is an engineer in the making!

Celebrating Easter with JCB and Britains JCB 3c Mark III

Priced at £32.99 the Britains JCB 3c Mark III has proved that older can be just as much fun as the new.  I’ve included my Amazon affiliate link below for your reference.

The eagle-eyed amongst you might have spotted something else in our deliver.  You can’t really start celebrating Easter with JCB and Britains JCB 3c Mark III without an Easter Egg, can you?

The My First JCB 75g hollow Easter Eggs, come with a plastic JCB vehicle, our’s came with a backhoe loader.  The parts actually move, so Monkey was rather pleased with that.  Uncharacteristically, he’s actually decided to leave the chocolate egg for Easter.

The My First JCB Easter Eggs are available from supermarkets, including Tesco for £3.00.

We’ll certainly be celebrating Easter with JCB and Britains JCB 3c Mark III here, how about you?

disclosure:  we were sent the items mentioned in exchange for an honest review

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