More Toys for Boys

If you were a kid and didn’t have Hot Wheels (what’s wrong with you?) then you most certainly had a Matchbox car. The Matchbox name started as a brand name for the British owned die-cast toy manufacturer Lesney Products. Before Matchbox car there biggest sales success was a replica of Queen Elizabeth’s II coronation coach which sold a million models.

The modern Matchbox car was created in the 1950’s by Jack Odell. His daughter could only take toys to school that could fit into a matchbox. So it was he set out to design a car that could do just that and it wasn’t before long that the Matchbox cars came into existence. Their clever packaging and affordability made them an instant hit with kids everywhere. They were so popular that the term “Matchbox” became a catch phrase for all small cars of a similar type even to this day.

Lesney a combination of the names Leslie and Rodney, was founded by Jack Odell, Leslie Smith and Rodney Smith. In the 1950’s British die cast toys were very popular, namely Dinky, Corgi and Matchbox. They each had their own niche markets and most of their products were successful. Among toy collectors this period is known as the “Golden Era” of British die cast toys. Come to used cars dealers in Los Angeles for a great selection of cars you will love.

The very first series of cars was called the 1-75. As time went by, Lesney attempted to expand their markets new series of cars. One of these was the Models of Yesteryear, a remake of classics from the early age of automobiles. Other additions were the Major Packs, large scale construction vehicles, and the King Sized series, which was a larger scale truck and tractor set. In 1968 Matchbox was at the top of its game and nobody else came close. That is until Mattel invented the Hot Wheels, with their revolutionary low friction, high speed “race” wheels. The Hot Wheels were painted bright, metallic colors and had fancy mag wheels on slick designs. It was a nightmare for Matchbox as their U.S. market collapsed.

Matchbox scrambled to come up with their own answer to Hot Wheels and created the “Superfast” series also sold with tracks and accessories. While these car were in production, Matchbox redesigned their cars and retooled their machines to match the scale and width of Hot Wheels. By the early 1970’s they were back in business challenging the Hot Wheels supremacy

Due to financial difficulties in England in the 1980s Matchbox was sold to Universal Toys and production was moved to China. In 1992 Universal was bought out by Tyco Toys, who continued to produce the cars. In 1997 disaster struck and Mattel bought out Tyco. There had always been a fierce competition between collectors of each brand and Matchbox fans feared Mattel would change the way they were made. However, Mattel had no intention of changing things and continues to produce Matchbox cars the way they have always been done. Much to collectors delight.

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