Every kid in America has had a Matchbox car at some point in time. Brittish die cast toy manufacturer Lesney Products branded Matchbox for it’s car line. Up until then their biggest sales, of over a millions models, was a replica of Quenn Elizabeth’s coronation coach. Get your own coach at used cars Las Vegas today.
They Matchbox car as we know it was created in 1953 by Jack Odell. The only toys his daughter was allowed to take to school had to 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. Due to their size and pricing they were an instant hit with children all over. In fact, the term “Matchbox” has become synonymous with all small cars.
Lesney was founded by Jack Odell, Leslie Smith and Rodney Smith, who combined names to make Lesney. At the time Corgi, Dinky and Matchbox were all popular brands. 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. At Spokane used cars you will be sure to find a great deal.
The earliest series of Matchbox cars were called the 1-75 series, even though they didn’t nearly have that number of cars. 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. Another set was a series of construction vehicles called the Major Packs and large truck and tractor series aptly named King Size.Going into 1968 nobody could rival Matchbox’s success. That all abruptly changed when Mattel released a new low friction, speedy series called Hot Wheels. It was a bad time for Matchbox as the bright and slick Hot Wheels destroyed their American market. Come to Boston used cars for a great selection of cars.
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. Matchboz was once again challenging Hot Wheels domination by 1970.
The 1980′s were a difficult financial time for England and Matchbox was sold to Universal Toys in 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. Much to the delight of collectors everywhere, Mattel never made any changes and continues to produce Matchbox cars to this day.
Darby Turnstile