Matchbox
The name Matchbox is a brand name for toy cars , which was used by Lesney Products & Co. Ltd. from 1953. were produced and marketed in London . The name derives from the English word for Matchbox (matchbox) from since the cardboard boxes of historical car models in size and appearance to remind one.
Since 1997 the company has belonged to the US toy company Mattel , which is known for its Barbie doll , among other things . Due to the long tradition of the brand, toy cars from other manufacturers on the same scale are often generally referred to as Matchbox cars ( generic name ).
history
Early history as a supplier (until 1953)
The Lesney story began in 1947 when two school friends Leslie and Rodney Smith decided to start a business together. They bought the former pub The Rifleman in Edmonton, London and founded Lesney Products on June 19, 1947 . The company name was made up of the first names of the two, and the name suffix Products was chosen because it was not yet clear which products should be produced. At the end of the year, the two of them acquired a number of die-casting machines and used them as a supplier of zinc cast components for the mechanical engineering industry. In 1948 Jack Odell joined the still very small company - initially only as a subtenant with his own model making workshop - and later became a full partner. The capacity of the still small company continued to grow until 1950, when the outbreak of the Korean War imposed restrictions on the use of zinc for non-essential products and Lesney had to concentrate on the manufacture of war materials. After the war, a peculiarity in UK tax law, where a company's inventory on January 1 of each year was used as the basis for assessing corporate tax payable, resulted in industrial suppliers like Lesney running out of business in the last few months of the year got. In view of the upcoming Christmas business, the focus was therefore on the production of toys in order to keep the machines running at full capacity.
The models produced in this period up to 1953 (with exceptions until 1955) are very rare today under the name Early Lesney Toys and are accordingly sought after and expensive. Among the models include large models of cement mixers, a Soap Box Racer -called soap box and various characters, including Muffin The Mule from the eponymous British television series.
The company co-founder Rodney Smith left the company in 1952, shortly before the first high phase, after differences with his business partners.
Success in toy production and Regular Wheels years
The first big success for the new die-cast zinc toys from Lesney in the toy market came in the pre-Christmas business in 1952/53 with a miniature model of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation carriage . After a large version of this model had already been produced in 1951, but with the death of King George VI. had to be changed, Lesney decided to bring the much more successful small model back onto the market. More than a million copies of the so-called Small Coronation Coach were sold, a sensationally high circulation for the time.
The profit from the sales was used to finance the production of the small Matchbox models, and soon afterwards the Fürth- born Moses Kohnstam, one of the co-founders of the German toy retailer M. Kohnstam & Co. (Moko for short), joined as an expert in financing, logistics and storage and packaging to the company. His company had been in England since the early 20th century and together they designed the early first boxes for Lesney based on a Czech matchbox from the Norvic Matches brand . On it stood next to the name Lesney also his abbreviation Moko .
In 1953 the first “real” Matchbox car left the Lesney production facilities: Because only toys that were smaller than a matchbox could be brought into British schools, Jack Odell, now a senior executive in the development department, developed a small green steamroller for his daughter Anne , the Aveling Road Roller. The name Matchbox was coined and the foundation stone laid for the successful Regular Wheels series, which was to be continued until 1969.
As early as 1953, the next four models in the new toy range appeared with a fire truck, a dump truck, a small cement mixer and a Massey-Harris tractor. All four were scaled-down models of vehicles that were already being marketed on a large scale as Early Lesney Toys . In addition to these early commercial vehicles, new models, including the first passenger car models, came onto the market every year in the later 1950s. In addition to British classics ( Aston Martin , Vauxhall Cresta or Jaguar D-Type ), there are also Volkswagen models ( VW Beetle , VW T1 box car) or a Citroën DS 19. These early unglazed models are just like the Early Lesney Toys today very rarely found in good condition and regularly fetch high collector prices. An existing original packaging increases the value significantly, as with all vehicle models, more on this in the section collector's values .
Due to objections from toy dealers to the flood of new releases in the first few years, the decision was made in 1960 to keep the number of vehicles over the years at the 75 models that had appeared to date. From 1959, one of the old models was replaced every year by a new one, which was given the same number and was listed as a B , C or even D variant. The new model could either be a new variant of the previous model (as is the case with the RW 1A to RW 1D road rollers, for example) or a completely different model. From then on, the Regular Wheels series was also known under the name 1-75 .
One of the first Regular Wheels models: The Cement Mixer No. 3A (1953)
A Matchbox American Ford Station Wagon, number 31A from 1957
The Ford Heavy Wreck Truck, number 71C from 1968
The Scammell Snowplow with gray wheels and original packaging, number 16C from 1964
In 1956 the Models of Yesteryears also appeared for the first time. The early models in this series were mostly horse-drawn carriages and vehicles from the early years of motorization. The models were later converted to vehicles from around 1910 to 1930 and continued into the 1990s. Today, new MOYs appear only on special occasions , which are particularly attractive to collectors of this series.
The so-called accessory packs and major packs were also launched for the first time in 1956 and 1957 . While the Accessory Packs consisted of accessories for the small vehicles (for example gas stations, a small metal shop or gas pumps for the gas stations), the Major Packs were their own new range of vehicle models. Above all, trucks or a large BP racing transporter for two Regular Wheels racing cars were part of the series, which was to usher in the king-size series that followed in 1960 .
This king-size series followed the principle of major packs and mainly had large models on offer: In addition to classic commercial vehicles ( Foden - concrete mixer , Claas - combine harvester or even a low-loader), some passenger cars in an approximate 1:43 scale were also part of the King size series. The first model was the Mercury Cougar (K-21), which was followed in 1969 by a Dodge Charger (K-22), a Mercury Police Car (K-23) and a Lamborghini Miura (K-24). Later, a Mercedes-Benz ambulance with a Binz special body and a removable stretcher was also offered.
A Models of Yesteryears- Vauxhall Prince Henry , number Y-2C from 1970
A Major Pack-Dinkum dumper, number M-10A from 1962
A Major Pack Pickfords 200 ton transporter, number M-6A from 1960
King size: Claas Combine Harvester No. K-9 from 1962
The first two cars of the king-size series: Mercury Cougar (right) and Dodge Charger (1969)
In the further course of the 1960s, the company capacities at Lesney continued to increase due to the continued success. In an interview with Jack Odell published in the New York Times in 1962, Jack Odell reported that Matchbox was selling one million toy automobiles a week. With the completion of the Lesney Factory in Hackney in 1963 at the latest , it was now possible firstly to produce significantly larger quantities of models and secondly to distribute them logistically all over the world. The containers filled with models were taken to ship and train with the company's own trucks .
The number of employees, the production volume and the number of other plants also increased significantly after the new factory was built. While the 1966 collective catalog still mentions 3,500 employees worldwide and two million models per week, at the end of the 1960s there were already 6,000 employees in 13 factories. In an in-house design office with around 160 toolmakers in 1963, the new Regular Wheels models were modeled by experts after previous photo research and, with the approval of Leslie Smith, they were put into production. All the machines there had been developed by the company itself and therefore produced models that precisely met the specifications and ideas of Leslie Smith and Jack Odell.
It was precisely these models that became better and more detailed with the technological advances of the 1960s: at the beginning of the 1960s, glazing and interior fittings were introduced, and in the years to come more and more emphasis was placed on the highest possible play value. Doors that can be opened, foldable crane arms or a steerable front axle on models from the late 1960s ( called autosteer at Matchbox , first installed in a model in 1967 and improved and patented in 1968) were among the innovations of this time. Some models, mostly commercial vehicles, also received small accessories such as cows, horses or scaffolding parts. The first model with accessories was the Studebaker Wagonaire, launched in 1963, with a hunter and two dogs.
First crisis and Superfast era (from 1968)
The newly launched Hot Wheels models from Mattel , which with their thin, smooth-running wheels were significantly faster than the conventional regular wheels, made it necessary to rethink Matchbox from 1968/1969. The regular wheels era therefore ended this year with the regular wheels model 75B Ferrari Berlinetta . As an answer to the Hot Wheels cars, Matchbox brought the first Superfast models onto the market from 1969, which were able to stand up to the models from the Mattel Group thanks to their very thin wheels and the fast freewheel (hence the name Superfast ).
Many old Regular Wheels models were then converted to the new Superfast wheels and are now known as transition models (or transitionals ). Some old vehicles were taken over 1: 1 and simply painted in other 1970s-typical colors, but other vehicles were completely redeveloped. Thus came including the BMC - prototype 1800 Pininfarina , the shape of the Citroën CX anticipates to greater fame when he rang one of the first new Superfast models the series.
In the further course of the 1970s, increasingly unusual models in line with the zeitgeist were added to the Superfast series. Here, too, Matchbox remained true to the principle of the Regular Wheels series of offering a maximum of 75 models at the same time. In addition to some real models such as the VW Golf I or the Ford Cortina , the program also included many fantasy models with large engines or oversized wheels. Matchbox was able to provide the right answer to the many unusual vehicles from Hot Wheels, which were also often characterized by numerous eye-catching details. Like competitor Hot Wheels, Matchbox often used catchy puns when naming the vehicles, which were mostly a reference to the characteristics of the respective vehicle. The Gruesome Twosome, for example, is a flat sports car with one engine at the front and one at the rear, in this case the name means The Cruel Two .
However, all vehicles always retained their English-language designations and were usually only labeled on the country-specific boxes with a name translated into the national language. For example, while the number 43e Steam Locomotive also has this name on the base plate in German-speaking countries, for the German toy market it has a steam locomotive on the packaging .
The other series of the Superfast era include the Speedkings and the Superkings (basically Superfast models on a large scale and the successor series to the king-size series), the BattleKings (military models on a larger scale), the Skybusters (aircraft models from 1973 ) or the SeaKings (ship models from 1973). A special feature are the so-called Rolamatics , in which conventional Superfast models have been added moving parts driven by an axis. The civil kennel truck with four hunting dogs in the rear is "transformed" under the name Wild Life Truck into a yellow safari pickup with a moving lion on the loading area.
A selection of early Superfast models from the first year of production in 1970
No. 73 Weasel, one of the Rolamatics models (the gun pivots when moved)
An armored car from the Super Kings series, in addition as a money box available
A Superkings Plymouth Trail Duster No. K-77 in German road service version
"Tanzara" No53 from 1971 with original packaging
Superfast racetrack
From around 1969, Lesney brought out a racing track to match the Superfast models. This consisted of yellow tracks, blue curves and numerous, mostly red, additional elements. Initially, these elements were called SF (for Superfast ). However, this was changed to TA (for track accessories ) from 1971 to avoid confusion with the Superfast car models. The Scorpions system was an extension of the electric racetrack , in which the vehicles could run on the Superfast racetrack using batteries.
Matchbox Powertrack
Complementing the analog Superfast trains came in 1977, first in the United States , the electric-powered slot car -Bahnsystem Matchbox Powertrack , initially under the name Speed Track , on the market. The system of these tracks was very similar to that of the competing products from Faller or Carrera and was Matchbox's attempt to take a larger market position in this segment as well.
In 1978, the PT 1000, PT 2000, PT 3000 and PT 4000 sets were introduced in Europe, and just one year later the PT 6000 chase track came onto the market, with which the breakthrough in this area was achieved.
However, there was particularly strong competition in Germany. As mentioned above, two similar railways had existed for some time. On the one hand, the Faller company from Gütenbach has been selling its own slot car system since 1963 using purchased US licenses; on the other hand, the introduction of the Matchbox tracks almost overlapped with the first publication of the famous Carrera racetrack. The Carrera railways, which had already been introduced a year earlier, were cleverly used there to secure a dominant position in the local market. However, since none of the two main competitors had the lightning bolt ( U-Turn , a way of turning the cars on the current track) introduced by Matchbox , which appeared for the first time in the PT 6000, it is estimated that almost 90 percent of all power track sold in Germany were Orbit the chase .
Simultaneously with the market launch of the PT 6000, the trackless Turbo SR was released in England, which was produced in two versions. However, since the number of units sold by both the railways and purchased parts fell short of expectations, the accessories market for these railways was soon no longer pursued.
In 1980/81 the program was expanded for the German-speaking market. In addition to the tried and tested car chase, the PT 5000 was added, which had a steep curve as a special feature . Also in 1981 Matchbox introduced the PowerTrack Plus series. This had a 12 volt motor and stronger magnets to allow a little better grip, as higher speeds were now possible. With the introduction of the PowerTrack Plus series, the incipient cost pressure was noticeable: instead of boxes in the respective national languages, multilingual packaging was now used. Despite the austerity measures, the power tracks continued to roll off the production line before video games and the first remote-controlled cars pushed the car racetracks more and more out of children's rooms and caused sales losses.
From 1982 the railways could no longer be found in the catalogs.
Second crisis and bankruptcy
After the successful 1970s, when between five and six million toys were still being manufactured in 1979, Lesney Products Ltd. bankrupt on June 11, 1982 after an operating loss of $ 15 million. Reasons for this were, among other things, increasing competition and declining interest in handy toys without battery operation. The rights to the brand were then sold to the US company Universal Toys under the direction of the Chinese David Yeh. Around 10,000 employees produced around 300,000 models per week in his possession. However, some machines and tools remained the property of Jack Odell, who continued to manufacture and sell models of cars similar to the Models of Yesteryear under the name Lledo (Odell read backwards).
The company continued to produce in England until 1984, but then relocated the production facilities to the Far East ( Macau , Thailand and China ). The Matchbox models produced during this period lost their original quality and on May 6, 1992, the company was sold to the US company Tyco Toys for 135 million US dollars . Matchbox was also not in its possession for long and was passed on to Mattel in 1997, who had indirectly contributed to the development of the Superfast series with the introduction of the Hot Wheels range in 1969. Matchbox is still owned by Mattel to this day.
Current time
After the purchase by Mattel, Matchbox found it difficult to recover from the eventful years in the 1990s and it was very difficult for the model developers to restore the traditional brand to its old strength.
The Stars of Cars series, developed for the German market in the early 2000s, was visually attractive, but could not hide the ailing Matchbox brand either. After the Superfast and anniversary editions (2004 for the 50th anniversary of the brand, 2009 for the anniversary of the Superfast series or 2013/2014 for the 60th anniversary), Mattel let the core brand Matchbox fall further behind the strong in-house brother Hot Wheels , as these are popular with children were and still are much more popular today.
While Hot Wheels kept coming up with new models based on real role models, at Matchbox, for the most part, fantasy shapes were developed or old models were simply refurbished.
Matchbox on the international market
Right from the start, the brand's models were shipped to numerous countries on the world market and some of them were also produced in these countries. With the construction of the large Lesney Factory on Lee Conservancy Road in the London district of Hackney in 1963 at the latest, it was possible to move larger quantities of the miniatures abroad.
United States
Matchbox was sold in the United States by Fred Bronner Corporation in Manhattan , New York City . In addition to selling the standard models from England, Fred Bronner also developed his own products and box variants. First and foremost, the Build-A-Road plug-in system can be mentioned, with which separate road systems could be created for the models. In addition, small puzzles with motifs from Matchbox models were produced.
In addition, the playmats and playcases , which were also sold in Europe, were much more successful in the USA, and the department store giant Sears also developed its own playcase series under license.
Since it was acquired by Mattel, Matchbox's main business has been conducted from its headquarters in El Segundo , California .
Federal Republic of Germany
In the Federal Republic of Germany, the brand had been represented with its own factory since 1959/1960. In the former dairy in the Bienen district of the North Rhine-Westphalian city of Rees , the Dutchman Jakob Prins, who became known as the founder of the Edor toy company (later Edocar ), began to set up the German subsidiary of Matchbox. Shortly before, he had acquired the distribution rights and expanded the location in 1964, 1969 and 1971 by 1000 square meters of warehouse each.
The former operations manager Theo Wissing, who was responsible for finance and accounting in the branch, got his own apartment above the halls and was the boss of almost 70 employees from the Rees area. The cars were produced in England and two shipping containers with models reached the factory in Bienen via Rotterdam every day . After clearance by Reeser Customs, it was repackaged and transported to all German cities by truck and train. The only product produced in Rees itself was the Cascade marble run, published for the first time in 1971, without a car, it bears the label Made in Western Germany .
At the end of the seventies, however, the Reeser workforce came into shock: A contact by the English to Germany gave the Matchbox executive floor a new location in Hösbach, Bavaria . After Jakob Prins retired at the end of 1978, the business itself lost momentum. Paulhans Handrick, the new managing director from June 26, 1980, announced the move. Josef Tasch, the then mayor of the city of Rees, flew to England especially to fight unsuccessfully for the important economic factor to remain in the town. However, the move was already a done deal and in 1979 the Rees site was closed. The logistical and bureaucratic effort of the permanent move was taken over from February 1979 by a Hösbach couple, the management consultant Wilhelm Sträter and his then wife Erika Linhardt. They received the order from Handrick to find a suitable location in the industrial area of Hösbach, to rent apartments for the employees and also to recruit new employees for the company.
Theo Wissing, who continued to work in the company, stayed in Rees and the first managing director in Hösbach was Paul Handrick until December 10, 1980, before Ernst Zillig succeeded him, who headed the company as managing director until April 16, 1986. The cars continued to come from England, but now their own boxes were produced, which are now common among collectors under the name Hösbach boxes . These were produced in two variants: a general variant with the illustration of a street and a model-specific variant with the respective miniature and matching small parts, such as the load and worker on the railway wagon shown. In addition, numerous German special models appeared, for example with German “Police” or “Accident Rescue” lettering.
After the company was renamed from Lesney Spielwaren GmbH to Matchbox Spielwaren GmbH, Zillig's successor was the authorized signatory Ludwig Darmstädter, who led the company for eleven years (from April 16, 1983 to June 9, 1994). At the shareholders' meeting on August 24, 1994, the takeover by Tyco was officially decided and Darmstädter was deposed as managing director. The two companies merged by name (from Matchbox Spielwaren GmbH and Tyco Toys Deutschland GmbH to Tyco Matchbox (Deutschland) GmbH ) and the relocation of the Tyco headquarters from Nuremberg to Hösbach.
After Darmstadt's departure from the company, Peter Kloss took over the management from June 9, 1994 to January 31, 1995, who was then replaced by Karlheinz Jost. He gave up his post during the probationary period and Arthur Ruland became the new managing director on August 31, 1995. During his term of office, the company's last capital increase took place, which was decided on October 11, 1995 at a shareholders' meeting: on November 14, 1995, the capital was increased by 16 million D-Marks to 17 million D-Marks.
The company Tyco Matchbox (Deutschland) GmbH was deleted from the commercial register on December 8, 1998 after the takeover by Mattel . In the former factories there is now a ceramic specialist market in Rees and a Globus hardware store in Hösbach.
GDR
Matchbox was also represented in the German Democratic Republic , albeit rarely. The models were often only in the Intershop , rare even in the supermarkets available supermarkets, or through model railway shops and more expensive than in the West . In addition, the selection was drastically reduced: In rural areas there were almost no Matchbox models in the shops, while these were relatively common in larger cities, especially at Christmas time.
Some models with western advertising placements (such as an Esso - or a BP - tank truck ) also had to be "declined" for the GDR market. Hundreds of standard models were brought to the east and the stickers had to be removed from the models by hand. Nowadays it is difficult to determine whether the missing stickers on the models were "officially" removed back then or have peeled off over time. On the 1979/1980 catalog for the Federal Republic of the GDR version, the US space shuttle in the upper right corner also had to be removed.
The only special model for the GDR in 1987 was a variant of the K-15 double-decker bus with the inscription "750 Years 1237–1987 - Visit Berlin , Capital of the GDR".
Switzerland
Matchbox can also look back on a long history in Switzerland . As early as 1956, Waldmeier AG in Basel was the general agent for the brand on the Swiss market. This agency lasted until 1979 when Matchbox was looking for a new distribution partner. Waldmeier's successor was then the Joker Group from Zurich , which was specially founded as a new agency.
Business in Switzerland (as well as in Austria) was also coordinated from Hösbach, where first Hans-Peter Fässler and then Ludwig Darmstädter attached great importance to the continued smooth operation in the German-speaking area. With the decline of Matchbox in Germany, the end came for Joker as a partner for Matchbox in Switzerland.
Brazil
As early as 1972 (special boxes existed from 1975), production began to be partially relocated to Brazil in order to bring out special versions for the country. Since the high import duties for finished toys made importing complete models very costly, the models were dismantled into the body shell, the floor panels and the fittings and then shipped in individual parts. In Brazil, the Brinquedos Rei company in Manaus, a company that was commissioned to do the assembly, had already produced special models for Siku and Schuco . Often colors were chosen that were currently available, which resulted in completely new Superfast models. Due to their exotic history and their rarity in Europe, these are very sought after.
The models painted in the normal standard colors can usually only be distinguished from the English models by a distinguishing feature on the base plate. The models were identified as Made in Brazil in various ways : Initially, it was paper stickers and later plastic clips that were pressed over the line Made in England . The inscription ZF Manaus is also common among Brazilian models.
Matchbox production at REI ended around 1980. A few models under the name Inbrima followed until 1990 , before production of the Matchbox models in Brazil ended.
Eastern Europe
The Superfast models produced in Bulgaria and Hungary are now also a separate collection area: With the main goal of opening up a new sales market in Eastern Europe, a contract was signed with the Bulgarian company DSO Mladost / MIR in 1983. Many Superfast forms were sold there after the series was discontinued and continued to be produced there with their own colors. The Made in England on the base plate has been replaced by Made in Bulgaria or Made in Hungary . While in Hungary only ten different models were produced in a single factory in Budapest in 1987, production in Bulgaria was much more successful: There were significantly more models in a wide variety of designs, and a special series with chrome-plated models appeared in 2003.
The models produced in Eastern Europe were originally only intended for the Bulgarian and Hungarian markets, but have also been exported since 1991.
Matchbox as collectibles
Matchbox models have always been popular not only with children. The Models of Yesteryears in particular found their first lovers early on. This resulted from the special products designed for adult collectors. At the end of the 1960s, for example, a pen holder, an ashtray or a paperweight was developed in the MOY series, which are known as Lesney Veteran Gifts .
Nowadays, the Regular Wheels and Superfast models in particular are sought-after and expensive due to their variety of variants. Especially the older models of the respective series regularly achieve high prices depending on their condition. The most expensive Matchbox model ever sold was a prototype of a dump truck in 2010 , which was to be produced in six to twelve copies in 1955 as one of the first large-scale models in the Matchbox range. The model was sold to a Japanese collector for just under £ 10,000 at an event to mark the 25th anniversary of the Matchbox Club .
In the technical jargon of Matchbox collecting, there are different terms for the evaluation and description of the respective models. In addition to the various status information, from "mint boxed" (or "mint in box") for undamaged models in the original box to top models without a box with very slight external damage ("very near mint" or "near mint") to "Fair" models in a slightly played condition are sufficient, there are also different terms for the degree of authenticity of the models. While the so-called Code 1 models are completely original, Code 2 models or Code 3 models were officially or unofficially converted or repainted without a Matchbox license. As an example of the numerous variants in the Matchbox series, whether original or not, the various abbreviations for components of different textures or colors can also be named. For example, many old Regular Wheels models are equipped with different colored wheel types that have often been changed several times over the years or used at the same time. In addition to the standard GPWs (gray plastic wheels), the BPW (black plastic wheels) and the SPW (silver plastic wheels), a few other types were also used for special vehicles. Among other things, spoke wheels on racing cars or rubber tires for vehicles with painted rims were used. With the introduction of the Superfast series, the number of bike types used multiplied significantly.
A big problem among collectors today is often the authenticity check of the individual models and boxes. Especially when making purchases over the Internet , it is often difficult for the buyer to decide on the basis of a few pictures whether the objects of purchase are original, restored or reproduced. At times it happens that sellers do not answer questions truthfully and the buyer buys completely worthless models or boxes. In case of doubt, it is therefore often advisable not to make the purchase and rather to look for real models on stock exchanges or flea markets. There, too, there is the risk of finding restored models and reproduced boxes, but the buyer has the opportunity to ask advice from other collectors or connoisseurs, who are usually also present.
Special collecting areas
Many Matchbox collectors specialize in specific areas within the brand. The following overview lists the collecting areas whose collectors make up the largest proportion.
variants
The Matchbox models are particularly popular because of their variety of variants, which reached its peak in the 60s and 70s. In addition to wheel variants, there are also different colors or floor plate colors. Apparently the same models often differ only in minimal changes (for example black plastic wheels or gray metal wheels, blue or unpainted base plate, towing device at the front or no towing device). Earlier variants are often more sought after than later ones, as these were usually only produced briefly. The range of variants can also be transferred to the different box types. There are often five to six different box variants for one model, which, like the models of the individual numbers, are designated with A to F boxes.
Two stake trucks from the Regular Wheels series that are almost identical in appearance
Difference on the base plate: the earlier version does not have a tow guide (towing device at the front)
Promotional models
Another very extensive collection area is the numerous Matchbox advertising models. In the 1960s and 1970s in particular, many companies recognized the potential of the small cars and began negotiating special advertising deals with Matchbox. Although Matchbox had unauthorized models with contemporary advertising stickers already in existence in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it was not until the mid-1960s that cars were officially used as advertising media. The British mineral oil company BP was the first company to take the opportunity to produce a whole range of advertising models: In addition to a futuristic car tanker and a classic tanker, London double-decker buses, tow trucks and king-size models were also given the BP logo. In addition, some accessory packs appeared in the BP look, including several petrol stations and the associated petrol pumps. In January 1963, an article appeared in the internal BP magazine BP Shield on the relationship between Matchbox and the oil company.
In addition to BP, Esso was also represented with numerous advertising models. Similar vehicle types were used as with the BP models: An Esso tanker was followed by an Esso tow truck, also king-size models and petrol stations in the Esso design.
Matchbox also released numerous special and promotional models in Germany. The first German advertising model dates back to 1965, when an Aral variant of the 23 C tanker came onto the market. Around 1970, the first unofficially modified Superfast model followed with German advertising: The variant of the No. 74 London Bus with the inscription "Bank with class - Girokasse" was distributed to customers of the local savings banks . As the seventies progressed, the number of (now official) special models also increased. In the mid-seventies, for example, a container truck with a blue Karstadt sticker, a Chevrolet van with advertising for Adidas and some models with German police inscriptions appeared.
Today, German models are particularly sought after abroad.
A selection of Matchbox's BP promotional models
Matchbox advertising models for the German market: a police motorcycle, an Aral tank truck and a double-decker bus for World Savings Day 1970
Transitional models
Many old Regular Wheels models were equipped with Superfast wheels when they were converted to the Superfast series in 1969 and mostly painted in other colors. In some so-called transitionals , however, the remaining old colors were used up. As a result, some new models in old colors came onto the market. The yellow Lamborghini Miura from the Regular Wheels series officially only exists as a golden Superfast variant that can be seen in the catalogs, but unofficially some Superfast variants with yellow paint have also come onto the market. These rare Superfast models are in great demand today due to their rarity.
Pre-productions and prototypes
So-called pre-productions and prototypes , i.e. models that were created before the actual series production, are particularly sought-after and significantly more expensive than conventional series models. These models can have experimental colors or wheel types or they can be models that were manufactured once and did not even make it into the respective series in other colors.
The pre-productions also include casting molds or previously common wooden molds for the models that were used to adjust the proportions in the development laboratories.
Matchbox kits
Model kits were produced by Matchbox on a scale of 1:32 and 1:76. The focus was on army vehicles, but there was also a wide range of car and aircraft models from different eras, as well as ship models.
These kits were cast in several colors depending on the price range; the boxes of car models often contained sprues with vapor-deposited chrome for decorative parts. At the beginning, the number on the side of the pack was designed with the occurring colors.
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At the Brighton Toy Fair in 1973 the first model aircraft were presented in 1:72 scale, in the summer of 1974 the first vehicle models in 1:76 scale and at the end of 1975 a new series of model vehicles in 1:32 scale appeared. The latter comprised, on the one hand, current racing vehicles at the time such as the Surtees TS16 / 03, the six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 / 2, the Porsche 917-10 Can-Am or the Porsche 935 , the latter as a Martini or a Liqui-Moly variant.
On the other hand, there were classic racing and sports cars, including an Aston Martin Ulster from 1934, a Bugatti Type 59 or a Jaguar SS100 .
In 1979 Lesney bought Aluminum Model Toys (AMT), based in the United States. Therefore, some Matchbox kits with the AMT logo then appeared on the US market. The largest AMT model car kit program of US vehicles was again offered by Matchbox on the European market.
Matchbox kits were offered until 1990, before the Revell company from Bünde acquired the kit division. She brought out some innovations that came from her own program. For some time Revell continued to produce the kits in the last white pack version. Matchbox had already changed its packaging from white to black in 1988. Only the planes were sold in these packs, the vehicles continued to have the old design. After Revell left the "ground troops" division for a long time (the last models of this type were created with the manufacturers Italeri and Esci in the 1970s), the models were reissued in 1995 as part of the new entry into this area. After 2000, Revell no longer produced these in a Matchbox guise, but with new packaging and pictures. Today, a Matchbox model can only be recognized by its 1:76 scale.
For a long time only the vehicles in this series were produced. Since August 2011, the soldiers have been available again in the same scale. Another indication of a Matchbox kit are the small dioramas that have been added. Revell only has the model moldings cast in one color.
Soldiers figures in 1:76 scale (around 50 figures per pack) and 1:32 (15 figures per pack each, poses as in 1:76) were also sold under the Matchbox brand. Some vehicles and figures have also been reissued by Revell in new packaging. The figures were made of very detailed soft plastic and resembled the postures of the cheap versions sold in bags in toy stores.
Matchbox series at a glance
In the following overview only the best known and most successful series of the Matchbox brand are listed. In addition, numerous special carry cases (carrying cases for the models), gift sets (gift packs with at least four vehicles) or playmats / playcases (playmats that fold out) appeared, especially in the 1960s and 1970s.
In addition, various small series that were only on the market for a short time appeared increasingly in the early to mid-1980s. These include the TrickShifters (which could be shot down with the help of a ramp), the SwopTops (which could be converted from a coupé into a convertible by turning the roof) or the key-powered Burnin 'Key Cars .
| Surname | description | Production period | Country of production |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Lesney Toys | early large models under the name "Lesney" | 1947-1955 | England |
| Regular wheels | most successful series ever, normal vehicle models | 1953-1969 | England |
| Major packs | larger commercial vehicles as a supplement to the Regular Wheels, replaced by the King Size range in 1960 | 1956-1960 | England |
| Accessory packs | Accessories as a supplement to the Regular Wheels (street signs, petrol stations) | 1957-1960 | England |
| King size | large commercial vehicles as a supplement to the regular wheels (also cars in about 1:43) | 1960-1968 | England |
| Models of Yesteryear | Vehicles from the early days of motorization, later models from around 1910–1930 | 1956 – today | England, later the Far East |
| Superfast / Two Packs | Initially normal car models, later colorful cars typical of the 70s | 1970-1990s | England, Macau, Thailand |
| Superkings / Speedkings | large models to complement the Superfast range, including large cars in about 1:43 | 1971-1985 | England |
| Battlekings | Superkings-like series exclusively with military models, abolished for moral reasons | 1974 | England |
| Seakings | Miniatures of warships, also discontinued for moral reasons | 1975-1988 | England |
| Skybusters | Miniatures of all types of aircraft (passenger planes, war planes) | 1973 – today | England, later the Far East |
| Rolamatics | A series similar to the Superfast models with moving parts when moving | 1973-1980 | England |
| Big-MX | technically interesting Superkings models that can be "shot at" with an electric pistol and thus moved | 1971/1972 | England |
| Adventure 2000 | futuristic series of fantasy vehicles for driving on strange planets | 1977 | England |
| Convoy | Models of trucks, each with a tractor unit and a trailer | 1979 (occasionally until 2010) | England, later the Far East |
| Code Red | A range of special edition models in the style of the Code Red television series sold in the USA | 1981 | United States |
| Disco girls | Matchbox dolls that, after being taken over by Mattel, were to compete with the in-house Barbie doll | 1972-1975 | England |
| Kindergarten / play street | Matchbox model and street systems for toddlers, mostly colorful (and childlike) Superfast models | 1970s | England, later the Far East |
| Motorcity | extensive road connector system for the conventional Superfast models | 1980s | China, Macau |
| Connectables | Models with only a distant real prototype, all cars could be disassembled and combined with one another as desired | 1989-1990 | China |
| Collectibles | high quality series with good quality models, which should primarily appeal to collectors | 1980s – 1990s | China |
| Premiere Series | high-quality models with elaborate paintwork and specially developed rubber tires | 1990s | China |
| Real working rigs | heavy modern construction machines with a high play value | from 2013 | China, Thailand |
Matchbox in motorsport
In 1972, Matchbox became the main sponsor of the Surtees team of former British racing driver John Surtees for two years . From then on, the team acted as Matchbox Team Surtees and started exclusively in Formula 2 during the sponsorship . For this purpose, the TS-10 was developed and presented to the public on January 30, 1972 in the British motorsport magazine Autosport . Initially ten TS-10s were built, and the private teams of Carlos Ruesch and Andrea de Adamich each received a TS-10.
The British Mike Hailwood was won as the main driver for Team Surtees, and at the beginning of the European Championship season, John Surtees was still racing himself. Another driver, the Brazilian Carlos Pace , was signed later. The first Formula 2 season was extremely successful and Hailwood won the overall standings with 55 points after victories at Mantorp Park , the Salzburgring , Rouen , the Österreichring and the Hockenheimring .
A further development of the TS-10, the TS-15, was presented for the European Championship season 1973/1974 and Pace won in November 1972 at its premiere in a test race in Interlagos . The German Jochen Mass and the Briton Derek Bell were signed as new drivers , Mike Hailwood then left the team.
The 1973/1974 season was not quite as successful as the previous one. After a deal for new 2-liter engines between March and BMW , their driver Jean-Pierre Jarier dominated the season and Jochen Mass “only” achieved second place in the overall standings. After victories in Kinnekulle at the Kinnekulle Ring (where only one race was held in 1973) and the July race at the Hockenheimring, 41 points were recorded in the end. Matchbox then ended its involvement in Formula 2, as the focus had to be more concentrated on the actual toy business after the introduction of the Superfast models.
Trivia
- In 1970 the illustrator and author Miroslav Šašek published the English language children's book Mike and the Modelmakers in collaboration with Matchbox . In this, the history of cars from the basic idea to shipping all over the world is explained in a child-friendly manner.
- In September 1972 the band Black Sabbath released the title Cornucopia on their fourth album , in which a rhyme means: " Let them have their little toys / Matchbox cars and more kids joys ".
- In 2010, the former Matchbox parent plant in Hackney was demolished for the benefit of the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics . Today there is Mabley Green , a large lawn, and a soccer field .
See also
- Siku , the biggest competitor in the German-speaking area
- Budgie , very close to Matchbox cars in size and style
- Husky , competing models available in Woolworth stores in the 1960s
- Corgi Toys , another large English model car manufacturer
- Dinky Toys , also another competitor from England
- Majorette , competitor from France, today the Far East
literature
- Charlie Mack: The Encyclopedia of Matchbox Toys 1947-2001. 2013, ISBN 978-0-7643-4560-9 .
- Jean-Christophe Carbonel: 1973-2000 The Story of Matchbox Kits. Histoire & Collections, Paris 2011, ISBN 978-2-35250-188-6 .
- Richard Scholl: Matchbox: The Official 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition. 2002, ISBN 0-7893-0685-9 .
Web links
- Welcome to Matchbox Germany in the Internet Archive
- Regular Wheels World Online encyclopedia of the Regular Wheels series from 1953 to 1969
- 70s Matchbox - Matchbox collector's site with many photos of the Superfast series from 1970 to 1979
- Matchbox plastic kits (accessed May 28, 2015)
- matchboxkits.org (accessed May 28, 2015)
- Gallery of the various Powertrack vehicles (accessed January 12, 2017)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Charlie Mack: Lesney's Matchbox Toys. Regular Wheels Years, 1947-1969. Schiffer Publishing, 2012, ISBN 978-0-7643-4188-5 .
- ^ Alan Swain: The Rifleman - Union Row - Tottenham Birthplace of Lesney Products and 'Matchbox' Toys. February 2015, accessed January 8, 2015 .
- ^ Lesney Large Coronation Coach. 2007, accessed January 8, 2017 .
- ↑ M. Kohnstam & Co. 2016, accessed on January 15, 2017 .
- ↑ a b History of Matchbox. 2016, accessed January 15, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c 60 years of Matchbox - The story of the little cult racers. March 21, 2013, accessed January 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Moko Lesney Matchbox 1-75 series general information. 2007, accessed January 10, 2017 .
- ^ Information in the Matchbox catalog from 1966
- ^ Matchbox collector's catalog, German edition 1969.
- ↑ a b c Michael Ossenkopp: Insolvency follows cult. In: Nordkurier. May 18, 2013, accessed October 22, 2015 .
- ^ Information in the Matchbox catalog from 1966, pp. 14 and 17
- ^ A b Andy Hooper: Powertrack - The Story. Retrieved January 12, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c d e Short story of the Matchbox car racing tracks. August 17, 2007, accessed January 12, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Thomas Geiger: Matchbox - the huge world of small cars. In: The world. April 21, 2013, accessed October 22, 2015 .
- ↑ Eve Tahmincioglu: Tyco Agrees to purchase Matchbox. UPI, May 6, 1992, accessed October 22, 2015 .
- ↑ a b The data in this section comes from old extracts from the commercial register of the local court in Hösbach, which User: Matchboxler has .
- ↑ a b c Matchbox Cars: When Bees Boomed. ( Memento from October 16, 2015 in the web archive archive.today ) at: RP-Online , accessed on October 16, 2015
- ^ Carsten Oettler: Matchbox catalog 1979/80 GDR edition (GDR edition). 2017, accessed January 16, 2017 .
- ↑ Company profile on the Waldmeier AG website, accessed on October 20, 2015.
- ↑ Company history on the Joker Group website, accessed on October 20, 2015.
- ↑ a b Matchbox models issued in Brazil. (No longer available online.) 2014, archived from the original on September 2, 2016 ; accessed on January 15, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b Christian Falkensteiner: Brazilian Boxes. 2016, accessed January 15, 2016 .
- ↑ Keith Bickford: REI (Brazil). 2013, accessed January 15, 2017 .
- ^ Matchbox models issued in Hungary. (No longer available online.) 2014, archived from the original on September 2, 2016 ; accessed on January 15, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Matchbox models issued in Bulgaria. (No longer available online.) 2014, archived from the original on January 15, 2017 ; accessed on January 15, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Bulgaria on Daniel Beck's website, accessed on October 23, 2016.
- ↑ See Matchbox's 1968 and 1969 catalogs
- ↑ Prototype Matchbox toy sold for £ 10,200 at auction. In: Yorkshire Post. March 30, 2010, accessed January 16, 2017 .
- ↑ User: Matchboxler has a copy of the article from the official BP company archive .
- ↑ Matchbox sells model range. In: Hamburger Abendblatt. 1991, accessed October 22, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c d Team Surtees - The Formula 2 Years ( Memento of the original from July 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on trackthoughts.com, accessed October 21, 2015
