Matchbox is a toy brand which was introduced by Lesney Products in 1953, and is now owned by Mattel, Inc, which purchased the brand in 1997. The brand was given its name because the original die-cast "Matchbox" toys were sold in boxes similar to those in which matches were sold. The brand grew to encompass a broad range of toys, including larger scale die-cast models, plastic model kits, slot car racing, and action figures.
During the 1980s, Matchbox began to switch to the more conventional plastic and cardboard "blister packs" that were used by other die-cast toy brands such as Hot Wheels. By the 2000s, the box style packaging was re-introduced for the collectors' market, such as the 35th Anniversary of Superfast series in 2004 and the 50th Anniversary of Superfast in 2019.
Products currently marketed under the Matchbox name include scale model plastic and die-cast vehicles, and toy garages.
History
Early years: Lesney, the origin of the Matchbox name and the 1-75 series
The Matchbox name originated in 1953 as a brand name of the British die-casting company Lesney Products, whose reputation was moulded by[2] John W. "Jack" Odell (1920–2007), Leslie Charles Smith (1918–2005), and Rodney Smith. The name Lesney was a portmanteau of Leslie and Rodney Smith's first names. Their first major sales success was the popular model of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation coach, which sold more than a million models. Lesney co-owner Jack Odell then created a toy that paved the way for the company's future success which was designed for his daughter. Her school only allowed children to bring toys that could fit inside a matchbox, so Odell crafted a scaled-down version of the Lesney green and red road roller. This toy ultimately became the first of the 1-75 miniature range. A dump truck and a cement mixer completed the original three-model release that marked the starting point for the mass-market success of the Matchbox series. The company decided to sell the models in replica matchboxes, thus yielding the name of the series.
Additional models continued to be added to the line throughout the decade, including cars such as an MG Midget TD, a Vauxhall Cresta, a Ford Zodiac, and many others. As the collection grew, it also gradually became more international, including models of Volkswagens, a Citroën, and American makes. To make such miniatures, the designers took detailed photographs of the real models, even obtaining some original blueprints. This enabled them to make models with surprisingly high levels of detail, despite the small scale. The size of the models allowed Matchbox to occupy a market niche barely touched by the competition; the associated price advantage made the toys affordable and helped establish "Matchbox" as a generic word for small toy cars, whatever the brand.
Moko; growth & development of the 1-75 and other core series
In the earliest years of the regular, or 1-75 series – well before the series actually numbered 75 models – Lesney was marketed/distributed by Moko (itself named after its founder, Moses Kohnstam). Boxes in that era mentioned this, with the text "A Moko Lesney" appearing on each. Lesney gained its independence from Moko in 1959[5] by buying out Moko's share in the joint enterprise, leading to a period of growth, both in sales and in size. Early models did not feature windows or interiors, were made entirely of metal, and were often about 2" (5 cm) in length. By 1968, Matchbox was the biggest-selling brand of small die-cast model cars worldwide. By this time, the average model in their collection featured plastic windows, interiors, tyres (often with separate disc wheels), and occasional accessories; spring suspensions; opening parts; and was about 3" (7 cm) long. Some even featured steering, including the pressure-based AutoSteer system debuting in 1969. The line was very diverse, including lorries, buses, tractors, motorcycles, and trailers as well as standard passenger cars.
The three dominant brands in the world at the time, all British-made (Dinky, Matchbox and Corgi), were very successful. Each had its own market niche and its own strong reputation, while innovations and advances by one were adopted by the others within a matter of a few years. Each also expanded to some extent into the others' territory, though this never seemed to seriously affect the sales of any brand's core series.
As part of Lesney's expansion activities, four further die-cast model ranges were introduced during the 1950s and 60s. The Models of Yesteryear, introduced in 1956, were renditions of classic vehicles from the steam and early automotive eras. These were often about 3½-4" in length. Accessories Packs were also introduced in 1956 and included petrol pumps, garages, and the like. Major Packs, which were larger-scale models, often of construction vehicles, were added in 1957. The King Size series of larger-scale trucks and tractors was added in 1960 and was diversified from 1967 onwards to include passenger car models in a scale similar to that used by Corgi and Dinky. Major Packs had been absorbed into the King Size range by 1968.
The main focus at Matchbox continued to be their smaller cars. Other brands, including Husky/Corgi Junior, Budgie, and Cigar Box, attempted to compete with Matchbox, but none were particularly successful until American toy giant Mattel introduced the revolutionary low-friction "racing" wheels on its Hot Wheels line of cars. These models, although less true to scale and often featuring fantasy vehicles, were attractive, painted in bright metallic colors and fitted with racing-style "mag" wheels and slick tyres, and were marketed aggressively and with numerous accessory products, such as race track sets and the like. The Hot Wheels line often featured models that were decidedly American. In 1969, a second competitor based in the US, Johnny Lightning, entered the market, and the bottom effectively fell out of Lesney's US sales. At the same time, the other major market (the UK) was also under attack by competitors.
Lesney's response to this was relatively quick – but not quick enough to avoid major financial worries – by creating the Superfast line. This was effectively a transformation of the 1969 line to include low-friction wheels (at first narrow, since the company needed time to retool the series to accommodate wide tyres), often accompanied with new colors. The result was, at first, a strange but interesting line of fast-wheeling cars, trucks, and trailers, basically complete in 1970. Racing track sets and the like were also released to allow children to race their cars. Starting in 1970 and particularly in 1971, new models appeared with wider tyres, and older models (including trucks still in the line) were retooled to fit slicks. The King Size range was similarly updated, including a division into Super Kings (mostly trucks, but also with mag wheels) and Speed Kings (cars). A short-lived series of rechargeable electric cars, called Scorpions, was released as well, to compete with similar products from Hot Wheels (Sizzlers) and Corgi (ElectroRockets).
By the mid-1970s, Matchbox was again a force on the world market, having completed the transition and having even updated its line to include some fantasy vehicles. The 1-75 series was also amended to include the Rola-Matics (featuring mechanical parts that moved when the vehicle was moved) and Streakers, the latter an attempt to compete with Hot Wheels' newest innovation, tampo-printing on the vehicle itself.
Expansion in the Superfast era
In an attempt to reap more benefits from the regained popularity of the Matchbox brand, a last period of great expansion started with the introduction of multiple new lines, including the Sky Busters range of aircraft (including current and historical private, commercial, and military planes), Battle Kings military models, Sea Kings naval models, Adventure 2000 science fiction models, and the Two Packs series, which revisited the traditional Matchbox idea of a model and an associated trailer.
Unfortunately, early marketing concepts of metallic-painted tanks and bright-coloured ships were not consistent with market demands, and the models, many of which were quite well made for the money, were generally not successful. Second editions of the Battle Kings and Sky Busters series were painted in more realistic colours and were well-received but, by this time, general economic factors were seriously affecting the ability of the company to make a profit on toys manufactured in England.
Of these series, only the Sky Busters and, to some extent, the Two Packs survived over time. The Convoy series of articulated truck-trailers (mostly American) was an offshoot of the Two Packs line and continues under various guises to this day.
A rather simple development in this period ― as much philosophical in nature as product-related ― initiated a revolutionary change in the marketplace. The Matchbox brand had become the most widely collected of all die-cast toy lines (see below, "Matchbox collectors"). In the '70s, Lesney began to seek contact with collectors, sending representatives to collectors' meets, providing information to the various collectors' clubs, and informally surveying collectors' interests. This resulted at first in the creation of several models for collectors, such as a Yesteryear model, the black Y‑1 Ford Model T.
The success of this decision led the company to place models of commercial vehicles in the Yesteryear line (two vans at first, a Talbot and another Model T) which were tampo-printed with period advertising for brand-name items such as Lipton's Tea, Coca-Cola, or Suze. These models were the first commercial vehicles in the series since the 1950s. The concept was quickly expanded to include limited editions of models made for specific countries (Arnott's Biscuits [Australia], Sunlight Seife [Germany]) or at the specific request of companies such as Nestlé's Milk, Taystee Bread, and Harrod's department store. This aspect of the business ― so-called "promotionals" ― had existed since the '60s, but had established itself firmly in the company's culture in the '70s with numerous models, particularly of a 1-75 model, the no. 17 London bus.
It immediately became evident that special, low-volume models of this nature were highly desirable from both the sponsor and the collectors' perspective, as well as being profitable for Matchbox. The market expanded rapidly, leading to increased licensing as well as the development of models no longer aimed at all at the children's toy market, but rather at the higher-margin "premium" segment.
Economic difficulties, bankruptcy and the post-Lesney era
Due more to the economic climate in the United Kingdom at the time than to the lack of success of the Matchbox brand, even though all of the core ranges continued to sell strongly, the company was in difficult financial straits by the end of the 1970s. Matchbox suffered in the same way as its British competitors. Following in the footsteps of Meccano (Dinky), and just a year before Mettoy (Corgi), Lesney became bankrupt in June 1982, and went into receivership. The "Matchbox" brand name, some tooling, moulds and other assets were then sold to Universal Toys and David Yeh.[2] Some of the Matchbox tooling became property of Jack Odell, who continued to market Matchbox Yesteryear-like products under the Lledo (Odell's last name in reverse) brand name, but essentially Lesney and Matchbox had been sold to Yeh and his group. Yeh reorganized Lesney and renamed the group "Matchbox International Ltd.", with Yeh as Chairman and Jack Forcelledo as President. Yeh took the group public on the NYSE in 1986, with a successful IPO.
Although the company was no longer British-owned, limited production continued in England until the mid-1980s, re-using many of the old Lesney castings, but most production and tooling was moved to Macau. It was during this period that Matchbox acquired the rights to the venerated Dinky brand, perhaps the "mother of all toy car collectibles", and united two of the most important names in die-cast under one roof. New models were created (sometimes dies were also bought from competing companies), and the Dinky Collection was born. Dinky models tended to be of more recent classics (particularly the 1950s), while Yesteryears tended to concentrate on older vintages. It was also during the Universal era that the "Matchbox Collectibles" concept was developed (see below, "Matchbox Collectibles").
Because of high labour costs, and the lack of enough skilled workers in Hong Kong and Macau, Universal decided to outsource its die casting to mainland China. In April 1984, the first Hong Kong-Shanghai joint venture toy company, called Shanghai Universal Toys Co., Ltd. (usually abbreviated as SUTC/上海环球玩具有限公司), was established in Minhang, Shanghai. Yeh was the Hong Kong party, while the Shanghai Toys Import & Export Company, the Shanghai Shang Shi Investment Company (the Shanghai Government owned investment vehicle), the Bank of China, and Aijian Holdings, were the Chinese shareholders. The CJV contract was signed off with 20-year period of validity.
1985 saw the first batch of Matchbox toys which had "China" cast on the base. Dies were imported to Shanghai from Macau until the early 1990s, when Macau finally ceased producing Matchbox toys and moved its production to the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand. No dies were designed by SUTC, which confined itself to decal painting, assembling and packing. Accompanying its metal casting, SUTC also had a plastic kits and components factory, called Shanghai Universal Plastic Toys Company (usually abbreviated as SUPT/上海环球塑胶玩具有限公司). The Motor City series, Matchbox PK series, and many plastic components, were produced there between the late 1980s and mid 1990s. Meanwhile, Universal also outsourced its die casting capabilities in Southern China. The Yongtai Toys Company (永泰玩具有限公司) produced Matchbox toys under licence from Universal, but without fixed assets investment.
Purchase by Mattel and present day
By 1992, Universal was also seeking a buyer. In May 1992, it sold the brand to Tyco Toys, the toy division of which was bought out in turn by Mattel in 1997, uniting Matchbox with its longtime rival Hot Wheels under the same corporate banner. Under Mattel, the name "Matchbox International Ltd." was terminated.
The buyout by Mattel was greeted with considerable trepidation by the Matchbox collectors' community. The rivalry between the Hot Wheels and Matchbox brands was not only a battle fought by the companies; collectors of each of the brands felt strongly about the qualities of their brand of choice. For the typical Matchbox collector, Hot Wheels were inferior in scaling and model choice, making them less desirable. There were fears that Mattel would either impose a Hot Wheels-style philosophy on the Matchbox line, or actually fold the Matchbox line into the Hot Wheels series. Early concerns of this nature by collectors were countered by assurances from Mattel that Matchbox would continue to develop its own product line independently from Hot Wheels, and that it was intended that Matchbox represent more realistic and traditional vehicles, while fantasy ones would be placed firmly in Hot Wheels territory. To demonstrate the latter commitment, some very realistic Hot Wheels Caterpillar models were actually re-branded to Matchbox, although that did not assuage concerns about the strength of the former assurance.
In 2002, to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Sky Busters made a comeback, but with Continental Airlines as the only major airline to sponsor the product. In 2003, Matchbox came out with a line of special-edition cars.
Breaking with its commitment of the 1990s, Mattel revamped the Matchbox line almost completely in 2003, introducing Ultra Heroes, a series of fantasy vehicles, as part of a "Hero City" theme. Matchbox collectors were appalled, and the market didn't respond. The toys proved to be unpopular, and the line was soon discontinued. Next year, Matchbox, with a new team in charge based in El Segundo, California, started a return to the company's roots by selling realistic, well-detailed models, most of which were based on real prototypes, although mostly of American cars, or brands well known on the American market. The reappearance of the pre-2001 Matchbox logo, albeit without its classic quotation marks, signaled the return to the original philosophy.
To signal the seriousness of the venture, and its commitment to the brand, Mattel introduced a new, second 1-75 series, parallel to the standard range, celebrating the "35th Anniversary of Superfast". Models were packaged in model-specific blister packs containing not only the model, but also individual, traditional-style "retro" boxes, harking back to the Superfast boxes from about 1970. All castings were of realistic vehicles, and some 1969 castings were re-activated for inclusion in the range. The series was strictly limited in production volume, sold at a premium price, and was a great success. Further Superfast series were released in 2005 and 2006, and continued again in 2019 and 2020. The Superfast series was later discontinued for 2021 and was replaced by the similar Matchbox Collector line, which are collector-focused vehicles in 1950s-style retro packing. These vehicles have features which are not present on standard cars, such as opening parts and two-piece wheels with rubber tires, and increased detailing and decorations on the cars.
Also in 2005, certain Yesteryear castings, which had been released during the Tyco/early Mattel era as part of the "Muscle Car" series of Matchbox Collectibles, were re-released in 1971-style retro packaging and retro wheels as Super Kings – considered by many to be a strange name choice, since models of that nature had been called Speed Kings in the 1970s.
Following the "Hero City" fiasco (the name being dropped in late 2005 in favor of "MBX Metal"), Mattel showed interest in reviving the Matchbox brand. However, since Matchbox Collectibles Inc. was shut down, Mattel's interests have always been concentrated on very few series of the Matchbox legacy: 1-75, Sky Busters, Convoys, and to some extent the Two Packs concept, although now sold under a different name, Hitch 'n Haul. Although small numbers of Super Kings and Yesteryears were released at times, no new castings were created. Battle Kings reappeared on the market in 2006, not as King Size models, but rather as a name of military-oriented Two Pack-style sets of regular-size models. The Dinky name has effectively been reduced to a few "re-branded" Matchbox 1-75 cars on the international market (normal models with "Dinky" tampo-printed onto the baseplate). No further investment in dies or tooling was made. It appeared that the classic brand, once saved by Matchbox, would be allowed by Mattel to languish or die once again.
In 2019, Matchbox launched the Moving Parts line, which are vehicles that incorporate opening features such as bonnets and doors. Some vehicles in the series harken back to older Lesney castings, such as the Volkswagen Type 3 and Pontiac Grand Prix. These vehicles usually retail for twice the amount of a standard Matchbox car.
The rarity of a model can refer either to the model in general, or to a variation thereof.
Some models are produced in very limited quantities. Prior to the evolution of "purpose-made" collectibles (cf. "Matchbox Collectibles", below) – i.e. models made in intentionally limited quantities to allow a high initial sales price and/or force the value to remain high on the collectors market – rarity was based on the simple criterion that the production numbers of a model were low. This was not generally due to any specific intent by the manufacturer. For example, this could occur if the mold (die) broke, or if the model proved to be unpopular and was replaced very quickly, creating a situation in which "normal" numbers of the model never reached the market.
Variations are changes in production models. The most common three types are changes in the materials used, in the dies, or in the color scheme. For instance, early Matchbox models were entirely made of metal, including the tyres/ wheels. However, within the first few years of production, Lesney switched to plastic wheels. These were silver at first; later, grey wheels were fitted, followed finally by black wheels. Thus it was entirely possible that models introduced in the '50s could be fitted with four different wheel types during the span of their inclusion in the series – or even more, since there were further variations (e.g. knobby or smooth) besides the color or material. Depending on the particular model, a given wheel type might be much rarer than the others.
Molds or dies are changed at times. This is commonly due to weaknesses in the final die-cast product, or to difficulties in production caused by the die. Often, the changes are very minor, even minute, and may occur in places that are not clearly visible at first glance. Especially in cases where e.g. a weakness was detected early in the production run, the numbers of early versions reaching the market are often quite low.
Color changes – now commonplace, a planned marketing tool – were rarer earlier, with most models being produced over the span of their inclusion in the series in just one or two major color schemes. However, not only the color of the model's body must be regarded, but rather the entire model— including baseplate, interior, windows – and thus changes in different components can lead to a factorial increase in variation possibilities.
Age also plays an important part in making a model rare. A model produced in standard quantities in the 1950s will likely be much rarer today than one produced in similar quantities the 1980s.
The better the condition of the model, the higher its value. Model conditions are usually expressed in a simple, somewhat subjective manner, in categories such as: mint, excellent, very good, good, fair, poor. Simply put, a "mint" model, i.e. one in factory-fresh condition, is worth far more than a sandbox-quality model with chipped paint, rusty axles, and broken parts. However, to be valuable, the condition must be original; repainting or repairing a model reduces its value greatly, even if the final result can be impressive.
The presence or lack of packaging affects the value of a model. A "mint boxed" model can in some cases be worth 50-100% more than the mint model without the box, depending on the age of the model, the condition of the box, and even the variations of the box.
As box designs were changed regularly, some boxes or even model/box combinations were produced in lower quantities, and thus became quite difficult to find. As an example, the first seven 1-75 models were packaged in "A Moko Lesney" boxes (cf. above, "History", Moko) on which the word "Moko" was written in script. Today, these boxes are extremely valuable. Later '50s boxes – including the 2nd editions of those for model numbers 1 to 7 – had "Moko" in the same capital letters as the words surrounding it.
Even in the era of blister packs, the role of packaging has not really diminished. However, as the "box" concept is tremendously important for the brand Matchbox, the presence of a box usually affects the value of a model significantly more than does a blister pack. The exception to this is blister packs from the box era, particularly those in which the box was also included.
The popularity of the model affects its value both directly and indirectly. For example, if two models were produced in similar quantities in the '50s, one an interesting sports car, the other a rather dull military vehicle, then the former probably disappeared from store shelves much faster. Its value, then in non-monetary terms, was higher.
Though the former model may therefore be found relatively ubiquitously in British or American households, often it was either played with (i.e. the condition is poor) or it has a particular "treasure"-like sentimental value (often the case with, for example, horse-drawn models), so that the model will be kept "forever", even by those who do not collect. Thus it becomes harder to find in good condition on the collectors market, while the less popular model can still be found mint-boxed in large quantities. And as it is likely that the sports car's initial popularity remains unbroken, its value is now also driven upward by this fact as well.