Matchbox Toys

by Nick Jones

  Another interesting model was the Shand Mason Fire Engine Y-4b, a horse-drawn vehicle that first appeared with light grey horses, which were recoloured to white, then to dark bronze and finally to black. Early issues had ‘Kent Fire Brigade’ decals but these were changed for ‘London Fire Brigade’. The grey horses version is very rare and the bronze horses version is rare.

  The extremely rare Duesenberg ‘J’ Town Car Y-4d first issue in white with a red chassis and yellow roof and interior. These are highly sought after but very few have been found. Fakes exist, so caution is needed.

  Over thirty different versions of the 1912 Rolls Royce Y-7c were made. It normally has dark red or black seats but two rare issues exist with either yellow or green seats.

  The 1912 Ford Model T Van Y-13c can be found in many liveries. Arnott’s Biscuits and Sunlight Soap are the most sought after.

  The Sunbeam Motorcycle and Milford Sidecar Y-8b was a wonderful piece of engineering. The model always had a chrome-plated finish with a black saddle, and usually a dark green sidecar seat, but a few were issued with an emerald-green sidecar seat. These are quite rare but reproduction seats have been available for many years, so that there are many fakes around. Sunbeams were made in a variety of colours with a range of seat and saddle colours but these were not generally available to the public because they were made as trial pieces for the range’s twenty-fifth anniversary.

  Another 1912 Ford Model T, the Tanker Y-3d. It was released in several different liveries but the Zerolene version was a limited edition and so is quite hard to find.

  In 1972 the 1938 Lagonda Drophead Coupe Y-11c was released. The first version has a gold-painted body but the wings and running boards can be painted purple, dark red, strawberry red or maroon. The maroon version is fairly common. The strawberry red and dark red are harder to find but the purple one is very rare. The Lagonda was later released in orange and gold, copper and gold, copper and black, cream and gold, and finally cream and black. The copper and gold is hard to find when it is fitted with green or red seats. The copper and black version is also hard to find, as is the cream and gold.

  The Famous Cars of Yesteryear G-5 gift set. Unlike some of the ‘1-75’ gift sets, no vehicles in the Models of Yesteryear sets were recoloured just for the sets, so these gift sets are relatively cheap and a good buy.

  The 1930 Duesenberg ‘J’ Town Car Y-4d was first issued in 1976 and the first version was in white with a red chassis and yellow seats and hood. This model has gone on to become the firm favourite of Models of Yesteryear collectors because the seats and hood were quickly changed to black. Almost immediately the model was recoloured to dark red, so the white and red version with either the yellow seats or the black seats has become greatly sought after.

  The very stately-looking 1912 Rolls Royce Y-7c was released in just three different colour schemes but with casting, plastic components and wheel variations this model has plenty to interest the Rolls Royce enthusiasts.

  In 1979 the Ford Model T Van Y-12c made its first appearance, in the livery of Coca-Cola. The sides of the van were outlined with a red pinstripe. The second version had one of the vertical pinstripes removed from just in front of the rear wheels, so the van can be found with four or five vertical pinstripes. The four-line version is very common but the five-line version is rare. The van was recoloured many times and can be found in a number of liveries, which include Colman’s Mustard, Suze, Smith’s Crisps, Bird’s Custard, Cerebos Salt, Arnott’s Biscuits, Harrods, Sunlight Seife, Royal Mail, Captain Morgan, Hoover, Pepsi Cola, Motor 100, Imbach, Heinz and Rosella. In 1981 it was released in green, celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Models of Yesteryear range. The Sunlight version is fairly hard to find but the rest are very common owing to over-production.

  In 1981 a second Ford Model T was released. This one was a Tanker, numbered Y-3d. It was also issued in a multitude of liveries, including BP, Express Dairy, Carnation, Red Crown, Shell, Mobiloil and Castrol. The 1981 Zerolene issue was a special limited edition and so is quite hard to find.

  This silver 1911 Daimler Y-13b (right) was especially made to commemorate Lesney’s receipt of the Queen’s Award for Industry in 1968. All Lesney employees were presented with one as a memento of this occasion.

  It is little known outside the specialist collecting community that from about 1975 onwards a few Lesney employees were producing special Yesteryear models specifically for the collectors’ market. These were usually made in odd colours or with the wrong paint designs, displaying the wrong liveries or incorrectly coloured plastic components. These were shipped out of the factory on one of the staff double-decker buses, delivered to an east London toyshop and then sold to collectors. Today these models are sold as pre-production or colour-trial models but the majority are stolen items as Lesney was never paid for any of them. It all adds to the colourful history of Lesney.

  A Models of Yesteryear Giftware cigarette box. Other companies tried to cash in on Lesney’s success by marketing similar items using various Yesteryear models, so they can also be found inside paperweights, glass bottles and many other objects.

  One model that deserves special mention is the 1929 Scammell 100-ton Transporter Y-16e and its Great Eastern Railway locomotive load, not because it is a valuable rarity but because of its sheer magnificence. At 1 foot long (305 mm) it was the largest MoY model ever produced, and also the most expensive. In its day the transporter was the largest and most impressive vehicle on the road, though only two were ever made; it had a 7-litre four-cylinder engine and an eight-speed gearbox, but it had a top speed of only 6 mph and travelled a paltry 1 mile per gallon.

  Yesteryear models were also used as part of Lesney’s ‘Giftware’ range, for which selected models were chrome-plated or given a gold finish and mounted on ashtrays, wooden cigarette boxes, wooden pipe holders or, more usually, attached to china trays made by the Wade company. Although a rather specialised field of collecting, they can often be bought for very little outlay. Models of Yesteryear can also be found inserted into glass bottles or sealed inside Perspex paperweights made by Lesney or by other companies, but for these expect to pay a premium as they are eagerly sought by collectors.

  SERVICE STATIONS, ROADWAYS AND CATALOGUES

  The first service station MG-1 was released in 1957. At the time Lesney did not own any plastic-moulding equipment, so an outside contractor, Raphael Lipkin, was given the task. The single-storey building was moulded in red plastic and it had opening doors front and rear. Attached to the roof was a sign with a ‘Matchbox Garage’ label. The forecourt was moulded in yellow plastic and it had a space for the Esso Petrol Pumps set A-1.

  Later, when Lesney obtained their own plastic-moulding equipment, they made their own Service Station to the same design, but the colours were reversed. This yellow building with red forecourt is slightly harder to find.

  The Service Stations MG-1a and MG-1b were supposedly based on a garage not far from the Lesney Eastway factory complex.

  The second MG-1 Service Station came in 1961. It was a two-storey building moulded in red with a yellow forecourt and rear ramp. It was in the livery of Esso with a ‘Matchbox Sales & Service Station’ sign attached to the roof, and had a space for the Petrol Pump set A-1. In 1963 it was recoloured to white and green and the livery changed to BP. A new set of BP Petrol Pumps and Sign A-1 was made to accompany the garage.

  The recoloured BP Service Station, MG-1d. This was included with the BP Petrol Pumps and Sign and three ‘1-75’ models in the G-10 gift set. This rare set was not in production for very long.

  In 1967 the third MG-1 BP Service Station was introduced. This one was a freestanding single-storey building moulded in white and it included a set of plastic pumps. Later a card forecourt was included in the set to add to play value, and later still a plastic service ramp became part of the set.

  The Motorway Service Station MG-1f was released in 1971 with a plastic ramp and a card forecourt.

  In 1971 a Supe
rfast Auto Sales Lot was introduced. It was issued as part of the Accessory pack range and is quite hard to find. Several more garages were issued over the years but, being very toy-like, they hold little interest for collectors.

  The Fire Station MF-1 appeared in 1963. It was normally moulded in red and white, or less commonly red and off-white, but early issues can be found with a green roof. The green roof is thought to have been moulded for an ambulance station that was never issued.

  The Matchbox Roadway Layout R-2 ‘London’ was a flat card layout.

  There was a series of Matchbox Roadways, numbered from R-1 to R-4, first introduced in 1960. Each comprised a fold-out card play mat printed with a selection of roadways. The first one was a simple flat play mat with roads and buildings printed in a three-dimensional style, but later ones had punch-out buildings that could be attached to the roadway. Probably the most attractive roadway was the Racetrack Speedway R-4, a racetrack with various punch-out stands, pits, stalls and signs.

  The Matchbox Fold Away Flyover R-1 was a later issue with a fold-out card roadside cafe, flyover and road signs.

  Between 1960 and 1968 there were eleven roadways made in all. Some are fairly common but others can be extremely difficult to find.

  The Matchbox Motorway was developed by the Arnold company in Germany. The first Lesney set was the M-1 Motorway, which was a simple oval of track for which a standard Matchbox car could be modified with nothing more than a plastic peg and sticker and driven round the roadway using a hidden powered spring. It was quickly overtaken by the M-2 (or M-12), which was a figure of eight with a flyover. The E-1 was an extension kit to expand the set even further. Lesney made full use of television advertising to promote this product in time for Christmas 1968 and many sets were sold. But overloading the track with too many cars could stretch the springs and make it unusable, and the springs did make a lot of noise when in use, so many Motorway sets did not get a great deal of use. Because of the large size of the set and the space that it takes up, they are not much sought by collectors. The sets contained two Matchbox models and sometimes they would include some very interesting and rare transitionals.

  The Matchbox Motorway was launched with the help of much television advertising.

  The Lap Counter SF-18 was only one of the many additions and attachments available to enhance the Superfast track.

  A regular-wheel era catalogue (top) and a Superfast era catalogue (below). Pocket catalogues by their very nature are hard to find. There were also trade catalogues intended for retailers only, and these too are very hard to find.

  The Switchatrack, a figure-of-eight track with a central roundabout, made a brief appearance shortly after the Motorway but it was killed off by the rush to convert everything to Superfast wheels.

  There was an attempt to reissue the Motorway as the M-400 in 1980 but the Superfast wheels tended to skid all over the road, and it could not have been very successful as it was deleted after only a year.

  The Power Driver PD-1 was a single driven wheel that would also steer and could be attached to the base of a model. It could not have been very successful as they are rare nowadays.

  Hundreds of different Superfast track sets and various accessories were produced over the years as well as several Lanechanger track sets.

  Matchbox pocket catalogues have always generated a great deal of interest among collectors, which no doubt is due to the sheer nostalgia that they can induce. Flicking through an old pocket catalogue can instantly bring back a flood of childhood memories.

  Matchbox Series Painting Books were made in the mid- to late 1950s and as they were designed to be painted very few of them have survived. A set of these in unused condition can easily be worth £1,000 or more.

  The British pocket catalogues were first printed in 1957 but the earliest catalogues from the 1950s are virtually impossible to find. Those from the 1960s are available but take some hunting down. From the 1970s onwards they are widely available; by 1970 there were over 10 million catalogues being printed each year and so it is no surprise that the later issues are much easier to find.

  Launched in 1973, the Matchbox ‘Skybusters’ was a series of eighteen aircraft ranging from the Pitts Special to the Space Shuttle. Each aircraft can be found in several different colours or liveries. Shown here is the Spitfire SB-8, the pride of the Royal Air Force.

  Most British collectors are not aware that the catalogues were printed in a multitude of foreign languages, not just German, French and Italian, but Arabic and Japanese too. Add to those the many trade catalogues printed over the years and it is no wonder that this niche has such a strong following.

  The fire Station MF-1 was first made in 1963. It is shown with the Mercury Fire Chief 59d, Merryweather Fire Engine 35c and Land Rover Fire Truck 57c. In front are the Volkswagen 1600TL 67b and Ford Zodiac MkIV 53c.

  THE FINAL DAYS

  After seeing a constant growth in business, apart from during a brief period in 1969 following Mattel’s introduction of Hot Wheels, Lesney was prospering, but, after they had purchased and rebuilt a couple of factories in the late 1970s and then bought out several other toy companies, the recession came and sales slumped. This caught Lesney unaware. They laid off staff and sold property, enabling them to struggle on until late 1982. Then the inevitable came and they ceased trading; the company was sold to Universal Toys of Hong Kong and our story comes to a close.

  This book has traced the history of the diecast range of Lesney’s Matchbox toys but the company also produced a great many plastic toys and model kits, which are beyond the remit of this book. The Matchbox brand-name lives on today, but under Mattel’s ownership, and admittedly playing second fiddle to their Hot Wheels range of models. But Matchbox toys are still bringing delight to children everywhere, which is exactly what Sir Leslie Smith OBE and Sir Jack Odell OBE had intended.

  FURTHER INFORMATION

  BOOKS

  Carbonel, Jean-Christophe. 1973 –2010: The Story of Matchbox Kits. Histoire & Collections, 2011.

  Force, Edward. Matchbox and Lledo Toys. Schiffer Publishing, 1999.

  Johnson, Dana. Matchbox Toys 1947–2003. Collector Books, 2008.

  Larson, Tom. Matchbox Field Guide. Warman’s Field Guides, 2008.

  Mack, Charlie. Collecting Matchbox Regular Wheels. Schiffer Publishing, 2013. (USA price guide.)

  Mack, Charlie. Encyclopedia of Matchbox Toys. Schiffer Publishing, 2013. (USA price guide.)

  Macmullan, Kay. The Collector’s Corner. Matchbox Toys, 2005.

  McGimpsey, Kevin, and Orr, Stewart. Collecting Matchbox Diecast Toys. Major Productions, 1989.

  McGimpsey, Kevin, and Orr, Stewart. Matchbox – The Yesteryear Book. Major Productions, 1996.

  McGoldrick, Anthony A. TV Toys. Shire Library, 2013.

  Ragan, Mac. Matchbox Cars: The First 50 Years. Motorbooks International, 2002.

  Ramsay, John. British Diecast Model Toy Catalogue. Warners Group Publications, 2012. (UK price guide.)

  Schiffer, Nancy. Matchbox Toys. Schiffer Publishing, 2003.

  Scholl, Richard. Matchbox Official 50th Anniversary. Rizzoli International Publications, 2002.

  Stonebeck, Bruce and Diane. Matchbox Toys: A Collector’s Guide. Book Sales, 1993.

  PERIODICALS

  Collector’s Gazette, Diecast Collector Magazine and Model Collector Magazine are all monthly publications that often have articles about Matchbox toys that will interest the collector. All three publications list auction details and have diaries that list the dates and venues of all toy fairs.

  WEBSITES

  www.vintagebritishdiecasts.co.uk Matchbox toys website. Information and price guides for most British-made diecasts.

  www.matchboxmemories.com Models of Yesteryear website. Information on the Yesteryear range and Giftware.

  www.fcarnahan.com Matchbox information, clubs and conventions (USA).

  http://www.collectors-club-of-great-britain.co.uk/Events/Category/Toyfair--Swapmeet/_cat5 British toy
fair calendar.

  FORUMS

  www.vintagebritishdiecasts.co.uk/forum/index.php Matchbox toys forum.

  www.moyboyz.com/phpBB3 Models of Yesteryear forum.

  PLACES TO VISIT

  The following all have diecast models on display, though not necessarily Matchbox toys. Please check the opening times before travelling.

  Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 9PA. Telephone: 020 8983 5200. www.museumofchildhood.org.uk

  Bressingham Steam Experience, Low Road, Bressingham, Diss, Norfolk IP22 2AB. Telephone: 01379 686900. www.bressingham.co.uk

  Cotswold Motoring Museum and Toy Collection, The Old Mill, Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire GL54 2BY. Telephone: 01451 821255. www.cotswold-motor-museum.co.uk

  Lakeland Motor Museum, Holker Hall and Gardens, Cark-in-Cartmel, Grange-over-Sands, South Lakeland, Cumbria LA11 7PL. Telephone: 01539 558509. www.lakelandmotormuseum.co.uk

  Museum of British Road Transport, Hales Street, Coventry CV1 1PN. Telephone: 024 7623 4270. www.transport-museum.com

  National Motor Museum, John Montagu Building, Beaulieu, Brockenhurst, Hampshire SO42 7ZN. Telephone: 01590 612345. www.beaulieu.co.uk