The Matchbox Car Story

I have Matchbox trucks and cars from 1960s and 70s that i played with, my kids played with, and my grandkids play with now. So many good memories !

Lesney gains independence from moko, they had politics?

The bloke is reading this from Wikipedia.

Specific for greenlight, on discover there is a serie called rust valley restorers. I loved to see some cars in a serie from this program👍

Boys will be boys

Now I know what my dad should use his 3D pantograph mill for (my dad has too many machine tools)

I remember these very well. Corgi was not that popular here, but Majorette, a french brand I think.

I like the majorette cars. great cars

I am a hot wheels guy but I don't hate match box, there just not my thang

Very informative and cool video. Brings back all my childhood memories. Thanks for sharing.

@Little Car, can you also make a History Video on the ERTL company?

Please, only in the English language does one not pronounce the 'E' at the end. Nobody in any of the other 196 countries does this. Hence, Seife, German for soap is pronounced SEIFEH just like PORSCHEH.

As a kid in the early 2000s, I collected hundreds of HotWheels, and I always felt that Matchbox was a knock-off alternative. HotWheels did like to make some unrealistic cars for fun, but they also did have tons of models that were very true to their factory form. I'd always notice the weight difference between the light and loosely assembled plastic Matchbox car versus the tight and dense metal HotWheels car. I reckon I must've had some level of care about the accuracy of the car models, because i'd study them and use the text on the underside of the car to learn what certain models looked like over the years.

I was a kid during the heyday of matchbox. The lesney superfast era from 1969 to 1982. So many iconic models like the gruesome twosome and the blue shark. The tyre fryer and the draguar. Memories!

Excellent documentary! Thanks! 👏🏻

The british government should never of let Lesney Matchbox toys go bankrupt, when it was the economic climate back then in the late 70s, early 80s in Britain which led to its demise, and not its ability to manufacture quality made toys for the world market. I just hope Mattel sells the British brand to a british entrepreneur and manufacturing is relocated back in GT. Britain where it belongs. 🇬🇧

Dommage que la marque n'existe plus de magnifique maquette et surtout des modèles exclusif que l'on ne retrouve plus ailleurs

I had a great Matchbox collection in the '60s. Years after I moved out my mother let my nephew play with them and the little monster lost and broke every one of them.

I still have about 40 of the original Matchbox cars in their boxes from the mid 60’s

I loved their motorcyles with side cars that they had in the mid 1960's. There were three in total and I still remember them well. #4 was the blue Triumph. #36 was the light green Lambretta scooter. And then the best of them all was #66 a bronze Harely-Davidson. All three worth a lot more than 49¢ each nowadays! 🙂

Thanks for the wonderful trip down memory lane. I loved my matchbox cars. Had many of these shown here back in the day.

Yes much remembered my 1st was 1 shilling and 6 pence= 7 pence at to days price. 1956 7 8. Great well made toys.

Way back in the mid 1950's I got my first "Matchbox" model. It was, as you would call it" a "Yester Year model of a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud in a pale green color. I had it up until about 1980. I wish I knew what happened to it, it just vanished. Who knows, it might be in a box somewhere in my stuff.
Nice history lesson. ;-)

I've got a good few of those Lesneys, are they worth anything?

I have Johnny Lightening models from the 1970's NEVER OPENED still in bubble pack packaging...

MATCHBOX the Stepsister of HOT WHEELS Collectors

I loved Matchbox toys as a child. Being small, they were within the range of the then meagre amounts of pocket money children were given. Another advantage was that my family celebrated St. Nicholas Day the German way with a toy being left in children's shoes (actually slippers) for them to find in the morning. Matchbox Toys were the idea size for small size slippers. Matchbox also made an impressive range of items designed to be used alongside the model cars, I had a BP garage and a fire station from a very young age. I also had some cardboard playmat type toys which came with extra bits to be cut out of card - I had a roadway and a racing circuit and later a building site. (Several of the construction vehicles had sets of pipes or girders that could be assembled so you could do a lot more with these toys than just push them along.) Later on (late sixties?) I acquired a second hand car dealer yard. Matchbox also produced carrying cases for their cars which meant the vehicles could be stored safely and carried to friends' homes. I also remember seeing more fanciful innovations displayed in the catalogues which I do not think were ever successful. One was a plastic roadway set that looks similar to Scalextric but worked by having a long coiled spring under the slot which was moved along by as single motor. A pin could be stuck on to the underside of any matchbox car to enable it to be engaged with the spring and move along the roadway.

I had another of their products. The motorway track, think scalectrics style track but with a long motor driven spring (think biro spring in long lengths) in a centre channel. You then stuck a plastic guide pin to the underside of your standard models. Not very fast and more fun to put together than actally use I seem to remember.

Genius

gotta love matchbox
though their quality has gone down and the models they make are sometimes imaginary, i'd say when they want to make a realistic car, they make a realistic car. one thing they often do is put side view mirrors, headlight and taillight detail, and base detail and logos
hotwheels often removes base detail and sometimes doesn't put logos or headlights or side view mirrors

How about a SIKU Story?

Matchbox 🥰🥰

great video

I grew up on Hot Wheels, so when someone gave me their Matchbox collection, I considered it an inferior product. It felt like cheap plastic--not the tough stuff, and the quality Hot Wheels was made of. I threw away all those Matchbox cars

I grew up in the 80's and I loved Matchbox cars. Hot Wheels were okay, but I liked the realistic cars from Matchbox. I remember begging my mom for a new car every time we went shopping. Much simpler times

Amazing episode, Bravo and Thanks!

As far as I can remember I had Matchbox cars. I was born in 1961. Then came Hot-Wheels.
At one point I had at least 200 Matchbox, and Hot wheels,
And about 60 Corgis.
Cool video.
🚗🙂

There's a fair few car's shown in the video that I've still got 40 odd years later and not in bad condition either mate

We don't have this Brend here in my country we have burago and maisto hot well they stop to transport since 2020i onliy hade i think it was one of those car key with the key you can lunchtime your car sadly the car came with out the key and it's become to rust inside the key part I bought as kid and as kid we don't know the brand's we onliy buy them now I found it and it's with key car you supposed to buy the key in the back and press wne the car well go sadly the car was damaged as I bought it wey back the back weels thet can't move so is only for a display I guess .

Now I saw a cool 1/43Fiat punto The sport two door version and the normal version 4door shame we don't have it here now we stuck with doubles burago china ones what a shame.😐

And I think I hade a Mazda with numbers 33machbox it was a race car it happened so sad things to it wishing can buy it again damn .

Seria bueno la traducion en español ☝️☝️☝️☝️✌✌✌✌

DO johnny lightning!

Didn’t matchbox make those big boot toys?

Poor matchbox hot wheels beat you

Wow i'm the like 10001, matchbox is the best!

I had a new matchbox cars and trucks I have a 1971 mgb gt coupe, 2011 MINI cooper countryman, 1976 vw mk1 gti golf, 1959 dodge coronet police, 5 packed coffee cruiser, and sriracha pack.

Nothing beats the original! One of my treasured toys growing up as a kid.

I'm late to collect matchbox, I've missed those classic cars

Matchbox were my favorite as a kid. I always preferred the real details vs fake over done hot wheels.