MATCHBOX HISTORY
In 1947 Lesney Products company was born in the UK. They first used to build metal parts but with time, its owners Rodney Smith and Leslie Smith joined Jack Odell and together they started the project of producing miniature scale cars.
The Lesney Products company manufactured consumer goods but soon they thought toys would be appealing to people in general. Their first production was a miniature steamroller.
In fact, what they did was not to create an original and brand new model of a miniature vehicle but to copy Dinky Toy's model. At those times the Lesney Products toy was even better because its price was ⅓ of Dinky miniature steamroller's price.
Given that sales did not increase as they expected, Rodney left the company in 1951. Later he might have regreated his decision.
It was not until 1953 that Jack Odell managed to build the so popular 1-75 size Royal State Coach.
Soon after this huge success, the idea of producing even smaller vehicles was born.
In 1966 Lesney Products was awarded the "Queen's Trophy for Enterprise". Soon after that The Lensney company emerged as one of the most promising companies in the UK which had sold more than 50 million miniature cars.
Five years later, the company had to face severe competition. Hot Wheels friction cars were especially popular and kids began to prefer friction cars over Matchbox miniature cars.
Lesney Products decided to bring up new ideas and eye-catching models for collectors who, by that time, were hundreds.
In 1969 the new model was introduced: “Superfast”. So the entire miniature series was converted into the Superfast, even the King-Size model was now Superfast.
It was in the 1980s that the company had to face financial difficulties. So, in order to avoid bankruptcy Universal Toys bought Lesney company in 1982 and it was renamed Matchbox Toys Ltd. The production of the Matchbox series was now carried out in Asia instead of in the UK.
Tyco Toys bought the company in 1992 and finally the American company Mattel Inc. bought Matchbox in 1997. Mattel Inc. is the owner now and they also own Hot Wheels.
Over the years and to this day, the memory of the miniatures in matchboxes from the Lesney era still lives on. This encouraged Matchbox to reclaim the Lesney legacy and relaunch some of the most popular former series such as "Models of Yesterday". Models from this series were actually reissued old models highly appreciated by collectors.
Why is it called Matchbox?
When Jack Odell's daughter started school, she was not allowed to take toys with her unless they would fit inside a matchbox. Kids would take insects and bugs to play with but she took a pair of miniature roller skates that Jack had made of a tin.
One day, Jack's daughter asked her father for a car toy small enough to take to school inside her pocket. So Jack specially made her a car that would be small enough to fit inside a matchbox. Everybody at school were delighted by the miniature car and asked Jack for a matchbox toy.
This is how Lesney Products developed the idea of the Matchbox Series which was later designed and created. The first models of the series were a cement mixer, a dump truck, and a steamroller. Even though all these miniatures were quite simple without windows or interiors and were completely made of metal they were a true success. So shortly they made a total of 75 different models that made everyone want one.
Why are Matchbox Series so charming?
Basically, their charm is related to the fact that they are sold inside a matchbox. This attracted everyone not only children but adults too. And the British market was not the only one interested in these toys, many markets from overseas found Matchbox toys affordable and highly attractive.
The different models evolved gradually. More details were added to the vehicles - interior parts made of plastic for example - Together with a need to improve the miniature car toys and its models, a new idea was introduced. The Superfast series was launched in 1969.
Improvements were made again: now even more details were added to the interior and the wheels were designed to prevent massive friction. Thanks to the new wheels’ design, the vehicles could roll much faster than ever before.
Nowadays, Matchbox miniature cars are extraordinarily well detailed. Even its design process was compared to the real car at every step of the process. The company makes sure that small details like mirrors and tires are anatomically scaled to matchbox size.
FACTS
- In 1948 the first die-cast metal Matchbox Lesney model was made and sold in a small shop in London.
- Matchbox cars are made of cast metal, making them nearly indestructible. The founders had experience in pouring molten metal into molds.
- A huge number of collectors have model cars in the closets all around the world.
- Some of the rarest miniature Matchbox cars have become quite expensive.
- In 2018 a collector sold Matcbox’s Bedford Dunlop on eBay. This miniature was sold for 2,800 euros.
- The name of the company Lesney Products is a combination of both first names. The first syllable of Leslie and the last one in Rodney.
- Even though Rodney and Leslie have the same surname they are not related.