Matchbox is a toy brand 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 toys, and action figures. Universal Toys purchased most of Lesney's assets and acquired what is now present-day Matchbox and founded Matchbox International Ltd. to continue production in 1982 when Lesney Products closed down. In the 1990s, Tyco Toys acquired Matchbox from Universal Toys in 1992."Matchbox". Hobby DB.
During the 1980s, Matchbox began using 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 byDana Johnson, Matchbox Toys 1947-2003, pp. 6-8, (4th ed. 2004. 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. 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 and 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 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.
Competition and crisis 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 colours 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 colours. 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 1970s, 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 Y1 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 Harrods department store. This aspect of the business―so-called "promotionals"―had existed since the 1960s, but had established itself firmly in the company's culture in the 1970s 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. 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.