Matchbox autos 1970

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Ron Ruelle hobbyDB. In their early days, Matchbox made diecast replicas of sensible vehicles like farm plows, buses, and ambulances. Not the most exciting vehicles ever made, but the theme fit in well with their slow rolling wheels and axles. Back then, playing with toy cars involved pushing them around by hand. And with little competition in the market, they sold like crazy. Matchbox was still making slow rollers, but they were more frequently based on sportier, fun cars such as the Ferrari Berlinetta , or quirky mainstays like the VW Camper.

Matchbox autos 1970

Hot Wheels is an American brand of scale model cars invented by Elliot Handler and introduced by his company Mattel on May 18, Many automobile manufacturers have since licensed Hot Wheels to make scale models of their cars, allowing the use of original design blueprints and detailing. Although Hot Wheels were originally intended to be for children and young adults, they have become popular with adult collectors, for whom limited edition models are now made available. The original Hot Wheels were made by Elliot Handler. Hot Wheels were originally conceived by Handler to be more like " hot rod " cars i. These were the first of the Red Line Series, named for the tires which had a red pin stripe on their sides. There were sixteen castings released, eleven of them designed by Harry Bentley Bradley with assistance from Handler and Ryan. In addition to the cars themselves, Mattel produced a racing track set sold separately. Though it would be updated throughout the years, the original track set consists of a series of bright orange road sections pieced together to form an oblong, circular race track , with one or sometimes two "superchargers" faux service stations through which cars passed on the tracks, featuring battery-powered spinning wheels, which would propel the cars along the tracks. Hot Wheels cars were designed to roll easily and at high speeds, which was a great innovation at the time. The Hot Wheels brand was a staggering success. The series completely disrupted the industry for small die-cast car models from onward, forcing the competition at Matchbox and elsewhere to completely rethink their concepts, and to scramble to try to recover lost ground. Harry Bentley Bradley did not think that would be the case and had quit Mattel to go back to the car industry. When the company asked him to come back, he recommended a good friend, Ira Gil ford.

The cars were decorated with flashy designs and special "rubber" wheels before Collecting is, however, not limited to the models themselves. Rees had a good friend by the name of Larry Wood, matchbox autos 1970, whom he worked with at Ford designing cars.

Matchbox is a toy brand which was introduced by Lesney Products in , and is now owned by Mattel , Inc, which purchased the brand in 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 s, 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 s, the box style packaging was re-introduced for the collectors' market, such as the 35th Anniversary of Superfast series in and the 50th Anniversary of Superfast in Products currently marketed under the Matchbox name include scale model plastic and die-cast vehicles, and toy garages. The Matchbox name originated in as a brand name of the British die-casting company Lesney Products , whose reputation was moulded by [2] John W.

It feels strange to consider, in the least-sentimental terms possible, what Matchbox toy cars actually are, because the ones produced today in Thailand are fundamentally little different from the originals made in a London pub basement 70 years ago. They come from melted-down zinc-alloy ingots, whose molten metal is force-fed into moulds inside diecasting machines. These thundering contraptions spit out hundreds, thousands, millions, even, of identical small-scale car bodies. The only way these babies will come apart is with a hammer, pliers and a level of brute force that is beyond most kids. They can get damaged, certainly, but they usually keep on rolling, and when made in big enough quantities they sell for the price of a bar of chocolate. Yet really these were the preserve of the wealthy middle classes. A Dinky Austin-Healey or Dinky Supertoys Foden petrol tanker was expensive, heavyweight and desirable, and attainable for working-class kids as special treats only at birthdays or Christmas. And yearned.

Matchbox autos 1970

Over the last few years, the matchbox has been the most popular collectible die-cast car. Now that matchbox is resurfacing again; collectors are delighted to see this trend continue. This trend started with the Matchbox cars from Lesney, and they are returning to take over again. Some of them, especially if you enjoy restorations, are still very affordable — similar to Hot Wheels. Others, however, like any collecting hobby, go beyond the standard. Besides, because of the large number of matchbox cars available, it is hard to find the right one with a better worth. But do not worry because we are here to help. This article will reveal the 11 most valuable Matchbox cars worth a fortune. Founded in by Lesney Products, Matchbox is a well-known toy brand. However, later in , Mattel, Inc purchased the brand.

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Later, the Power Pit was introduced—which was an electric charger that plugged into any household AC outlet and resembled a race track garage or pit stop. 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 s. Retrieved 26 April The first issue to be purposely made for a particular customer is the now famous "Beales Bealesons" 46 Guy "Pickfords" Removal Van. Howard Rees, who worked with Ira Gilford, was tired of designing cars. Retrieved December 12, Search for images Search for stock images, vectors and videos. In , Series 5 has 30 models. Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 23 November Small huts, on each side of the main straight track section, contained the individual motors which powered each lane, allowing the vehicles in adjacent lanes vehicles to be raced, although all vehicles in the same lane would travel at the same speed.

The inspiration behind Matchbox cars came from a school rule. But you might want to check your vintage Matchbox cars before giving them away since some can be worth thousands of dollars. Many were produced as samples and differ from the variations chosen for mass production — therefore, explaining the reason why some are valued as much as times their original cost.

For example, a car with the date stamp of "L42" was produced on the forty-second week of The code begins with a letter, followed by a two-digit number. The system worked by means of trackside electric motors driving continuous spring loops which would run in channels. There was also supposed to be a separate Mustang Funny Car as listed on the blisterpack rear checklist but this was apparently changed to a Plymouth Barracuda Funny Car during production. At several points, in an attempt to move into Mattel and Hasbro territory, Matchbox produced dolls, first a line of pirate dolls [10] for younger school-age boys, and later baby dolls for pre-school girls. The date is usually the year before the car was first released, but not always. Filter Cancel. It was also during the Universal era that the "Matchbox Collectibles" concept was developed see below, "Matchbox Collectibles". On September 28, , Netflix announced Hot Wheels Let's Race , a new animated series adaptation [25] which is set to premiere on March 4, The Sizzlers were a s Hot Wheels spin off with a built-in motor and a tiny rechargeable battery. 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 fact that some of the trucks are unlicensed allows the castings to be universally used in any Team Transport set regardless of theme for example, a Chevrolet-branded truck would not make sense in a Ford-themed set. In , to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Sky Busters made a comeback, but with Continental Airlines as the only major airline to sponsor the product. Concept cars such as the Datsun X were pretty far out, but at least rooted in some kind of reality. When a new model was released, an existing model was discontinued, its number being re-allocated.