It's been a while since our last update. Meanwhile contributions kept coming in. We're happy to share these now, Catalogues - the English version of the 1979/80 catalogue and improved pictures of the English version of the 1982/83 catalogue. Many thanks to Asoka Indrasoma. It is dedicated to the memory of the founders, engineers and illustrators who made these wonderful kits come to life. The Guild of Aviation Artists is recognised throughout the world as the premier society for the promotion of aviation art. With over 300 members, who also include comic artist Keith Burns, the organisation brings together the worlds of art and aviation and stages exhibitions and events across the UK.

The end of the Matchbox Fighting Furies with full chronology". December 2019 . Retrieved 25 March 2020. The ex-Otaki 1 TO 48 scale range - We have added pictures and instruction sheets for all four kits in this range from PK-460 to PK-463.

Use the categories on the left to browse through the various ranges of kits. The search box is handy to find information about specific kits or models. From a pure modeling perspective these kits may even be preferable to the serious modeler as having the whole kit In a few years time the model range had grown to over 30 models in the two-colored purple range and extended into many other ranges Like many high value collectable items Matchbox models are now prone to faking. Rare variations can be quite easily made up using genuine parts, and then sold as a "rare" variation.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Matchbox also published several video games that tied into the Matchbox line of model vehicles. These games featured construction and emergency services (fire, police, ambulance, rescue), [12] with game play involving vehicle-appropriate action sequences (for example, intercepting a robbery with a squad car in Motor City Patrol). [13] These games were developed by other companies for a variety of platforms, including Game Boy handheld gamers, the NES video gaming system, and PC. [12] So now you will see the correct identifications under the yellow ranges. Meanwhile Dirk Ommert provided boxart pictures for P-5001, P-5002, P-5003 and P-5005. After 2001 a number of the Matchbox kits have been released under the Revell brand. You will likely The first appearance of Matchbox kits was in 1973 when they appeared in the Matchbox Collectors Catalogue.

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After the demise of Matchbox, he worked for several leading companies such as British Airways, Marconi, The Bradford Exchange and Rothmans. With the help of Roy Huxley we have been able to identify for many kits the artists who drew the boxart.

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. To make such miniatures, the designers took detailed photographs of the real models, even obtaining some original blueprints. This enabled them to make models with surprisingly high levels of detail, despite the small scale. 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. Although the company was no longer British-owned, limited production continued in England until the mid-1980s, re-using many of the old Lesney castings, but most production and tooling was moved to Macau. It was during this period that Matchbox acquired the rights to the venerated Dinky brand, perhaps the "mother of all toy car collectibles", and united two of the most important names in die-cast under one roof. New models were created (sometimes dies were also bought from competing companies), and the Dinky Collection was born. Dinky models tended to be of more recent classics (particularly the 1950s), while Yesteryears tended to concentrate on older vintages. It was also during the Universal era that the "Matchbox Collectibles" concept was developed (see below, "Matchbox Collectibles"). In 1969, he turned freelance and shortly afterwards was approached by the Tudor Art Agency to create some paintings for a new series of aircraft model kits under the brand ‘Matchbox’. Roy produced paintings for Matchbox from 1973 onwards for nearly 20 years, making him one of the most recognised box-artists in the world.Levin, Tim (15 April 2021). "Matchbox will sell an eco-friendly Tesla Roadster toy, and you'll probably be able to buy one before the real thing". Business Insider . Retrieved 15 July 2021. Find sources: "Matchbox"brand– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( October 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Several attempts were made to integrate the ranges. A recession in the UK brought a less fortunate period for Lesney. On multiple request.. we finally got the instruction sheet details in for all the 1:32 scale aircraft kits in the Green range: Also in the late 1970s, Matchbox produced a small range of 1:32 and 1:76 Second World War toy soldiers in direct competition to Airfix. These sets included British, German and American infantry, the British 8th Army and the German Afrika Korps and British Commandos. Though Matchbox's sets featured fewer figures than comparable Airfix sets (15 vs. 29 in 1:32), they included weapons that Airfix did not model (flame-throwers, heavy machine guns), and Montgomery and Rommel figures in the Desert War sets. The figures were popular for their high-quality molding and their different extra weapons and poses as compared to the more common Airfix sets.

As there have been multiple reference catalogues over the years, there is no complete consensus on the coding of a model. However, a standard code might read as such: Y-15 A 6. This would mean the 6th variation of the first ("A") release of model no. Y-15. two more kits to complete the series of six purple range aircraft kits that were reissued in the first type 5 box design for the USA market in 1980; These days I snap up Matchbox kits as and when I can. I always try to go for the originals if possible, trying to steer clear of the "Revbox" of the 1990s. I'm trying to get two of each at the moment, one to build for the sheer fun of modelling (something which tends to get forgotten these days) and the other to preserve for posterity. As mentioned above (cf. "History", expansion in the Superfast era), the popularity of both regional issues and promotionals were recognized by the company and played a role in the development of models designed not specifically as toys, but with the collector in mind. The realisation of the market potential of catering to collectors led to a major shift in the entire die-cast industry, as other brands followed while Matchbox continued to refine the idea into what later became Matchbox Collectables (q.v.).

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For a short period in the 1970s/1980s, Lesney also produced or licensed Matchbox production in other countries. Having started by developing several model variants in England specifically for the Japanese market, they later produced four Superfast models in Japan, based on Japanese prototypes. Dies and tooling were later also licensed to groups in Hungary and Bulgaria ( Mikro'67), in an attempt to gain a foothold in the Communist bloc countries. Although only standard models were produced there, there were numerous colour variations, some of which are very rare today. Besides browsing the pictured information of each of the kits you may also find it useful to look through the original catalogues which