Goin waaay back: Matchbox Models of Yesteryear!

[Faust]

I was just in my local hobby shop the other day and was amazed by how many die cast collectibles there are now. I then got thinking about when all of this started, and it occurred to me it was probably with the old Matchbox Models of Yesteryear.

My Uncle has collected cars since he was a kid, and he had some of the first Models of Yesteryear. He and I were amazed at how much the lineup, as well as the cars themselves, have changed in the decades. It seemed like a cool thing to put up on my website, since I like die cast as well as plastic replicas.

So, I decided to put up a new section on my website to sort of trace the evolution of the Models of Yesteryear, as well as give people a chance to appreciate them. If you like die cast, or early cars or history, I think you’ll find something to enjoy! (http://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/cool-stuff/lesney-matchbox-models-of-yesteryear/)

Check it out, and let me know what you think. My uncle has a lot of these, so I’ll be adding more in the future!

Edited November 3, 2013 by Faust

[slusher]

l always was a matchbox cars and trucks. My dad would take me to the corner drug store in the late 60's and pick out a car. l can remember them turning the display for me to choose. Those was great simple times...

[Faust]

If you take a look at the closeup shots I have of the various cars, you can see how hard the guys at Lesney were working to really make these things as detailed as possible.

I do like that they have scales on them, too.

[Tom Geiger]

I wasn't a fan of these back when I was a kid since the subjects predated me and had a British influence, hence cars I had never heard of. Plus I was concentrating on the regular series of Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars back then. Still, I amassed a box of these, mainly received as gifts from elderly relatives.

[Sixties Sam]

_{I had a few of those, including the Bentley in the photo. They were nice.}

[Maindrian Pace]

I've got two, the same Bentley, but with heavy play wear, and this Mercer Raceabout, which I really like.

-MJS

[Harry P.]

When I was a kid, one of my best friends who lived two houses down had a huge collection of Matchbox, Corgi, and Dinky diecast models. I think they were maybe 1/43 scale? Definitely bigger than Hot Wheels, as I remember. They were sturdy enough that we could "play cars" with them. I remember that some of them had a pretty cool system where if you were "driving" the car across the floor and pushed down on the right side of the car, it would steer right, push down on the left side and it would steer left. Good times and great memories...