Matchbox

Matchbox is a brand of toys – and formerly of games – owned by Mattel. The Matchbox name appears in 1953 as a mark of the British company Lesney toys, founded by Leslie Smith (March 6, 1918 to May 26, 2005) and Rodney Smith. The two men were not from the same family, despite their common name. They were school friends and had served together in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.

History of Matchbox

The company was born when a colleague of Smith, John Odell, called "Jack", made a miniature factory for his daughter so that it could easily be taken to school. The miniature was made to the scale of a matchbox.

Matchbox toys were so named because originally the models were packaged in boxes similar to boxes of matches. The Matchbox name became the generic name for any miniature measuring approximately 2.5 inches (6.5 centimeters) long, regardless of brand. In the 70s, the box of matches gave way to more conventional packaging, made of plastic and cardboard, used by other brands such as Hot Wheels Packaging in boxes of matches has been recently reintroduced to the collector market.

Until the 1990’s, upon Lesney decision, the company numbered its standard models, each series only having 75 models. However, recently, the company seems to have restarted this program.

Factory Matchbox / Lesney was a major undertaking in Homerton, East London, although in 1990 the company moved to Rugby, Warwickshire, in the West Midlands. The company Lesney went bankrupt in June 11, 1982. The property of the company were then sold and resold, and ultimately was purchased by Mattel, maker of Hot Wheels.