I read that Leslie Smith, co-founder of Matchbox Toys has died. It was his Coronation coach and horses that made him his money. If you have this then hang onto it.

Do you have any other Matchbox toys by any chance?

I had a great selection of Matchbox cars from the nineties... Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Mercs, BMWs... not worth anything as an investment, but good quality models fun to play with.

I thought I'd let the boys play with them as a treat...they managed to write off the lot in a few weeks :roll:

Whatever happened to Matchbox this decade? They used to make highly-detailed model cars with proper suspension, opening doors and metallic paintwork. Now they just cover them in the most ghastly paint colours.

As a cost saving measure, it gets a thumbs-down from me.

Shame. I enjoyed matchbox cars during my childhood.

Matchbox and Dinky. Two words that sum up my childhood really.

Used to buy mine from Redgates and from Toy Fayre in Ranmoor. Gosh, my brother and I had loads of them. Used to play with them along the top of a wall opposite our house on Hangingwater Close (we left in 1981).

We had the Simon Snorkel fire-engine, the road-sweeper with green 'barrel' on the back; the old fashioned Bin Lorry (the rear tipped up) and we used to put them in a big box when we'd finished playing with them.

On one such occasion, we left the box behind a fence because mum wanted to nip out to the shops (which meant taking us also). Upon our return the box had gone.

Was it just a coincidence than a relative of our neighbours was visiting family in India that same weekend? I'll never know, but I still miss them toys.:(

I used to have oodles of these - Matchbox, Corgi, Dinky....

Anyone remember the range of plastic models Matchbox did in the 1970s?

Apparently the first toys were so called because the guy's daughter could only take toys to school that would fit in a Matchbox.

And I remember the boxes form the 1960s that Matchbox cars came in - I'm prety sure they were yellow with a picture of the car on.

I used to get mine from a toyshop called Pointons in Warsop where I was born. They also stocked Lego bricks and Airfix kits. Ahhh...when I was young and not full of cares... :)

Joe

Yes Joe I remember those boxes too.
The shop in Dinnington where I got mine had a Carousel full of cars on the counter and you chose your car from there.
The old boy would then go up his ladder to the top shelves to get you one down.

My bestest ever was a shiney silver motorbike n sidecar

:rolleyes: ahh memeories

Originally posted by Ousetunes
We had the Simon Snorkel fire-engine, the road-sweeper with green 'barrel' on the back; the old fashioned Bin Lorry (the rear tipped up)

yeah. i had those three as well. i loved playing with the bristles on the road sweeper and the bin lorry occupied me for hours!

Originally posted by Ousetunes


We had the Simon Snorkel fire-engine, ...............:(

I still have the Simon Snorkel (with the firemen - one in the platform) but it's been renovated so probably worth nothing now.:(