The range of die cast Matchbox touts were still huge in the 1970s toy market for us boys. The cars were very sturdy and they looked real good to us boys playing on the living room floor and making as much noise as possible with our never-ending range of toy cars.
The Matchbox range was so named because the original packaging looks very much like a slightly large Matchbox, hence the name that came from the company that made them Lesney Products.
The company actually started way back in 1953, and one of the first huge sellers was the Coronation coach that the Queen used, it was very popular, and because of that it just continued bringing out hundreds of over models for kids during the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.
The 1970s had Matchbox as the die cast company for cars, and they kept the edge by going to all the conventions and listening to what the public and the collectors were looking for. It was because of this they had the Yesteryear products . They made planes and ships and they really did stretch the imagination of us kids of their era.
The company struggled in the UK during the late 1970s, and the range of toys started to diminish a little, and eventually the company went bust in the early 1980s.
Some of the models you may recall from 1970 were Mercedes Truck and Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, in 1971 we had the Lamborghini Marzal, in 1972 the Londoner Double Decker bus, and into 1973 the Rod Roller.
All great memories, and everyday they were packed into a box. But I have no idea at all where they all are now.
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