Matchbox back with new collections

A REPLICA of the first Matchbox vehicle.

PRITESH RUTHUN

MATTEL, owners of Matchbox, known for its authentic and realistic vehicles and diorama play sets, is relaunching the brand in South Africa. To mark the occasion, Matchbox is celebrating the most iconic car manufacturers in Europe, across the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Russia. The new European or “Best of ...” line features vehicles from famous car manufacturers including Land Rover, Audi, Mercedes-AMG, and Porsche.

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Matchbox was founded in 1947 by Leslie Smith and Rodney Smith. The two got to know each other during their time in the Royal Navy during World War II.

Upon returning from the war, they formed Lesney Products and set up shop in an old pub, The Rifleman, in Edmonton, North London. Rodney, however, left in 1951 to pursue other interests and Jack Odell became a partner with Leslie. Odell worked for The Die Casting Machine Tools which made and sold die-casting equipment, but soon joined Lesney Products fulltime.

Odell’s daughter, Anne, needed to bring an object to school that could fit in a matchbox.

He made a miniature version of the larger Aveling Barford Road Roller that became the first in the 1953 Matchbox die-cast line.

CHANGING OWNERSHIP HANDS

The Lesney company built Matchbox into a massive brand despite increasing competition from brands such as Hot Wheels and Micro Machines. In 1992, Tyco bought the brand for $135 million but in 1997, Tyco was bought by Mattel for $755m.

Mattel continued to build a connection to the Matchbox collector culture through collectibles. The brand also worked with Nickelodeon, Warner Bros, Coca-Cola, the NBA, several feature films and TV studios to create collectible cars and trucks.

In 2009, it introduced interactive talking robot trucks.

MATCHBOX FOR EVERYONE

Roberto Stanichi, global head of vehicles at Mattel, said: “With this year’s relaunch, we’ve identified the values that have made Matchbox so enduring and focused on encouraging kids to explore through realistic play.”

In developing the new “Best of…” collection, Matchbox designers worked with car manufacturers to determine which models would best represent each country. From Germany’s Audi R8 to France’s Renault Kangoo Postal Service van, popular models were selected along with vehicles such as fire trucks and ambulances.

Matchbox Best of Europe vehicles and playsets are available in toy stores.