page last updated: 16 December 2011
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page last updated: 16 December 2011 |
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I began by collecting Corgis and little by little Matchboxes began to turn up in mixed lots, in early 2009 I began to take a serious interest in the brand, I now find that I've more Matchbox models and sub-brands of Matchbox than all the other makers put together.
The purpose of these pages is firstly to showcase my collection, but mostly it is about the pictures. I've tried to give a set of consistent high resolution photos of these models, taken from a prescribed set of angles so that it is easier for someone searching for details of a die-cast which they own to get an accurate view with which to compare it. Over the years I've been doing this I've taken over 50,000 shots of my cars, most of which are on this website. Over time my kit has got more sophisticated and I have got better at taking pictures so you'll find more recent acquisitions have sharper, brighter photos. I'm working my way round to to re-doing the worst ones but 50,000 photos take some time and new cars arrive every day.
I've decided to get the Matchboxes into some order on these pages dividing them up into the following groups, click the link to view the page:
Post Lesney & 1-100 Mattel Range
Remember - wherever you are on the website - all the little pictures are clickable links
either to more information or to bigger pictures
Acknowledgements
To produce these pages I have had firstly to find and then photograph hundreds (fifteen hundred at least) of Matchbox models of all shapes, sizes, eras, ownership periods and sub-brands, but without some excellent sources of information for my research I would not have been able to make the small amount of sense I have been able to from this wide-ranging and complex subject. It is not my intention to be a specialist in this area, far from it, I merely want to understand my collection better and display it clearly with some informed comment. I have relied on some first class specialists elsewhere for the informed detail in these articles, however the comment is all my own.
For Lesney models of the pre-Superfast era the following website is invaluable, Moko Lesney Matchbox 1-75 Series variation guide 1953-70, The level of careful research and attention to detail is second to none.
For Lesney Superfast models Christain Falkensteiner has an excellent pictorial reference which is fantastic for identifying Superfast models, Christian Falkensteiner's Matchbox Lesney Superfast Pictures
For post Lesney models mb-db.co.uk is a great place to go to identify specifically what you have, it is also fun to find when you have a model not listed there which you can upload and add to the database, a small number of the pictures on this site are from my collection.
As ever Nigel's excellent diecast.plus.com has a very extensive range of pictures and information about diecasts of every major maker, hundreds of his pictures come from my collection I am very proud to say.
Models of Yesteryear, particularly the boxes they came in are very well covered by Mike Flack on his Matchbox Memories site and I have again used his site for much of my research into MOY
Not all my sources are on-line. I have cross-referenced all my research from the websites above using Ramsay's British Diecast Model Toys Catalogue 13th Edition
Last of all much of the detail about the cars on which these models are sometimes based comes from the Observers Book of Automobiles - of which I own an almost complete set and good old Wikipedia
One further point. As I said I am not a Matchbox or Lesney specialist, Corgi is my home ground, so I apologise in advance for any errors you may spot. The information around versions and their rarity is drawn from a number of sources which sometimes disagree with each other. In these cases I've generally taken a view which means I have probably contradicted one or other of the sources. Please though, if you spot something you don't agree with or is just plain wrong, send me an email and I'll do my best to put it right. andrew@little-wheels.co.uk
