1973 - 2000 The Story of Matchbox Kits

Product Information

A few more plates with artwork by Roy Huxley in guided tour 11. Some of the subjects will be nobrainers for you, but can you distinguish each and every aircraft's make and model? Each model was molded in a set of colors that was chosen to give an appearance as realistic as possible in this way.

The first appearance of Matchbox kits was in 1973 when they appeared in the Matchbox Collectors Catalogue.

Company

Specials - A special last run of the Mirage IIIB for an Italian magazine in 1995 by Revell and a limited edition of the BAC 167 Mk.80 Strikemaster issued by Revell in 2011. As mentioned above (cf. "History", expansion in the Superfast era), the popularity of both regional issues and promotionals were recognized by the company and played a role in the development of models designed not specifically as toys, but with the collector in mind. The realisation of the market potential of catering to collectors led to a major shift in the entire die-cast industry, as other brands followed while Matchbox continued to refine the idea into what later became Matchbox Collectables (q.v.). Also in the late 1970s, Matchbox produced a small range of 1:32 and 1:76 Second World War toy soldiers in direct competition to Airfix. These sets included British, German and American infantry, the British 8th Army and the German Afrika Korps and British Commandos. Though Matchbox's sets featured fewer figures than comparable Airfix sets (15 vs. 29 in 1:32), they included weapons that Airfix did not model (flame-throwers, heavy machine guns), and Montgomery and Rommel figures in the Desert War sets. The figures were popular for their high-quality molding and their different extra weapons and poses as compared to the more common Airfix sets. From a pure modeling perspective these kits may even be preferable to the serious modeler as having the whole kit

His work is renowned for its detail and accuracy, especially his aviation subjects, which has resulted in him being the three times winner of the coveted Guild of Aviation Artists “Aviation Painting of the Year” award. Roy and his wife Sue have always been keen sailors and would go to their sailing yacht in France to unwind whenever time allowed. Although their sailing days are now over, they still travel extensively from their home in a quiet Kent village.

Matchbox | No. PK-401 | 1:72

Various 2020–2021 Matchbox 1-100 series models, (left to right: 2020 Honda e, 2018 LEVC TX, 2019 Subaru Forester, 2019 Big Banana Car) For a short period in the 1970s/1980s, Lesney also produced or licensed Matchbox production in other countries. Having started by developing several model variants in England specifically for the Japanese market, they later produced four Superfast models in Japan, based on Japanese prototypes. Dies and tooling were later also licensed to groups in Hungary and Bulgaria ( Mikro'67), in an attempt to gain a foothold in the Communist bloc countries. Although only standard models were produced there, there were numerous colour variations, some of which are very rare today.

look no further but use the search with a particular PK-number to list all variations for that kit. Like many high value collectable items Matchbox models are now prone to faking. Rare variations can be quite easily made up using genuine parts, and then sold as a "rare" variation. An intermediate version of the boxart shows the "Aerobatic Teams" emblem but still with the camouflaged aircraft on the box. Armour - We are happy to add an excellent build for each and every armour kit in the Lesney ranges. It makes it almost hard to believe these are in 1 to 76 scale.With the help of Roy Huxley we have been able to identify for many kits the artists who drew the boxart. The three dominant brands in the world at the time, all British-made ( Dinky, Matchbox and Corgi), were very successful. Each had its own market niche and its own strong reputation, while innovations and advances by one were adopted by the others within a matter of a few years. Each also expanded to some extent into the others' territory, though this never seemed to seriously affect the sales of any brand's core series.

The guided tour section had a new wing built to our museum in which we show some of the work of Roy Huxley from new angles. Regional issues and promotionals [ edit ] Regional issues [ edit ] Bulgarian Matchbox model of a Lincoln Continental Mk. V

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Matchbox also published several video games that tied into the Matchbox line of model vehicles. These games featured construction and emergency services (fire, police, ambulance, rescue), [12] with game play involving vehicle-appropriate action sequences (for example, intercepting a robbery with a squad car in Motor City Patrol). [13] These games were developed by other companies for a variety of platforms, including Game Boy handheld gamers, the NES video gaming system, and PC. [12] in what was to be known as "the purple range" numbered PK-1 to PK-20. From the start Matchbox kits were designed to be attractive Many thanks to the support by the Classic British Kits SIG, operating on the Unofficial Airfix Modellers Forum, and their fabulous PK-2008 project. Products currently marketed under the Matchbox name include scale model plastic and die-cast vehicles, and toy garages. Spray and brush painted with Humbrol enamals with decals from the kit. I have another (obtained recently from KingKit) stached away for a future build. One thing I found with this kit was the need for very great care when removing some parts from the sprue. This Wellesley model still shows the mark on the front of the cowling where I wasn't careful enough.