Oct 2, 1992 · Matchbox Toys” and by October of that year he had found one in “Tyco Toys” 1992 – 1997 : Tyco Toys 2 October 1992 was the day Tyco Toys took ownership of Universal Toys, and thus now owned the Matchbox brand name amongst others.

The 1-75 series began in 1953 when Jack Odell’s daughter was told by her teacher that she was only allowed to bring a toy to school provided it would fit inside a matchbox, Jack made her a scaled down brass model of the 1947 Lesney large scale road roller, She took the roller to school where the other children saw it and they all wanted one.

In 1997 Tyco Toys the owners of the Matchbox brand at the time released this range of gold painted models taken from the 1996 & 1997 range. Each model was limited to just 10,000 models as this sub series was in response to the Hot Wheels Treasure Hunt …

From time to time the owners of the Matchbox brand would release special collections of miniatures in addition to the normal yearly basic range. These collections are listed below : 60th Anniversary Cards 60th Anniversary Models 75 Challenge Across America (50th Birthday Series) Around the World Best of British Best of International Best of Matchbox […]

Below is the complete listing of all of the core ”Models of Yesteryear” range issued prior to its conversion to the mail-in issues. NB: Models Y48 to Y60 inclusive, were never allocated to any models and hence nothing was ever produced under those numbers. Y No. Model Name Year Y01-1 1925 Allchin Traction Engine […]

The ‘Matchbox Collectibles’ range was first introduced in 1992 by Tyco Toys Inc., the idea originating in Australia that the “Models of Yesteryear’ range would have better sales if it was marketed directly to adult collectors. It was infact as time has shown the beginning of the end for the Yesteryear range. Instead of issuing […]

2007 saw the release of a new collection of miniatures called the ‘Best of British’; released in selected markets this range was run over the next three years with a different choice of vehicle in 2007 , 2008 & 2009 2007 Best of British Range Number Description <click to …

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Starting in 1998 there were several sub-series of vehicles all utilising the Coca-Cola brand as a theme. Some of these were released under the banner of Matchbox Collectibles in a premiere fashion whilst others were in a specially coloured window box and were more like the mainline series. Premiere Coca-Cola series #01 (1998) Model […]

2010 saw the release of a new premium range of miniature vehicles named in honour of the original company and inventor of the Matchbox brand. Front Rear 2010 01 ’64 Austin Mini Cooper S 02 ’75 Chevy Pickup Stepside 03 ’69 Cadillac Sedan DeVille 04 ’60 MGA 05 Jungle Crawler 06 ’74 Volkswagen Type […]