1973 - 2000 The Story of Matchbox Kits

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this reference. For a brief period original Matchbox kits have been sold in the US under the AMT brand.

So now you will see the correct identifications under the yellow ranges. Meanwhile Dirk Ommert provided boxart pictures for P-5001, P-5002, P-5003 and P-5005. two more kits to complete the series of six purple range aircraft kits that were reissued in the first type 5 box design for the USA market in 1980; Figures (Yellow range) - Matchbox figure kits were identified by a P- number instead of PK-. We correct this slip of the keyboard in this update. Some models from the 1:125 series, fltr: Ferrari Berlinetta, Skoda 130 LR, Snow-Trac, SRN6 Hovercraft, Weasel and Scammell Snow Plough

As mentioned above, Matchbox also tried its hand in the die cast aeroplanes area, under the name Sky Busters. The models were not only produced for children; Sky Busters produced plane models for such airlines as Aeroméxico, Air France, British Airways, Iberia, Lufthansa and Saudi Arabian Airlines. However, they were and are designed more for the inexpensive toy market. Promotional models sold by the airlines themselves more often tend to be models of higher quality, exactness, and price. In Hong Kong a holding company was formed for them, called Matchbox International Ltd. Later Universal Matchbox Group. 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.

Levin, Tim (15 April 2021). "Matchbox will sell an eco-friendly Tesla Roadster toy, and you'll probably be able to buy one before the real thing". Business Insider . Retrieved 15 July 2021. The better the condition of the model, the higher its value. Model conditions are usually expressed in a simple, somewhat subjective manner, in categories such as: mint, excellent, very good, good, fair, poor. Simply put, a "mint" model, i.e. one in factory-fresh condition, is worth far more than a sandbox-quality model with chipped paint, rusty axles, and broken parts. However, to be valuable, the condition must be original; repainting or repairing a model reduces its value greatly, even if the final result can be impressive. In 1991 Revell bought the molds for the whole range of kits and got a ten year lease to use the Matchbox brand nameThe main range of Matchbox toys were die cast model cars. The first plastic model kits were a range of twenty aircraft And the tanks... same deal, only with the diorama base! How cool was that? Matchbox really did bring something new to the party. The ex-Otaki 1 TO 48 scale range - We have added pictures and instruction sheets for all four kits in this range from PK-460 to PK-463. A live-action film adaptation produced by Mattel Films was announced in January 2022. [14] Later that year, Skydance Media joined in making the film with Mattel Films. [15] Matchbox collectors [ edit ] 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?

This neatly sets our ultimate boundary as this is the event horizon for plastic modeling kits issues under the Matchbox brand.The buyout by Mattel was greeted with considerable trepidation by the Matchbox collectors' community. The rivalry between the Hot Wheels and Matchbox brands was not only a battle fought by the companies; collectors of each of the brands felt strongly about the qualities of their brand of choice. For the typical Matchbox collector, Hot Wheels were inferior in scaling and model choice, making them less desirable. There were fears that Mattel would either impose a Hot Wheels-style philosophy on the Matchbox line, or actually fold the Matchbox line into the Hot Wheels series. Early concerns of this nature by collectors were countered by assurances from Mattel that Matchbox would continue to develop its own product line independently from Hot Wheels, and that it was intended that Matchbox represent more realistic and traditional vehicles, while fantasy ones would be placed firmly in Hot Wheels territory. To demonstrate the latter commitment, some very realistic Hot Wheels Caterpillar models were actually re-branded to Matchbox, although that did not assuage concerns about the strength of the former assurance. Matchbox Sky Busters is a range of die-cast model aircraft produced under the Matchbox brand, initially by Lesney Products and later by Mattel. In 1976, the Skybusters line returned, at a time when the die cast airplanes market was largely dominated by Dyna-Flytes. The brand kept coming on and off the market until the 2000s, when Mattel decided to release the models each year. Currently no airlines are under contract with Matchbox to produce Skybusters models. The most recent ones are American Airlines, UPS, British Airways, Alaska Airlines, Lufthansa and DHL. ( Delta Air Lines and United Airlines did not have a contract with Matchbox since the takeover of Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines, respectively), but jetliners are released under fictional airline names, such as Matchbox Airlines (also called MBX Airways). Matchbox set up its own plastic kit division in the UK around 1972/73. Concentrating on 1:72 scale military aircraft and 1:76 military vehicles, it competed with the then-dominant Airfix company. The Matchbox kits had a distinctive appearance, the parts in each kit were produced in two or three colours compared to the single colour plastic of Airfix. The boxes were also more colourful and included clear windows so the contents could be seen. In addition, unlike Airfix's military vehicle kits, the Matchbox military vehicle kits all came with a small diorama base.

Multi-colored Matchbox kits have been produced up to 1990, but Revell continued the range and revamped it during their ten year lease period. 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 attractiveOrange range ships kits - PK-161 to PK-165. For the Admiral Graf Spee, USS San Diego, HMS Tiger and USS Indianapolis we have added box variations The latter was made for the special occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Dutch IPMS and the 10th anniversary of the German DPMV. It is dedicated to the memory of the founders, engineers and illustrators who made these wonderful kits come to life.