Matchbox Displays

I'd like to share two of my displays for some of my larger Matchbox cars.


This first one is black wood and holds 6 cars. It was designed to hold Fire Trucks. I guess the bight rd and/or white trucks showed up well against the black background. Right now, it has some of my road service trucks in it.


Here is what is called a "Bow-Tie" display which is the Chevrolet Symbol. Of coarse, I only have Chevys on it. There are 3 1957 Chevys, top, bottom and left, one corvette in the middle and a 1956 Chevy to the right.

FANTA!!

Matchbox has issued many cars for promotional purposes.

One of my favorites was a group of 8 cars issued with Fanta labels. Fanta is an orange soda,hence all the cars were orange.

Here is a group of 5 cars.

Here are my 3 favorites, the School Bus, The Double Decker Bus and The 1957 Chevy!

Garbage!

Matchbox has issued some garbage (or refuse) trucks over the years.

Here is the first one, first issued in 1957, the #38A Karrier Refuse Truck.



The next version came along in 1963, the #15C Dennis Refuse Truck. Shown are both variations, the one on the left has a peep hole while the one one the right does not.

Finally, from 1966 is the #7C Ford Refuse Truck. Also shown is his big brother, the K-7 in the king size range.

GOT MILK?

As a boy, we never had a Milkman deliver milk to the house. Luckily, there was a small store withing walking distance so every time my mom got milk, bread, etc., she also picked a a pack or tow of baseball cards!

However, my grandmother did get milk delivered. Her milk truck, when I was a child, was similar to this model made by the Danbury Mint.

Matchbox has also issued various milk delivery vehicles. Here is the #7A Horse Drawn Milk Float, first issued in 1954.

Here is the #29A Bedford Milk Delivery Van, issued in 1956.

Here are two variations of the #21C Commer Milk Float, issued in 1961. The one on the left has silver wheels, cream load, bottle decal and clear windows. The one on the right has black wheels, white load, cow decal and green windows. You can also see the sign on top is different too.

My favorite thing to go with milk? That's easy!

Matchbox Service Station (Part 2)

In 1961, Matchbox issued their second Service Station in 1961. It was two story and used the same colors as the first, yellow and red. In 1963, it was reissued in white and green w as a BP station. Here it is:


Also shown are the Accessory Pack of the BP Gas Pumps and Attendant, the #13D Dodge Wreck Truck, issued in 1965, the #57B Chevrolet Impala, issued in 1961 and the #28C MK 10 Jaguar, issued in 1964.

Here is the box that the Service Station was packed in.

RACE CARS!!!!

With the Indianapolis 500 Auto Race coming up in a few weeks, I thought I would share some pictures of Matchbox race cars in my collection.

First, from 1958 are two variations of the #52(A) Maserati 4CLT Racer.

Next, from 1962, are the two variations of the #73(B) Ferrari F1 Racing Car.

Here are 3 varieties of the #19(D) Lotus Racing Car. The first two were issued beginning in 1966 while the one on the right is the Superfast version issued in 1970.
, Here are 7 (of the 23) variations of the Superfast #34(A) Formula 1 Race Car, issued in 1971.

Finally, since these cars are too valuable to drive on the highway to get to Indianapolis, here is the Matchbox Major Pack #6(B) Racing Car Transporter, issued in 1965.

HAPPY EASTER!

Matchbox has come up will several ways of packaging their cars at different holiday seasons.

For Easter, they put cars in eggs.


When the eggs were "cracked" open", the hidden car was revealed..


This was a very clever marketing tool. It allowed them to package cars that were maybe not selling very well. They would also add in one or two new cars to entice collectors to buy them.

Happy Easter to everyone.

Matchbox Carrying Cases

Lesney Corporation had been making Matchbox cars since the early 1950's but did not make any carrying cases until 1966. Here are some cases from my collection.

Here is a 48 car case. It's made of vinyl and cardboard and has 4 plastic trays to hold the cars. This was issued in 1966 and the cover depicts the #41 Ford GT.

This case was issued in 1967. It is vinyl with cardboard trays that hold 18 vehicles. The cover has the #8 Mustang.

From 1966, here is a 40 car case. This one has two trays that hold 20 cars each. Again, made from vinyl and cardboard, one side features the #6 Quarry Truck and the other side has the #53 Mercedes.


As the years went by, Matchbox got a little more creative with their cases.

Here is a 36 car case that resembles a truck from 1976. This was a gift from my wife.



Finally, I think this one is from the late 1970's or early 1980's. It holds 48 cars in 4 plastic trays. It is shaped like a race car. These come in various colors. My wife spotted this one a t a local antique store.

Oddball Matchbox Collectibles

Even though I primarily collect Matchbox Cars, I have a few non car items in my collection.

Here is a set of 4 erasers in the shapes of cars.

Here is a toy for a small child to play with in the bathtub.

Here is a bar of soap. To encourage children to use the soap, A small toy car was hidden in the middle that the child got to play with when the soap was all used up.

Along the same lines, here is a tube of body wash which also had a toy car in it.

Finally, here is a set of 3 bars of soap shaped like cars. They were packaged in a box that resembled a car transporter. This version was issued in France.

Fill er Up!

It's a busy early Saturday afternoon in the center of town.

Trucks are making their deliveries. Time to gas up before going out for the day.

Of coarse, at the Matchbox Garage, gas is cheap and plentiful. The attendant is friendly and knows you by name. He cleans not only your front windshield but the rear window as well! He checks your oil and brings the dipstick over to your window to show you you are a quart low.

Once you are all set at the filling station, it's one last quick stop at he Mom and Pop store next door for some snacks for the road and then off on an adventure!

VOLKSWAGENS!

I have love Volkswagens since I was a little kid. I like the old "Beetles" the best.

Here is my first Matchbox Volswagen, the #25b.


Here are some of my VWs that are still in their blisterpacks. This display is on a wall in my room.


This is my largest Volkswagen collectible. It is an old advertising poster that I obtained from a local dealership. I have had it framed.


Here is my smallest VW. Don't know a lot about this little guy except his base says "Made in Germany". I have had him for over 40 years! Here is the little guy next to a quarter.


Here are a few more of my VWs


From left to right: A windup 1960s Volkswagen made by Schuco, A cat playing with a windup VW given to me by my wife, a new sporty Matchbox VW, a VW on a keychain whose front lights light up; this was purchased from Willey's Store, Greensboro, VT and a larger Volkswagen from Yankee Candle in South Deerfield, Massachusetts.

"These are a Few of My Favorite Things"

Some of my favorite collectibles are those that were given to me by my family and one that is homemade!

Here is a cool Matchbox Car that my wife's two grandsons, Sage and Cole, picked out for me.

Here is a Matchbox Car in the 50 state car series from Oklahoma that my wife's son, Geoff and his wife Leslie and daughter Micaela picked out for me.

This is a neat car my step daughter Laura got for me. It is a small version of the car from the Test Track ride at Walt Disney World that we went on.

This is a great car that my brother in law, Ronnie, got for me. It looks super in my display case.

As you can see, I love keeping things unopened, in their original package when possible.

But my favorite is this "Matchbox" Box. My wife made this for me over 10 years ago. I think it is perfect. She painted an old cigar box to resemble a Matchbox Box. I may be biased but I think she did a great job. It looks fantastic and I love looking at it every day.

I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving holiday. Take extra care if you are traveling. And when you get there, go ahead, have that extra piece of pie!!!