Matchbox Catalogs

As faithful readers will recall. Matchbox produced a catalog each year of their line of cars and accessories. As a child, my mom would pick up a catalog at the store and tell me to pick out some cars that maybe “Santa” would bring me on Christmas morning.

The firs t Matchbox catalog was issued in 1957, a fold out catalog. Here is the 1959 catalog.


Here is the 1960 catalog.

There was not too much imagination on the covers of the 1961, 1962 and 1963 catalogs.


At least the insides were a little different. The top picture is from the 1961 catalog, the bottom one from 1963.

The 1964 and 1965 catalogs at least had different covers.

But their insides were similar!

The catalogs were issued not only in England and the USA, but in many different foreign countries. Here are the 1973 catalogs from the USA and the United Kingdom.

1963 Fleer Baseball Cards

When I was a kid growing up and collecting baseball cards, the only company making cards was Topps. Now , so many different companies make cards you can’t keep up with them.

However, prior to their current run of cards from 1981, Fleer made some baseball card sets, primarily during the 1960’s.

In 1959, they produced an 80 card set on Ted Williams. In 1960 and 1961, they produced sets of cards featuring retired players. Here is card #21 of Howard Ehmke from the 1961 set.




In 1963, Fleer issued a set of 67 cards of current baseball players. The cards were issued with a cherry cookie! This resulted in damages to many cards. Here is the wrapper the cards came in.


Here is the card of Willie Mays, #5 in the set.



The big coup for Fleer was they had the first card issued of Maury Wills. Wills was not considered a top prospect by Topps in the late 1950s so they did nit sign him to a contract. When Wills made it to the majors, he snubbed them but did sign with Fleer. It didn't hurt that he was the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1962. Here is his card, #43 in the set.





As the set was released, Fleer wanted to include a checklist card. The cards were printed in sheets of 66, so, in the final print run, card #46, Joe Adcock was replaced by a checklist card. I love this short printed checklist card. Here is the one from my collection.
　

1964 Topps Giants

In 1964, Topps issued additional baseball card sets apart from their regular baseball card set. One such set was the "Giants" baseball card set. These cards were larger than the regular sized card. They were postcard size.

This 60 card set is beautifully photographed. The backs of each card is a highlight of the player's career shown as a newspaper article. A few cards were short printed and are more difficult to find.

Here is the card of #4, Sandy Koufax.

Here is the back of his card.

I love this card of #15, Jim Gentile. A great picture!

Here is the back of his card.

Here is the front and back of Mickey Mantle, #25 in the set.

The complete set of 60 currently sell for $150-$200.

Matchbox Service Station (Part 3)

In 1968, Matchbox produced its third service station.

This station was one story and came with B.P. markings. Here is the station.

The cars shown are from left to right are #53 (B) Mercedes Benz 220 SE issued in 1963, #39 (B) Pontiac Convertible issued in 1962, #29(B) Austin A55 Cambridge Sedan issued in 1961, #49(B) Sports Boat & Trailer issued in 1961, #30(A) Stake Truck issued in 1956, #65(B) Jaguar 3.4 Litre Saloon issued in 1962, #31(C) Lincoln Continental issued in 1964, #24(B) Weatherill Hydraulic Excavator issued in 1959 and the #40(B) Leyland Royal Tiger Coach issued in 1961.

Here is the box it came in.

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.

Matchbox Service Station (Part 1)

In 1957, Matchbox introduced their first Service Station which is described on the box as ""Showroom and Service Station for Matchbox Toys". It was based on a real station close to one of the Matchbox factories. Here it is.

To the left is the box it came in. A few years later, the same station was produced but had a red building with a yellow base.

Also shown is the the first accessory Matchbox issued, the 3 gas pumps with attendant and Esso sign. This was first issued in 1956. Its box is shown to the left.

The cars shown, from left to right, are the #45(A) Vauxhall Victor, the #13(B) Bedford Wreck Truck, the #46(A) Morris Minor and the 11(B) Road Tanker. All these cars were first issued in 1958.

Bobby Murcer

Bobby Murcer was one of my favorite players when I was a kid. I got the change to follow his career both in person as well as on TV. Bobby was born May 20, 1946. Here is a baseball card from 1973 showing the youngster.

He briefly played for the New York Yankees in 1965 and 1966 then fulfilled his military obligation in 1967 and 1968 before being called up to the majors to stay in 1969. Here is his first Topps baseball card from 1966.

Bobby was the heir apparent to Mickey Mantle but never reached that lofty goal but he was a great player. He played for the Yankees, San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs. He was a 5 time All Star and also won a Gold Glove award for his fielding. He hit a total of 252 career home runs. Here is his 1973 Topps baseball card.

After his retirement, he was a Yankee coach and assistant General Manager. He also was a broadcaster for Yankee games on television for 20 years. He won 3 Emmy Awards.

Bobby was diagnosed with a brain tumor on Christmas Eve, 2006 and underwent surgery 2 days later. Bobby returned to work as an announcer on May 1, 2007.

Bobby planned to broadcast about 60 games in 2008 but became tired and weak. On June 30, 2008, Murcer's family released a statement that he had suffered a relapse:

Bobby Murcer continues to recover from the effects of cancer and shingles which caused him to cut short his broadcasting work and his book tour earlier this month. He has been under medical care in Oklahoma City.

The cancer treatment over the last 18 months has been intensive and has, as a side effect, somewhat compromised his immune system and made the fight all the more challenging. While he has shown some measured improvement in recent days, this is clearly a major battle, as all who have been through it understand.

Bobby remains hopeful that he will be able to resume his broadcasting work down the road, but for now, is appreciative of the thoughts and prayers of his fans, and wants them to know that he is aware that he is in their hearts, as they are in his.
　
Two weeks later, on July 12, 2008, Bobby passed away.

A memorial service was held August 6, 2008. Ironically, it was 29 years to the day that Bobby delivered the eulogy at his friend and teammate, Thurmon Munson’s funeral.

Bobby left behind his wife (his high school sweetheart) of 42 years, Diana “Kay”, 2 children and 5 grandchildren.

One year later, Bobby is still in our hearts.