Matchbox Fire Station

Over the years, Matchbox produced a range of Service Stations as well as a Fire Station. The purpose was to create "extra play value", not to mention increased sales!

Here is the MF-1-A Fire Station which was produced beginning in 1963. It was either sold separately, as I have shown, or part of the G-10 Gift Set, both in colorful boxes.

Also shown are the #59(B) Ford Fairlane Police Car, issued in 1963, the #57(C) Land Rover Fire Engine, issued in 1966 as well as 2 #29(C) Fire Pumpers also issued in 1966.

At the same time the Fire Station came out, Matchbox was also developing an Ambulance Station, which was to have a green roof. The Ambulance Station was never released so some of the Fire Stations were fitted with the green roofs made for the Ambulance Station. These are harder to find than the red roof variation.

Here the the box that the Fire Station came in.

Brooks Robinson

I was never a fan of Brooks Robinson, the 3rd baseman for the Baltimore Orioles in the 1960s and 1970s.

Don't get me wrong, he was a fabulous player who is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. But he played for the Orioles, who were a rival of my team, the New York Yankees.

My opinion changed in 1972.

There was a baseball card show at Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey, about a 45 minute drive from my house. The show was in late fall of 1972. Since I was only 15 years old, my dad drove me there and my mom also came along.

I was working 4 hours every Sunday morning at the local stationery/newspaper store bringing in the Sunday papers and assembling them. At $2.00 an hour, I had saved some big bucks to spend on cards.

Anyway, Brooks Robinson was signing items that day so I brought my 1968 Topps card of him to get autographed. Back then, autographs were free and there were not long lines to get your items signed. I looked around for a while and then got in line for his autograph since the line was short, only about 10 people. My mom tagged along with me.

When my turn came, he stuck out his hand to shake mine and asked me what my name was. We chatted a while and then I introduced my mom. She was excited to shake his hand. After some more chatting, my mom asked him if his ring was one of his World Series rings. He said yes, it was his ring from the 1970 World Series. He then took off the ring and gave it to my mom to try on. Mom took the ring and tried to try it on but it was hugh! She finally got it on her finger and we both admired it. Mom gave him back the ring and we both thanked him.

What a class act! Brooks took time to talk with us, not just sign my card and move on. I watched the rest of his career in a different light. I even got the chance to see him play a few times at Yankee Stadium.

Here is my card from that day over 35 years ago.

Memorial Day

On this Memorial Day Weekend I thought I would show a few of my Matchbox military models.

This first picture shows the #73(A) 10 Ton Pressure Refueller issued in 1959, the #49(A) M3 Personnel Carrier issued in 1958, the #61(A) Ferret Scout Car issued in 1959 and the #55(A) DUKW issued in 1958.

This picture is of the Superfast #23(A) Volkswagen Camper/Doormobile issued in 1970, the #63(A) Ford Service Ambulance issued in 1959, the Superfast #3(A) Mercedes Benz Ambulance issued in 1970 and the Superfast #20(B) Police Patrol issued n 1975.

Finally, in the background are two "Two Packs". The first is the #15(A) Military Truck and Trailer. The second one is the #11(A) Military Jeep and Cycle. Both of these were issued in 1977. In the foreground are the #68(A) Austin MKII Radio Truck issued in 1959, the #71(A) Austin 200 Gallon Water Truck issued in 1959 and the #67(A) Saladin Armored Car issued in 1959.

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.

NEW TREASURES!

My wife was out yesterday and when she came home she had 3 little presents for me:

On the left is a Matchbox #23(D) Trailer Caravan in pink. This was first issued in February 1965.

In the middle is a Matchbox Model of Yesteryear, the Y-2(A) 1911 B Type London his was issued from 1956 through 1963.

Finally,on the right is the Matchbox Bedford Lomas Ambulance. This made its debut in May of 1962.

All three of these are great additions to my collection. How my wife finds these at good prices amazes me. She is very special and I love her!

OLD TYME CARS

My Brother in Law recently emailed me a picture of a 1908 automobile. So, I thought I would share some of my old styled cars with you.

Here are two windup cars made in Japan by a company called Trade Mark. I've had these for over 40 years and they still work!


Here are two Model A Fords. The large one is also made by Trade Mark while its little brother is by Matchbox as part of their Models of Yesteryear collection.



Finally,here are three more Matchbox Cars: The turquoise one is a 1911 Maxwell Roadster, the white one is a 1909 Opel Coupe and the gold car is a 1913 Cadillac.

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.