#566 LESNEY TOYS - VARIOUS MODELS II (1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1962)

The first models made by Lesney were mostly English models, but as the line grew, other European and American models were included in the series. Despite the size, models were pretty accurate and included a great detail level.

The size of the toys was a factor for success, since it allowed to sell them much cheaper than their concurrents from Dinky or others. Matchbox as a brand was a registered to protected it worldwide.
The first models did not have windows or interiors and were made completely of metal. By 1968, Matchbox was the biggest selling brand, and their models already featured plastic windows, interior, tyres, spring suspension, opening parts, maybe some accesories... models had grown from the original 2 inches to 3 inches and there were many different types available (trucks, vans, motorcycles...)
During the Lesney era it was also defined that the standard series would always comprise 75 references, and after they reached that number, any new reference would replace an older one, so the display stands would always have the same size. This 1-75 reference system has been used almost until today, except from 1999 to 2001 and from 2008 on, with 100 references available.

Other model series have their own numbering system, but none of them is limited as the 1-75 series.

Nr. 10c - Fonden 15 Ton Sugar Container (1960-1966)
Nr. 27c - Cadillac Sixty Special (1960-1966)

Nr. 31b - American Ford Station Wagon (1960-1964)
Nr. 38a - Karrier Refuse Collector (1957-1963)

Nr. 32b - "E" Type Jaguar (other type of wheel) (1962-1968)

Nr. 44a - Rolls Royce Silver Cloud (1958-1964) - Repainted in grey
Nr. 73a - 10 Ton Pressure Refueller (1959-1962)

Nr. 75a - Ford Thunderbird (1960-1965)

Nr. 73b - Ferrari (other type of wheel) (1962-1968)

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: Fonden 15 Ton Sugar Container (Nr. 10c), Cadillac Sixty Special (Nr. 27c), American Ford Station Wagon (Nr. 31b), Karrier Refuse Collector (Nr. 38a), Rolls Royce Silver Cloud (Nr. 44a), 10 Ton Pressure Refueller (Nr. 73a), Ford Thunderbird (Nr. 75a), "E" Type Jaguar (Nr. 32b), Ferrari (Nr. 73b)
• Scale: approx. 1:64
• Year: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1962
• Company: Lesney (Great Britain)
• Size: approx. 6 cm

#565 LESNEY TOYS - VARIOUS MODELS I (1955, 1957 and 1958)

I have collected my oldest Matchbox/Lesney to finally write the story of the origins of Matchbox.

Lesney was founded in 1947 by Leslie and Rodney Smith. Despite their names, these men were not family. LESlie and rodNEY gave name to the company. Shortly after their foundation the engineer John "Jack" Odell joined the company. He was a friend of Rodney, both had worked previously at DCMT (Die Cast Machine Tools Ltd.), the die-cast company famous for "Lone Star" die-cast models.
Initially, Lesney facilites were an old pub called The Riflemen. They changed location several times until they finally moved to a factory in Hackney. In 1947 they recevied a request for toy gun parts, and they started considering toys as a new alternative to the other items they produced. In 1948 they started producing toys themselves. That first toy was a die-cast road roller similar to another one made by Dinky, followed by similar toys including a cowboy wagon and a soap box racer (from 1949, probably the most sought-after model ever in the history of Lesney/Matchbox).

Rodney left the company in 1951 because he thought there was no future in producing toys.
Only two years later, in 1953, Lesney produced the Royal Stage Coach used in the coronation of Elizabeth II in two different scales. This was an amazing success and provided capital for future expansions. This success plus a bit of luck would definitely determine the brilliant future of the company. Jack Odell built a miniature road-roller in 2 to 3 inches size for his daughter, who was only allowed to take with her to school toys in the size of a matchbox or smaller. This scale was somehow revolutionary, and we all know how successful this "scale" has been. Opposed to the classic 1:43, 1:87... scales, this new scale is sometimes referred as 1:box, because all models are around 2-3 inches long, independently of the size of the real vehicle.
That road roller would later become Nr.1 of the Matchbox 1-75 series.

Until the late 50s, Lesney toys were distributed by Moko. Moko was founded by MOses KOhnstam, and from there its name. Toys distributed by Moko were marked Lesney/Moko in the boxes. At one point, Lesney bought Moko, and started distributing their own toys.

From there on, a great expansion would follow until the first bankruptcy and receivership in 1982. Then, the company was reformed as Matchbox International Ltd. (a division of Universal Holdings/ universal Toys) and started producing in Macau. Jack Odell founded then Lledo (the surname spelled backwards).

Nr. 1c - Aveling Barford Road Roller (1958-1962)
Nr. 2b - Muir Hill Site Dumper (1957-1961) - Probably Reedition
Nr. 18a - Caterpillar Bulldozer (1955-1958) - Reedition

More Information:
www.hgm-matchbox.de/default.htm

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: Aveling Barford Road Roller (Nr. 1c), Muir Hill Site Dumper (Nr. 2b), Caterpillar Bulldozer (Nr. 18c)
• Scale: Unknown
• Year: 1958, 1957, 1955
• Company: Lesney (Great Britain)
• Size: approx. 6 cm

#241 NOREV – SIMCA 1500 and RENAULT 4L (H0 SCALE) (1957)

I do not collect H0 trains, cars or figures, but I once found these three cars somewhere and bought them. To my surprise they’re quite rare and quite expensive.

H0 scale (1/87) is the most important scale in electric train models, and for this reason, there are many car models, buildings and plastic figures made in this scale. Norev also manufactured models in this scale, and these are good samples. Norev made cars in H0 between 1957 and 1970. Some were made in a plastic compound named Rhodialite, other were die-cast. Some of the plastic models were also available as keinchains. These models can be recognised because of two small holes on the roof, were the ring attached.

  

Unfortunately, I cannot date these models accurately. In this site, there is a list of all released models. Renault 4L has the reference 511 and the Simca 1500 is number 529. Cars were available in many different colours. They were sold in several types of boxes, since they were probably produced during more than 10 years. Earlier boxes seem to be made of cardboard, later are small plastic boxes with a black base and a transparent bubble, in the exact size of the car. Renault or Michelin used these cars as promotional items, and designed their own personalized boxes. Renault, for example, made them cylindrical.

 

Very interesting for H0 collectors is that many of these Norev models were actually made in Spain by Anguplas, because the production was at that time much cheaper south of the Pyrenees. About Anguplas, I’ll prepare another entry some other time, let’s say only that Norev used Anguplas casts, and Anguplas used Norev casts. The French company produced mainly French cars, while Anguplas made a lot of Spanish cars. Both manufacturers had a very similar quality standard, and I find these miniatures great.

After this series ended in 1970, Norev remained more than 25 years without any H0 models. Not so long ago (around 1996), they started again producing models in this scale made of plastic or metal. They represent both modern and old car models.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SIMCA 1500 and RENAULT 4L (H0 SCALE) (1957)
• Company: Norev (France)
• Year: 1957
• Scale: 1:86
• Size: Around 3 cms

#183 PIATNIK – OPERN QUARTETT and STÄDTE QUARTETT (Ref. 286 and 287) (1957)

These are two Piatnik decks of cards. I have them since a couple of months, and are among the oldest decks in my collection. Curiously they have consecutive reference numbers and they were originally released in 1957.

The Opern Quartett is very similar to the Blumen Quartett that I showed in a past entry (#95), since they share the same type of slipcase (in German is known as “Schuber”). These type of case, as well as another “book” case are among the oldest models used for this type of card decks.

In comparison, the “Seifenbox” or “soap case” looks really modern. The Cities Quartett is clearly a reedition of the original set from 1957 (it was also available in slipcase and box-case), but when was it exactly? I cannot make any estimation, since this deck was probably sold maybe during 20 or 30 years nonstop.

The case is made of carton, and has an inner part and the outer sleeve. This outer sleeve includes a drawing taken from one of the cards, the name of the company at the time (“Ferd. Piatnik and Söhne - Wien” or “Ferd. Piatnik and sons - Vienna”) and gold bands at the sides. It is quite curious to me, that Piatnik’s horse logo does not appear in this cover, every other quartet by this company I know was decorated with it. The name of the company is slightly different in both sets.

 The decks consist of 36 cards divided in groups of 4, where each card has a drawing (made by W. Mayerl) of a composer or a scene of a famous opera, or a drawing of a monument in a city. The City Quartet also has at the back of the card (which I forgot to photograph) a short text about the land and the cities depicted in the cards, to make the game more educational.

As I usually do when presenting card games, here is every single card in the game:

OPERN QUARTETT:

Peter Iljitsch Tschaikowskij and W.A. Mozart

Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner

Giacomo Puccini and Richard Strauss

 

Karl Maria von Weber and Jules Emile Frédéric Massenet

Albert Lortzing

STÄDTE QUARTETT:

Austria and Switzerland

Germany and Spain

 

U.S.A. and England

 

France and Italy

 

Sweden

 

Instructions for the City Quartet

Update - Older Städte-Quartett with London Bridge on the cover and the cardboard box.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: OPERN QUARTETT and STÄDTE QUARTETT (Nrs. 286 and 287) („OPERA QUARTET“ and “CITY QUARTET”)
• Year: 1957
• Company: Piatnik Wien (Austria)