Matchbox Models of Yesteryear were introduced in the 1950’s. Matchbox Lesney continued to expand the range through to the 1980’s.
Over those years the box designs changed many times and continued to evolve with the brand ownership changing a number of times in the 1980’s through the 1990’s.
Our box range covers the years through to the mid 1970’s, starting with the earliest pen and ink line drawings to the colourful scenic displays and earliest window boxes.
Commonly we refer to the box variations by letter sequences, A, B, C, D1, D2, D3, E1, and E2. After the E2 the window boxes were introduced.
Later Models of Yesteryear
After the failure of the original English Matchbox Toys business, there was a lull in production. In the late 1980’s Mattel piloted a mail order campaign for the models in Australia. That marketing exercise was a huge success which continued into the 1990’s and restarted the Models of Yesteryear range.
The boxes of that era are still available in large quantities in close to mint condition. All of them having been marketed to collectors as ‘collectors items’ meant that most of the production runs were never played with and frequently never even taken out of their box. We do not make reproductions of those boxes only the earlier British made boxes up to the 1980’s. See our range of Models of Yesteryear reproduction boxes.