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Matchbox

MDC-R    Matchbox collectibles / Matchbox Superfast Mini

This famous, originally English, manufacturer of die-cast models has always released models that collectors often refer to as 'box-scale', i.e. the models had to fit into the boxes they were sold in and the actual scale of the model was of secondary importance. There were, however, several models that are actually very close to 1/87.

Thanks to Austrian Matchbox collector Christian Falkensteiner who sent us a long e-mail with additional information and attached a complete list of near 87th scale models we were able to update this page, here is Christian's story:

It has to be noted that Matchbox scales are approximate at best. Very often it was felt by the producers that a model did not look quite 'right' when rendered in an accurate scale, so the width of the model ended up in a different (usually larger) scale than its length. The scales given in my list have been derived from scale specifications found in Matchbox pocket catalogs up to 1976 and on the baseplates of the models themselves from 1980 onward. Not all of those scales are necessarily accurate unfortunately.

My list is subdivided in two parts, one covering the Lesney era, the other covering the Matchbox International / Mattel era up to the present day. The feature determining to which era a particular model belongs is the presence or absence of the Lesney name on its baseplate. After Lesney's bankruptcy in 1982, the first models without the Lesney name appeared in 1983, while the last models with the Lesney name were phased out during 1986.

The Lesney era list is organized according to the 'UK Matchbox' numbering system, based on the actual issue numbers of the models on the European market. Up to 1980 the issue numbers of the models were the same worldwide; after that the US range was split off from the rest of the world, and later on the same models were often issued under different numbers in different markets. From 1998 onward each model was allocated a different number each year, and this practice still continues.

Therefore the Matchbox Int'l / Mattel era list is organized differently, following the so-called MAN numbers (i.e. factory identification numbers) which were introduced in 1982 to uniquely identify each casting. Some models which had originated in the Lesney era continued to be produced later on, so they appear in both lists. This applies to all MAN numbers up to 114 plus most of those above 700 (allocated to models phased out earlier which were reissued during the 1980s).

Lesney era:

Matchbox Int'l / Mattel era:

This is where Christian's contribution to this page ends, have a look at his homepage to see a lot of the models mentioned above pictured.

Several of the 'Major Pack' models were also close to 1/87.

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