Comments on: Matchbox Models By Lesney & Co

By: Clive

Clive — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 20:54:27 +0000

I love this blog!

By: Malcolm

Malcolm — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 00:34:53 +0000

Another in the long and depressing line of British companies that went bankrupt due to the very difficult economic conditions of the 70’s. My cousin worked at Lesney’s making matchbox cars for 20 years. He was a skilled engineer and helped develop the spark eroder which was used to make very small, highly accurate holes in the moulds used for the huge range of models.
He met his wife there too. Lesney’s – like Bryant and May – had a thriving staff community. They had all kinds of social and sports clubs which fostered a genuine loyalty among the staff. This is all gone now, companies don’t have the same kind of ethos and none have the community spirit that thrived in days gone by. It was a great pity the factory was demolished but we have seen so much of City swept away on a tide of avaricious development.

By: David Avoura King

David Avoura King — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 23:13:25 +0000

I had quite a few of those cars, etc. I painted some of them, especially the lorries to all be part of the same company. Broken bits ended up as a junkyard. Surprise they went out of business in 1982, thought they were around still longer than that.

By: Achim

Achim — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 12:00:48 +0000

Wow, my childhood returns! I had (and have!) so many of them. One of the oldest and my favorite model was the Morris Pick-up Truck (No.60). I still have it in my collection!

Very nice the catalogues: when the 1966 edition appeared, I was 10 years old …

Love & Peace
ACHIM

By: Bailey Jones

Bailey Jones — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 11:01:08 +0000

Instant memories of childhood. I remember the E type Jag and I recall a few years later, when my brother was young, they introduced a new development with ‘super fast’ wheels. You had to pull the car backwards against a surface and then let go and watch it hurtle along the carpet or the pavement.

Happy days.

By: Phil Maxwell

Phil Maxwell — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 10:17:59 +0000

This took me right back to my childhood. The catalogue was a dream for the imagination. The photographs of the production line are a reminder of the industrial base of the UK that has been destroyed just like children playing with small cars has been replaced by mindless computer games.

By: Alex Josephy

Alex Josephy — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 09:38:56 +0000

I had a special box full of them. My brother and I collected them – my favourite was a bus, a London one I think, glamourous for a country child. Now I live within walking distance of the factory site. Respect!

By: Dean Armond

Dean Armond — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 09:18:57 +0000

The Hackney Wick factory was a local landmark for many decades!

By: Greg Tingey

Greg Tingey — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 07:58:05 +0000

I’ve cycled past that factory many times …
But – “Matchbox” were, at least initially, a copy/imitation of an older (Liverpool-based) brand: “Dinky Toys” which were part of the Meccano/Hornby empire.

By: Valerie-Jael

Valerie-Jael — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 07:48:40 +0000

My brothers used to collect the matchbox cars, and each new model was a must have! Valerie