Matchbox cars
Thu May 21, 2009 12:55 pm
Cleaning out mother-in-law's basement and came across 38 Matchbox cars in their original boxes. (Belonged to Mrs. Mudge's brother.)
They seem to be up to 45 years old but I have no way of knowing. If you know anything about these things, PM me and I'll send you a list of what I have. Maybe you can tell me if they're worth anything.
Mudge the curious
They seem to be up to 45 years old but I have no way of knowing. If you know anything about these things, PM me and I'll send you a list of what I have. Maybe you can tell me if they're worth anything.
Mudge the curious
Thu May 21, 2009 1:04 pm
Mudge,
I'm not into Matchbox but I do collect their American counterpart, Hot Wheels. Ebay has an entire Matchbox section and I would advise going there to research values. There are also several books on the market. The three 'C's with these count. Casting -(What car?) Color. (Some castings in a ceratain color are rarer than other colors.) Condition. A rare casting in lousy condition may still be of more value than a mint common casting in a common color. Just try your best to compare apples to apples when researching ebay. Best of luck!
I'm not into Matchbox but I do collect their American counterpart, Hot Wheels. Ebay has an entire Matchbox section and I would advise going there to research values. There are also several books on the market. The three 'C's with these count. Casting -(What car?) Color. (Some castings in a ceratain color are rarer than other colors.) Condition. A rare casting in lousy condition may still be of more value than a mint common casting in a common color. Just try your best to compare apples to apples when researching ebay. Best of luck!
Thu May 21, 2009 2:11 pm
I have a few from my youth still boxed too. For an insight check up this website and convert to dollars.
http://www.uniquecollections.co.uk/showpage.ihtml?dept=90
http://www.uniquecollections.co.uk/showpage.ihtml?dept=90
Thu May 21, 2009 5:55 pm
That's a question I never expected to see on a US site. I'd never considered the thought of them being exported to the States, although as there were a lot of American cars in the range it makes sense.
There's a shoe box around somewhere full of mine from 45 - 50+ years ago. The boxes are long gone, apparently I played with them instead of the cars as a rugrat so I never even got them.
A quick Google produced this http://www.fcarnahan.com/pg/clubs.html an overview of Matchbox clubs worldwide.
It's not been updated for a couple of years but there could be some leads there.
There's a shoe box around somewhere full of mine from 45 - 50+ years ago. The boxes are long gone, apparently I played with them instead of the cars as a rugrat so I never even got them.
A quick Google produced this http://www.fcarnahan.com/pg/clubs.html an overview of Matchbox clubs worldwide.
It's not been updated for a couple of years but there could be some leads there.
Thu May 21, 2009 8:05 pm
I don't think that Matchbox are exclusively British.
I mean, yes, they're made by Lesney in the UK, but I have loads and loads of them (In addition to Hot Wheels) from when I was a kid (70's-1983 or so).
Not an uncommon item in the US. Not uncommon at all....
I mean, yes, they're made by Lesney in the UK, but I have loads and loads of them (In addition to Hot Wheels) from when I was a kid (70's-1983 or so).
Not an uncommon item in the US. Not uncommon at all....
Thu May 21, 2009 10:11 pm
There were a lot of Matchbox cars imported to the US over the years. I have a number of them, although not as old as Mudge's.
Walt
Walt
Fri May 22, 2009 9:25 pm
I loved my Matchbox cars!
I still have a handful of the early 60's ones, but my sister gave the rest to my nephew when I was away in college. Boy, was I upset when I found out!
I even had a couple of rare ones that go for big bucks now.
I really hated it when Matchbox went to the "Fast Wheels" styling in an attempt to compete with Hotwheels. I never bought any of those.
Jerry
I still have a handful of the early 60's ones, but my sister gave the rest to my nephew when I was away in college. Boy, was I upset when I found out!
I even had a couple of rare ones that go for big bucks now.
I really hated it when Matchbox went to the "Fast Wheels" styling in an attempt to compete with Hotwheels. I never bought any of those.
Jerry
Sat May 23, 2009 12:44 pm
I really hated it when Matchbox went to the "Fast Wheels" styling in an attempt to compete with Hotwheels. I never bought any of those.
I wasn't too crazy about those wheels, either - they looked odd on my Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow; besides, my brother's Hot Wheels Silver Shadow would still beat it when we raced them...