(first posted 9/30/2015) I don’t care what anyone else says. Toy cars in 1:64 scale (Matchbox, Johnny Lightning, etc.), or any other scale, for that matter, are not exclusively for kids. Granted, children are the target demographic for these, and if you spend too much time looking through the Hot Wheels display in the toy section at your neighborhood Walgreens drug store without a kid of your own in tow, you may get some side-eye from other shoppers. (This has happened.) But every once in a while, when shopping for shaving cream or garbage bags, I’ll pass an aisle with a display of these – one of which will grab my eye. This might be because the replica is of the year, make and model of a car I once wanted. It might be because of an outrageous “paint” scheme I really like. The reason doesn’t matter. Matchbox cars are still awesome because I consider them to be my first experience with car “ownership”.
It bears mentioning (again) that I grew up in the U.S. Rust Belt factory town of Flint, Michigan, which is where the above photograph was staged*. Cars were very much a part of my existence from the day I was old and tall enough as a kid to look out the windows of our two Plymouths (a ’71 Duster and a ’77 Volaré). Combined with regular sightings of semis attached to carriers loaded with new cars fresh from Buick City or Fisher One, and also lots of dealerships in the Flint area with flashy neon signs and mid-century modern architecture (Summerfield Chevrolet, Applegate Chevrolet), it was enough to make this kid drink the Kool-Aid that it was cars and the automobile industry that made America great.
Having said all that, I had a killer Matchbox car collection when I was a kid. Well, actually, when you grow up with two brothers, none of you individually ever owns any of them specifically, regardless of who made the initial purchase. You all own all of them, collectively, often to your collective chagrin. I suppose that’s a different tangent for another day, but I guess my point is that I / we had amassed several plastic beach buckets of toy cars in varying condition by the mid-1980’s. I’d also like to point out that in my parents’ household, all such die-cast cars were colloquially referred to as “Matchbox cars”, regardless of manufacturer.
More painful to step on in the middle of the night than Lincoln Logs, but definitely less painful than Legos (which I guess would be pretty much anything), these cars would often be strewn on the floor of the bedroom I shared with my younger brother, Peter. Usually, our favorite activities with them ranged from making them go through the toy car wash our parents had bought us for Christmas, whizzing them on the linoleum tile floor in our entryway foyer, or crashing them into each other. The crashing probably did less to damage some of these cars than the homemade “Earl Scheib” paint jobs I attempted to give a few of them using Testors model paint. The Dennis brothers definitely had a bent for destruction, but we only took it so far with our Matchbox cars, some of which were among my favorite toys.
My childhood die-cast car obsession traveled with me overseas in the mid-80’s, when my family visited five different European countries while en route to, and returning from, a year spent in my father’s native Liberia in west Africa. One of my prized possessions at that time was a silver, Corgi five-door Ford Sierra Ghia I had purchased from a Boots store in London. I purchased Majorette models of a Citroën CX and a Peugeot 104 while in Paris. Each of those cars was half beaten to death by the time we returned to the United States, but I still have them in storage somewhere.
Fast-forward to my thirties, and I again found myself looking at toy cars when I’d go into the drug store. Initially, it was to scout out gifts for my young nephews and nieces, to educate them on cars from the old school, ones I grew up with and still loved. But as the kids in my extended family got older, I found myself actually buying these things for myself. I think the first time I made such a purchase as an adult, it reminded me a little of the time I bought my first pack of cigarettes the day of my eighteenth birthday. (“I’d like a box of Marlboros, please.” “I.D., kid….Thanks. What kind of Marlboros?” “I guess, you know…the kind everyone smokes.” “Reds kings. Here you go.”) In both instances, I felt a little naughty. But I liked it.
My rediscovery of the fun of Matchbox cars coincided with my reconnection with my love of photography. This turned into the occasional weekday, lunch-hour project where I’d leave the office and take my trusty Canon point-and-shoot and a die-cast toy outside in Chicago’s Loop and try to make a photograph of the car that made it look as life-sized as possible. In fact, such trompe-l’œil (French for “trick of the eye”) photo projects turned into some of my most fun experiments up to that point. I’d find myself out on weekends with a few Matchbox cars in my backpack in addition to the usual items (which almost always included my camera), and if I spotted a cool backdrop, sometimes I’d take out a car and try to get a few shots.
When my older brother’s oldest son was big enough, I bought him a selection of four cars from the Seventies – each of which would be easily recognizable to most Gen-X’ers my age. This included three muscle cars: a ’71 Ford Mustang Mach I, a ’71 Dodge Challenger R/T, a ’70 Chevrolet Camaro – and then also a purple, ’72 AMC Gremlin X with an opening hood. Just guess which one my nephew liked the best. “Uncle Joe, was the Gremma-lin a sports car?” I can still hear his then four-year-old voice ask me this question as he fondly held the Gremlin in the palm of his hand, basically ignoring the other three. That kid is now a teenager, but part of me was so proud of him in that moment for just going with the car he liked the best, not knowing or caring what was considered “cool”. I’d love it if he ended up owning an actual AMC Gremlin one day.
The featured photographs are some of my favorites taken with some of my prized drug store finds. I haven’t added any new, such project photos to my portfolio for several years now, but it’s completely possible this bug may bite me again. It was these 1:64 (and later, 1:24) scale toy cars like these that gave me my first taste of car ownership, giving me the ability to select a year, make and model of my choice in the color(s) I liked the best. These things brought me much joy and helped start me down a path of being the car nut I am today. For the record, I was eventually able to quit smoking, but I remain hooked on the automobile.
All photographs are as taken by the author. *The 1956 Buick was photographed in Flint, Michigan in front of former General Motors Buick Plant 36, which was then under demolition in August of 2011. All other photographs were taken in Chicago, Illinois, from various points in 2010.
Related reading:
- From David Saunders: CC Miniature: Childhood Toybox Dive
- From Tom Klockau: Mini CC: 1967-68 Thunderbird By Johnny Lightning – Do You Like Models Of Non-Mainstream Cars? I Do!
- From Paul Niedermeyer: My New CC: Peugeot 404 (Norev 1:18 scale model)
- From Jim Klein: CC Foreclosure Miniature Classic: Matchbox International Scout Field Car
They are a gateway drug, I have found myself wondering why I’m attracted to certain cars (TR7 for example) and then I realize I had that car as a Matchbox in childhood!
These are the cars I can afford. These are the cars I can dream about. They are accessible, don’t cost and arm or a leg, and I have them around me throughout the day, here and there, waiting for me to gaze at.
As an artist, I love them. They are definitely like a piece of candy I can enjoy for a few dollars.
I now have a son and I have been filling up his Hot Wheels collection with cars he and his buddies play with on the floor. I have taken some of my favorites out of his collection and saved them on my office desk. I change them out so that I can gaze upon new ones every few months.
I like the Hot Wheels. The larger models are very fine, but not meant to be action toys that boys can rip across the floor. I wish they were, but the tires fall off and I’ve had too many moments of supergluing them together. They cost more. So I stay with Hot Wheels.
Thanks for this article. Yeah – I love these things!
I do the same thing with my kids. And my mom (about an hour away) has the large tub of mine in her home so that the boys can play with those when they visit although I find myself looking through them every time we are there…
My boys like the outrageous ones, I like the normal ones. When we go shopping together they can’t understand why I want them to choose the orange Datsun 510 or the silver VW Golf over the Ghostrider Millenium SkateCar… 🙂 Usually we end up with both.
I am with you, I always liked the normal ones. My very favorite H.O. gauge slot car was the box-stock 62 Galaxie 500 hardtop, skinny tires and all.
Totally agree, Jim – the ones modeled after the “normal”, factory-look, everyday cars were among my very favorites. My cousin Nate had a yellow, ’76 Plymouth Volare (by Maisto, if I’m not mistaken) that I coveted. But I liked and respected him, so I never tried to “borrow” that car from him.
I liked the regular cars much more than some of the whiz-bang special models I could never imagine rolling down the street.
I didn’t know any famous brand made a Volare in 1/64, but Johnny Lightning indeed made few ’76 Dodge Aspen coupe, so I grabbed few.
MotorMax made few more M-Body also in 1/64 and 1/24 both.
Actually the yellow 1978/79 Dodge Aspen with a Plymouth Volare’ grille was made by a less known Toy Manufacturer back then called Yatming which they had released back early in 1982. I still have mines after 33 1/2 years.
Yatming!! That’s what it was! Thanks, Pedro! So awesome you still have yours.
You Welcome Joseph. Glad to be of help.
Yatming, indeed. I bet they just tried some volume and popular models from the US street back then not thinking too much else.
Yatming became one of the known common brands from the 1990s-on especially with their 1:43 Scale and 1:18 Scale Signature Series. They don’t produce 1:64 Scale cars anymore.
I’ve got eight of the fabulous Yat Ming (Signature) 1/24th scale fire trucks.
1935 & 1938 Macks….
1924 Stutz Model C…
Yatming did make some unusual models for diecast–where I lived the only place that sold them was the drugstore, but I was always happy when I found something there. Lincoln Continental Mark IV, ’66 Galaxie, late 70’s Dodge Coronet, Jaguar XJS…
YES I remembered obtaining mines at Pathmark later on at around March, 1983 located at Kings Highway, Brooklyn before I went to see my former orthodontist for an appointment. It was funny that I was a Junior in H.S. back then and a few months short of my 18th Birthday and yet I was still collecting toy cars even up to now.
I just recently posted my Big 4 Compact Cars and Chevrolet 1:64 Scale Cars below. I hope that you enjoy it.
I had an extensive collection of Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Corgi’s and Johnny Lightning as a kid growing up in the late 60’s/early 70’s… Now, in my 50’s, I am collecting them again. Thank you for this article and especially for articulating that special no-kid-in-tow look you get when scouting new release Hot Wheels at Toys-R-Us. It does feel a little naughty but it’s so harmless. Well, harmless to everything but the bank account. I’ve purchased over 600 1:64 scale Mustangs in the past year… including a few rare ones… adding up to thou$ands of dollar$ in the past year alone. Hey, it’s not drugs, it’s not gambling and not a mistress. I’m ok. Right?
Great write up and great pictures!! I almost thought you put a 1:1 picture in there with the Maverick, that one is my favorite.
Here is one of my display cases, “gateway drug” nothing. Sorry about the poor quality picture, I cropped it from something else I took a picture of in my office.
1/24 – 1/64 scales.
Open the floodgates. All are 1/18th scale….
Nice!!
Thanx, Jon. There’s way more…..
*Great stuff*, Jon (and Gene). It’s great to know I’m not alone in collecting these. I just remembered that my cousin still collects the larger, 1:24 scale models, as well. I’m always impressed with the amount of detail some of the better ones have.
Thanx, Joseph. I’ve got it really bad for these things.
Joseph, your pictures of miniatures are even more outstanding than your pictures of full-size cars, which is quite an accomplishment!
Like you, I was obsessed with Matchbox cars as a kid, and it led to a lifelong fascination with cars. Astonishingly, the box containing my cars survived in my parents’ basement through nearly three decades of non-use. A few years ago they gave me the box, full of some very well-used cars, and my daughters now play with them (including a Citroen CX, incidentally, and some other oddballs too, like a Honda 600).
On car in particular car stood out for me. My favorite Matchbox as a kid was a brown bustle-back Cadillac Seville, and it was there in the box. That’s one car that’s now separated from the rest; it’s earned its retirement away from other kids’ playthings. And I still love bustle-back Sevilles.
Your experience is like mine–the bustleback Seville has always been a favorite of mine, in no small part due to a Hot Wheels Seville in silver over maroon two-tone. I had a gold-colored one too at some point, but that one is long gone. The majority of my Matchbox/Hot Wheels from childhood are still in storage at my parents’ home, and I plan to collect them the next time I’m there as I now have the storage space for them myself. (This is separate from the new ones that I still buy occasionally, and the “new to me” vintage ones I’ve acquired on ebay…)
Gateway drug! 🙂 I always enjoy your articles and photos.
I don’t remember actually buying a Matchbox car, but I certainly had a few.
I do remember the first time I bought cigarettes. I was 14 (and sweating a little) and went for Silk Cut, almost certainly because they had sponsored the Jaguar Le Mans teams of a few years earlier and advertised in a lot of car magazines I read.
I never had many of these as a child, just a few Matchbox cars. But it’s driving me a bit crazy that I have a small nephew who’s still a little young for something like Hot Wheels. Last year he got my “cast-off” Chinese-made tractor trailor trucks. His favorite is/was a car hauler with several sports cars. As he gets older he will be spoiled with many Hot Wheels and then Matchbox cars.
I considered getting him a slot car racetrack, but they are now so expensive (actually, I guess they always have been).
Like a previous poster, these are like candy, and can be almost addictive.
Matchbox wise, I have to admit those models are not as good as they were in the ’90s. Back then, a K-car Dodge Daytona has opening doors and working suspensions, and usually sports cars had firmer suspension, while a traditional luxury cars had softer one.
However, we have better alternatives these days like M2, Greenlight. We can get a nice trailer with a bonus ( or even two ) Plymouths, or common cars like Chevrolet Cruze, Dodge Dart. M2 really makes nice models these days, at 5 bucks.
My addiction started with 1:87 scale plastic Wiking cars – back then really just accessories for HO scale train layouts and certainly not as durable as Matchbox die cast metal. The two from that era I still have are a black 190SL and a gray Opel wagon, the latter quite basic.
However, as we know, one thing leads to another and there now are thousands of Matchbox, Mattel, Johnny Lightning, Tomica, Majorette, Corgi, Hongwell, Ertl, Schuco, Husky, Siku, etc. toy cars in about 1:64 scale spread over several households in my family – all of which had a genesis with those two Wikings in the mid-’50s.
Those are all incredible photos! All the CCrs that grew up with these toys can appreciate these. My family colloquially called them all “Hot Wheels” regardless of the manufacturer. Mine were also kept in plastic buckets and deteriorated over time from being left outdoors, going into the tub, and general abuse. I don’t believe any of them are still in storage – but GI Joes, I have by the dozen. I’m hoping one day those might be worth something!
I myself as a Generation X’er who reached 50 this year still collect these cars and been doing so since I was 13. I particularly don’t care how others think if they have seen me looked and purchased these models since I am a collector myself. Here in the NYC area they (the people) don’t even pay attention nor care if you look and buy these toy cars or let alone Barbie Dolls since they might assumed that its for your kids etc. A couple of days ago, I purchased a brand new Hot Wheels cars at Duane Reade/Walgreens in Chelsea, NYC for only 33 cents a piece.
I, too, was bitten by the Matchbox, Dinky and Corgi bugs but in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Although my interests did move on to 1:1 cars as I got older, I never lost my love for the little ones and returned to collecting them in earnest in 1994. There’s some GREAT stuff out there these days like this Minichamps 1/18th scale Buick Wildcat II…
…and this Franklin Mint 1/32nd scale 1926 Mack AC Rotary Pumper…..
…and, of course, 1/18th scale “Goddesses” by Norev, Solido and Norev again….
Correction Mack fire truck is by Danbury Mint.
Gene, that Wildcat II model is superb. I had the privilege to see the actual, real thing this past August at the Back To The Bricks car show in Flint. Took a few photos, of which this is one: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jhdennis/21138993236/.
One day, I will (again) have a 1:1 model of my own – hopefully something cool.
Thanx, Dennis. Even though I’m a MoPaR guy, the Wildcat II is my all-time favorite 1950’s concept car so I was completely jazzed that Minichamps made this one. They have actually done a whole line of the dream cars from that era that are completely cool.
I, too, saw the 1:1 and a number of others in Sandwich, MA in 2013 in that traveling exhibit that was touring the country in 2013. Probably the only chance I will ever get to see it….
Franklin mint models are significantly more professional, and far more mature. It’s the top brand in terms of styling ( old time gravity, even though precision wise many other companies do better these days ) and they generally have a bronze feeling. I keep a small fleet of 1/43 models, and it includes Studebaker Starliner. Certain model from them is almost the jewel of all, like Pierce Silver Arrow, and the price is really high, and usually it has bid as soon as appeared on ebay. And a lot of collection of Franklin mint is from estate sale.
There are few 1/43 models from Soviet too, but these are pretty rare.
For a 1/43 car, it has four opening doors, and opening hood/trunk. It’s a lot.
I actually preferred Danbury Mint over Franklin Mint cars. They actually did a little better when it came to door, hood and trunk gaps although both brands were high quality. Alas, they are no more.
Here are a couple of great DM Buicks from my collection, both Roadmasters, a ’48 and a ’56. All panels open on these..
Franklin Mint do tend to be very impressive–but it irritates me that they don’t produce in 1/18. I don’t have any 1/24 so the scale differential would annoy my sense of order!
As far as 1/18 go, Auto Art Millenium Collection are very nicely detailed. I only have one, but it’s by far the best scale model I own. I’ve heard good things about Minichamps but don’t have any upon which to base a comparison.
I was another who was smitten by toy cars of all kinds as a kid. I have a great batch of Matchbox, Hotwheels and others down in the basement.
I am glad to see that I was not the only Earl Scheib wannabe as a youth. I botched up quite a few of my cars in the body and paint shop in our garage (that consisted of a few sheets of newspaper, a brush and a limitless supply of Testors paint.
I have resisted the urge to re-enter this realm as an adult. I have spent far too much money on the real thing, and fear that my latent obsessive tendencies might let things get out of hand. Better to just not start.
You got THAT right. With high quality diecasts running anywhere between US$200 and US$900 and more these days, it would be very easy to drop a small fortune very quickly. You’d get some nice stuff for that money, though! 😉
1:18 prices are insane now a days. I’ve splurged before on what I frankly consider overpriced models, but those were only like $100. I just cannot justify anything north of that, considering the quality and detail of cars I’ve bought in the $50-$80 range. I was looking recently to see if there were any newer released Ferrari 275s, which I have in rather well worn, low quality, Ertl form, and to my utter shock I find the current releases costing $500!!! No thanks! That hobby is pretty much dead for me now if I’m spending real car money on decorative ones.
Depends on model, if it’s a Ford Forty-Nine it would be worth it.
JPCavanaugh, you know it! We went through so much paint thinner in our house, as I used to also build the 1:24 scale model kits. In fact, I think I still have some of those in unopened packages!
Some very early Matchbox models that I bought new and still have….
I still have a handful of my old Matchbox cars, as well as a few Dinkys, Corgis, Solido etc. unfortunately I .dont have my first Matchbox, but I can still visualize the day I got it, as a 3 year old, in 1960. The Bedford milk truck, seen here in a picture grabbed from the ‘net.
49¢ each back then. A considerable amount for a kid on an allowance. Corgis and Dinkys went for US$1.49, a small fortune. Some of mine with a few early Norevs, Solidos and Rios thrown in….
Inflation is real I bought a Corgi 3a Hillman Minx recently same colour scheme as the lifesize one in my car port $50.
HA! Yeah it is. Always cool to have a diecast that matches your 1:1, though.
That is a pretty special feeling. I purchased a 1/43 NEO Volvo 780 last year, same color as my 1/1 version. Need to take some photos with both…
I wasn`t really into Matchbox or Hot Wheels. I prefer-and still build and collect 1-25th scale model cars, , but the Matchbox cars were, IMHO nicer and more detailed than the Hot Wheels. I do have a few Matchbox cars, the best are the Bond Aston Martin, and, of course the Bluesmobile.
Your photos are stunning and the article is something that I completely relate with. I still remember the complete joy of going and picking out a new one–getting to select from so many cool makes/models/colors to find the perfect one for my fantasy world of auto bliss. I also remember the complete heartbreak over losing one of the favorites.
Getting them as a gift was always so awkward because non-enthusiasts would buy you one thinking that ANY new one was going to be cool, when I was really very picky about the ones that I liked and wanted. There were the favorites and then there were all the rest that pretty much never got used.
I used to spend hours making trade deals with friends and schoolyard acquaintances to leverage the also-ran hotwheels into new favorites…my first experience with the art of negotiation.
Just like you, I began collecting them again about a decade ago and I still get that burst of excitement about them–someone said it above–they embody so much automotive symbolism for such a small outlay and you can afford to indulge in them (regular hotwheels, anyway) for next to nothing.
Great photos, especially the Highway Patrol Buick.
Thanks, Mike. Getting that particular shot was a little hard for me, thinking of how actual ’56 Buicks had come from that factory complex.
By the way, did anyone have the 1/87 scale Lego cars? Not made of bricks, but an accurate scale model to be used with Legos when the bricks were primarily targeted for making buildings and street scenes, not spaceships or airplanes. We had two Beetles, a black one and a tan one … I think my sister may still have them. They were plastic (of course) but had steel wheels. Here’s a picture off the ‘net
Yes – Lego. But only one – white Mercedes 22S0S sedan. There were Legos I ran across at toy shows. The were never as good as other HO scale cars from Wiking, Herpa, Praline or even the EKO cars from Spain. But I liked Mercedes model cars and did end up with just this one.
I had about three of those at one point, a VW van and Variant saloon plus an E-type Jag, sadly went when I moved. I’m not sure they weren’t a little larger than 1:87, possibly nearer to 1:80 though as I don’t have them anymore I can’t check! I’ve still got a lot of the similar Tri-ang Minix cars designed for scenic use with their 00 railways (not the powered Minic Motorways stuff) which are 1:76 scale liken the modern Oxford Diecast stuff but being plastic they’re ideal for chopping about to change into other types.
Some of the larger scale Triang Spot On cars are commanding very high prices these days…..http://www.ebay.com/itm/Spot-On-289-Morris-Minor-1000-by-Tri-ang-/321716768119?hash=item4ae7d04d77
Didn’t VW give these away when, say, your parents bought a new car? I remember getting one ( a blue pre-’58 oval window) when my parents got a new ’58 Beetle but didn’t think too much about it until 9 years later when we got another new Beetle and they gave my brother a tan Beetle convertible.
Having worked for a time in the electronics and toy departments at Walmart (overnight shift), I never failed to marvel at the lengths that adult Hot Wheels collectors go to get the new releases.
Every month or so most Walmart stores get a “dump bin” from Mattel full of the latest releases. The bin is placed in the main aisle (“Action Alley” in Walmart-speak) in front of the toy department and is packed full of standard cases of 72 cars. You dump as many cases as possible in the bin, then the rest are placed on the pegs in the regular Hot Wheels aisle or taken to the back as overstock.
There was no set day or week each month when the bin would show up, but I knew before even clocking in when it did. (or at least that it would be in within a day or two) Several middle-aged men would be (almost creepily) lingering in the toy department starting around 9:30 pm. (3rd shift starts at 10) Apparently as soon as one Walmart somewhere in the country gets its bin, word gets out on Hot Wheels collector websites and then the monthly vigil begins.
Sometimes if the bin was there the collectors wouldn’t even wait for the associate stocking toys (usually me) to show up. They’d take it upon themselves to open the thing up and then start opening the cases. One of them was especially meticulous. He would line up the ones he wanted in neat rows in one shopping cart while lining up the ones he already had or didn’t want in another cart. When he was done, he lined up the cars he didn’t want in neat little rows inside the dump bin! Another collector would take it upon himself to stock the peg hooks in the regular Hot Wheels section after the bin had been filled and would let me know when he was done.
Then there was the night when a manager brought me a cart full of around 200 cars that had been returned at the service desk. The packages all looked very different from the current releases and upon closer examination I found out why. These cars were all 10+ years old. I scanned a few of them and sure enough they were still in the system, clearance priced at 50 cents. Many of them also had a thick coat of dust. I brought this to the attention of management, especially given that they had been returned late at night. I suspected someone’s collection had been stolen, but they didn’t care. I was told to put them on the pegs with the current stuff. Word that our store had a stash of late ’90s vintage Hot Wheels must have gotten around real fast among the collectorate as they were gone within a week. Many of them were going for $50 and up on eBay, but we sold them for 50 cents.
Out of the whole time I worked in toys I only bought one Hot Wheel – Sam Walton’s 1979 Ford pickup (complete with missing trim and Ol’ Roy’s pen in the bed) which was a very limited run. (I only came across two of them, and they were mixed in in a case of one of the “premium” HW series)
You probably could of made some good money by getting first pick. Of course a lot of research and time would be involved. Could have been a nice side business. But it would take a lot of hours you probably did not have available. I have thought about building up a collection of current and past cars I have owned, that would be nice to have in a display case.
Ha! I too was totally addicted to model cars as a kid, although in my case it was my existing gearheadism that made me want model cars rather than the opposite. I had a sizable collection of Matchboxes, some road cars and others racing cars (the 1963 Lotus F1 car was a particular treasure). I also built 1/24 kits, AMT for road cars old and new and MPC for racing cars (I had Jim Clark’s 1965 Indy-winning Lotus-Ford). Unfortunately my mom did a thorough cleaning-out of my childhood and adolescent treasures when I went to college, so I suppose these models all reside in a South Jersey landfill, along with a collection of late-60s-early-70s airline timetables that I’ve been rebuilding via eBay. Damned parents think they know what you’ll enjoy when you get older and want to keep order in the house!
Still got a lot of my old ‘Matchbox’ cars in very varying conditions, some for over 50 years now. The scales varied a lot, depending on what was made, so buses were always much smaller scales than small cars, nonetheless this lot in my matching BP garage don’t look too bad together.
Very cool.
The only Matchbox toys I had, in the seventies, was this Scammell truck:
And this Scammell tractor with a semi-trailer.
For the rest it was all Siku toy trucks (I didn’t care about cars). Hanomag-Henschel, Magirus-Deutz, Mercedes-Benz and a Volvo.
And a DAF, of course. This one from the early seventies, by Lion Car.
Nice stuff, Johannes. I especially like that DAF. I go for the trucks, too….
😀
Impressive trucking company you have there !
You know WSI Models ? Very detailed 1:50 diecast trucks, far beyond toys. Mainly Euro-trucks, but also several Western Star and Kenworth heavy-haulage tractors.
Western Star
Thanx, Johannes. No, I wasn’t familiar with the WSI brand. Those look very impressive. Most of the trucks in my display are made by 1st Gear in the odd 1/34th scale. The buses are all “modern” Corgis in 1/50th scale.
Here are some others in 1/24th scale by Danbury Mint and Signature (Yat-Ming)….
…and more 1st Gear pieces….
Great stuff, everyone! Thanks for taking the time to check out this post, for the kind words, and for sharing some of your toys. This post was a lot of fun to put together – a little like show and tell.
Thanx to you for a great post and opening the subject of the little cars up for discussion, Joseph.
Hey Joe, thanks for another awesome post, as usual, really great reading thru the thread.
No 1:64s here, but I’ve been into 1:24/:25 since the late ’60s and thought you guys would enjoy looking over some of my cars. Here’s a display that’s in my office with a mixture of rare & vintage dealer promos, diecast & kit builds… all 1:24/:25 I prob have another 20 promos/builds stored away and about 45 vintage unbuilt kits too… which I’ll get to some day 🙂
Hope you enjoy seeing the cars~
I can relate to feeling a little weird rummaging through the Hot Wheels at the store. I am lucky that I have two little boys old enough now that we can look through them together!
My sons have a pretty nice collection but aren’t old enough to take care of them yet so it pains me greatly when they drop them and chip the paint or hurl them across our concrete patio. That’s ok, I always put mine away where they can’t get to them!
For being a child not that long time ago, I still keep the fleet of collection, back at home.
I only have a couple. One is a ’70 Ford Maverick, in the same red as the two (’70&’71) Mavericks I owned. The other is Hot Wheels, and it’s the yellow ’32 Ford coupe from American Graffiti. It is still in its original package. And will stay there. And I also have a 1968 Mercury Cougar R code. It too is in it’s package where it will remain.
Okay, I now *have* to have the Vega (Yenko?). Mind sharing brand and where you got it, plus any sku numbers on the bottom?
Found it – 2009 issue Hot Wheels.
Awesome, Ed – I was going to look for it when I got home. Glad you found it!
These stories and pics are great. As a kid growing up in the 50’s and early 60’s, I must have missed out on Matchbox cars by a few years and I don’t remember any of my friends having them, either. I had just about every other kind of toy car and truck (the total had to have been in the hundreds as they nearly filled a spare room in our house), from promotional models to AMT three-in-one kits, F&F Mold&Die plastic cars that were Post Cereal prizes, Japanese (and German – still have a Distler Porsche) tin toy cars, Tootsietoys (a Mercedes gullwing), white metal cars (still have a Hubley 53 Corvette), and other plastic and rubber cars from various makers. Some were battery-powered, with operating convertible tops, etc. – a big deal in those days. And some were so unique I cannot find them on the web today (e.g., a plastic large scale 53 Chrysler convertible). Courtesy of my Dad’s brief tenure at a Nash dealership, I even had a cardboard Nash dealership/service center, replete with fold and tab assembled cars.
The toy cars I still have from those days continue to give me a lot of pleasure so I guess many of us never really grow up in this regard. The story above about middle-aged men lingering in the Walmart toy department was priceless. Hey, better than booze or drugs, right?
Yup, diecasts are TOTAL gateway drugs, and I can assure you that having a certain favorite toy as a child absolutely gives rise to the desire to own the real thing. I had MB, HW, Corgis, Majorettes and some no name dimestore cheapos too.
Ive referenced them before, but HO scale slot cars were pretty influential on my gearhead tendencies….
This blue Javelin which Ive had since forever sealed my AMC love:
Jeeps…present and accounted for:
You want Jeeps? These are really old. The one on the left has sharp metal edges and “Willys” stamped in the bumper!
Those are cool! That big one…is that a Tonka?
Ill have to do a writeup on it sometime but over the years my slotcar collection actually boasts a variant of every HO scale Jeep ever commercially available in North America. It even includes some that were Euro-only and a few factory prototypes.
Louis Marx from the 1950’s – 12 inches long, pressed steel.
Some A-Team themed cars and train
I have memories of walking in a huge department store during the 80s and seeing the A-Team themed vehicles in their packaging as a kid. My one regret is not purchasing any and hanging on to them. I used to watch the show which is mostly a blur now. But I doubt they would have lasted once I got through playing with them.
What a great feature and some wonderful responses bringing back memories of the Dinky Toys I had in my fleet as a little kid. Matchbox and Dinky were really popular but I preferred the larger Dinky cars and trucks.
Our local neighbourhood hardware store had a display case of Dinky models and whenever my Dad and I went there that display place was where I hung out hoping my Dad would ask which one I liked. Liked, not wanted. Sometimes he did cave in to my whining. A few years later I began building 1/25th scale model cars. Well over 300 built over the years. Many survived, some later sold. The best remain in my collection. There are also some kits downstairs which I hope to build this winter or next
Whining didn’t work well in our family but I do remember that technique of lingering hopefully in front of the displays of toy cars in the drugstore and dime store (for those who remember) in our small town. My much loved paternal grandmother was such an easy touch that I sometimes felt a little guilty (not a lot) when she purchased a toy car for me. More than 50+ years later, I still have some of these toys and I know that would make her very happy!
I was just waiting for officer Dan Matthews to step out of the Buick Highway Patrol car. Maybe I should get into collecting matchbook type cars. A great way to own an affordable dream fleet. Nice pictures, as well.
I remember being all of 5 years old, my dad or grandpa would come home with a new “matchbox” car (no matter who made it, it was a “matchbox” car) and I wasn’t allowed to play with it until I new what make and model it was. I still have most of them.
This article brings back memories. There were two stores in our small town that carried Matchbox cars, and I would always pester my mother for a new one whenever we went to one of those stores. I had the Matchbox carrying case, and also collected each year’s catalogue, which listed all of that year’s offerings. I have a collection of diecast cars in mint condition, including several “regular wheel” Matchbox cars from the 1950s and 1960s.
Sadly, I’ve noticed that stores don’t seem to be stocking as many diecast cars as they did even five years ago. Matchbox is now owned by Mattel – the same company that owns Hot Wheels – and its offerings have become very slim.
Hot Wheels isn’t bringing out new models as often as it once did, and even fewer of them are based on real vehicles. I wonder if this is being driven by changing demographics and tastes. Birth rates have been falling for several years now, and I’ve noticed that most young boys now move on from diecast cars to video games quite quickly.
I think Hotwheels and Matchbox are going through exactly like British Leyland did decades ago, and Mattel is the GM in toy world.
In the little Ohio town that I grew up in, we had one store that carried Matchbox cars. When I was a little boy we would go to the department store to get our weekly stuff and if I was good all week, I would get a new Matchbox. (Sad to say, I didn’t meet the expectation often…)
They had the big plexiglass display case with all of the cars they had in stock at the time. You chose the car by number, and then you got a cardboard box with the car in it.
When I moved to Grand Rapids in the late 90’s, I found a hobby store that still had the Matchbox display case! I even bought a couple of MB Camaros and Firebirds back then. That was a real blast from the past for me.
But I’ve noticed that kids beyond a certain age really don’t play with toy cars all that much. Whenever I see a kid that does, I try to encourage him and show interest in what he likes; I guess it’s my way of passing on the disease… 🙂
Joseph, you hit on one of my all time favorite subjects. Like many others have been a life long Hot Wheels fan, since they were released when I was a little boy. I got my first HW from my (now deceased) oldest brother, a Custom Cougar. It was my favorite for many years.
I still have about 600 or so around the house (not literally, I have them in huge plastic storage tubs), a leftover from when my kids were young. The winters are long here on the Eastern side of Lake Michigan, so I got a track and taught my daughters all about drag racing. How to do eliminations, quarters, semis, etc. We spent hours in our basement holding races all winter. Then we would go to the Meijer and buy a bunch of new cars, hoping one would be better than the last. We would buy one to race and one to keep.
Even though my kids have moved out of the house, I still keep a few loose HW around; I have a early 90’s GM “Dustbuster” minivan that my younger daughter was so enamored with when she was three. Even at work I have a couple just for fun between long processing times or break times. See below
Oh I almost forgot: My latest pick! I’m a huge fan of the Simpsons and loved the early shows. One of my favorites is when Homer meets his long lost brother and helps him design a new car… The Homer!
Geozinger, this is the find of the day – so awesome! I had no idea a Hot Wheels “Homer” even existed! Like you, I also had a few model cars on my desk at work, including a red, ’67 Camaro RS/SS convertible, but what I found that when taking a break from what I was doing, it was too easy to start daydreaming of driving off in it.
It’s so ugly that I can help buying one of those. I can feel Lee Iacocca from the front clip and it needs optional vinyl roof.
Like so many of my other buys, it was an impulse buy at the grocery store. Even at my age, I still can’t help but look; and there it was. A moment of serendipity, I guess.
I’ve been keeping track of how many cars I buy and how much money I’ve spent since I started collecting “for real” back in late 2012. I’ve kept every receipt and started a spreadsheet breaking it down.
Since I started I’ve acquired at least 2,240 vehicles and spent north of $6,500 since November 27, 2012
I recently acquired another car which I am attempting to restore, so it has all but stopped me from buying anything – combined with a huge increase in competition in my area.
I just love cars, regardless of the scale.
Hotwheels has a 1/18 scale Jeep that is pretty much a replica of my ultimate CJ-5. Slotted mags and a cobalt blue paintjob is all it would need….
Great shots. I think the Maverick & the Vega are my favorites.
Since you got the Maverick with the Calder, you need a Bluesmobile with the Picasso.
I had scads of these as a kid, or *we* did, since I had a little brother who played with and abused them as much as I did. I remember repainting some of them with Testors as the OP did, or even with “borrowed” nail polish from my mom (don’t judge, you can get a nice candy apple red finish if your mom has some sitting around that she seems not to be using 😉 ).
I was very fortunate this year to find my old collection of Majorette cars while helping my dad with a bit of cleaning in the garage since we were getting a new door installed. I haven’t seen the collection in maybe over 10 years and I always feared the worst such as them being given away.
Most of the collection was made in France but the last 2 that I had purchased were made in Thailand before I stopped collecting. I think that they would go on sale for around 69 cents in the mid 90s at a discount store, where they also sold a can of Cambell’s soup for the same price at that time. Majorette is no longer available in Canada but can be found online, although the new versions are more plastic. I used to spend my spare change on these toys and dreamed about Ferraris, Corvettes, Porches and even Mustangs.
I also have a couple of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars somewhere. Then I also have a more worn out collection that I actually played with including brands such as Corgi. Nowdays I can only browse at these toys at the store. What used to be 77 cent Hot Wheels cars 20 years ago are a deal at a $1 sale price today. I still wouldn’t mind looking for a nice transporter truck for display purposes.
Welly has more or less had taken the spot of what Majorette used to be in the U.S. in the 1:64 Scale Market. Nonetheless just as Majorette was just starting in the U.S. Market in the early 1980s, Welly also is slowly entering the 1:64 Scale U.S. Market during this decade as well. RedBox/Motormax and Maisto were active in the U.S. 1:64 Scale market during the early parts of the last decade especially with their cars based from the real models but now they have very much tapered down for the U.S. Market. Corgi Junior had became a rarity in the U.S. after the 1980s especially when they used to be owned by Mattel back then.The “new kid on the block” in 1:64 Scale is Realtoy which not only made 1:64 Scale Cars, but various MTA New York City Subway Cars close to HO Scale and Buses 1:50 Scale and HO Scale as well.
What’s interesting is that I had lived in Kuwait during the 80s and early 90s before moving to Canada in 1994, so I had acquired some toys from there. Matchbox used to be quite popular at that time and in different parts of the world. I should still have some Corgi vehicles from the 80s, although not in mint condition. Matchbox, Majorette and Hot Wheels were the popular brands in Canada during the 90s. Now more recently the local Walmart store is mostly flooded with Hot Wheels. I have come across some of the Maisto brand toys as well and what seems like a limited selection of Matchbox toys. The new Matchbox toys are not what they used to be. I used to like the parts that opened such as the doors or other realistic design and features.
I’m sure product liability laws have necessitated the removal of the opening doors and hoods on these childhood toys.
Transporters make a cool display and maximize shelf space usage. Here’s my White 3000 in 1/24th scale….
Cool!
I started collecting Hot Wheels when McDonald’s had a promotion giving them away & accumulated about 30 initially. Years later I was at the Turkey Rod Run in Daytona and bought a showcase for them, but I didn’t have enough cars to fill it up. Over the course of a couple years I somehow ended up with 3 showcases and a collection of about 500 Hot Wheels & about 50 1/32 cars. I have finally gone cold turkey & stopped buying them since I don’t have room for even one more Hot Wheels in my showcases.
Ah, memories. My Matchbox and Hot Wheels were my favorite toys as a child–played with them constantly and even had a number of the large accessories such as the Hot Wheels Town (anyone else remember that?), Matchbox dealership and car wash, etc. Lots of them ended up repainted with testors paint, like others have mentioned, or missing most of their paint from less-than-gentle play, sometimes outside, and storage in duffel bags and lego buckets. Thankfully I made it clear from a young age that they were not to be thrown away, and therefore most of my childhood collection is still packed away at my parents’ home, and now that I’ve moved out of my smallish downtown apartment and purchased a home, they can finally come here in the near future.
Never one to grow up, I suppose, I rediscovered collecting when I was in my mid 20’s–via eBay mostly, but also through things that I could sometimes find in stores if I was lucky, such as Ertl’s American Muscle 1:64. I also got into 1:18; the size allows for great detail but they take up so much space and can get expensive quickly.
Still though, some of my favorite childhood memories involve these little cars. Whenever I went with my Mom to K-Mart as a child, I would always want to walk through that toy aisle where they were kept, and if i’d been good, Mom would often let me pick one out (this was always a Major Decision that took me a good long while to figure out exactly which I wanted). It seems like they had such a huge selection, much more so than nowadays, though it also could have been that I was a lot smaller back then… Matchbox were my clear favorites but I ended up with quite a number of Hot Wheels. Dad worked at a store called Best Products which had a small toy department, and while they didn’t carry much in the way of cars, they did have Majorette during their stint on the US market, so I ended up with quite a few of those too.
Gateway drug is spot on. No one else in my extended family is much into cars at all, but thanks to Matchbox and their ilk, I’m the car-obsessed person I am today.
Ah… Walgreens. Don’t feel bad Joe… I’m 61 now and still look at the display. I’m on a quest for an Octane Blue 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer like my wife’s car. Then I’ll have my whole fleet in miniature.
Last time I was there, they had a bright yellow EVO, but I’m not going the model paint route. I tried that with my ’79 Fairmont Futura when I was much younger, and it didn’t work out so well. The Hot Wheels car was red with yellow stripes, and my Midnight Blue touchup paint for my actual car did not do a very good job covering up the red and yellow paint.
A couple of years ago, I was in Walgreens and spotted my Mustang (ok, the diecast was a GT, but still!), and bought it on the spot! I’m glad I did, because the closest the display came to it after that was one in blue.
As to my Civic, the dealer from which I purchased it sent me a little keychain that, other than the wheels, is a dead ringer for my car….
The actual cars for reference…
Can’t believe I missed this great post in ’15, but I must chime in. Joe, my 2 brothers and I are a little older than you but grew up so much in the same way–Matchbox, HW etc driving our passion for anything drivable! Our vast but well-worn collection is long gong, sadly, but in my early 30’s when a buddy of mine were forced into a day of antiquing with the wives, we stumbled upon a Matchbox Dodge BP wrecker. Just like the one I had, one of my old toys, in a stinking antique store! They wanted 6 bucks for it, I laughed at the ridiculous price and put it back on display. 2 solid years later, after scouring every ant. store I could find I finally discovered another, for $12, and gladly forked over the cash. Now, nearly 30 years later, my 2 bros and I have large collections and are always looking for our favorites–the realistic looking cars/trucks of our youth. I have dozens that are copies of the neighborhood cars we grew up with, and most of my families many cars are represented. I’ve started building scale-models of the retail landmarks of our home town–the drive-in movie, local Rexall, P&X grocery and shopping center, gas stations, Pay Less drug store where many of my family worked at times, etc. Craziness, but it’s a hobby I can afford and an addiction I cannot shake off. Thanks so much for re-posting this!
A good amount of my paycheck goes to diecasts.
It is quite amazing what a photographer can do with a wide-angle (28-35mm in 35mm film format) lens, an appropriate background, a well-made model, and a modicum of skill. Joseph Dennis obviously has more than that “modicum.”
In addition to 1/64 models, I also have intermittently collected others in larger scales up to 1/24, in plastic, resin and diecast. When possible, I’ve also collected, and modified/repainted when possible, models to replicate 1:1 cars I myself owned (or still own). Also, depending on what a particular store manager orders, 1/64 model cars from Matchbook can be found in the toy aisle at one of my local Dollar Tree stores!
Matchbox cars at the Dollar Tree? But if they’re really a dollar, that’s not such a great deal. Matchbox cars will ALWAYS be 49 cents to me, plus tax which I think was 3 cents then. By the way, back in 2015 when this (wonderful!) posting first ran, I commented with a photo from the Internet of what I remember as my first Matchbox, the Bedford milk van. Since then, I tracked one down, new in box, on eBay. I paid a lot more than 49 cents this time.
50 cents then is more like $3 now, so a buck a car, new, appears to be a good deal.
This is my rendition of the Big 4 mid-1970s compact cars. All are in 1:64 Scale and they are as follows: Newly Released Matchbox 1979 Chevy Nova, Motormax 1:64 Scale 1977 Ford Granada, Yatming 1:64 Scale 1977 Plymouth Volare’ and Johnny Lightning 1974 AMC Hornet.
I so wanted the Chevy Nova from Matchbox. However my small town has few stores and scalpers here outnumber collectors 20-1 and they are organized and they take everything. The two retailers we have here haven’t had a full die-cast section in over a year. Matchbox specifically has sat EMPTY for the last 6 months. We’ll get a case in but the scalper buys the entire box. So sadly here collecting has become impossible. For someone who’s disabled like myself it’s beyond impossible and that sucks!
Now these are my 1:64 Scale Chevrolets and they are as follows: Hot Wheels 1979 Chevy Camaro Z-28, Matchbox 1979 Chevy Nova, Johnny Lightning 1981 Chevy Malibu, Hot Wheels 1980 Chevy Monte Carlo and Hot Wheels 1980 Chevy El Camino. In real life, these cars were nearly identical in exterior sizes