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28-495: Lesney was founded on 19 January 1947 as an industrial die-casting company by Leslie Smith (6 March 1918 - 26 May 2005) and Rodney Smith (26 August 1917 - 20 July 2013). The name "Lesney" was a portmanteau from both partners' (who were not related by blood) names. They had been school friends and served together in the Royal Navy during World War II . Shortly after they founded the company, Rodney Smith introduced to his partner

56-514: A daughter. Lledo Lledo was a British manufacturing company founded in 1982 by Matchbox co-founder Jack Odell , and Burt Russell, and based in Enfield . The factory produced mainly die-cast scale model commercial vehicles, and also cars , from 1983 to 1999, when the company went into bankruptcy . Models were later made in China . "Lledo" was a reversal of Odell's own surname,

84-478: A die-cast road roller based clearly on a Dinky model (the industry leader in die-cast toy cars at that time); in hindsight proves to be the first of perhaps three major milestones on the path to their eventual destiny. It established transportation as a viable and interesting theme; other similar models followed, including a cowboy-influenced covered wagon and a soap-box racer. The company continued to produce non-toy items; of those marketed directly by Lesney, one of

112-461: A division of Universal Holdings/Universal Toys, where the company re-formed as "Matchbox International Ltd." Tooling and production were moved to Macau. Jack Odell went on to form a new company, Lledo , where he produced models similar to early Matchbox Models of Yesteryear . Since 1996 the Matchbox brand has been owned by Mattel , creators of Hot Wheels . Some of the tools and dies created in

140-503: A factory in Hackney which became synonymous with the company. In late 1947 they received a request for parts for a toy gun . As that proved to be a viable alternative to reducing their factory's output during periods in which they received fewer or smaller industrial orders, they started making die cast model toys the following year. Seeing no future for the company, Rodney Smith left in 1951. The first model toy they produced in 1948;

168-654: A fifth land speed record car replica of the record-breaking Thrust SSC piloted by Andy Green, the company did not often return to such deviations from its 'liveried classics' format. Lledo launched the Vanguards range in 1996, which specialized in replica classic British cars, and later, other European vehicles. The first model was the fourth update of the Ford Anglia (1959–1968). With Hillmans, Jowetts, Wolseleys, Rovers, Triumphs, Vauxhalls, Austins, Morrises and Jaguars, many traditional British marques were represented and

196-506: A man named John "Jack" Odell , an engineer he had met in a previous job at D.C.M.T. (another die-casting company). Mr. Odell initially rented a space in the Lesney building to make his own die-casting products, but he joined the company as a partner in that same year. Lesney originally started operations in a derelict pub in north London (The Rifleman), but later, as finances allowed, changed location several times before finally moving to

224-401: A matchbox, but Nick Jones debunks this story in his book, Matchbox Toys. According to the book, Annie "kept bringing home spiders and creepy-crawlies inside a matchbox", so Odell promised to make her a toy that fit in the matchbox if she didn't bring any more spiders home. Odell then made her a scaled-down Road Roller, which became popular at her school. The idea was then born to sell the model in

252-653: A mnemonic device from war days in the African desert so as not to forget his wireless call sign. Lledo set out to specialise in replicating early Matchbox series styles, particularly the Models of Yesteryear range. Odell and Russell bought machinery from the Universal company, which had purchased the Matchbox plant and shipped it to Macau. The tooling they purchased was re-shipped back to Enfield, England where in April 1983

280-494: A partner company, "Moko" (itself also named after its founder, Moses Kohnstam), to market/distribute its toys. This distribution was documented on the boxes themselves, on which the text "A Moko Lesney product" appeared. By the end of the decade, Lesney was able to buy Moko, marketing its products under its own name from that point on. A period of great expansion, tremendous profit, and recognition followed: In 1966, Lesney received their first (of several) Queen's Awards for Industry. By

308-410: A replica matchbox – thus also yielding the name of the series which would propel Lesney to worldwide, mass-market success. The road roller ultimately became the first of the Matchbox 1-75 miniature range; a dump truck , a cement mixer, and a Massey Harris Tractor (labelled 1a, 2a, 3a, and 4a respectively) completed the original four-model release. In the early years of the series, Lesney used

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336-551: The Land Speed Record from 1983 to 1997. These models were a big departure from the multiple-livery classic vehicle fare that Lledo normally made – they were entirely new castings and were not subsequently reproduced in any other promotional form. The models were in varied scales from 1:80 to 1:100 (the real cars were very large). The promotion packed all four models together and included a foldout poster of specifications and land speed record events. Though Lledo also made

364-404: The Lesney era were still used in the Matchbox line of 2007. Although the name Lesney became synonymous with Matchbox, the company produced several toys previous to and into the Matchbox era which were not sold under that famous moniker. Today, these are highly collectible items. They include: Leslie Smith (businessman) Leslie Charles Smith , OBE (6 March 1918 – 26 May 2005),

392-659: The Netherlands under the Edocar name. In 1993, Lledo partnered with Kellogg's cereals in the UK to produce a set of four land speed record cars. Called "Land Speed Legends", the vehicles included the 1935 Sir Malcolm Campbell-Railton Blue Bird (the first car to break 300 miles per hour); the Railton Mobil Special driven by John Cobb; Craig Breedlove's second Spirit of America, and Richard Noble's Thrust 2 which held

420-590: The Volkswagen Transporter van was included in many different liveries – for example in bright yellow with the Bosch Auto Electrical logo. Vanguards were a departure from earlier Lledos, as they were produced in a consistent 1:43 scale. Although shipping high volumes of product, the company could not compete against low cost producers from Hong Kong and China who also entered the special promotions market with high quality products. As

448-511: The chassis, according to need. Most models were produced by Lledo, but several 'Code Two' models were manufactured and sold to second parties for label and logo application previously agreed to by Lledo. Some Lledos were sold in the U.S. under the Hartoys name, headquartered in Florida, and mainly selling a series of trucks to be sold in supermarkets and drug stores. One of these Hartoys lines

476-498: The finished model. Rear view mirror and accurate windscreen wipers were also offered. Like many Lledo models, the Alpine came with rear view mirrors separate that could then be fixed to the car. British trucks were also produced including Ford Transit vans and Ford Thames Trader truck, Commer dropside, Morris commercial van, Dennis F8 fire engine, Bedford S Type trucks, Land Rover LWB and Defender and Karrier boxback, among others. Later,

504-499: The mid-'60s, Matchbox was the largest brand of die-cast model vehicles in the world, and had diversified the line into multiple series. On 11 July 1982, after years of difficulties due to the economic climate in Britain at the time, Lesney went bankrupt and into receivership. Competing companies Mettoy ( Corgi ) and Meccano ( Dinky ) also suffered the same fate. The Matchbox brand as well as Lesney's tooling were bought by and became

532-477: The more popular ones was a fishing bait press, well liked by British anglers at the time. The next crucial milestone was the production of a replica of the Royal State Coach in 1953, the year of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II . Two versions were created, the first in a larger scale, followed by a smaller-scale model. It was this second model that sold over a million units, a massive success at

560-457: The new "Days Gone" range was launched. The name is a nice continuation of Matchbox's nostalgic "Yesteryear" theme. The first Lledo models appeared on the market in early 1983. These were a horse-drawn tram, a horse-drawn milk float, a horse-drawn delivery van, a stagecoach-like omnibus and a horse-drawn fire engine. One of the more popular models was the Ford Model T van introduced later in

588-402: The original Matchbox Models of Yesteryear line, there were only a selection of basic castings which were commonly produced in limited edition promotion runs of 500 or 1000 models. For example, the basic Model T delivery van was produced in more than 170 different liveries. Meanwhile, the horse-drawn vehicles were produced less and less, the last one appearing in 1984. The London Double Decker bus

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616-415: The range grew to more than 40 different vehicles. The Vanguards line, often called the "Fifties and Sixties Classic Collection" was notable for keen attention to detail. For example, the handsome Sunbeam Alpine Mark II featured accurate decals for logos and scripts on the body of the car, chrome petrol cap, door handles and trunk hinges. Body coloured rims with whitewall tyres added to the sophistication of

644-405: The time. The profits from the sales provided valuable capital for further investments. The final and decisive stepping stone in the pre-Matchbox era was a toy which Mr. Odell designed for his daughter Annie: a scaled-down version of the Lesney green and red road roller. The toy's origin is debatable; it's been said that the daughter's school only allowed children to bring toys that could fit inside

672-400: The year. The promotional market became Lledo's bread and butter, and the aim was to provide variations to be offered for different businesses. Of the hundreds of Lledo variations appearing in the first six years of production, all were based on only thirty basic castings. The Model T, especially, became the basis for a series of limited edition models for gifts and promotions. Different from

700-500: Was a co-founder of Lesney Products , the company famous for making Matchbox cars. Smith was born in Enfield , Middlesex , left school at the age of 14, and was working for J. Raymond Wilson, a die-casting company, as an export buyer in London when World War II broke out in 1939, whereupon he joined the Royal Navy . He served with Rodney Smith, and after the war had ended, in 1947, they founded Lesney Products. The name 'Lesney'

728-658: Was a popular promotional; it appeared in many forms like "Vimto-Keeps you Fit", "Madame Tassaud's Wax Museum", or the "Boys Brigade" model whose intent was to raise funds to provide safe drinking water for third world countries. Another promotional example was the VW Transporter van which appeared in Pepsi, 7 Up and Bosch spark plugs liveries, amongst many others. To distinguish promos from traditional "Days Gone" series models, model baseplates were differentiated. Either "Days Gone" or "Lledo Promotional Model" began to appear on

756-406: Was called the "Fantastic Set o' Wheels". Perhaps because of the diecast expense, these did not last long and did not become popular, despite fine craftsmanship and notable brand liveries. By the early 1990s, Hartoys was using Chinese diecasters to continue to make models, now called the "American Highway Legends" (AHL). One example was the 1939 International A&P truck. Other Lledos were marketed in

784-669: Was formed by combining their first names. He married Nancy Jackson-Moore in 1948. Following Lesney's success with Matchbox cars , Lesney Products was awarded the Queen's Award to Industry in 1966, and he was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1968. Lesney Products was declared insolvent in 1982. Leslie Smith then became chairman of the board of governors for St Paul's School, Winchmore Hill and another school in north London, where he lived until his death. He had two sons and

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