Lesney and Rodney Smith started Matchbox in 1947 in a pub that was bombed in World War Two in England. They had a third person named Jack Odell who was the engineering genius and the model maker. Odell selected what the price range would be and how the production of the vehicles would be. Odell worked the machines and also monitored the quality of the cars.
Even though Lesney started the company with his brothers, collectors attribute Matchbox cars to Jack Odell. He started making toys during the Christmas season during his down time. The toys were originally bigger, up to eight inches long. Odell made a tractor, a cement roller, and a road roller.
The company also engineered a large gold coronation coach pulled by horses that was 12-14 inches long and had the King and Queen of England sitting in the coach. When the King of England died, and Queen Elizabeth was crowned, Odell made a model for the coach and cut the King out of the casting. If you look at the toy/model you can still see the legs of the King, and O'dell sold that to all of the tourists who were attending the coronation. He took the same large toy and shrunk it to only four inches long.
The figures are made out of dye cast metal, and it looks absolutely beautiful. They sold a million of them, which gave them the idea to shrink the other toys. Around Christmas time O'Dell took the large road roller and made a tiny brass version of it and put it in a matchbox. He then sent it to school with his daughter and it became a huge hit with the kids.
Now most of Matchbox Cars are sold in "Blister Packs." The cars are not sold with the matchboxes anymore. However, there are new Matchbox toys that are being developed and will be sold with Matchboxes again.
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