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An entire story lionizing Hot Wheels as historic and seminal and without once noting that the entire brand was created as a cheaper and lower quality knockoff o

An entire story lionizing Hot Wheels as historic and seminal and without once noting that the entire brand was created as a cheaper and lower quality knockoff of Matchbox, founded 15 years earlier.

ggm 4y ago
Matchbox Rock. Boxed matchbox are immensely valuable. None of my Matchbox or Corgi or Britains are boxed, all bear the proud scars of the sandpit and throwing at siblings.
- arethuza 4y ago
  Around 1970 or so when I was 5 one of my older sisters worked for the summer at the Matchbox factory in London and gave me a Matchbox Lamborghini Muira - which I loved and, of course, proceeded to totally wreck.
- zeristor 4y ago
  Matchbox and the EcoPark (neé Edmonton Incinerator) wee both in Edmonton, London. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmonton_EcoPark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmonton_EcoPark As a child I had a Matchbox incinerator toy set, inspired their nearby infrastructure.
cdiddy2 4y ago
That is funny cause as a kid in the 90s getting a matchbox instead of a hotwheels was a real downer. They were just worse quality.
busyant 4y ago
I was a kid in the 1970s and my recollection is that I thought the two (Matchbox and HotWheels) were one-in-the-same. They probably were kept apart in the store where I bought them, but I never noticed. And my brothers and I never made that distinction as we honed our "driving" skills on the hardwood floor. Until I read your comment, I thought Matchbox & HotWheelw were the same thing.
funstuff007 4y ago
grew up in 70s, felt the same way. But when I purchase these cars for my son, I felt that best Hot Wheels were way better than Matchbox. That being said, Hot Wheels does make some kooky models that I would stay 100 miles away from just on aesthetic grounds.
petodo 4y ago
I didn't even know Hot wheels existed up until few years ago, while I played with Matchbox in late 80s or early 90s as European kid, they seem to have better marketing/distribution here in Europe, you can find them displayed prominently while Matchbox is either hidden somewhere or not sold at all. My kid has both brands. From what I noticed Matchbox seem to produce real models, while HW has huge share of weird (unbuyable) models.

An entire story lionizing Hot Wheels as historic and seminal and without once noting that the entire brand was created as a cheaper and lower quality knockoff of Matchbox, founded 15 years earlier.

ggm 4y ago

Matchbox Rock. Boxed matchbox are immensely valuable. None of my Matchbox or Corgi or Britains are boxed, all bear the proud scars of the sandpit and throwing at siblings.

arethuza 4y ago
Around 1970 or so when I was 5 one of my older sisters worked for the summer at the Matchbox factory in London and gave me a Matchbox Lamborghini Muira - which I loved and, of course, proceeded to totally wreck.
zeristor 4y ago
Matchbox and the EcoPark (neé Edmonton Incinerator) wee both in Edmonton, London. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmonton_EcoPark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmonton_EcoPark As a child I had a Matchbox incinerator toy set, inspired their nearby infrastructure.

cdiddy2 4y ago

That is funny cause as a kid in the 90s getting a matchbox instead of a hotwheels was a real downer. They were just worse quality.

busyant 4y ago

I was a kid in the 1970s and my recollection is that I thought the two (Matchbox and HotWheels) were one-in-the-same. They probably were kept apart in the store where I bought them, but I never noticed. And my brothers and I never made that distinction as we honed our "driving" skills on the hardwood floor. Until I read your comment, I thought Matchbox & HotWheelw were the same thing.

funstuff007 4y ago

grew up in 70s, felt the same way. But when I purchase these cars for my son, I felt that best Hot Wheels were way better than Matchbox. That being said, Hot Wheels does make some kooky models that I would stay 100 miles away from just on aesthetic grounds.

petodo 4y ago

I didn't even know Hot wheels existed up until few years ago, while I played with Matchbox in late 80s or early 90s as European kid, they seem to have better marketing/distribution here in Europe, you can find them displayed prominently while Matchbox is either hidden somewhere or not sold at all. My kid has both brands. From what I noticed Matchbox seem to produce real models, while HW has huge share of weird (unbuyable) models.