And Now For Something Completely Violent

These are scans of 1/76 scale Matchbox plastic model kits I had collected and assembled over years past. They didn't fit together as well as some other model brands, but I always liked them because they were out of production and hard to find. Revell of Germany now produces kits using the old Matchbox molds, but the packaging is not as charming and they have hard plastic tracks rather than the soft (and often brittle) rubber tracks that came with these kits. A good portion of the painted artworks on the front of the boxes are signed by a Mr. Roy Huxley. Tanks for the memories, Roy.

Go to my flickr stream for the complete collection. Although, my collection was never completed. I never found the Comet, among others.

Based on the wear and discoloration of the kit boxes I have, I think there were three "generations" of these kits branded as Matchbox and having this artwork. The earliest had a clear window on the back of the box. The next had no window, and the last seems to have rounded corners on the front artwork. The oldest ones are marked © 1973, the squared corner ones are © 1983 and others © 1986, while the rounded ones are © 1986.