This is the second old matchbox I found at my brother's house

[Malone1423]

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[RVRoamer74]

Cool find on the old matchbox.

 

[Tony in SC]

Good find, one of the rarer ones!!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Nice find, congrats!

 

[Inspector]

Nice find, congrats. Does that say Matchbox on the base, looks a little older like maybe a lesney, either way its nice condition

 

[smallfoot]

Cool! Looks complete...

 

[Malone1423]

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[Bodkin]

Oh yah!!! Nice!!!

 

[ToddsPoint]

Nice find, congrats. Does that say Matchbox on the base, looks a little older like maybe a lesney, either way its condition

He knows his cars! Gary

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I love finding these old die-cast toys, the toys they produce today are junk.
Your 'grader' looks to date to the late 1950s, so it's an early one for Matchbox.

"The Matchbox name originated in 1953 as a brand name of the British die-casting company Lesney Products, whose reputation was moulded by John W. "Jack" Odell (1920–2007), Leslie Charles Smith, and Rodney Smith. The name Lesney was a portmanteau of Leslie and Rodney Smith's first names. Matchbox is a popular toy brand which was introduced by Lesney Products in 1953, and is now owned by Mattel, Inc. The brand was given its name because the original die-cast Matchbox toys were sold in boxes similar into those in which matches were sold. The brand grew to encompass a broad range of toys, including larger scale die-cast models, plastic model kits, and action figures. During the 1980s, Matchbox began to switch to the more conventional plastic and cardboard "blister packs" that were used by other die-cast toy brands such as Hot Wheels. The box style packaging was re-introduced for the collectors' market in recent years, particularly with the release of the "35th Anniversary of Superfast" series in 2004."

Dave

 

[Malone1423]