CARS , TRUCKS , CHOPPERS , LIMITED EDITIONS
Lesney was founded in 1947 as an industrial die-casting company by Leslie Smith and Rodney Smith. The two men were not related by blood. Lesney originally started operations in a derelict pub in north London (The Rifleman), but later, as finances allowed, changed several location times before finally moving to a factory in Hackney which became synonymous with the company. In late 1947 they received a request for parts to 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 to make die cast model toys in the next year. In the early years of the series, Lesney used 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. However, by the end of the decade, Lesney was able to buy Moko, marketing its products under its own name from that point on. On July 11, 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 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. Today, the Matchbox brand is owned by Mattel, creators of Hot Wheels.