The Story Of Matchbox Toys - Part 2

Matchbox started the 1950's in a world with a new war looming in Korea. At the start of this conflict the metal "zinc" was banned by the government for use in toys. This was a serious setback for Lesney as zinc is an ingredient of the mazac metal used in die cast toys and consequently the company fell on harsh times. The irony was that the company had stockpiled tons of zinc but could not use it.It was at this time that Rodney Smith, thinking that the die cast toy business was on the way out, decided to leave the firm and he offered his part of the company to the two other partners. He was bought out by Leslie Smith and Jack Odell for the sum of 8000 .

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