I went with Johnny Lightning. Had the track, needed the cars.
If only My Kid Brain had known...
My brother had a collection that would now be worth some money.
My father gave it away on him when he was older, deciding for him that he didn’t want it any more.
My dad was like that and it infuriated us.
Not sure I believe the accuracy of this story.
The orange crane, #30, is 8,800 pounds. It says there are only two known in existence. Just checked and I have two of them!
The Matchbox toys of my youth came in little yellow “match” boxes, not plastic blister packs. Of course back then those eight Jewish veterans were still in Korea. I loved their military replicas. Though beautiful and envied, I never owned one. “Too expensive” was Dad’s dictum so I would play with the cast lead versions.
I had a HUGE collection of US Military “Dinky Toys”, which I gave away to my cousin, who’s now gone, and I never could find out what happened to all of them. Same with shoeboxes full of baseball cards. Oh well...
My sister worked in a toy store during that era and they must have paid her with Match Box and Corgi toys for her son. He found them in the attic still in boxes in mint condition and sold them to a collector in Japan for enough money to remodel his kitchen. I have a few in the garage attic but most the boxes are gone...
Ya know, on second thought, those military replicas I mentioned in my #6 may have been Dinky Toys, but they were off limits to me also. lol
I wish I still had my Matchbox cars, and even more my Tonka trucks. They certainly weren’t mint, but they’d probably still be worth something.