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1:64 Scale & Smaller
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Topic starter
29/09/2021 10:23 am
Lledo was a brand of die cast toys, founded in 1982 by Matchbox co-founder Jack Odell and Burt Russell. The factory produced diecast vehicles in Enfield, England from 1983 to 1999. Jack Odell was one of the original partners who much earlier created Lesney/Matchbox.
Lledo set out to specialise in replicating early Matchbox series styles, particularly the Models of Yesteryear range. Odell and Russell bought machinery from the Universal company, which had purchased the Matchbox plant and shipped it to Macau. The tooling they purchased was re-shipped back to Enfield, England where in April 1983 the new Days Gone range was launched. The name is a nice continuation of Matchbox's nostalgic "Yesteryear" theme.
The first Lledo models appeared on the market in early 1983. These were initially horse drawn vehicles in the style of MARCHBOX Models of Yesteryear.
Although shipping high volumes of product, the company could not compete against low cost producers from Hong Kong and China who also entered the special promotions market with high quality products. As a result, Lledo went bankrupt in 1999, and the naming rights and model range were bought by Corgi which continued producing Lledo models in China until 2005, when the remaining models were merged into the Corgi Classics range.
Here is the Lledo 1907 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost of which I have two, 32002 and 32005.
Bob Jackman and Bob Jackman reacted
Topic starter
29/09/2021 5:12 pm
Earlier today, I said that Lledo models were initially horse drawn vehicles in the style of MARCHBOX Models of Yesteryear. Here are a few examples.
The first four are original packaging.
These three are later issues. Lledo also did company promotional.
30/09/2021 9:52 pm
Thanks for sharing this part of diecast history. I remember Liedo models, but never had any.
Ed Davis
Inverness, Illinois, USA
