A short note about thisarticle, this article has been published in haste and features points based solely on evidence collected over 10 years of part time research. I am awaiting clarification on some of the details outlined here from a very kind and ever patient gentleman who was actually responsible for introducing Matchbox into Brazil, until this update takes place I ask you to take the information presented here with a pinch of salt.

Lesney in Brazil 1.0
Lesney were always searching for new markets & one of the more troublesome to breach was Brazil. Since the 1950s Brazil had been pushing its policy for import substituting industrialisation (ISI) in an effort to make themselves self sufficient & stimulate growth. Before Roly Toys came along Matchbox were only available from those that actually traveled abroad, a famous story exists of a shop in Rio which was owned by a Portuguese couple where the wife manned the shop & the husband who was a pilot that regularly flew out of the country, bringing back with him contraband luxury items (including Matchbox!) to put in the shop. Matchbox in Brazil were not cheap at this time & it would seem the markup was substantial!

The company that took on the task of being the Matchbox agent was Roly Toys who were based in Rio de Janeiro, an enterprise started by two gentlemen who were manufacturers & the founders of diecast toy production in Brazil with their Roly Toys line of vehicles. It is understood that after a visit to the Lesney factory a deal was struck and around 1964/5 importation of Matchbox toys had commenced. These models in line with Brazilian regulations received an orange sticker on the box with the words "Distribuidor Exclusivo, Roly Toys, Rua de Gamboa 279-GB" or in the queens own "Roly Toys, Exclusive distributor, 279 Gamboa street". These stickers are seen on models produced up-to 1971 & are keenly sought after by collectors, Superfast issues 1970 - 1971 came with a tape that have the "Superfast" logo on it in black, again very rare and highly saught after! It would seem post 1969 the application of the orange label became somewhat sporadic as fewer examples exist in circulation with this label. Boxes that date from 1971 - 1973 are identical to standard Lesney issues and feature no visual cues.

It would seem that completed Matchbox products were imported until 1973, I have seen & purchased within collections in Brazil time & time again models produced in London that date from as late as mid 1973. One such collection came from a gentleman whose grandfather was a toyshop owner in the south of Brazil, the collection clearly illustrated the changeover from English - Brazilian models as he had nothing pre 1973 in Brazilian colours and nothing post 1973 in the standard English hues.



After lengthy negotiations Roly Toys & Lesney made an accord which entailed Lesney sending to Brazil unassembled castings (mostly unpainted) with wheels, windows & labels to decorate the models. A little about this deal is reported in the Matchbox First 40 years book (page 119) by the late Leslie Smith "This proved to be a nightmare for the management in the UK who had the task of shipping the parts to Brazil and keeping accurate records of what had gone and when. We knew we did not stand to make much money out of the project but we felt that it was better for us to do it than one of our competitors. There was always a chance that something bigger could develop in the future". Incidentally I have a first hand quote from the owner of the Roly Toys / Inbrima factory illustrating a similar account of the initial meeting about the manufacturing of these cars in Brazil "The negotiations which were very difficult were conducted between me & Mr Leslie Smith, I met with him on many occasions & it was him that approved our operation" or in Portuguese "As negociacoes, um tanto dificeis, foram conduzidas pessoalmente por mim e pelo sr. Leslie Smith. Encontrei-me com ele muitas vezes. Alias foi ele que aprovou a operacao."


It would seem that production initially started in Rio de Janeiro on Rua de Gamboa but this is something that is still being researched and is awaiting confirmation. In late 1975 or early 1976 the Inbrima factory was opened in the Tax free zone in Manaus capital city of the state of Amazonas. This location was chosen because of the relaxed import regulations in this region which were an attempt by the Brazilian government to aid growth in this distant and somewhat isolated part of Brazil. The factory changed address in the late 1970s from Rua Wilkins de Matos 431 to Av. Javari 1680, this change can be traced through the packaging used on the toys.

The packaging used varied, the first type of packaging used in Brazil was blister cards, it is also believed in the very early days Lesney provided standard English boxes for some issues but this was a very short-lived era & limited to just a few castings. Around 1974 a generic picture box was developed, this box featured what seems to be a mixture of a Siva S350 Spyder & some creative license. To identify the model supplied within the box the earliest issues feature a yellow sticker with a red number, in early 1976 the labels colour was changed to red with a black number or bright yellow with a red number. Also in mid 1976 four new box designs appeared in the range featuring the Dodge Challenger, Faun dump truck, Pontiac firebird & Formula 5000, these are harder to find as they were only used till around 1978, after 1978 only the box with the Siva type fantasy car art was used. It should be noted that that only on the box which features the fantasy car design can you find all three of the different addresses stated above, rarest of these by a country mile is the Roly Toys Rua de Gamboa box, which are fitted with non locking tabs and are much glossier than the later Inbrima issues. The last box used for Lesney issues was a blue window box, it is dated 1981 Lesney Products PLC and has a white sticker on the end flap indicating the number of the toy contained within. After this one was taken out of production you only find the Trol Inbrima boxes which featured the model number (different to the Universal numbering system) & name on a white sticker placed on the rear of the box.


The lines produced in Brazil over the years included: 1-75s, Sky-Busters, Speed-Kings & Battle-Kings. The most easily encountered are the 1-75s, the others are all quite thin on the ground and rarely appear for sale in any condition. The toys which were produced after 1984 & come in packaging marked "Trol" are much easier to find as they were imported by various specialist dealers & collectors around the world for resale on the collectors market. The early models are rarely seen and until the advent of the internet the only way of actually acquiring a Brazilian Matchbox toy was to go over there and look for them in the bazaars, antique shops & flee markets.

Brazilian Matchbox toys have asides from the sometimes striking choices for body colours, distinctive markings on the bases which differentiated them from the English produced models. The first issues come with black Roly Toys labels, after 1975 they were fitted with black Inbrima labels which for a very short run were changed to gold foil with black lettering (very rare!). After this the bases had the words FAB ZF MANAUS engraved but this was again a short lived measure which was replaced by little plastic tags with the words FAB ZF MANAUS written on them, these tags can come in white, blue or black. These are quite delicate and are often cracked, incomplete or just plain missing (leaving 2 holes in the base!). Around 1979 it would seem that the factory reverted to using the black Inbrima paper labels for a short time with the last Lesney issues circa 1980/1 coming fitted with a large white rectangular label with black text.


Roly Toys issues all maintain the words Made in England on the base. After the Inbrima production era started it was customary for the factory to crudely remove the words MADE IN ENGLAND from the base using a drill but this was not always carried out & it would seem for every three Inbrima issues with the words MADE IN ENGLAND removed one will still have it intact! Another fairly important thing to note is that these labels were often removed by contemporary young collectors, I have heard many cases where the original owners considered it to be a status symbol owning an imported English Matchbox rather than one of the locally made issues which they regarded as being inferior quality, it was a sign of wealth in that the only way you could get one of the English issues was by traveling abroad!


In terms of the colours used I will not go too much into this, as there are a few to many wide boys about! Needless to say the colours should be consistent for the year of the model. This is something that comes with experience of handling authentic examples & careful study of the casting used plus where possible making comparisons with the packaging it is supplied within (if indeed it is the original packaging!). Diligent investigation will give you a better idea of what was produced & when, the patterns are easy to see when you have handled enough. Base plates & body shells were sometimes shipped out to Brazil painted, it is not uncommon to see a slightly chipped English painted base with a virtually mint Brazilian coloured body, rule is it must be a Lesney colour on the base otherwise you need to take a closer look! As a rule the Brazilian factory did not use matt paints, if you see a matt finish it would be wise to compare it with the standard English version and see if it is identical, thus far in my experience this has proved infallible.

This brings me to the last part of my little article, It should be pointed out that the vast majority of Lesney era Brazilian Matchbox toys in collections are in chipped condition, most of best examples are near mint but for every near mint you will find many many examples in good+ or excellent+ condition. Caveat emptor fakes and forgeries as with all high value collectables do exist, thankfully in this category the fakes are easy to spot. Many fakes have appeared from the Sao Paulo area over the last six or so years, they are often virtually mint or mint and have fake reproduction Roly Toys or Inbrima labels on the base. They also feature incorrect colours and labels that are either reassigned from Lesney examples or printed using modern techniques. An experienced eye can easily spot them but if required they can be easily tested by a lab to determine when the paint was applied & what type of paint was used. Top tip: if when buying on the internet the deal looks too good to be true then it probably is!

Collecting Brazilian Matchbox is a very challenging & rewarding hobby if undertaken with your eyes open. If you have any questions or comments you are welcome to enter in contact via e-mail.