Matchbox Sky Busters

Matchbox ventured in producing die cast airplanes in response to the competition created by new companies who decided to join the bandwagon of the model car market. They wanted to regain their popularity and reap more benefits by doing something else that others were not doing. 

Maurice Landi joined Lesney Products and he designed the aircraft line for the Matchbox Collectibles. Rox Huxley was hired as an illustrator to draw the box-art and provide the attractive packaging. 

Matchbox Sky Busters was released and the models were not only for children for those who love to collect models. Exact replica of aircrafts of varied airlines were produced and as the brand awareness increased, the quality became better and the price began to rise for Matchbox Collectibles.

Sky Busters has a range of current and historic private, commercial, and military planes under the Matchbox brand which was initially owned by Lesney Products and later on by Mattel. The Battle Kings military models, Sea Kings naval models, Adventure 2000 science fiction models, and the Two Packs series, which revisited the traditional Matchbox idea of a model and an associated trailer were released in the market in the early 70s in London, England. The brand kept coming on and off the market until the 2000s, when Mattel decided to release the models each year.