Vectis/American Presentation Sets

[durangokid]

Some really nice items in auction. I bid on a few items. Thought I won 2 but invoiced for only one.
Lots of coffee as had to get up at 3 in the morning to watch/bid.......

[petethesweet]

Hi All, I put a bid of £70 on one of the models i was sure that i had won it but the lady at Vectis said i hadn't , what i did notice was that most of my bids was the starting bids. P &P now £10.50. Pete.

[matchboxmarcel]

https://www.vectis.co.uk/lot/matchbox-r ... lar_818274

Are all the models standard? If so, a hell of a lot of money for the outer box!

this is one of the rarest Matchbox sets. Normally filled with standard models indeed.
And actually there are 2 different of those sets.
Interesting that Hardy has them for sale at lower price for a while.

marcel

[Tinman]

It's rare enough that I'm not familiar with the set.  Did all 8 of the boxes fit into the larger box? Where these sold worldwide?

[yellowfoden]

It's rare enough that I'm not familiar with the set.  Did all 8 of the boxes fit into the larger box? Where these sold worldwide?

Hi Joe, yes the 8 x 1-75 models were contained in the oversized Matchbox box and this set only sold USA.

The PS-3 set John sold through Vectis is rarely seen and from my own records of all the ones seen this would be about the best condition existing we know of.

These are known as the Presentation sets and were labelled PS1 to PS8. They were only issued for the American market in 1957 and differed from the presentation sets that were made for the UK and some for the German market that were issued in 1959.

When they were listed in the department store catalogues in USA they were listed as Matchbox Series Assortment sets and retailed at the time for about 3.95 dollars US.
The PS3 had a description as such
Moving Van, Bulldozer, M.G Sports Car, Open Truck, Bus, Coupe, house trailer and steam shovel. (this is more likely diesel driven)
It also stated the shipping weight was 1 lb suggesting they were more suitable for mail order.

In all my years of Lesney interest I have seen very few of these either in collections or come up for sale or trade.

The American PS are as follows:

PS-1 models 1-8
PS-2 models 9-16
PS-3 models 17-24
PS-4 models 25-32
PS-5 models 33-40
PS-6 models 41-48
PS-7 models 49-56
PS-8 models 57-64

I assume the intention was to include all models to number 75 as they became available but there is no record of consecutive numbers in a presentation set for USA market above number 65.

Nick has a PS-3 listing on his page but the image above the text is the wrong set(it shows PS2). Perhaps this should show the set that John has just sold.

To make for better reading I have attached the sale photo from Vectis.

Bert

edit typos corrected

[Tinman]

Thank you! I'm saving the auction photos and your comments for future reference.

[matchboxmarcel]

thank you Bert to point this out such complete !

marcel

[matchboxmarcel]

Thank you! I'm saving the auction photos and your comments for future reference.

I agree that this one was probably the best condition I have seen in the over 35 years of collecting.
Hardy from Berlin has set no. 1 and no. 2 on sale on German Ebay.

Am I right that only sets 1 and 2 were released ?

marcel.

[Matchbox1-75models]

I have seen sets 1 through to 5. Pretty sure i have seen number 7 or 8 too somewhere

[Matchbox1-75models]

Presentation set number 3 that i sold at vectis