I hope this topic is okay for the Lounge. I searched for Days Gone By and did not find any entries.
Anyway, I am interested in the history of the O'Dell "Days Gone By" series. Where in England were they made? Were they made after the Lesney bankruptcy? Any other info?
Usually the web is a font of info about stuff liek this, but I have not found much if anything about these cars.
Thanks for any info or links that anyone might have.
These were made soon after 1983 when Lesney closed down in the UK.
Jack Odell was one of Lesneys directors and he had been with the company since 1947 when they were just a 3 man operation working from a derelict pub.
In 1983 Lesney went broke and was eventually sold to 'Universal' who were based in the far east. Universal wanted the Matchbox brand name but already had their own diecasting equipment.
Jack bought the equipment which was still installed in the Lee Conservancy road factory back from Universal, A hole was smashed through the factory roof and the machinery was craned out and installed in Jack's new Enfield factory.
Google LLEDO days gone and you should find lots more, The toys are dirt cheap - at the moment,
Oh yes, LLEDO was Jacks radio call sign when he 'did his bit' during the 1939-45 conflict.
Great info, thanks. I will do as you say regarding Google.
I am amazed at the beauty and quality of these models. I find it hard to believe that these 32 year old mint condition models are so inexpensive. A current die cast model if it were marketed today (if you could find one of this quality) would have to retail for at least $10 I would think, yet these are selling on eBay for a couple of bucks. Seems like their play value alone, never mind being collectible, would be worth more than that. Very interesting.
I think the problem is (the same as some YYs) they were marketed as "collectors models" therefore everyone collected them and kept them mint and boxed
making them a)very popular b)plentiful therefore cheap
shame because there are some very good models in both ranges and detailing is superb , a lot of model for your money
Tinman wrote:It's not "a shame" for those who enjoy collecting them (YYs & LLEDOs that is) as a decent collection can be started and built on the cheap.
may not have worded that quite right by it's "a shame" I ment that they get overlooked by many collectors
