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Return to Models of Yesteryear
It was American collectors who first caught the Matchbox bug, with two collectors' clubs being formed in 1970. The hunt for models soon became worldwide and, not surprisingly, a growing number of collectors emerged in England, the home of Lesney Products & Co. Ltd. Keen British collectors had linked up with their counterparts in the USA, but there was a significant difference. Most of our American friends majored on the 'Regular' wheels (the 75 series) but over here, it was the Models of Yesteryear that caught more people's imagination. This being so, it was not surprising that it was a Yesteryear collector who set up the first Commander Bush had retired from the Royal Navy two years earlier, having chosen to put the needs of a sick wife before his own career at a time when his first command would have taken him away from home for long periods. Exactly what started him on Matchbox, I don't know. I guess that, at least in part, admiration for the engineering genius displayed by Jack Odell, with whom he developed a long-standing friendship, had something to do with it. After all, the first Matchbox Toys, large and small, were masterpieces of metal craftsmanship.
He built friendships within the Lesney organisation and his 'sources' provided a fantastic amount of informa Ray began describing the Models of Yesteryear in issue no. 1, but it was not until the fourth year that he
began his detailed catalogue of the development and manufacture of the variations of each model, taken in turn. Sadly, when the time came to give up, he had only reached as far as the second Y-13 model. So
although he had already written much about the remaining models, his major work was never completed. He felt, not without justification, that he had been treated so badly that, despite being urged by many
friends to complete his researches and publish his own Yesteryear Ray sold his unique collection of Models of Yesteryear and the rest of his models and these were scattered around the world. Each model had a history, which he alone knew, and all that was lost. In his post-Matchbox incarnation, he became involved in researching the naval history of his home town of Plymouth. He collected Lilliput Lane pottery and the only diecasts he was now interested in, Showman's Engines. Between May 1984 and the Spring of 1990, Ray produced Lledo Calling, the authorised journal of the LLEDO "DAYS GONE" Collectors' Club - but that is another story! To sum up, I reprint part of the dedication of the 1992 edition of my own Concise Catalogue of 75 Series Matchbox Toys. 'There is one person whose contribution to the hobby of collecting "Matchbox" Toys has passed into history without due recognition. Although Ray Bush was, first and foremost, the international authority on Models of Yesteryear, his magazine UK Matchbox, published from 1977 to 1985, was second to none as a vehicle of information and communication for collectors of all series. His painstaking research and efforts to assist 'adult' collectors have never been properly acknowledged in public. ... I wish to dedicate this book to Ray Bush in recognition of many, many hours of study and research which have contributed to the pleasures of collecting for so many people. Illustrations: Ray Bush; UK Matchbox
badge; Y-1A 1925 Allchin Traction Engine with red treads - one of the rare ones; Y-4B 1905 Shand-Mason Horse-drawn Fire Engine: London Fire Brigade; Y-9A Fowler "Big Lion" Showman's
Engine in dark maroon (the early one). GL 18 April 2003 Return to Models of Yesteryear |
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This page is intended as a tribute to Ray Bush, a good friend for nearly thirty years, who died in March 2003.
British "Matchbox only" club, UK Matchbox. At the Gloucester swapmeet in January
1977, Ray Bush who had for several years taken a table by the door at every 'Gloucester' handed out application slips for membership of his new club which was
to be organised 'BY COLLECTORS, FOR COLLECTORS and covering all aspects of the die-cast range of models produced by Lesneys' [quoted from the editorial of volume 1, number 1 of the magazine].
Quick off the mark, I filled in the form on the spot and was priveleged to be the first member after Ray, himself! The first magazine appeared in March 1977.
The UK Matchbox magazines developed steadily from a 16-page
(almost) home produced article to a quality magazine in 1980, by which time the club had over 1000 members. Colour pictures first appeared in June 1984 when membership was well over 3000.
Even at the time, it was not appreciated by many that every item in the magazine was put together by Ray alone. He lived and breathed Matchbox. His subscription rate was calculated to match his own
costs (never more, sometimes less). His eye for detail and insistence on honesty and accuracy demanded a level of perfection not often
seen. If he did not know something, he said so and made it his business to find the answer. If he made a mistake, he admitted it.
tion that would never have been passed to a man of lesser integrity. He kept his word. Sadly, very often, that sort of person is not popular. In the end, tensions
developed, Ray was undermined and, ultimately, sidelined from within the factory by those who could not handle such an 'outsider'. They were stunned (there is no other word for it) when Ray
announced the end of his hobby and with it the club and magazine that had provided him with the escape that he needed over some very difficult years and themselves with thousands of pounds worth
of free publicity! The rest is history.
catalogue, it was not within him to do so. The world of Matchbox lost a friend in 1985.
