How Hot Wheels left Matchbox in the dust: A toy car tragedy

Mercedes-Benz W123 Wagon Matchbox car (Vivid Brands/shutterstock.com)

The rise and fall of Matchbox toy cars is an example of failing to keep up with changing tastes. As reported by Hagerty, Matchbox began in post-war Britain and quickly grew to dominate the toy car market. "By 1969, Lesney was building a thousand toy cars per minute," the article says.

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