The Matchbox and Lesney Toy Museum, in Durham, Connecticut, USA, was opened in 1992. Owned and run by Charlie Mack, the exhibition presently comprises over 16,000 pieces - one of the top collections in the world, and includes almost every model produced by the Lesney and Matchbox companies.
The collection is housed in seven rooms and is arranged in beautiful display cases. Charlie Mack, editor and proprieter of the "Matchbox USA" Collectors Club, has been an avid Matchbox collector since 1967.
Ten years later he started "Matchbox USA" club which has members from all around the world.
The museum is open by private appointment only by calling (203) 349 1655.
This model was released with the full permission of Matchbox Collectibles, Tyco and is an official Code 2 release.
Production is limited to a maximum of 2,000 models.

For Charlie Mack, it all began on the cement patio outside his Durham home. When they were kids, he and his brother used to spend hours there playing with their beloved Matchbox cars and trucks, using chalk and bricks to construct miniature worlds for their miniature vehicles.
More than 50 years later the patio is gone, but Matchboxes, die-cast toys originally made in Great Britain, remain in Mack’s home. More than remain — they have taken over the modest one-story, wood-frame house just off Route 17, filling almost every room floor to ceiling as well as the basement; there is little else inside the structure. Mack estimates he has more than 40,000 Matchboxes and Matchbox-branded toys.
“I just love little cars,” Mack, 63, says with a grin. “I grew up with it and I never stopped. I could never get into (video) games. Click, click, click; that holds my interest for about 10 minutes. Give me my toys back.” ............
(This article appeared in the February 2020 issue of Connecticut Magazine)

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