Editing Matchbox (brand) (section)

===Expansion in the Superfast era===
{{unsourced|section|date=October 2022}}
In an attempt to reap more benefits from the regained popularity of the Matchbox brand, a last period of great expansion started with the introduction of multiple new lines, including the ''Sky Busters'' range of aircraft (including current and historical private, commercial, and military planes), ''Battle Kings'' military models, ''Sea Kings'' naval models, ''Adventure 2000'' science fiction models, and the ''Two Packs'' series, which revisited the traditional Matchbox idea of a model and an associated trailer.

{{multiple image
|total_width = 300
|perrow = 2
|image1 = Matchbox by Lesney no 75 Ferrari berlinetta.jpg
|image2 = Skoda Matchbox.jpg
|image3 = Matchbox toys Snow-Trac Model.jpg
|image4 = Matchbox No. 72 1972 Hovercraft SRN6.jpg
|image5 = Matchbox Weasel 73.jpg
|image6 = Snowplough Matchbox with box.jpg
|footer = Some models from the 1:125 series, fltr: Ferrari Berlinetta, Skoda 130 LR, Snow-Trac, SRN6 Hovercraft, Weasel and Scammell Snow Plough 
}}
Unfortunately, early marketing concepts of metallic-painted tanks and bright-coloured ships were not consistent with market demands, and the models, many of which were quite well made for the money, were generally not successful. Second editions of the ''Battle Kings'' and ''Sky Busters'' series were painted in more realistic colours and were well-received but, by this time, general economic factors were seriously affecting the ability of the company to make a profit on toys manufactured in England.

Of these series, only the ''Sky Busters'' and, to some extent, the ''Two Packs'' survived over time.  The ''Convoy'' series of articulated truck-trailers (mostly American) was an offshoot of the ''Two Packs'' line and continues under various guises to this day.

A rather simple development in this period―as much philosophical in nature as product-related―initiated a revolutionary change in the marketplace.  The Matchbox brand had become the most widely collected of all die-cast toy lines (see below, "Matchbox collectors"). In the 1970s, Lesney began to seek contact with collectors, sending representatives to collectors' meets, providing information to the various collectors' clubs, and informally surveying collectors' interests. This resulted at first in the creation of several models for collectors, such as a ''Yesteryear'' model, the black Y{{nbh}}1 [[Ford Model T]].

The success of this decision led the company to place models of commercial vehicles in the ''Yesteryear'' line (two vans at first, a [[Talbot (automobile)|Talbot]] and another Model T) which were tampo-printed with period advertising for brand-name items such as [[Lipton]]'s Tea, [[Coca-Cola]], or [[:fr:Suze|Suze]]. These models were the first commercial vehicles in the series since the 1950s. The concept was quickly expanded to include limited editions of models made for specific countries ([[Arnott's Group|Arnott's Biscuits]] [Australia], [[Sunlight (cleaning product)|Sunlight Seife]] [Germany]) or at the specific request of companies such as [[Nestlé]]'s Milk, Taystee Bread, and [[Harrods]] department store. This aspect of the business―so-called "promotionals"―had existed since the 1960s, but had established itself firmly in the company's culture in the 1970s with numerous models, particularly of a ''1-75'' model, the no. 17 London bus.

It immediately became evident that special, low-volume models of this nature were highly desirable from both the sponsor and the collectors'  perspective, as well as being profitable for Matchbox. The market expanded rapidly, leading to increased licensing as well as the development of models no longer aimed at all at the children's toy market, but rather at the higher-margin "premium" segment.