Scale of Lensey-Matchbox vehicles?

[NickNascati]

All,
      I'm looking into various Post-WWII conflicts, and I know that Matchbox made several suitable vehicles in the past that pop up on Ebay.  Has anyone used these with 15mm or 20mm figures? Which scale are they closer to?  I remember them as a kid being quite small.

                                                                                        Nick

[6milPhil]

Matchbox cars are primarily made in two sizes:

    The smaller models ("regular size"; 1-75 and related series) are often classified as 1:64 scale (though they range from smaller than 1:100 to much larger than 1:64) and measure about 2.5-3 inches, or 6.5-7.5 centimeters, in length. Toy stores most often stock these models.

    Matchbox has also manufactured cars in approx. 1:43 scale (sometimes called "king size"), labelling them Speed Kings or Super Kings (or, later — particularly in the Matchbox Collectibles lines [cf. below] — Models of Yesteryear or Dinky), which measure about 3.5-4 inches, or 9-10 centimeters, in length. This was the same scale as Corgi or Dinky. Matchbox's designers favored this larger size because it permitted more detail. The 1:43 cars are still made, but are primarily marketed as collectibles, rather than as toys. While the actual car models in these series tend to hover around the 1:43 scale, other vehicle types (trucks, construction and farm vehicles, hovercrafts, tanks, etc.) vary greatly, in the same manner as do the regular size models

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matchbox_%28brand%29#Scales_of_models

[NickNascati]

Phil,
        Thanks for that info.  I am after the smaller ones.  So it sounds like don't buy unless I can hold a 15mm mini up next to one.

[6milPhil]

Personally I use coins as a guide... good chance is there's a common coin which is close to what you need and there's much more chance you've got one of those on you than a mini. In the UK a fifty pence piece is 27.3mm dia so handy for 28mm, for you a five pence piece at 18mm would be best, assuming you're in the UK.

Happy hunting!

[Mason]

Not 100% sure what scale Dark Future minis were, but I think they were 20mm, and they worked pretty well with the smaller Matchbox ranges. They did of course vary in scale, so still check them first and.......

Personally I use coins as a guide... good chance is there's a common coin which is close to what you need and there's much more chance you've got one of those on you than a mini. In the UK a fifty pence piece is 27.3mm dia so handy for 28mm, for you a five pence piece at 18mm would be best, assuming you're in the UK.

............6milPhil's tip is brilliant, so use that.
I know that I will in future.
Genius!

[Elwood P Dowd]

Damn ! Why didn't I think of that before I scratched a ruler onto the back of my mobile phone ...

I don't know if they still do , but Matchbox used to put the scale somewhere on the base plate .

[Gundamentalist 5.56]

1/72 scale - http://matchbox.wikia.com/wiki/index.php?search=scale+1%3A72&fulltext=0
1/76 scale - http://matchbox.wikia.com/wiki/index.php?search=scale+1%3A76&fulltext=0
1/100 scale - http://matchbox.wikia.com/wiki/index.php?search=scale+1%3A100&fulltext=0

HTH.