[4Rbd]

Hello All. I recently purchased a diorama on eBay and it is in S-Scale (1:64). The Matchbox car that came with it is a GM 41' Cadillac. I have seen the package for this car and it says 1:64 right on it.

But when I purchased a Matchbox Yesteryear 1914 Stutz it too was listed on eBay (in several different ads) as being 1:64 scale. However the Yesteryear Box has No Scale marked anywhere on it and the car is clearly a larger scale. (when compared with the 41' Cadillac)

When I was a kid I always thought all Matchbox cars were the size of an actual box with matches in it. But this Yesteryear car is clearly larger. These can't both be the same scale.

Can anyone offer some insight?

Thank You.

 

[Milton Fox Racing]

They are not the same scale. Like you - most ebay sellers assume that any casting in that size or by Hot Wheels or Matchbox are always made in 1:64 scale. And many are - or are close - but none actually are.

Matchbox has also stopped putting a scale on their individual casting base plates but not many were ever listed as being 1:64 scale. What most diecast makers in this size range do are to build their castings to be 3" scale. Initially to fit comfortably in the hand of child but now to fit within the standard blister bubble of the packaging they use. This means the length may be one scale, the width another and the height another. Most of their wheel sets are oversized/larger scale as well. Their designers do their best to make the final casting look its best within those size parameters.

The '41 is a fairly new casting but I cant remember Matchbox ever listing 1:64 on their packaging and certainly not under Mattels ownership. Are you confusing the Series 62 as being a scale reference? Or did you get the casting in a different package than the one below? The Series 62 is actually Cadillac's name for their production model design.


2020 Matchbox Metal #9 (MB1207) '41 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible Coupe by Milton Fox, on Flickr


2020 Matchbox Metal #9 (MB1207) '41 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible Coupe by Milton Fox, on Flickr

 

[pjedsel]

It seems like a lot of the newer Matchbox issues such as the '41 Cadillac seem to be closer to 1/72nd scale. Many are smaller than 1/64th. Most of the Model of Yesteryear models tend to be closer to 1/43rd scale (approximate as Matchbox never listed a scale on many of those.

 

[karl s]

Matchbox and Hot Wheels are typically 'fit the box' so many people call them 1/64 generically. Yesteryears were made for the 'collectibles' market and were to a larger scale. They are around 1/48 scale but are also 'fit the box' - they all come in the same size box, or used to... Because they were collectibles, they wanted to have more value, by using more metal and more details, at the larger scale, I assume. So they would be more like the Dinky and Corgi of that age...