I remember Matchbox cars and had a few. I mainly had Hot Wheels and a few off-brand toy cars. And I kept all my 1:64 cars in a carrying case with Fast 111s branding, another die-cast line by Kenner whose gimmick was tiny license plate decals on the rear of each vehicle, each with a random state and number.
But Matchbox really sticks out in my mind as the manufacturer of the die-cast Voltron toy that every kid wanted in the mid-1980s -- and only rich kids got; at $60 in 1985 or nearly $175 in today's dollars, that shit's steep. I did end up with the Panosh Place plastic Voltron. It was plastic, and the lions didn't combine in a show-accurate way to form Voltron, but I didn't care, it was Voltron.
These days, we have Transformers from Robosen that transform on their own and respond to voice commands -- so rich kids' Christmases are on a whole 'nother level now.
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