We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

Best Matchbox Cars

Find the best Matchbox cars money can buy, whether you want to start a miniature garage, or need that perfect vehicle for a special interest.

Best Matchbox cars, marketing photograph by Mattel - a red-headed child plays with diecast toy cars on a bed
Timothy Linward's Avatar

Published:

With a history going back to 1953, thousands of Matchbox cars have been created down the years. The choice is overwhelming! Whether they’re detailed copies of real vehicles, famous fictional cars from movies and TV, or original creations, there’s something for every interest.

While Matchbox cars have great play value, you should definitely check out our guide to the best Hot Wheels cars as well – where Matchbox cars tend to be realistic, Hot Wheels are wild and imaginative.

Whether you or the person you’re buying for loves race cars, big rigs, construction vehicles, or something else, there’s a Matchbox car for you. And although they’re very detailed and realistic, almost all Matchbox toys are suitable for children aged three and up.

Here are the best Matchbox cars and playsets you can buy:

Best Matchbox cars, marketing photograph by Mattel - an advent calendar, decorated to show a 'road grid' of red ribbon along which diecast toy cars are travelling

Matchbox cars Advent calendar

Best Matchbox Christmas surprise

What could be more exciting for a Matchbox collector than getting a new car or accessory every day of advent? The Matchbox cars Advent calendar contains 10 cars and 14 accessories to open up one by one, stretching out the fun all the way to Christmas.

Best Matchbox cars, marketing photograph by Mattel - nine colorful die-cast toy cars and other vehicles visible through the plastic window of a yellow packet

Matchbox 9-pack

Best for a new Matchbox collector

The Matchbox 9-pack contains nine die-cast metal cars, trucks, construction vehicles, and other toy vehicles. These packs are a great way to start off a toy collection, as they offer excellent value for money. Each pack includes one unique vehicle not found anywhere else, and eight vehicles drawn from the Matchbox range.

Matchbox releases new 9-packs several times a year, so this makes a reliable birthday gift or Christmas gift year after year.

Best Matchbox cars, marketing photograph by Mattel - 50 colorful die-cast toy cars and other vehicle

Matchbox 50-pack

A complete toy chest in one

If you want a bumper collection of toy cars and don’t want to wait, there’s no better place to start than the Matchbox 50-pack. This pack contains 50 different toys from a variety of themes, including construction, adventure, and rescue vehicles.

Best Matchbox cars, marketing photograph by Mattel - a four level toy garage with a blue elevator, tan ramps, and miniature car wash and vehicle repair area

Matchbox 4-level toy garage

The best Matchbox playset

The Matchbox 4-level toy garage is a bumper-sized playset, with features that encourage many different kinds of play. The gates, levers, and elevator are great fun for little fingers, while the whizzing ramps offer the same visual thrill as a marble run. A miniature car wash and service station encourage imaginative play.

The pack even comes with a tow-truck, ensuring kids can get started straight away – and have the perfect vehicle to tow “damaged” toys into the workshop for repairs.

Best Matchbox cars, marketing photograph by Mattel - a diescast firetruck and red paramedic ambulance in a blister-pack product package

Matchbox Convoys Mega Ton Firetruck and Ambulance

The best fire and rescue Matchbox vehicles

The Matchbox Convoys Mega Ton Firetruck and Ambulance is an impressive fire and rescue set. The fire truck is extra long, with a movable fire ladder and a huge water tank. The emergency department paramedic vehicle is painted in the same bright red as its big brother. The set is part of the Convoys range, which is a great place to look for big rigs.

Best Matchbox cars, marketing photograph by Mattel - a white and blue plastic toy police centre, beside a diecast metal Ford Interceptor police car and helicopter

Matchbox Action Drivers Police Station Dispatch Playset

The best Matchbox police car set

With lights, sounds, a Matchbox helicopter and a Matchbox Ford Interceptor, the Action Drivers Police Station Dispatch playset is a great interactive toy perfect for imaginative play. Like all the Matchbox playsets, it will clip together with Hot Wheels City sets, letting your police car roll out of the station and straight into the wicked loop-the-loops of a Hot Wheels track.

Best Matchbox cars, marketing photograph by Mattel - a chunky yellow toy dumptruck with a child's toy spade in the hopper

Matchbox Large-Scale sand truck with die-cast construction vehicles

Best for young vehicle fans

This pack bundles together two different types of toy. The large-scale Matchbox sand truck is a chunky plastic dump truck designed for outdoors play on the beach or in a sandpit, complete with a kid-sized shovel. It’s a combination of bucket and spade, and a toy for imaginative play.

Fans of construction vehicles will love the five diecast Matchbox vehicles that come packed alongside the sand truck. With a bulldozer, lever arm digger, roller, and more, the play can continue on a rainy day.

You can learn all about the history of Matchbox in this documentary by YouTube channel Little Car:

YouTube Thumbnail

For fans of construction toys, Wargamer has guides to the best Disney Lego sets, best Lego Ideas sets, best Lego Technic sets, and the best Lego sets for adults. If you want to enjoy structured play with your family, check out our guides to the best kids board games and the best couples board games.

Our newest full time staff writer, Tim Linward is a Warhammer 40k and Horus Heresy fanatic who dabbles in TTRPGs, board games and MTG. You'll often find him delving through Games Workshop's financial reports for gaming news, combing the indie wargaming scene for cool new titles, or listening to yet more Warhammer 40k books for deep 40k lore. He's also written for PCGamesN, and 'Grimdark', his book of essays about Warhammer 40k and Games Workshop, will be published by Strange Attractor Press when it finally emerges from the warp. His controversial gaming opinion is that the Age of Sigmar double turn is objectively bad - it gives a single die roll too much influence over the game state. (He/Him)