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MATCHBOX LESNEY MAZDA RX-7 MB 76A-02
(MIB – Australian Issue)

This is a Matchbox/Lesney MB 76A-02 die cast of a Mazda RX-7 car (superfast wheels variant) in Blue dating from 1980 along with its original Type L (AUSTRALIA) box.

The car is in excellent condition. It is one of only 4 hard to find models in L-Type Boxes made under license from Lesney in Hong Kong for the Australian market in 1980. A brief history follows.

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After the successful launch of series of 9 variants of UK models made in England for the Japanese market (the Black Box J1 to J9 series) in 1977, Lesney went on to license the manufacture of 4 models in Japan during 1978/1979. They were :-

· Mitsubishi Galant Eterna (the real car actually based on a US Dodge Challenger design out-sourced to Mitsubishi for manufacture in Japan from 1978) – numbered #70 or J-22

· Nissan Fairlady 280Z (known as the Datsun 280ZX in other marketplaces) – numbered #5

· Toyota Celica XX 2600 (or Toyota Celica GT in other marketplaces) - numbered #47 or J-21

· Mazda Savanna RX-7 (or just Mazda RX-7 in other marketplaces) – numbered #2

The venture was short-lived and manufacturing was switched to Hong Kong in 1980. The first models produced there were simply variants of the 4 Japanese ones above and were marketed into both Australia and the USA as :-

· Mitsubishi Galant for Australia numbered MB 79A in L-Box
Dodge Challenger for USA numbered MB 63D on Blister Card
+ “Hot Points” Limited Edition

· Datsun 280ZX for Australia numbered MB 78A in L-Box
and for USA numbered MB 24D on Blister Card
+ “Phantom Z” Limited Edition

· Toyota Celica GT for Australia numbered MB 77A in L-Box
and for USA numbered MB 25D on Blister Card
+ “Sun Burner” Limited Edition

· Mazda RX-7 for Australia numbered MB76A in L-Box
and for USA numbered MB 31D on Blister Card
+ “Boulevard Blaster” Limited Edition

The Hong Kong range was expanded to 16-models in L-Boxes in 1981 for USA only (known as the 1981 America Specials), leaving just the 4 Australian 1980 L-Box models above as the residual part of the bonafide Lesney Superfast 1-75 (pre-takeover) range with the dubious distinction of being the only ones to have numbers outside the natural 1-75 number range i.e. 76, 77, 78 & 79.

Bearing in mind the above and the limited manufacturing window the Australian models (of which there are only a small number of variants) are correspondingly much sought after, especially examples in good condition.

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The Type L (AUSTRALIA) box is in very good condition with only light handling/corner wear. The box is the type with Black “NEW” and MMR3 text on the picture faces and 5 lines of text in a rectangle on one of the side panels (this is the Hong Kong 1980 box variant and is correct for this model).

The car is in excellent condition and has the following characteristics :-

· 5SP wheels

· Clear windows

· No tempa

· Black base

· Ivory interior

· Opening doors

Model designation is 31D-b02 from :-

http://www.cfalkensteiner.com/Matchbox/Catalog/LS/LS01-39/LS31d/ChF-LS31d.htm

*Note* that Charlie Mack “Big Book of Superfast Matchbox Toys 1969 – 2004 has this as the 78A-02 variant.

I provide postage options for many countries worldwide and will combine P&P on multiple items. The following services will be used unless we prior agree to the contrary :-

· UK up to £20 GBP, Royal Mail Standard Parcel/Letter

· UK >£20 GBP, Royal Mail Signed-For

· UK High Value, Royal Mail Special Delivery

· International up to £20 GBP, Royal Mail International Economy

· International > £20 GBP, Royal Mail International Tracked

· International High Value, Royal Mail International Tracked + Added Insurance

*Note* that. International Economy services used for low value items do have long delivery timescales ranging from up to 2 weeks for Europe and up to 12 weeks for Australia. If this not acceptable then please contact me prior to payment to ask for another quicker service to be used.