Jack Odell OBE 1920 – 2007
Co-Founder of Matchbox and Lledo Die-cast Toys
John 'Jack' Odell died on 7th July 2007 aged 87. He will be remembered for Matchbox and Lledo die cast Toys.
When Suite 101 met Jack Odell before his death we talked about his life and how he changed the world of die-cast toys.
Jack Odell was born in March 1920 in east London. His family was not well-off and Jack left school at the age of 13 with no formal training. He tried various jobs – van driver, cinema projectionist and he even worked in an estate agent's office. He never stayed more than a couple of months in any one job.
He spent much of the war in the Middle East serving with the British Army during which time he became known as a superb engineer.
In January 1947 Leslie Smith, one of Jack's childhood friends, started a die-cast engineering business with Rodney Smith (not related). The company, called Lesney – 'Les' from Leslie's name and 'ney' from Rodney's name, was established in a dilapidated public house in Tottenham called The Rifleman, long since demolished. At first they made bits and pieces, small parts for industrial use.
At the same time Jack, who had purchased a number of die-casting machines, was looking for suitable premises. The Smiths invited him to join them and he contributed towards their rent for The Rifleman.
The Post-War Future of British Toys
In the years immediately after the war the production of die-cast toys was severely limited by government restrictions on the use of zinc. Zinc was needed for the rearmament requirements of the Korean War that had just started. Rodney left the company at this time because he saw no future in it – probably the worst mistake he ever made!
With the ending of zinc restrictions in 1952 Jack and Leslie launched the Matchbox range. They had already struck the moulds for a toy state coach in 1950 but production was prevented by the zinc restrictions. In 1952 production went ahead in readiness for the forthcoming Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
The coach was barely one inch long and drawn by eight miniscule horses. It sold for 2s 11d (just under 15p). In no time at all sales rocketed to over one million. The toys were marketed in little boxes resembling matchboxes.
Unexplored Market
The future of British toys was to enter a whole new phase: here was a completely unexplored market. Larger premises were sought and production soared.
By 1965 cars, cement mixers, dumper trucks, lorries and steam rollers rolled off the production line. Jack's company had become Europe's fourth largest toy manufacturer and he was a millionaire. The company produced nearly thirteen million toys per year in its fourteen factories, to be enjoyed by children all over the world. Apparently, sales in America reached more than eight million models per month. At the height of Lesney's success in 1969 Jack was awarded the OBE in recognition of his work.
There was a lot of competition in the toy market. The American company Mattel produced faster cars that outran the Matchbox range. By 1970 things looked bad for Lesney and they closed four of the fourteen factories. They struggled on until 1982 when Lesney went out of business.
Jack bought the machine room tools and established his own die-cast toy company – Lledo – Odell backwards. The Lledo range included heritage models made for Coca Cola and Hersheys and many other well-known names. Jack sold his highly successful company in 1996.
Highly Collectable
The miniature vehicles produced by both Matchbox and Lledo remain highly collectable. Some of the models from the early series raise thousands of pounds at auction and keen collectors will travel the length and breadth of the UK in order to acquire rare models for their collections.
