Matchbox Live N Learn / My First Matchbox

 

The Live 'n Learn / My First Matchbox (MFM) series of vehicles were designed to appeal to younger children and bolster the Matchbox pre-school range of toys.

The first Pre-Productions were assembled in 1989 , two of which are pictured below :-

Pre-Pro VW Ambulance Pre-Pro Volvo Truck

A third Pre-Pro was made , a Ford Transit van with a Teddy bear and cakes tampo.

None of these designs actually made it into production , it was thought brightly coloured vehicles (including the wheels) was the way to go.

The first production models were made in Macau , although with manufacuring about to move to factories in China and Thailand these first MACAU based models are very hard to find now.

The items pictured below were all made in MACAU.

Early Macau 3 Pack Early Macau 3 Pack
TESCO 3 Pack TESCO 3 Pack

 

Note the first 3 packs produced (designated LL-113) were marketed as "My First Playset" but the name was quickly changed to the universal "My First Matchbox".

When production moved to China and Thailand the first variations began to appear,

One of the main changes was to the MB43 Steam loco which underwent a complete redesign , a few of the yellow Steam Locos appeared in the last Macau sets , see the 3 pack above.

First Issue Steam loco

Second Issue Steam loco

Other changes were more subtle and mainly affected the wheels , although the MB18 Fire Engine went from a chrome to blue base.

First issue Fire Engine Second issue Fire Engine

Continued on the next page ...........................

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