The company was founded in 1947 by the un-related Leslie and Rodney Smith who combined their names to form Lesney Products Ltd. During the 50's the company developed the highly successful Matchbox 1-75 and Models of Yesterday series.After a difficult trading period the company was bought by the Universal Toy Co of Hong Kong in 1982. Ten years later this company was bought out by Tyco Toys. The toys are still marketed today under the famous Matchbox branding