Matchbox Sky Busters
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Matchbox Sky Busters are a brand of model aircraft produced by Lesney toys under the Matchbox brand, and later by Mattel.
The earlier Sky Busters were produced in 1973 from London, England. During the 1970s, Skybusters competed against Dyna-Flytes, produced by San Diego based Zee Toys.
Skybusters combined military and commercial aircraft models at their earlier stage. The United States Air Force, Air France, Federal Express, Lufthansa and QX Express were among the first brands to advertise with Skybusters. Some of the first Skybusters released were Learjet, Airbus A300, Boeing 747 and Corsair AD7 airplanes.
In 1976, the Skybusters line returned, at a time when the die cast airplanes market was largely dominated by Dyna-Flytes. The brand kept coming on and off the market until the 2000s, when Mattel decided to release the models each year. Currently, American Airlines, UPS, British Airways, Continental Airlines and DHL are the only airline companies under contract with Skybusters, but jetliners are also released under fake airline names, such as Matchbox Airlines.
[edit] Skybusters production line
- 1973
- Airbus A300B
- Air France, Lufthansa
- Alpha jet
- Boeing 747
- Aer Lingus
- British Airways
- British Caledonian
- Cathay Pacific
- KLM
- Lufthansa
- Olympic Airways
- Pan Am
- Saudia
- Singapore Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic Airways (1988)
- Cessna 210
- Generic, white and orange
- DHL
- Cessna 402
- Generic, green and orange
- Generic, beige, blue and brown
- Generic, green and white
- Generic, blue and yellow
- DHL
- Corsair AD7
- Generic, green and white
- Generic, blue and white
- United States Air Force
- McDonell Douglas DC-10
- Airbus A300B
-
-
- Aeromexico (1988)
- American Airlines
- Continental Airlines
- KLM
- Sabena
- Swissair
- Thai Airways
- United Airlines
- Junkers 87 B
- Learjet
- Generic, yellow and white
- Generic, white
- Datapost
- DHL (2000s)
- Federal Express
- QX Express
- United States Air Force
- MIG MIG-21
- Various generic types and colors
- United States Air Force
- Mirage F1
- Various generic types and colors
- French Air Force
- United States Marines
- Skyhawk A4-F
- United States Marines
- Spitfire
- Generic, beige and brown
- Generic, gold and green
- Starfighter F104
-
- 1975
- Corsair F4U
- Phantom F4E
- Various generic types, colors
- United States Marines
- United States Navy
- Royal Navy
- 1976
- Wild Wind
- 1977
- Helicopter
- Air Aid
- Police
- Rescue
- RAF rescue
- Shell Oil
- United States Army
- Lightning
- Generic
- Piper Comanche
- Various generic types, colors
- XP
- Ram Rod
- Generic
- Helicopter
- 1978
- Tornado
- Various generic types, colors
- Flight System
- Luftwaffe
- Rescue Helicopter
- Royal Air Force
- Tornado
- 1979
- Concorde
- Air France
- British Airways
- Supersonic Airlines (fictional)
- Heinz 57, a promotional issue for ketchup company, Heinz
- F-16
- Various generic types, colors
- Israeli Defense Force
- United States Air Force
- Concorde
- 1980
- Space Shuttle
- Pitts Special
- Generic, white
- Matchbox
- Virgin Atlantic Airways (1988)
- 1981
- Cessna Float plane
- Various generic types, colors
- James Bond
- National Park Service
- Harrier jet
- Various generic types, colors
- Royal Air Force
- Royal Navy
- Cessna Float plane
- 1983
- Airbus A300
- Air Malta
- Alitalia
- Federal Express (in the 1990s, as Fed Ex)
- Iberia
- Korean Air
- Lufthansa
- Swissair
- Airbus A300
- 1990
- Bell Jet Ranger helicopter
- Generic, white
- Boeing 747
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt
- Various generic types, colors
- United States Air Force
- Grumman F-14 (tomcat)
- Various generic types, colors
- United States Air Force
- United States Navy
- Lockheed C-130 Hercules
- Lockheed F117A
- Generic, black
- United States Air Force
- MIL M-24 Hind-D helicopter
- Various generic types, colors
- Russian Air Force
- SR-71
- Generic, black and red
- NASA
- United States Air Force
- Bell Jet Ranger helicopter
- 1992
- BAe 146
- Continental Airlines
- Dan Air
- Thai Airways
- Boeing 737
- Boeing Stearman
- Australian National Airlines
- Crunchie
- Ditec
- Hawk T MK1
- Royal Air Force
- BAe 146
- 1997
- Boeing 777
- Generic, not painted
- American Airlines
- Boeing house colors
- Boeing 777
- 2000
- Cessna Citation
- MD-90
- Matchbox Worldwide (fictional)
- 2004
- Boeing 777
- Continental Airlines
- Boeing 777
- 2006
- Helicopter
- Canyon Tours Services (fictional)
- Helicopter