Vintage Matco Tool Box
- Thread starter scregan
- Start date
txvwnut
Well-known member
Should be all friction sliders and made from the late 70’s till the late 80’s or early 90’s. Those are some well built boxes, one of the guys at the day job has the same stack with the center box and it has held up well for a 30+ year old box.
Lookin4'67Galaxieconv
Well-known member
I'd be all over it if I needed one and it's $750 or less.
senlow
Well-known member
1979 to early '80s. They changed to extruded aluminum handles in the mid '80s. It's a high quality box. It has friction slides.
Matco has always made their own toolboxes. They were originally the box manufacturing part of Mac Tools. They broke away from Mac in 1979 to compete directly with Mac, Snap-on and Cornwell.
I really like the Matco manufactured boxes from this era. I have six of them.
Matco has always made their own toolboxes. They were originally the box manufacturing part of Mac Tools. They broke away from Mac in 1979 to compete directly with Mac, Snap-on and Cornwell.
I really like the Matco manufactured boxes from this era. I have six of them.
I started this thread about early Matco.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=475655
I dont know which member, but he had original Remline brochures that showed Remline as the manufacturer of these style with the script handles.
I have also read they were originally a toolbox supplier, but was thinking maybe when the company split off in 1979 they contracted with Remline as well as built the built the Jamestown plant?
We had a list going in that other thread about which companies these were made for with the cool handles.
I think it included MAC, Matco, Remline, Proto, Williams, and Cornwell.
I remember now, paging SK Farmer....
I think it included MAC, Matco, Remline, Proto, Williams, and Cornwell.
I remember now, paging SK Farmer....
Last edited:
Lookin4'67Galaxieconv
Well-known member
I have a very similar Matco box but it's one piece. It has friction slides but it is a solid high quality box in my opinion. I bought it loaded with tools for $600 so I can't speak for true value as I got it for a steal. It is my 5 year old son's first box.
elidas
Well-known member
outofbounds
Well-known member
That stack is a peach! That said, like any other similar vintage box on FB or Craigslist in this area, they tend to sit around till they dip under $400. The bonus on that one I reckon is the width.
jabberwoki
Well-known member
Armstrong and Wright had those cool handles also.
senlow
Well-known member
Hmmm, I suppose that it's quite possible that Matco contracted out some of their boxes. They had just broken away from Mac and had to supply boxes under their own name and also Mac. I was a Matco customer for just a couple of years, 1980 and 1981. The dealer was very proud of the "fact" that Matco had just broken away from Mac and were still the box supplier to Mac. Assuming that is true, Matco may have needed to temporarily add capacity by contracting out some manufacturing. Does anyone have any more information on this?
Just for fun, I attached a pic of my old receipts from that era.
Attachments
Alienbaby17
Well-known member
Hey Scott, funny to run into you here. ��
I’m really more of a Snap-on guy but I am fairly knowledgeable on vintage tool boxes in general and our market for them. In the last few years I’ve bought and sold somewhere between 10-20 older tool boxes. (Believe it or not there does seem to be a significant variation in pricing regionally).
I’ll give you a few of my thoughts.
Are you looking specifically for a vintage box or is this just a nice quality box you came across that happens to be older?
I’ll bet it’s a very nice box with plenty of storage for a home hobbyist. One thing I notice is that it doesn’t seem to have a lot of deep storage drawers which you might consider if you have a lot of bigger tools to store.
Modern roller bearing drawers are nice to have but not necessary, especially if you aren’t really loading the drawers down.
In our market I’d expect a box like this to list in the $600-800 range. It’s older, which brings the price down some. Most techs would not want friction slides, and also it’s tall, single bank layout isn’t one that I see most techs embracing anymore, so I don’t imagine it getting a lot of interest. One nice thing is that I don’t think it’s going to depreciate any lower than it will probably sell for at this time. I know you’ll keep it in good condition so I think when you go to sell it you should be able to get back what you pay for it.
I’d be happy to get this box in the $300-400 range but I’d think $500-600 is definitely a fair price.
Jay
I’m really more of a Snap-on guy but I am fairly knowledgeable on vintage tool boxes in general and our market for them. In the last few years I’ve bought and sold somewhere between 10-20 older tool boxes. (Believe it or not there does seem to be a significant variation in pricing regionally).
I’ll give you a few of my thoughts.
Are you looking specifically for a vintage box or is this just a nice quality box you came across that happens to be older?
I’ll bet it’s a very nice box with plenty of storage for a home hobbyist. One thing I notice is that it doesn’t seem to have a lot of deep storage drawers which you might consider if you have a lot of bigger tools to store.
Modern roller bearing drawers are nice to have but not necessary, especially if you aren’t really loading the drawers down.
In our market I’d expect a box like this to list in the $600-800 range. It’s older, which brings the price down some. Most techs would not want friction slides, and also it’s tall, single bank layout isn’t one that I see most techs embracing anymore, so I don’t imagine it getting a lot of interest. One nice thing is that I don’t think it’s going to depreciate any lower than it will probably sell for at this time. I know you’ll keep it in good condition so I think when you go to sell it you should be able to get back what you pay for it.
I’d be happy to get this box in the $300-400 range but I’d think $500-600 is definitely a fair price.
Jay
WNYflyer
Well-known member
Sounds like a very fair price. Congratulations on the new box. I like those older boxes for regular home use especially at the usual price points.
Lookin4'67Galaxieconv
Well-known member
Congrats!
ooba tooba
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2014
- Messages
- 744
So here's a Remline badged one. Looks like the drawer slides dont use clips like every MAC, Matco, etc version of these I can remember seeing.
I wonder if Remline and the division of MAC that spun off into Matco, were making very similar boxes at the same time?
Has anyone got a non-Remline badged one that doesn't use the clips?
I wonder if Remline and the division of MAC that spun off into Matco, were making very similar boxes at the same time?
Has anyone got a non-Remline badged one that doesn't use the clips?
Attachments
just my .02 on the subject.
the boxes with the flat front like the rem line posted above were more than likely made by rem line. some of the boxes posted earlier, i am not so sure. if you look closely at the pics, rather than having a completely flat front where the drawers fully extend to the front of the cabinet. several of the early pics show the box corners as having a rib that juts out farther than the drawer fronts.
i would also bet that the box above is in the 26 inch wide class as most remline boxes in that style were. the 26 inc boxes had the narrow looped handle and full depth drawers. wider boxes had the full depth drawers but had a full width drawer pull. at least according to the info i have.
i guess to wrap it up, those boxes posted earlier with the slightly jutted corners could have been made by rem line as they have the same drawer pulls and look similar, i wouldn't bet a lot on it. they are somewhat different than the 26 inch boxes and much different than the wider ones.
Bryanwhite78
New member
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2022
- Messages
- 1
