This web site is for collectors of matchbox labels and associated material. It has no connection with matchbox model cars or any die cast models.
The site has been designed to accommodate the latest browsers and computer systems.   However, it is fully compatible to many earlier
 versions.  Ideally, a screen resolution of 1280 x 1024 or greater should be used but resolutions down to 1024 x 768 can be
 accommodated but, usually with a lesser degree of sharpness and a likelihood of both vertical & horizontal scrolling.
 Click the browser back arrow at top left to go back - Do not click the red/black cross on the right unless you wish to exit the web site completely

Web Browsers

And Their Uses

When using a Windows based computer during the formative years of computer technology, you invariably also used the Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser as that was the browser that came with the operating system.  However, with free market forces came a plethora of alternative browsers and which browser you use is dependent on what you feel comfortable with and what suits you best for your particular needs.

Being slightly ‘Old School’, this web site and my others are all designed to run within Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, 7 and the new Explorer 8, albeit I have tested the site on numerous other browsers with no problems (except as stated below) being experienced.

A number of these alternative browsers require the user to grant the use of Java Script and Active X Controls before they can run within the browser.  Regretfully however, some of the browsers do not allow Java Script or Active X Controls to function in them.  Therefore, this web site and many others that use these programmes will not display correctly in those browsers.

Fortunately, the vast majority of browsers in use today are known as ‘Standalone’.  That is to say that users can install various browsers onto a single computer and all can run simultaneously and independently of each other without any programming conflict.

Therefore, if you experience problems viewing these web pages, especially the Main Navigation Bar on the left, then you are advised to select an alternative browser to view this and similar sites.

Displaying of Pages Within the Web Site

It may seem a little simplistic to describe how the pages are displayed within the web site.  However, there are a number of different ways that pages can be loaded and also how those same pages can either be closed or unloaded.  How you approach closing or unloading the pages is very important.  With the introduction of Internet Explorer as a tabbed browser, it now functions in a similar vein to Netscape, Maxthon & Avant.    A fuller explanation regarding the loading and unloading of pages is given below.

All pages on this and any of my other web sites behave in a similar fashion.   There is a transition delay between clicking on the relevant menu and the loading of the new page into the layout page of the browser. The same transition delay applies to the pages when the browser back button is clicked. However, please note that the transition delay does not apply to any of the following:

• Pages that are physically closed by clicking on the red/black/white cross in the browser top toolbars.
   
• Links on any page that takes you to a different web site or to one of my other external web site addresses.
   
• Pages that are opened in a new browser window which are on top of the sites main layout page. This also applies to the closing of the same pages.
   
• The transition effects were designed for Internet Explorer and therefore, you may find that transition effects don’t apply to non-IE browsers.

So, depending on what area, page or link you have accessed depends on the transition behaviour of the pages within it. Sounds complicated but in truth is very simple.

Using Avant, Maxthon & Netscape Browsers

Whilst Microsoft Internet Explorer was a single tab browser, the Avant, Maxthon & Netscape (AOL) browsers as tabbed browsers were in many ways far easier to use and more successful in application.  However, now that Microsoft Internet Explorer is also a tabbed browser, using any other browsers has to be simply a question of personal choice.

In principal, all the browsers operate in similar ways, excepting that the Netscape Browser is heavy in repeating graphics and can be a bit of a nightmare to negotiate.  Notwithstanding all of that, providing that the browser the user selects supports  Java Script and Active X Controls  any one should be suitable to display my web pages.

Production History:
Original Page Prepared 17th October 2002
Updated 2nd November 2005 & 3rd February 2008

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