One of aspects of the upcoming Matchbox Supreme Heroes line that we are most excited about, even more so than the full deco and rubber tires, is the fact that will all possess real licensed liveries. (The fact that it has been moved from an 18-model line to a 10 is another story. We will vent about that another time.)
A real livery on emergency vehicles with Matchbox is the difference between good and great. The first version of the 2012 Charger Police with a made-up livery? Good. The subsequent two versions, one the mainline with Boone County Sheriff livery, and the other a Gathering exclusive in Albuquerque Police livery? Fantastic. Now we just need that Charger in CHP livery.
You may or may not be from California, but it doesn’t matter – you will recognize the white-on-black California Highway Patrol livery. It is simple, iconic, and all over movies and tv. Its simplicity makes it one of the best police liveries as well (right next to Utah Highway Patrol’s Beehive on all-white cars). And CHP white-on-black is perfect for budget-conscious Matchbox. Paint the model black, add the side door design, don’t worry about the front and back, and done.
So we are glad Mattel has a licensing agreement with CHP. With the release of the SSP Mustang, we now have four CHP vehicles released in the last few years, with the Supreme Heroes Ford Explorer hitting stores in the next few weeks being the fifth.
(There is also the CHP Camaro released in the Premium line a few years before that, but we are focusing on the most recent Matchbox era.)
The cool thing about the four CHP cars? They all represent different decades. The Buick Century from the 50’s (albeit with an updated CHP door design), Dodge Monaco from the 70’s, the Mustang from the 90’s, and the Crown Vic from the 00’s. We just need something from the 60’s, 80’s, and the Explorer can represent the teens.
We think the CHP cars merit a Cool is Cool post, so we put them all together, and took some shots. (And how cool do they look in the TLV Transporter?)
For good measure, the Dodge Charger in “almost” CHP livery:
Excellent post, and great pictures, John! Keep them coming!
Regarding the 2012 Charger in a CHP livery, while a great idea, it isn't totally realistic, as the CHP chose not to use the Charger as their replacement for the Crown Victoria (opting for the PI Utility instead). Personally, I think that Matchbox should bring back the sixth generation Charger casting and add CHP markings to it, as it would make a highly realistic model.
I love these unless they're the real thing in my rear view mirror
Hi, where did you get the figure? it's a bit hard to find 1/64 scale figures
It'd be cool if they packaged these cars as a 5 pack set or something like that!
You can find them on eBay and some of those Tomico sets come with figures
How much are these going to be at retail?
If you guys know about policecarmodels.com you better reserve a good amount of cash.
Their next GL models are to be California Highway Patrol Ford Explorer Interceptors (both in the B&W livery and the all-white livery.)
The lineup also includes Green Machines and Super Green Machines (which have unpainted bodies.)
You'd better act fast because they will be limited production models.
Production numbers:
B&W:
Regular 1680 ($11.00)
Green Machine 48 ($49.99)
Super Green Machine 12 ($199.00)
White:
Regular 816
Green Machine 48
Super Green Machine 12
These models are available for PRE ORDER now on the policecarmodels.com site, and are expected in October. Prices for the white ones are the same as the B&W models.
There is also a 2-pack of 1 B&W Explorer and a white one at $20.00. The possibility of either one being a Green Machine or Super Green Machine is there.