The rarest Matchbox of the Mattel Era, Part 13: 2012 Chevy Silverado 4×4 National Parks 10-pack exclusive…

Yes, Part 13.

Don’t go scrolling down looking for the other 12 features.  You will have a hard time finding them, especially considering I started this series back when I started the Blog.  I can provide this link though…

There are plenty of rare Matchbox models that are variations, but I hope to showcase the most interesting or most desired here.  With models like the Chilean Mini, “White ADLAR Scraper”, and others, I think I have accomplished that.  I think this one fits nicely into the same category.

I hardly ever collect by series, meaning I usually select the models I like instead of buying a whole series just to have it complete.  But there are exceptions, like the Hot Wheels Walmart Zamacs, and the Matchbox National Parks vehicles.

Those series are different.  The Zamacs are Walmart exclusives, released in threes every other batch throughout the year (starting with Batch E).  The National Parks vehicles from Matchbox are actually not part of a series at all.  Just a livery theme created that appears one a couple of models each year.  They can show up anywhere.  Mainline, 5-packs, 10-packs, etc.  And they have been appearing randomly for several years now.  The latest National Parks release was the International Scout Gift-Pack exclusive in 2015, and the Matchbox Team has told us more are coming.

I have always liked this livery since I first saw it on a mainline Chevy Tahoe a few years ago (2007 maybe?), and have collected every model with that livery since.  The livery is always clean, and very similar to what you see in National Parks in the US.  Some model choices have been great, like the International Brush Truck and Land Rover Discovery, others not so much (Off-Road Rider?).  But if the model is sporting the National Parks livery, it is an automatic addition to the collection.

All have been relatively easy to get, you just might have to pay a little more to get the 10-pack or 5-pack models.  But ultimately most could be acquired by going to your local store.

Except one.

On rare occasions, certain models or batches end up being hard to get.  Sometimes final batches of certain lines are cancelled by stores, and those models end up at certain specialty stores in certain parts of the world, making them hard to get for most collectors.  There are several Hot Wheels lines that saw this happen, like the ROADRCR batch of Hot Wheels Racing, and we have talked about it many times here.  Other times it is hard to figure out why something is released in some areas and not in others.

That is the case with the 2012 Matchbox Chevy Silverado 10-pack exclusive.  Matchbox 10-packs typically contain 9 models from 5-packs and mainline, along with one exclusive.  In 2012, one of the exclusives was the Chevy Silverado 4×4 in National Parks livery.  A nice choice, although the non-4×4 version would have been more realistic, and because of the livery, it was a definite must-have for me.

The 10-packs started appearing in Canada, and I assumed it was a matter of weeks until they started appearing in the US.  That seems typical, so I waited to pick up my pack.

Only they never showed up.

You have to give things time.  After a couple of months you cannot assume that a line is not appearing.  After a year?  You definitely can.  That was the case with the Silverado 10-pack.  It never appeared in the US.  Anywhere.  Matchbox gift packs come in 10 in non-US markets, and in 9 in the US.  Never did a Silverado 9-pack appear.  Only the 10-pack, and only in Canada.

Now I know this little dilemma for this poor US collector, where 99% of the product appears, merits a tiny violin.  I understand that so many of you deal with this problem in your market everyday.  I can’t imagine how frustrating it is, I really hope things improve.

But if one is determined, they can get what they want from another market.  That was barely the case with the Silverado.  It appeared in Canada for a couple of months, and then vanished.  After realizing the Silverado was in very limited release, I started inquiring with some fellow Canadian collectors.  One knew of a pack buried at a store, and was very cool to get it for me.

I have no idea why this one was so limited, but it is a bummer that this one ended up so hard to find.  I know a lot of collectors that like this livery, and enjoy collecting them, so it is annoying that one is so hard to find.  I check eBay occasionally, to no avail.  This one is sadly super limited.

So it takes its place among the Rare Matchbox of the Mattel Era.  It’s a select group…