How is this for cool?
Toy Fair 2016 was held in New York City on February 13 through 16. Several diecast brands were there, showcasing to retailers what is coming, and we were fortunate enough to have someone there to recap the festivities. Our old friend Tim Pagano headed over, checked out the displays, jotted down some info, and took some pics. Throughout the day we will be posting his reports and photos.
On to another brand we haven’t featured on Lamley before, but that will soon change. Here is Tim’s report on M2:
- M2 is continuing many of their popular lines into 2016. Currently out are Autothentics/Autotruck Release 34, Volkswagen 3, Detroit Muscle 32, Autohauler 17A, 17B, and 18.
- Drivers 35, Ground Pounders 14, Autowheels 3, and Model-Kit 6. Autohauler Release 18 will be a special Foose edition. Six raw (no paint) versions of the Foose Autohaulers have been randomly sent out with the current shipments to the distributers.
- Drivers 35 is an all black special edition with a frozen black pearl finish.
- Detroit Muscle 31, which is an all pink edition, is still currently available.
- Autowheels is a relatively new release that features interchangeable wheels.
- Model-Kit is also a relatively new release and is 1:64 or 1:24 scale model kits.
- Wild Cards are more highly decorated with custom detailing. The most recent Wild Cards out are a ’55 Chevy Bel Air with flames and pinstripping (Release 10) and a 1958 GMC Carrier and 1959 Apache Fleetline, both black with flames (Release 11).
- Autolift features two vehicles, one on a lift above the other. Due out soon is Autolift 14 which will feature three different two vehicle combinations, 1949 Studebaker 2R Truck, 1969 Ford F-100 Ranger Truck, and 1965 Ford Falcon Club Wagon.
- Another upcoming release by M2 is the Van GO. The Van GO is a customized van created Coby Gewertz. The M2 version of the Van GO will only be available through his magazine or hobby dealers.
- The Toy Fair car that M2 produced this year is a 1957 Chevy Bel Air Stretch-Rod. This Toy Fair release is limited to 492 cars, with 108 chase pieces. The Toy Fair regular car and chase car photos and Esheet for the Van GO release as well as photos of the other M2 series discussed above are provided below:
No interest in M2 for me.
M2 has such a fantastic array of subject matter, only let down all too often by a lack of quality. Some are really worth seeking out, but beware – they are sometimes fragile and in many cases, poorly assembled. I hope they can get past this.
As an adult collector with model building background, the minor fit and finish has never bothered me, careful dis-assembly and re-assembly yeilds a pretty good result. But, given the competitions much better QC, they need to step it up!
Some good stuff in here. Have a couple of the black auto-drivers, they are fantastic, impossibly matte.
There is some fun looking stuff here.
Mostly it is a snooze fest though. Same castings over and over.
Yay! Johnny is back!!
Hold up tho'.
$5.97 for a blistered car? That is beyond Auto World territory which quite frankly are better looking and more highly designed.
It is actually higher than the M2 premium lines. Only 10 cents…but still!
M2 is better designed and comes with a plastic display case for that kind of money.
To get a similarly packed M2 car that matches the Johnny Lightning, the M2 is 2 bucks cheaper.
….oh. yay. Johnny is back. 🙁
I have just downloaded iStripper, so I can watch the sexiest virtual strippers on my taskbar.