Dirk Schleuer’s latest report is up, even with a few April shenanigans. And in what is not an April Fool’s joke, the Matchbox team answered a few questions. Keep in mind these answers come from various members of the team, so see if you can figure out which answer comes from our good friend, and Matchbox Instagram proprietor Gerry. (Hint: it involves gifts.)
You can find the report here:
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Little saddening to know Matchbox isn't considering to sell in India. We Indian collectors are eagerly awaiting for the latest offerings of Matchbox and do wish for it to come back in India. Hope this changes and India is given some consideration:)
MBX is returning some production back to Lesney or all? Will the Lesney factory entail higher quality castings, mainline vehicles, or both?
Good news nonetheless, but will this affect the bottom line retail price if they produce mainline vehicles?
Maybe we'll see Best of British again and other high end favorites!
Lots of “no idea” answers, it beggars belief that the company that makes the things do not know what is going on with them, MBX have cut their own throats, demanding that anyone that wants to sell them, have GOT to buy £5000 of product a year, so it is no surprise that all the thousands of small toy shops do not bother with them, and Now that Majorette are appearing in Tesco, i have noticed that HW's seems to have stopped selling and Majorette are restocking nearly daily, which is great news, Working suspension, realistic liveries, opening parts a poster with EVERY model, all for £2.00, thats where my money has gone.
Most companies that come up with some of those answers would find that they get replaced swiftly, it is totally pointless getting New brands on board if you can not buy that things in the first place, my collection of nearly 6,000 diecast was initially all Matchbox, now i rarely get them, very very rarely, and you know, i am not really bothered by it either anymore, after all, if they can not be bothered why should the customer.
are you serious – it was an April fools joke, they are NOT returning production to the UK, they dont care about the UK so expect production to remain in teh far flung corners of the world.
The problem is not Matchbox, it's Mattel corporate. Remember, they bought Matchbox (in the Tyco Toys purchase in 1996). Hot Wheels is an in-house creation, so it gets the most attention. It's essentially the same treatment given to Corgi when Mattel bought it 1988. Corgi management team bought it back in 1994. Matchbox was almost a goner when the Hero City theme ran from 2002-2004. Since 2004, when John Coyne/Felix Holst & company was in charge, each Matchbox team fought hard to keep the brand relevant. It's hard to do this when dealing with a bunch of bean-counters who favor Hot Wheels over anything else – just ask Corgi. I've been collecting since 1973 and follow the development of most of the brands as much as possible, and write to the companies every chance I get. If you are concerned about Matchbox then write to them. don't even bother with the Netherlands address – write the Mattel address on back of the package.
don't hold your breathe
I think you sum it up wondefully – Mattel is interested only HW – MB is too valuable a name to get rid of….therefore they keep it on life support.
OOOPS, my bad (Amwerican slang)! I did not entirely read the whole deal.. just bits and pieces.. I take it you're from the UK. I see a little SARCASM against MBX. We're lucky here in the US to get MBX singles packs back into Target retail stores! We have issues trying to get LICENSED vehicles up on the pegs and there aren't many my friend. But I bet you will have plenty of make believe models left behind, holding up valuable real estate for new stock to take it's place. I feel your pain mate!
No chance of any hypercar. None.
“Is there any chance Matchbox can make a hypercar again? You know, the
really high-end supercars that Hot Wheels keep doing”
No.
I hate you, Matchbox.