Matchbox wants you to learn your A – B – C’s, by Chuck Wiersma…

A photo posted by Chuck Wiersma (@cwiersma63) on Jul 30, 2016 at 3:03pm PDT

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Within the past week, Target department stores in the U.S. have started their summer reset of the toy department. Among the new products to appear is the Matchbox Learning Blox Set (DRC47). The set includes what appears to be 26 standard 2016 Matchbox miniatures along with unique cardboard boxes matching to each vehicle in the set. The theme of the set, learning your ABC’s, is based on the English alphabet so there is one box for each of alphabet’s 26 letters. Each box is unique in design to both a specific letter of the alphabet and a specific vehicle in the set whose name or description starts with that letter. For example, the Letter A’s box depicts an “A” and an Ambulance. In this case, the ambulance is the Ford E-350 Ambulance (MB 944). Some of the letter choices do not necessarily match the specific name of the Matchbox vehicle but rather the generic type of vehicle. For instance, A for Ambulance and not A for Ford E-350 Ambulance. Unlike the Power Grabs boxes, these boxes have end flap tabs so they can be closed and opened numerous times. Each of the boxes has a unique design on each of its six sides:

• Letter of alphabet with image of vehicle
• Matchbox Learning Blox logo
• Name of vehicle
• Alphabet letter and legal trademark verbiage
• Alphabet letter and name of vehicle (end flap)
• Letter of the alphabet (end flap)

Only the boxes for the letter A, B, and C are preassembled, the remaining boxes for letters D through Z are folded flat within the set pack. The cardboard is fairly sturdy but will not last under heavy play like the old wooden or plastic alphabet blocks have in previous generations.

But what about the models?! Well, as I said, the models appear to be standard 2016 line models with 8 of the 26 models being licensed. A handful of newly released models might catch the most attention with the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Type 34 (MB 883) in light green enamel being the biggest attention grabber. Another model making its inaugural appearance is the MB 1015 Hydro Cruiser. This boat model has no wheels and sports a separate plastic piece simulating water waves. New livery models include the MB 884 Dump Dozer in blue with orange dump, the MB 962 Moto Tracker in green, the MB 937 Urban Tow Truck in blue Michael Heralda 5000 Support Team design, and the BMW Police Motorcycle in green military police livery. None of the models appear to have any significant casting changes. I will leave to others to discern any shade variances.

Here is a list of the models in alphabetic order:

• A​ – Ambulance​​​ – Ford E-350 Ambulance ​
• B​ – Boat​​​​ – Bay Brigade (boat)
• C​ – Camper​​​​ – Travel Tracker
• D​ – Dump Truck​​ – ​Dumper Dozer
• E​ – Excavator​​​ – Quarry King
• F ​ – Fire Truck​​​ – Pierce Dash Fire Engine
• G​ – Garbage Truck​​​ – Garbage Gulper
• H​ – Helicopter​​​ – Sea Hunter helicopter
• I​ – Ice Vehicle​​​ – Wing Chiller
• J​ – Jeep​​​ – ​Jeep Wrangler Superlift
• K​ – Karmann Ghia​​​ – VW Karmann Ghia Type 34 (NEW)
• L  – ​Locomotive​​ – ​Heavy Freighter
• M​ – Motorcycle​​​ – BMW Police Motorcycle (military police)
• N​ – News Van​ – ​​’14 Ford Transit News Van
• O​ – Off Road Vehicle​​ – Cliff Hanger (green army livery)
• P​ – Police Car​​​ – BMW M5 Police
• Q​ – Quad Bike​​​ – Moto Tracker
• R​ – Road Roller​​​ – Road Roller
• S​ – SWAT Truck​​ – ​S.W.A.T. Truck
• T​ – Tow Truck​​ – ​Urban Tow Truck (Michael Heralda 5000 Support Team)
• U​ – Underwater Submarine​​ – Deep Diver
• V​ – Van​​​​ – MBX Moving Van
• W​ – Water Vehicle​​ – ​Swamp Commander
• X​ – X-Ray Truck​​ – ​XCanner (x-ray truck)
• Y​ – Yacht​​​​ – Hydro Cruiser (NEW)​​
• Z​ – Zamboni​​​ – Zamboni

The set is priced at $29.99 U.S. which comes to about $1.15 per car – and that includes a unique box for each vehicle as well. The overall concept seems fairly sound, that is, for children who may have a motivation to learn through association with vehicles. I do have a tough time seeing a child learning the letter K by associating it with a Karmann Ghia Type 34 sports car. But if I know some of you fellow collectors well enough, if you got this set your child will never see that model.

Whether it is just another way to package Matchbox models or a new spin on an educational tool, I think it is cool because it brings a unique type of fun back to the models. I bought it.

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