The second of several Matchbox previews I have coming, the time some – not all – of the models from Mix H, which should hit in the next 2-3 months.
There is a lot of good stuff here, but getting a $1 Flatbed is a major highlight. Check it out.
Photos coming soon, starting with the Flatbed.
‘Wait… No it doesn’t. …Yes it does.’ Very excited about the flatbed. It would be one thing if it was just for looks, but it works with other Matchbox cars of various sizes and pulls back into a ramp. Ingenious! As a bonus, it had cool metallic blue rims.
The rest of the stuff kind of melted together for me, except the BMW Fire car. Wow is that cool. One neat thing about Matchbox is that they do world cars, particularly from Europe and Asia, in addition to American classics. And not just vehicle brands and models from other countries but they also use decoration styles from over seas for variety. One of my absolute favorites in this vein is Battenberg pattern—the large checks you see on Euro emergency vehicles, particularly in England. This is an ingenious human factors invention to help make vehicles highly visible. If the checks are too small, they actually obscure the vehicle and make it hard to judge its shape. But if placed correctly and made large and with contrasting color, usually neon lemon and some darker color like blue (police) or red (fire), it is highly effective. Matchbox has done several interpretations of Battenberg and I’m glad to see it again in a fire scheme. The Fire eriF hood is pretty great as well. Fun fact: The term Battenberg comes from a type of cake with that pattern when cut and was applied to the pattern when used on vehicles.
Nice range to come. The flat bed truck looks good. Just plain and no stupid colours. Can anybody at all tell me why uk hasn’t received any 2018 stock. Is Mattel not stocking uk anymore? I’ve looked at other websites and not many answers. Is there any fellow collectors who would know? I’ve contacted Mattel uk and No feedback. ..65 years…. 50 years hotwheels. We’ve got plenty of them everywhere in special packaging .. ironic hmm….. Many thanks.
I share your frustrations as the Matchbox situation at ASDA, technically the only official stockists in the entire UK, seems to be getting worse and not better!
We have literally only just received stock of Case M from last year!! I think we will see 2018 stuff but very very late and probably with several batches skipped as in 2016 and 2017!
Some very tasty stuff but very frustrating for UK collectors knowing they are out of our reach!! 🙁
The flatbed truck is a great new model! Matchbox needed a new truck in the lineup and they did this very nicely. The movable rear bed is a cool bonus too! This is the sort of generics I don’t mind seeing at all. The Tesla, Fairlane and Porsche are nice as well. Love the white with gold wheels on the Cayman.
But the model that really has my attention is the M5. It was my favourite new model from 2015 because it’s 1) an M5 and 2) it’s an actual police car in UK and Germany. It looks good in the Fire deco but I wish they used the 10 spoke wheels instead. Overall, it’s looking good for Matchbox. Now, if only they brought them back to India again.
Blackwind, that’s strange, about a year ago a budget shop, home bargains in the UK. They stocked long card matchbox with Indian address stickers on the back. We got your stock for just a small while. And thanks Craig tetlow, how sad is it that the main company Mattel uk can’t even be bothered to reply to loyal customers or putting uk straight. No pride in the product i say. I’m a Norfolk boy and no case m here as of yet. Lots of pegwarmers tho.
@AMC That’s very strange to hear indeed. Matchbox has been absent in India since 2013. Whatever models I got was through friends in US. It’s really sad that a brand I genuinely loved and collected is having these problems. And whatever places that do get Matchbox, the distribution there SUCKS. Mattel should really be taking notes here and making amends. However, the latest Jurassic World set (with the new Mercedes G-class) has somehow landed in India since a few weeks (still don’t know how and for what reason) but I’m hopeful other sets as well as mainlines will follow.
Funnily enough I’ve just spent the Easter weekend in Norfolk where surprisingly I found the full set of the new Matchbox Jurassic World series in a Toymaster store of all places! Will be interesting to see whether they ever appear at ASDA!!
I’m so glad they made the rear deck extendable on the flatbed truck!! I can very easily imagine Matchbox doing this great model and having it end up being too small to fit anything but the Meter Made, so it’s a pleasant surprise to see that they compensated for that. All of these models are exciting though…the Cayman looks sensational in this color scheme, and I will never turn down a new release of either the Tesla or the M5.
Seeing how difficult it is for our friends overseas to acquire Matchbox product kind of puts things in perspective, but I do still have doubts about getting my hands on these, even living in the US.
Craig tetlow, hope you had a pleasant stay. The weather wasn’t too clever tho! Thanks for update. Blackwind, strange these batches were 2015. A shipping container must a done a 6000mile miss off your shores of India! Homebargains shop isn’t Mattel sourced. However all the best and happy hunting. Many thanks
Hahahaha, that’s a very long way off indeed. I wonder how they missed our shores. Jokes aside, I can only hope the situation improves soon, and India starts getting Matchbox again. Because some of the new models are too hard to miss.
It makes me question whether UK stock is in Russia or Fiji or somewhere! I hope distribution for all nations improve and some high ranker [w) at Mattel is taking note. Hope you get everything you want blackwind, it must cost you a fortune. Best of luck pal.
I don’t think the distribution problem in the UK will be fixed any time soon, diecast stock appears to be lessening in stores here every week. Not only are new “MATCHBOX” models very scarce but trying to collect the good stuff in the Hot Wheels mainline is also becoming very difficult. Batches being missed, stores just putting a handful of models out instead of in the blue bins or on pegs. Sainsburys has completely pushed back on selling singles. So too Wilko. The Entertainer and Toy Master a waste of time too.
Matchbox in my opinion make much better and more realistic looking models than Hot Wheels, but like the other UK dwellers we’ll have to wait a long time before or if we ever see these over here. As a Porsche completist I’m looking forward to the Cayman, but how about them doing some new 911s or Macans ?