We are headed straight into 2019 with Matchbox now, but there are still some 2018 models to look for, including the last of the four Matchbox Sapphire Gems celebrating their 65th Anniversary.
Matchbox sent a case with the Sapphire Raptor in it. Here is what to look for:
And yet more models that will never come to the UK
Still awaiting for A B C F H J K L M….great this 65th !!! Good old ASDA. And also mattels overlooking of the ROW in this occasion… Case FA comes to us. Mattel could have used this as a promo to all the world…….
Haven’t seen one Sapphire single yet! As much as I frequent Wally world & Target, you’d think I find at least one.. and I think it has to do with the sluggish distribution or how those stores are just late to the party.
I will admit, I found two of the MBX Coffee Cruisers 5 packs w/the Jag Gem and i’ve seen a just a couple more, but I think the stores here in the Mid Atlantic are a long way behind.
Matter of fact, I visited a local WM and found a dump bin full of HW’s 100 Years of Chevrolet Trucks line!
Didn’t they come out in the Spring??? Target is a little better at releasing HW’s and MBX, but seems as big as WM is, you’d think they’d be on the ball.. NOT!!!
I haven’t even seen the 2nd wave of Team Transport (case B?) in WM yet either! Shame on you Wally World!!!
For once, this is a chase series I’m really not upset over not finding. The decos don’t do anything for me personally, so good riddance. Matchbox distribution is so hit or miss (mostly miss) that I’m lucky to score the regular old mainlines. Thankfully, I caught a not-yet-pegged case of Matchbox the other night (the one with the Austin-Healey and Holden Ute) at my local Walmart around closing time. Raiding unopened cases is pretty much the only way I can get any of the desirable new Matchboxes.
I only found one sapphire gem and it was the VW Golf Country. Nothing more. Probably because batches E-L never hit our stores. We did recently get the M case but anything after the D case was never found at any store within a 50 mile radius. Or very few times, they did get the batch but I was severely beat to it and the generic pegwarmers were the only ones left which is a very common issue with everybody. Thankfully, these chase models don’t really do much for me but I would like to find the Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. And better yet, other models from old batches I missed out on such as the Nissan XTerra, GMC Scenic Cruiser Bus, ’59 Chevy and Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser wagons, and so on.
Well I can’t say I’ve seen any Sapphire Gems at all this year. It would be a neat find and I would likely add at least 1 to my collection in commemoration of MBX’s 65th, but as others have said it’s not a must-have that I will loose sleep over if I don’t find.
Matchbox distribution is just as horrible as ever. Licensed models are a rare find and since I don’t memorize what generics are in each case, I never know which cases have hit or what wave we’re on. A few models I wish I had found this year are; Porsche Cayman, BMW M5 (fire) and the Jaguar and Austin Healey Roadsters. But I can’t complain about my recent find of the Audi RS2 (RS6) and Porsche Panamera.
Just picked up a few of these, but I had to travel across the country for them. Well I didn’t have to I just happened to b in NC and popped in at one of the wall marts. Otherwise in Denver nada. If I see another blue gold garbage gulper …. I swear I’ll hide it somewhere in the store just to empty the pegs. And the freaking jeep series too, along with the hill-billy camouflage series. Every wall mart is full of that crap.
Hmm…interesting idea…hiding generics somewhere they won’t be found in the store so they’ll restock the pegs…technically, it’s not stealing 😉 I like it.
Ben, unfortunately that’s not how it works…actual sales out the door are what generate a reorder. if we just hide them it will still be in their inventory and knowing WM they could care less about an empty peg. Now if MBX had a bigger present like HW and we emptied all those pegs that might be noticeable. but as it is short of buying it all up and donating it idk what else to do.
I’m too busy keeping my eyes open for the latest several batches, and the several batches from last spring that never came.
The Walmart nearest me stocked seven cases at once! Incredible! But all seven cases are batch H, which this store had already stocked three times before that. It’s been a month, and only about 5 of the 160+ cards have moved. That store is effectively done selling matchbox for the rest of the year, and probably a couple of months next year, until they give up and put them on clearance.