A quick video I did on the Lamley Extras YouTube Channel last night at the Matchbox Gathering. There is no way to show all that goes on at the Gathering, but here are a couple of highlights.
The first is a quick livestream I did before the Mattel Presentation at last night’s dinner. Event organizer Jim Gallegos asked all the Matchbox Ambassadors who would be at the Gathering to bring their Routemaster buses, and it was cool to see 9 of the 11 all together for the first time.
The Ambassador program ran from roughly 2005 to 2016, where each year a collector was selected to be a liaison between the Matchbox Team and collectors worldwide, delivering news, previews and more via email, online forum, or newsletter. The Ambassador would serve one year, and at the end of their term the Matchbox Team would present them with a one-of-a-kind gold Routemaster. The ability of the Matchbox Team to connect with collectors worldwide via Instagram and Facebook eventually killed the Ambassador program, but by the end 11 Ambassadors had served, and 11 Buses made.
9 of us were able to be there this year, and we brought out buses. They are below, along with all the charity auction items that were battled for later in the evening.
The second video is from the room of JCar Diecast. James at JCar has become a good friend as we have chatted at Hot Wheels and Matchbox Conventions, and he decided to jump on as a Lamley Partner. I wanted to show off his sales room, but really I wanted a look at the Hot Wheels Datsun 510 Display Case Exclusive, which yes, I think it pretty cool.
Find JCar at JCardiecast.com or on instagram at @jcardiecast.
Some great new cars coming out. 👍
Looks like a nice lineup. Just note on TOMICA. Walmart is now carrying Tomica at least in Canada. I picked up the Toyota Prius no.76. I like the quality of the casting!