Matchbox is hitting in droves after a bit of a lull. A new 9-pack, three new 5-packs, and now another basic mix.
Wheel Collectors received their shipment of the new Q Case, and did a rapid unboxing for Lamley Viewers:
If you remember, Matchbox is now doing single assortments, which means every model in the 24-count case will only appear in that mix. So everything here is new. Lots of highlights to be sure, and I will focus on them when I get the case.
That Sambar is badass! Looking forward to the Mini as well. I’ve always had a soft spot for the ice cream truck and the Road Tripper (or whatever the hell they’re calling it now) as well, which is good because collectors generally overlook those.
I appreciate what they’re trying to accomplish with the single assortment thing, and hopefully it’ll lead to less pegwarming generics, but I do worry it’ll vastly increase the chances I’ll miss out on entire assortments. I feel like the only way I’ve been able to get certain models is because they were holdovers from previous mixes. I hope I’m wrong.
It is only one data point, but at in the Chicago suburbs the last assortment was easy to obtain. Even new models like the Mercedes Wagon. In contrast, some of the cases in 2018 were almost impossible to find. I ended up having to buy the Ford wagon on eBay for example. That said, many Wal Marts (and Meijers – yes, we a lucky to have Meijer) have plenty of the previous assortment still on the pegs so hopefully they are able to restock new cases…That said, the opening parts models are very hard to find. I only found the first batch.
The opening parts models are nearly impossible to find because they come in cases that contain only eight models, which in the last two batches means one each of some of the models. In my region of the country, those tiny cases only come in a wave once every 4-6 months. They sell out minutes after they’re pegged, and the peg sits empty for months until the next case comes.
Also, to my knowledge, there have been four assortments so far, but the second only appeared in Australia and nowhere else.
This is evidence that the “new” plan to eliminate repeats in unreleased cases/batches is going to possibly decrease a collector’s ability to get everything they want. As this “Q” case unboxing (aka the “H mix” in Mattel’s lexicon…y’know, there’s a big gap between H and Q in the alphabet….since the cardboard case is clearly marked “Q”, why does Mattel refuse to identify it that way?) demonstrates, there will only be ONE recolor of the Scania P-360 fire engine per case/batch/mix….so if you don’t find THAT case in your retail outlet(s), ebay or Amazon and their requisite seller markups will be your only hope.
I personally don’t think this ‘new’ Mattel plan will be an improvement….and I fear it may be a significant detriment to collectors.
We’ll see….as they say.
And that’s exactly what I’ve always viewed it. It’s not helping anything. National chains, it seems, the problem rests in the distribution centers. At Walmart, I’ve seen some areas where frequent and regular restockings of all lines happen; yet for the past several months (May?), mine has had “Temporarily Out of Stock” on the peg for Basics Plus. And to me, making fewer batches will simply mean, stores will buy more, and it will linger longer.
This is the best looking case I’ve seen in years.
As for a single release making them hard to get, I’m still looking for the olive International CXT, blue Chevrolet Stepside, black Subaru WRX, red Nissan Xterra, and tan Jeep Willys pickup because the 2018 E, F K, and L cases never appeared in my region of the United States at all, so it can hardly get worse.
I sometimes wonder just why Mattel are bothering to make these when the majority of people interested in actually buying them find it impossible to obtain. Whether that be through simply not being able to find them in the stores they’re supposed to be sold in or else because they are way too expensive to obtain thanks to extortionate worldwide postal and import charges. I used to spend a huge amount of my disposable income on collecting “MATCHBOX” and Hot Wheels. Sadly, that’s not the case any longer.
I was a teenager in the early 1990’s, and as far as i remember it was cool to be collector back then, why You ask ? For starters it was quite cheap but more importantly thank to it’s availability, You didn’t have to worry if you’re happy enough to collectem all in a single year in contrast to what We have now 🙁 So yeah 1990’s were fantastic, especially 1990 – 1992 period years,
Wow, seriously? So now we only have one chance at finding a new model? Nothing will be carried over to the next case to give us a second opportunity, in case our local store skips a wave or someone else beats us to it? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been saved by the carry-forward in the following wave. On top of that, I’m seeing new models such as the Mini Countryman only get 1 piece per case. Come on Mattel! At least have the decency to make everything 2 per case!