Batch J of the 2023 basic range sees only 6 new additions to the 1-100 series. This joins 2 other batches as giving us the smallest group of new models for me to go through. I got all 6 from Wheel Collectors, and have set up my latest report over on their blog page. You can go to my Matchbox Monday page by clicking this link. The batch was small, but it did have an extra model, that I did have to hunt down. While I was at it, I was also busy hunting down another model, which I felt was worth adding in at the end as well. So 6 became 8. I bulked out the report just a little. I hope you enjoy it.
Case L with the green Golf Mk1 and silver Morris Minor now appearing at Poundland and still a relative bargain at £1.50 each.
Thanks for the heads-up on that Craig. My local Poundlands starting to get low on stock so good to hear there’s more on the way. Guess where I might go tomorrow… And to David, re the Audi E-tron, my understanding is that it was supposed to be in case D but wasn’t for some reason, but never mind, it would carry over into case E. Only the next one that appeared here was G which had carry-overs from E and F but not D which was by then three back… Does anyone think there’s any chance of it turning up at a “regular” store (ie not at an inflated price on-line) somewhere in the UK
It’s definitely good news and hopefully will help speed up new batches arriving here.
The Audi silver e-tron was supposed to be in Case G as a multi batch crossover but again didn’t make it to UK/European short cards except for Power Grabs which I found in France this Summer.
The first blue version never officially came here but has been spotted at Toytown stores in long cards and the silver one at random Poundstretcher stores.
I highly doubt it now. I guess we were just unlucky with it.
Oh wow, Poundland UK doing the job at the moment.
You’re lucky being able to get them, UK distribution is a miles better than in my country (Poland), i blame Mattel of Poland (directly) as they are responsible for what’s going on or not going LOL in Polish market but also US Headquarters for not giving a f*** what’s happening in other countries. Believe it or not, I’m devoted enough to die cast hunting each month, i visit three cities, atleast 20 toy shops, shopping malls You name it, there was no updates since ages (summer of 2023). Who knows maybe it’s just me being unlucky, but i’m unable to continue collecting Matchbox as there’s no updates, money’s not the problem.
Best regards, from Arekadius
That new Mercedes-Benz casting and new wheel are so good. I picked up the Chevy Master Coupe…guess I gotta pick up the Merc now!
This is the last mix that showed up in stores in my area, later mixes with Volvo 240, Plymouth Coupe, Morris Minor, VW Golf GTi are MiA, they never made it to the stores, also for some strange reason 1986 Ford F-150 is available only in the last mix which means no carryover for this model to the next mix. So many mixes throughout the year, many of them never made it to the stores. What a brilliant ideas 🙁 Thanks Mattel 🙁
Modern kids do not like die cast cars like i did when i was a kid back in the 1990’s, times have changed, but why is that ? Kids hear all this nonsense how cars are bad, no wonder they loose interest in collecting toy cars, what a win win for the you know who, when they grow up,won’t desire cars, besides in a few years from now, you won’t be able to buy die cast cars, right ?
What on earth makes you think you won’t be able to buy diecast cars in a few years time? The diecast scene is more vibrant and diverse than its EVER been from the cheap unlicensed Chinese brands to the higher end collectibles. Computer games/tablets/mobile phones may well now be the default learning devices for young children but they still play with toy cars from the same age when I played with mine in the mid 1980s and they still stop playing with them just before their teens just like they did when I was at that age.
If you just concentrate on Mattel alone let alone the hundreds of other diecast brands out there their Hot Wheels and Matchbox range have never been in better shape than they are now and that’s due to the profits brought in by the huge amounts of children/teens and adults who collect diecasts.
Thanks for the reply Mr. Craig Tetlow, what i meant in my posting was the world as we know it is constantly changing, sadly for worse, now they change packaging for the Moving Parts (to protect environment, sure sure.), in the future they might come to this conclusion : consuming everything at lowest possible level, that’s what i’m talking about, if that’s the case then large corporations stop producing least important things : toys.. etc. Those Things were good in old world, not necessarily in the new one, just wait and see 🙁 Hope im wrong about the sick future.
Best regards, from Arekadius