In the first week of November, I made my annual trip to the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. I always look forward to pre-ordering the M2 Machines SEMA exclusive models; these models are not available in store and you have to be at the show to order them. They are scheduled to arrive in mid-December.
Regular readers will know that I try to get these models each year and review them here on Lamley (you’ll find my 2023 article here, 2022 article here, 2021 here and 2020 here).
After a rise in the production numbers last year, the three special 1:64 vehicles for this year’s event are being made in shorter runs, more or less back to where we were in 2022: The numbers are 800 pieces for the Regular models and 400 for the Chases (four Regulars and two Chases per case), with the Mooneyes Blazer (more on that in a minute) being made in a slightly higher run of 864/432.
M2 senior VP of design Sean Taylor, who is celebrating 20 years in the toy design business, (congratulations Sean!) was again on hand to walk me through the three models. Let’s go!
Mooneyes 1973 Chevy K Blazer
“When we looked into it, we realized we didn’t have a Squarebody, Mooneyes Blazer out,” Sean begins. “I think we started one, but it was never finished. So here we are! It’s a little Squarebody Blazer, slammed with big rims. Mooneyes is such a cool, fun brand. We had some fun with the box even, throwing all the Mooneyes logos around. It makes you smile, and the gold chrome goes well with the yellow on the Chase car.”
For the first time in several years, this year’s M2 SEMA exclusives come in regular, Walmart-style, ‘PDQ’ (product displayed quickly/pretty darned quick!) cardboard-sleeved boxes rather than blister packs.
“There are pros and cons,” Sean admits. “I still like the clamshell blister for a promotional model because it’s not like something you get in Walmart. It has a more of a premium feel, more real estate. On the flip side, the PDQ boxes are so much easier to store, and it’s easier to take the model out [for display] and put it back, whereas with the other [blisters] you’ve got to be really careful how you cut it. You can make the argument either way.”
Personally, having seen how the clamshells can scuff over time in storage, I’m on team PDQ.
1976 GMC Sierra 3500
The Sierra shares its paint scheme with an O’Reilly Auto Parts Exclusive of the 1976 GMC Sierra Grande 15 that came out in early-2024.
“I had been looking for five colors that corresponded and worked together,” Sean explains. “I was looking online, and I found a Pinterest page with yarn samples in different combinations, including a pink one. I thought it looked awesome, so I found the closest Pantone colors and put them on the model. I didn’t know it would be as popular as it was when it came out for O’Reilly.
“The SEMA special is the sister truck to that stepside. It’s a single-cab dually, slammed with the big rims, and pink chrome on the Chase. We try not to do gold chrome all the time because we like to have fun with different colors.”
1987 Buick Regal Limited
This year, the Buick is the only car in a SEMA line-up that’s traditionally truck-heavy. It also marks a hat-trick of GM products: last year we had a Dodge and in 2022, a Volkswagen was among the show exclusives.
The Regal casting debuted as a Grand National in an Auto Club exclusive in March. The SEMA Show model is the third lowrider version after a purple-and-silver regular release (July) and a black-and-silver MiJo exclusive.
“If you only do the Grand National, then it’s pretty one-sided,” he says. “You do black and you’re done. We wanted to do some regular Regals and the lowriders as well. When we decided to go that route, we wanted to make sure that we didn’t do it like other companies, where they just used the Grand National hood, so we tooled up a Regal flat hood. It also has a normally aspirated, carbureted engine underneath, not the turbo engine. It has the grandma bench seat and a chain steering wheel.”
The base color is a deep purple metal flake. Multiple tampos provide the intricate lowrider deco. Lowriders are not my thing, but this is a great-looking model. The Chase has small, gold-chrome wire wheels to go with the thin whitewall tires. Meanwhile the deco is reflected on an attractive striped box.
The Regal is the newest casting of this year’s SEMA trio. Says Sean, “We have new castings in the works [that we could have chosen], but we didn’t want to take the chance because we didn’t know if we could make production in time for the show.” Fair enough.
Future plans
Looking ahead to 2025, M2 has several new castings coming that have already been trailed on its social media pages, including a cool-looking 1970-71 Dodge Challenger. There’s also some diversification into merchandise. A selection of stickers was available at the show and the first minifigure sets are out, with more to come, he promises.
“Diecast is always the priority, but it’s good to get the apparel stuff up and running again. I’m getting more guys under me working in the art department, so we’ll have more resources to do more of the fun stuff that we want to get to.”
That’s it. Thanks to Sean and the M2 team for their time. If you want to pick up this year’s SEMA releases once they ship to those who’ve pre-ordered (I don’t recommend indulging the scalpers who are listing them before they have them in hand), eBay is your best bet. Happy collecting!
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