#tranquilcollecting
I've accumulated a few different releases of the Matchbox Ford LTD police car, but this Premiere World Class release from 1997, in authentic Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) deco, is the one I like best
I was sad to hear that Model Collector, a long-running diecast magazine published in the UK, had closed. I enlisted the help of Nigel Cooper, former Matchbox Ambassador, to look back at this link to collecting in the pre-Internet age
It’s 20 years since Johnny Lightning released its British Invasion sets of six classic British roadsters – including the only near-1:64 MGB until Matchbox's came along. Let's take a closer look
Kyosho issued its fourth Porsche Minicar Collection in 2011. The 911 RSR Turbos are probably the most sought-after releases from the set, but it contained some other great stuff including three versions of the 907
I’d always wondered how easy it was to put together a 1:64 Kyosho Ferrari and I wasn’t sure whether a kit model would hit the same heights as the pre-assembled ones. When a Ferrari 575 GTC came up for sale for a good price, I decided it was time to find out.
I found a classic Hot Ones ’82 Supra in good shape a few years back. It makes a great pair with my Matchbox version of the same car; I thought it would be fun to compare the two!
Here’s a short tribute to what I regard as one of the finest Matchbox models. Just like the real thing, the Matchbox Land Rover 90 is quite a survivor. There have been more than 40 versions of the 1:62-scale model so far, spanning over three decades!
Chevy trucks are a hot collecting trend right now but amidst the scramble to collect the (ahem) avalanche of vintage Squarebodies, Stepsides and more being issued by the likes of Hot Wheels, Auto World, M2 and Greenlight, I don’t see a lot of love for the Avalanche.
By now you’ll have read fellow Lamley contributor Alex Winson’s take on the Matchbox 75a Ferrari Berlinetta. Alex showed his beautiful regular wheels version; here’s my Superfast one to complete the story.
With travel restrictions, mail delays and border closures, it’s been harder to obtain some cars that I’d bought before the days of social distancing, but this week a box came through from the UK after a couple of months in transit
Today’s Lamley Guest Post takes a fascinating approach to customizing.
The Bongo Friendee is one of my favourite Tomica castings. It’s a solid lump of metal and has the fantastic ‘Auto Free Top’ extendable roof for great play value. It also comes in paint finishes that reflect real-life colours, complete with the correct graphics
Welcome to Part 2 of my walkthrough of Matchbox’s Formula 1 cars. We’d reached 1978 and the demise of the Team Matchbox, a generic formula car that had been part of the Superfast range since 1973. That left the No.36 Formula 5000 as the only single-seater in the lineup, but some of the best Matchbox F1 cars were still to come
When I look at this black Matchbox Corvette, I can’t help but think of where I bought it – from a basket of loose, bagged, surplus stock in a small-town toy shop in New Zealand in 2003. But as the tampo print on the hood suggests, the Corvette originally came in a 1997 gift pack with a bottle of cologne
I began writing this article with the intention of covering Matchbox’s Formula 1 history, based on cars in my collection. The more I dug into the topic, the more there was to say, so I’m splitting the story into two parts. This is Part 1 and covers the 1950s, 60s and 70s, from the Maserati 4CLT to the Team Matchbox
It's a great time to collect 1:64 Porsche race cars, with a ton of suitable subjects available for diecast companies to model. I thought it would be fun to dip into my collection and showcase 10 of my favourites.
This Johnny Lightning Aston Martin Lagonda is a bit of an oddity. Its modified look includes side pipes and a rear wing, because the original version was issued as the only car in a 1998, four-model set of Evel Knievel’s vehicles. Knievel owned a Lagonda that had had its original 5.3-liter Aston V8 swapped for an 8.2-liter, big-block Chevy
Happy 428 day! The Matchbox version of Ford’s drag car for the street is a substantial model. Later versions – it became a staple of premium releases such as Superfast for a decade – showcased its great stance and nice details to the full.
This Majorette casting is one of the best Subaru Imprezas around. It’s available in multiple street versions and a couple of different authentic rally paint schemes (with several different wheels) but it’s hard to beat the classic Subaru World Rally Team look
I’m looking forward to the Top Gun-related Matchbox DBR1 that’s coming later this year, but until then this silver Shelby Collectibles issue is the only 1:64 DBR1 in my collection. The detail is great, with an opening bonnet (hood) and doors. Carroll Shelby famously won at Le Mans in a DBR1, in 1959. The sister car of Stirling Moss retired after six hours but he won in the car at Goodwood and the Nürburgring
The badass Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI was one of three DTM/ITC race cars modeled by Matchbox in the mid-1990s. Let's take a look at this trio – including some rare prototypes – plus some DTM contenders from other 1:64 brands
It has been awhile since we have had a guest post here on Lamley, but I am always game, especially when the post relates to models I don't collect. That means we could have endless guest posts, so if you have an idea, send it over. Graham Heeps is one of those collectors with a …
In 30+ years my collection has veered off at various tangents – Models of Yesteryear (still great, now largely worthless), Royal Mail vans (sold to fund a custom-built display cabinet), Corgi Juniors, Tomica, Majorette, Schuco, CM's rally cars and – especially since I moved to Canada two years ago – a few Hot Wheels, too. But Matchbox miniatures will always form the bulk of my collection, which currently stands at around 3,000