Matchbox Monday belatedly b brings us a Collectors Batch B

I know, I know, this has been a while coming. For some reason, hobby stores in the US were not getting Collectors. We saw batch A, but B? C? Nope. No sign of them for ages. They are only just starting to appear now. Better late than never, I guess. I have to say, Collectors do have some seriously cool models in their range. So, I guess I should get on with them.

Which means I start with the MB786 '57 GMC Stepside. Yes, you read that right. MB786. The original tooling. Not the altered one. It takes the number 6 slot in the series in blue.

What you will find when you open it is the weight. They have dug out the model's short-lived metal base version from the Lesney Edition series. As that was under the original tooling, they just used the entire original tool for the Collectors release. This gets me a little excited, as I am starting to wonder if they will look at some of the other metal bases that were made for Lesney Edition in 2010 and 2011? There are a good few dozen other models, with some that barely got used after, if at all, I would love to see the '60 MGA, '56 Cadillac Eldorado, '71 Camaro Z-28 or (maybe I should say "and") '57 Lincoln Premiere given another outing in premium guises. Others too. 

Anyway, this is a seriously cool livery. Goodyear. A real company. It has a very simple design, but I think it fits the era of the truck beautifully.

It gets tampo all over, including the roof. The metal base section sees no tampo itself. That is fine for me. It is sort of simulating the chrome of the real one, and as such, metal is fine. 

And as you can see, the interior section stretches out across the entire rear bed of the model. This was one of the most notable parts about the altered casting, as this means the interior has to be slotted through and over the body section that rivets to the base section. Something they are moving away from in core releases, as by cutting it short, it means it can be "dropped" straight into the body when being assembled upside down in the factory. You might think we are talking a second on a model. Yep, 1 model. Make 60 model? That's a minute. Make 3,600? That is an hour. Boom! An hour of work to make 3,600 models with a slot in section rather than a dropped in section. They make over 100,000 in one go, and there you are, you have passed a solid full 24-hour day of work just to slot them in rather than drop them. You see why they look at ways of saving what looks like a fraction of time. 

I am seriously impressed with this model. It is one of the nicest releases the casting has seen, which says a lot as there have been many.

I am giving this a solid (just like the base) perfect 10. I should do a dive back, to double check all those that came before. 

It started back in 2010, when the model debuted in turquoise in the basic range (unless you were in a Walmart in the USA, which saw a unique white release, themed around Walmart itself. 

The end of the year saw a lovely metallic terracotta look in the 1st Editions 10-pack.

2011 saw what was at first thought to be an error. The basic range in black saw absolutely no tampo. When the first ones appeared, people were touting them as errors, but then it slowly dawned on us, it was no error. It was planned! It actually looked really cool like that. We also saw a blue release in the Farm Rigs 5-pack that year.

And, of course, the model was a part of the Lesney Editions series, which saw the metal base that has returned here. 

The new release uses the exact same parts, and the base is unaltered from that release. This means we now have a grand total of 2 metal based GMC Stepsides. All others are plastic (sometimes chrome plated). 

After that, it was not actually used in 2012. For 2013, it popped up in the Battle/Mission Combat 5-pack in olive. I did see some shading to that one. 

And in 2014, it was back in the basic range in a green Canon Construction livery.

2015 saw the change. The first appearance was in a Mission Force: Farm set in red. Then, when it made an appearance in the Classic Ride 5-pack later in matte brownish red, featuring an homage to the classic Sanford & Sons TV show truck, but now featuring Stephens & Sons, it had been modified. The easy way, as I said, to know the difference is to check the rear bed. If it has a cutout where it goes around the body rivet slot, it is the newer one. 

Or, you can just turn them over. It says it on the base. MB786 or MB985.

After 2015, it took another year off, and when we next saw it, it was a Color Changers model. This side series saw models given new MAN numbers as they were constructed differently. This was now MB1066. It even sported a bed variation, as it came with or without items in the rear. The first Color Changers look was olive, similar to the 2013 look.

Later that year, the MB985 casting was back in the basic range, for the first time under the new MAN number. It sported a Boone County livery, and was also pretty good for the shade collector.

2018 saw the Color Changers model get a second outing, in a new Mario's Genuine Auto Parts livery. This rolled into 2019 before the series was cancelled. 

And with no basic issue in 2019, the basic range was given another red outing.

After another year off in 2020, the model returned in 2021 in the MBX Road Crew 5-pack in white, with the recurring Ranec theme. This saw a little variation to the orange interior section. It was also a part of the Walmart Truck Series in the National Parks theme.

2022 saw a "new" 5-pack with the white model in the MBX Off Road pack. It also saw a "carry forward" model in the MBX Highway II pack. This was useful, as it was a carry forward of the last original casting from the Mission Force set in 2015, before the alteration. 

Another year off in 2023, and back as a Walmart exclusive in 2024. This time in the County Rescue set in red.

With yet another Walmart exclusive coming earlier this year in the Truck Series with a Mooneyes theme. This means that this year sees 2 recurring "real" themes on the GMC, and both MAN numbers for the regular casting in use. As I said, I hope that Mattel are looking at digging out some of the other Lesney Edition castings for future Collectors releases. 

Now, we move on to the 1 new casting that debuts in this batch. The MB1481 '93 Jaguar XJ220S. This model was created by Garry Gopinath, and arrives in orange in the number 7 slot.

I have to be honest. When it was announced at last year's Gathering that we were going to get a new XJ220 in the Collectors series, I was not fussed. We had an XJ220 before. It was sold for many years in the 1990s through the early 2000s. I was not overly bothered about getting it again. Why did they choose the same model as before, when they could have just slid a few years earlier and given us the awesome XJR-15! Who has done one of those as a toy diecast? We get high end premium models. But, none of the regular toy car manufacturers do that one. I would have loved to have had the XJR-15 done as a Collectors model instead of a new, second, XJ220. Just think, only 53 of the XJR-15 were made between 1990 and 1992 in real life, compared to 282 of the XJ220 between 1992 and 1994. The XJR-15 is even rarer, and I think even cooler. Yes, the XJ220 is faster. It is better known. But, it has been done by Matchbox before. The XJR-15 hasn't. Nor by any of the competitors. 

However, this is not exactly the same. It is the 1993 XJ220S. Officially, the XJ220S TWR. Okay, okay, it is slightly different to the original one. I will give them that. This is a metal base. That means we will only see this in premium guises. No basic range outings as this has no opening features.

So, what do I think of the new casting? Well, Garry has done a terrific job with the model. It looks very much like the real vehicle.

And that massive rear wing is something we didn't have before. Well, it is the 'S'. 

I have never seen an XJ220 in real life. Therefore, I can only compare this to photos of real ones. I think Garry has captured the shape of the real vehicle perfectly. The flowing lines all seem to match the real vehicle.

We do technically have a roof that is made up of the window element here. Usually, this is something that I am not a fan of. However, on this model, I think it does work. Especially as they are able to accommodate a lot of additional features by tampo printing the window section. So, on this occasion, I am okay with the build style. I think the body being used for the roof wouldn't have worked as well. 

When it comes to the colour, this is a lovely striking orange. It is not one of the original colours. They had 5. All named after race tracks. Spa silver, Monza red, Le Mans blue, Silverstone green and Daytona black. However, many were changed after.

And this is a real one. That was a customized version created by TWR in 1993. The real one had TWR on the side, bu the rear wheels.

Which Matchbox have changed to XJ220. I am not sure why. Maybe getting the TWR writing would involve additional licences. Aside from this, I don't think there is anything that needed to be added. As a premium model, it is getting a full tampo print, including around the window area.

I am very impressed with this. After an initial 'meh' when it was announced, my impression of it has increased substantially. So, let's score this thing. Inclusion. Well, as I said, was this really the best option? When the earlier XJR-15 was right there, waiting to be recreated in miniature. As we have seen an XJ220 before, I am scoring this fairly low. A 4. Yes, I know. Cruel. Newer collectors may not even know of the older one. To them, it would be scoring a lot higher. But, as a seasoned collector, I am a little more fussy over what they dive back into the history to include. Casting. I cannot fault this. Garry did exceptional work as usual. A 10. Design. Barring getting the rights to actually putting TWR on the model, which is not overly important, I think this is very eye-catching, and also worthy of a 10. So, a grand total of 24 out of 30. 

As I had been talking about the older casting, I should bring one in. This is the debut of the MB239 Jaguar XJ220. It arrived in Le Mans blue in the 1993 basic range. Sold as either MB31 in the US range or MB26 in the ROW range. After 1993, the 2 ranges went in different routes for a while, before syncing back up in 1997. It saw action for 10 years in total, with an ROW exclusive 2002 basic range being the final outing. So, it has been 23 years between XJ220s. 32 years between castings. How do the 2 stack up?

They are very familiar. Whoever created the original was obviously pretty talented as well. However, this is the original XJ220, so additional skirts, and the larger rear spoiler were not a part of the model. I do note that the original didn't have wing mirrors. They do make a difference. The original did see the body form parts of the window and roof surround. As a basic, it works better, due to the fact that these are likely not being printed. As a premium, the fact that they are tampo printing them black, it is perhaps better tampo printing a window section, as there will be no (in this case orange) bleed through. 

Even the rears have been created the same way. The lower section stopping so far up, and the body section being detailed in black. 

If you were wondering about sizes? Well, width difference in fractional. They are both about the same width. 

With the overall length being just about identical as well. I guess they chose to make this at the same scale as before, which make a lot of sense. And really makes the 2 models work well side by side. 

One is RHD and the other LHD. Is that important? Nope. I notice when you look through the rear window they appear different inside. I don't know if the 'S' had additional strength added inside. So I cannot comment whether either, or both, are correct. But, aside from minor things, these are extremely similar. Which I think is testament to how good things were in the 1990s as well. I am definitely more impressed with this new model than I thought I would be.

Next up, number 8 in the Collectors series, we get the MB1378 '88 Mazda RX-7. It makes its premium debut in dark blue.

I believe this is an option known as Brave Blue. However, that option was only on the 1991 model. Harbor Blue and Sapphire Blue were both around in 1988, but both are notably lighter shades.

One thing I noticed instantly with this was the colour disparity between body and hood. The hood appears to be quite a bit darker. I don't know if that is pretty common with all RX-7s. However, as a dark blue, the difference doesn't stand out a lot. You do have to check fairly closely to see it. 

The model comes with front and rear tampos, as well as a black band (with lights depicted) going round the sides. However, these are the same as you would see on the Moving Parts releases. So, nothing of major interest there.

As I have pointed out before, the hood barely opens. But, if you were to peek inside, you will just about make out the engine bay is detailed. There is not an awful lot to improve on to the original Moving Parts release. To be honest, I don't think there really was much more they could add. 

As such, the only real enhancement is the addition of the real riders instead of plastic wheels. Is that enough to make this a premium model? Well, I guess that is a problem with Moving Parts. Many models see quite a few tampo passes, which means adding more to make them premium is tough. I could not see much in the way of real RX-7s that could spark an idea for extra printing. The real riders here are okay. I am not sure if the golden look to them works. Looking at real RX-7s for inspiration, they always seemed to have either grey or black hubs. I couldn't find gold (although I didn't do a deep dive). So, this is tough. I am happy to see it as a premium model. I love the casting. But, to be honest, I actually prefer both the Moving Parts releases to date. So, I am scoring this a 7. Ha! Fitting, for an RX-7. 

For those trying to remember, these were the 2 Moving Parts releases before this one. It debuted in the 2023 series in white.

With 2024 coming in red. Both were very well detailed to begin with, and those plastic wheels I think look nicer.

Ooh! I found additional tampo. We have Mazda on the front next to the headlight. I am now unsure why this was not included in the earlier releases. Well, the red one at least, although they could have put the white one in black to stand out. Maybe when it returns to the Moving Parts series, they will add that. 

Now, this is the sort of thing I was expecting from the Mazda. The MB1300 Porsche 918 Spyder is up next, in the number 9 slot. It comes in matte black.

This is definitely not a stock black look. Porsche did a Basalt Black metallic and, well, black, as options. Neither were matte. And neither had lots of additional detailing added. However, doing a little diving, I did find that one customer did request a matte black paint finish from Porsche, with exposed carbon fibre parts. In 1:1 form, exposed carbon fibre does stand out. In miniature? Not so much. So, they went a different route.

I am not saying that every premium release needs to add this level of additional tampo. But, I was expecting something a little extra to the detailing we usually see. Not just a tiny logo in the corner. On this one, they really nailed this look. As far as I can tell, this is something that was created in-house at Mattel. It does look really cool. Lime green accents, the 918 logo over the wheel arch. Stripes! Yes, they did a great job with it.

The rear writing is also in lime green. That stands out pretty well against the matte black background. 

And I think having black wheel hubs worked best. However, the chrome edging to the wheel? What if that was lime? Would that have been a tad cooler? I think it might have been. Plus, I think they missed a trick on this one.

Why didn't they go with this Spyder? This was part of the press release for the debut of the Spyder in real life. I think this red detailing on matte black would have been awesome in miniature. Plus the little 25 roundel. 

I do really like this one. It definitely feels like a premium model. It looks like a premium model. Something worth spending the extra money on. But, it was not quite perfect. Lime on the wheel hubs, perhaps. Or replicating the press launch model. Something that would have made an awesome model even better. So, I am scoring this a 9.

A little dive back on all the core releases to date. It debuted in 2022 in charcoal. Not just in the basic range, but also as part of the Best of Germany series. There were shades to be found. Not necessarily between the 2 range, as these 2 were both found during the basic range production run. 

In 2023, the model was to be found in yellow in the basic range.

With 2024 seeing 2 different outings. The basic range saw a green release, which I noticed had quite a variety of shades.

As well as a blue outing as part of the Electric Drivers 5-pack that year. This appears to be its only 2025 outing. 

I am sure that does not mean the end of it. After all, it has only had 5 outings to date. I am sure there is still plenty more to come.

Which leads me to the last model in the batch. The MB1457 '70 AMC Javelin. Another of Garry Gopinath's creations, it debuted last year in Moving Parts, and makes a move to premium for 2025. It takes the number 10 slot in the series, and comes in green.

I was trying to figure out the real colour options. Big Bad Green was a known option. However, that is very bright. Lime Green was another option. However, that is more of a golden green hue. Glen Green is the final option. That is very dark. This is somewhere in between lime and glen. 

Is that really important? Not really. I have often stated that they don't have to be factory colours, as long as they look realistic. And, I have to say, this really does look realistic. This particular shade of green does sort of remind me of the 1970s. It has that '70s vibe to it. And it suits the model perfectly. So, well done to the Matchbox guys in nailing a beautiful colour choice. Plus, the hood matches the body. We see little details come to the forefront here. Just look at the way the door handle is finished. The little Javelin nameplate on the C-pillar. The white striping and pin striping down the side. Absolutely beautiful. I think these wheels also work very well here. They feel like the sort of wheel you would see on a pony car.

The chrome base section forms the grille, which means that it has also received a tampo hit. The front lights are very well detailed here. I cannot argue about that. But....

Why isn't the engine detailed? What the...? That is quite surprising, and saddening. Considering the Moving Parts series debut last year had a detailed engine. This is a premium product. I would expect everything from the core issue and more. Not replaced.

The rear sees the chrome section getting a tampo hit. Is there anything that could go on the body section? I don't think so. I am fine with the rear.

It is a beautiful model. I cannot argue that. But, I can't give it top marks with no engine detail. So, this one gets a 9 from me.

Let's bring in last year's debut for a side by side. Core vs premium. 

Hmm! I actually missed that. The front corner of the hood has Javelin on the core. But, again, the premium has been downgraded there. However, the rest of the front is an upgrade. The core one was quite lacking with details to be honest.

But, when you open up that hood, bam! A lovely detailed engine bay on the core issue. A blank, plain engine bay on the premium. I just feel that was wrong. 

With the sides and rear being a match between the 2, I do still see this as an upgrade. I don't want to see losing tampo hits on a premium over a core, though. I am looking forward to seeing more of these in the future. Before I finish, though.

I had to. With the new AMC Javelin now in green and blue, I had to bring in the classic MB9-B AMX Javelin from the Lesney era. Because that was green in the basic range, and blue in twin packs. 2 colours in 2 ranges. Awesome! 

And after 1 nod to the past, I finish off by remembering that the 1 new casting in the batch is of a vehicle seen before. A British classic.

Along with a pair of classic Americana.

Along with a German and Japanese model. 

As these head off to join the collection, my attention turns to next week, and another bout of basics. Until then, I hope everybody has a safe and happy week.