Matchbox Monday loves a Leipzig limited edition

As this goes live, I am actually still working my way back home from Leipzig, where I was in attendance at the 25th Annual Matchbox European Convention. It is my third time attending. My usual USA travelling companion came along for the trip this time. Her mother came with me in 2019, and I attended on my own in 2006. 13 years between visits 1 and 2, and only 7 between 2 and 3. I am getting quicker with my returns. Ha ha! I have to admit, I often don't have the ability to attend too many conventions on a yearly basis, and do tend to prioritize Albuquerque. That is a proper summer vacation, where for Germany, I make a long weekend of it. But, there are times when I have managed to save just a little bit extra to make the second trip. Mind you, I still miss the UK MICA conventions, that always took place in early April. The last one was in 2010. 2006 was, therefore, my best year. UK convention, Albuquerque and Leipzig. The holy trilogy at the time. Well, for a Matchbox collector. Anyway, as I was in Leipzig this year, I was able to capture some photos for those who have not attended. 

Of course, no trip to Leipzig is complete without visiting the annual Modell-Hobby-Spiel. It is how the convention is circled around. 

The Leipziger Messe has been hosting the event now for 30 years. 

But, I soon found myself in hall 3, and the Matchbox area.

Which actually had a VW T2 Bus in there, with loads of Matchbox logos on there.

The side doors were open, and a TV was playing the Matchbox: The Movie trailer on repeat. I tell you what, if you have only seen the trailer in English, with the characters' original voices, you should hear it overdubbed in German. That is an experience.

Plus, there was a movie area of the hall. Of course, again, we are in Germany, where it is renamed Matchbox: Der Film. 

They had tables for kids to play at.

And a nice display of movie stuff. I wish the UK would acknowledge that a film was coming out.

There were a number of people selling Matchbox around that area.

Although, Dirk Schleuer does have a massive area. Loads of Matchbox for sale. Lots of Models of Yesteryear.

Plenty of older 5-packs and 10-packs.

Premiums, gift sets, hitch & haul. There was so much stuff.

And mystery boxes as well!

And, yes, there are items from all era of the brand. I admit, I spent almost half a day just at the Matchbox area of the event. But, I am a nerd. I did go around the rest of the event as well.

The Saturday evening is quite a bit like Albuquerque. WE all had something to eat in the convention, and then Tyler Charest from Mattel joined us via video call to do the line preview. It was good of him to take time out of his weekend to join in. 

Of course, as Tyler was not speaking German, Dirk translated as we went along. Now, the majority of the line preview was as we saw in Albuquerque, and I did do a report after that event. Tyler was able to sneak in a few additional new tools. 

The basic range is getting a new 2024 Nissan Skyline GT-R with surfboards on the back. 

And a Ford Bronco DR. 

Plus the 2025 Audi Q6 E-tron Concept.

It wasn't clear in Albuquerque, but they have switched the picture for the 1975 Lancia Stratos for Moving Parts. It is a rally variant of the car they are doing. 

We will also see a 1976 VW Golf Mk1 GTi in Moving Parts for 2027, with an opening hood. 

And a 2024 Ford Mach-E Rally. Yes, more rally stuff. They are embracing the rally side of motor racing, so have given us a lot of new tools. Some of the other new castings will see small tweaks beyond the stock look as well.

They also had a display full of FEP sample of models that are coming soon. It did include FEPs of both Mattel Creations models. The larger set has just arrived.

The Chevy Camaro is going to launch the same day as the film does. Which, if you are reading this in the first few days after it went live, it is this Friday (9th October). 

I am looking forward to seeing these in 2027.

Things are still looking good for seeing the Target Reds return for 2027. The first pair will be in batch B, and then it is currently looking at 1 in every second batch. 

Although I am very much looking forward to more Porsche 911s!

After this, we were joined by Simon Iredale, who joined Matchbox at the end of Lesney, and worked through Universal, Tyco, and then moved to Mount Laurel when Mattel took over. When that closed down, he was offered a job in El Segundo, but turned them down. He has now returned to England. He gave us a few insights about how things work behind the scenes at Matchbox. The highs, the lows, the factory, moving production between factories. So much stuff. And we all had some great reading material as well. 

With the evening finishing very late with a small auction. Phew! It was good, though. 

Who wants cake?

But, as well as all of that, we do have some really cool models as well. 

As has been the case for the last 2 years, Dirk has managed to secure 2 different models for the event. These come in a simple brown box. Each model is limited to 250 examples, and were made in the factory by Mattel. 

The inside of each box contains the plexicases wrapped in tissue paper. So, let's get on with the 2 models. First of all, we take a look at the show model for the Modell-Hobby-Spiel.

This is the new MB1621 '84 Audi Sport Quattro S1. Technically, this is the first I am seeing of this casting, as I am a few weeks away from running through batch D of the Collectors series, where it technically debuts. So, let's give this one a really good look.

The plexicase has the Leipzig logo used for the 25th convention on the top, and the name of the model on the front. But, I am more interested in the gorgeous model inside. 

Of which we can get a small poster artwork picture, just like we do with the Albuquerque models. 

As many know, Matchbox made a casting of the Quattro back in 1982. When Audi first launched the Quattro in 1980, it was sold as a road vehicle, which was immediately altered to run in rally form as well. The rally variant, originally known as A1 was launched in late 1980, but first rallied in 1981. The MB025 Audi Quattro is simply the road version, although was given rally looks at first. In 1984, Audi created the Sport Quattro S1, specifically for Group B Rally use. The vehicle was built on a shortened chassis, and 214 examples were created for road use, as per Group B homologation rules at the time. Which means that this casting is a totally different Quattro casting to the one we had before. 

Abe Lugo was the person tasked with creating this model. It was one of the last castings he created before he left Mattel last year. It shows how far ahead the guys at Mattel can work, as he left in March 2025. And we are still seeing new castings that he created arrive. 

You can see the shorter rear end of the vehicle in play here. Abe has done a fantastic job in recreating the look of the S1. I think he has totally nailed it. Obviously, he has gone full-on rally mode. This is one of the early models in the new direction for the brand in bringing in a lot of rally vehicles, which we will see more of in 2027. If this is a taste of what is to come, I am definitely excited for the future.

We see that he has gone with a triple spotlight layout for the casting. A classic look for the rally car at the time. I am loving the look of this.Just look at the window wipers. So well cast. 

This model is technically a Moving Parts model, upgraded for Collector usage. As is the case, that means we have an opening engine bay. And, I have to be honest, it is not easy opening it. Because it is very securely fitted, you cannot tap it open upside down, and you really have to dig a fingernail into a corner to try and hook it up. This is one of the flaws you can get with this style of opening. This is because it sits back from the front of the vehicle, so doesn't reach to the front. Once open, we get a beautifully detailed (and highlighted) engine bay. I assume that is all correct. I have no idea. I have not seen inside the engine bay of this vehicle in real life. Even if it was not, it still looks good. 

Now we come to the Jason Cruz designed model. I have been told that they worked hard to get the Hella spotlight logo on there. Hella have been around since 1899, and are such a well known German company in regard to rally spotlights, so getting them on the model was so cool. They are not featured on the Collectors model (spoiler alert). Hopefully, now they have the license for them, we will see them used on further rally vehicles. We also see the headlights and Audi rings are wonderfully detailed.  

Leipzig, 25th Matchbox convention? I think that was what the license plate was alluding to. It works in my head. We also see Hella on the rear of the model, as well as all the other details you would expect.

We can see other logos on the model as well. The black body, with red and yellow striping, just looks so good on this German car. Obviously, this is a nod to the German flag, although the yellow on the flag is more golden than this. A 25 roundel for the 25th convention, and the Leipziger Messe logo added as well in blue on the door. This is stunning.

Leipziger Messe also appears on the roof. I think this whole livery looks faultless on the model. A stunning look, that has a German nod, a rally nod, and convention nod all in one.

I love it! This is the sort of stuff that the Matchbox team can come up with when they have no limit to the detail added. These promotional models are definitely some of the coolest of the year. 

Daft fact, it was going to sport yellow wheels, but was switched last second. I think the gold looks nicer.

As this is a new casting, I will do some scores. Inclusion. I am loving the move towards rally. I grew up in the 1980s with a lot of rally inspired stuff in the Matchbox range, so seeing it return now is a big plus for me. So, I give it a 10. Casting. The only minor flaw is with the way you have to dig your nail in to get the hood up. And if you recently cut your nails and have none left, that makes it even tougher. So, it does get a 9 for that. Design. Faultless. I absolutely love it! A perfect 10. That gives it a 29 out of 30. Brilliant stuff. I need to go open the Collectors one now, as I have also just got it, ready to preview in the next month or so. 

It was mentioned at the 2025 Gathering that this model was going to have a diecast base. When it got to production, I guess they switched it (unless the Collector one has it). I will check that when I open it shortly.

The other casting is the MB1622 '88 Porsche 911 Turbo Slant Nose. This is also made in a production run of 250, and is the dinner model for the convention.

This plexicase is exactly the same as the Audi one, with the vehicle name on the front. 

And I love the artwork for this one on the poster as well. 

You can see that this model has been influenced by the classic Jägermeister liveried racing vehicles of old. 

Jägermeister orange was used between 1972 and 2000 on a variety of vehicles, and the Porsche 935 was one of them. The 911 Slant Nose used the front end of the 935 in its design, so it is logical that they went with a similar look for this.

Obviously they didn't use the Jägermeister name on this one. These are kids toys, and Jägermeister is not exactly what you would call kid friendly. It's an alcoholic drink after all. Sure, the 250 models made as a convention exclusive are likely not for kids, as these will be taken up by collectors, but I don't think they could still be able to do a livery with the actual name of an alcoholic drink in this day and age on a vehicle that could end up in kid's hands. Matthew Barker designed this one.  

Which is fine, because I think changing Jägermeister to Matchbox across the front works perfectly. I think it is actually better this way, but still paying homage to the classic look. And, as we can see, there are a number of logos across the vehicle. Again, 25 depicting the number for the convention. Porsche across the window is spot on, and I think the golden wheels are a perfect choice for this one. 

We also get Matchbox Fun Club on the model. This is something that Dirk is involved with, as he often sells various models over the years with the Fun Club logo. I think this is the biggest we have seen the logo on a model. 

Did you note that the wheels have Dunlop on them? A lovely little touch to this one. Obviously, Dunlop was used on some of the racing vehicles from the past, so again, this is a lovely nod. They have done their homework here. 

I love that the rear window gets a Leipzig strip as well. 

I love this look. So much different to the debut earlier this year in the Collectors series. 

But, wait, there is more. What is this? We have a little roof rack here. This was from an idea by Abe Lugo, who you may remember came up with the Pagoda on the Mercedes-Benz 230SL a few years ago. This little piece is available on 125 of the 250 models that Dirk has. 

It is a delicate little piece, but will click snugly on the roof of the Porsche. It is a perfect fit. 

I am very impressed with how well it has been constructed. As I said, it is delicate. It is very thin, but when you click it on the roof, it locks in place and does not move. Brilliant stuff.

It does cover up a couple of Matchbox names on the roof. That is fine. It is not covering up weird and unusual stuff. The Matchbox name appears in a few places on the model. 

But, if you thought this was cool, there's more.

There are 25 additional roof pieces. This time, they have been chromed, not left plain grey. And they have a little tree stuck to them. 

These are a special run, and all proceeds from the sale or auction of these are to be donated to a local children's charity. 

It definitely looks like a little Christmas tree on the roof. I think this may be returning later in the year on my Instagram! Ha ha!

This model definitely deserves a 10 out of 10. I love it. 

As I said, this is almost like the opposite of the Collectors debut earlier this year. A simple, understated black look vs a bright Jägermeister inspired livery. Pretty much the 2 ends of the spectrum for how a model will appear. Which I think is also a great way of launching this model. 

And having 2 Slant Noses means I can show off both roof racks at the same time. Dirk does enjoy adding these little bonus extras to models. 

So, I hope you enjoyed my Leipzig themed post. Just the 2 models, but I am sure you will agree, both are stunning. 

So, as these start heading off to join the collection, they do make a pit stop. Oh, yes, Auction C is live. Are you bidding? It runs out on Saturday. Which will be just after the movie arrives as well. This week is a very busy week. I am ready for the movie. I am ready to spend more money at the auction, so no bidding against me! Ha ha!  Next week, I return to regular issues, and I guess with a nod to the movie, they should be movie related. Until then, I hope everybody has a safe and happy week.