Matchbox Monday completes batch C with some candy

After a little side venture with some classic models from my collection, it is time to get back to the regular outings. In other words, new stuff! 2 weeks ago, I began my journey through the third batch of 2025 basic range models. The batch contained 11 models in total, and after doing 6 in the first half, I have added a little bonus model to the end of this report. Please note, while Wheel Collectors sent me batch C to run through (very happy they did, as the UK appears to have skipped it), they did not get the final model in. This is a different range, but is part of a set. I will get to my "single" model later. But in the meantime, I should get on with the batch C remainder models. 

And finally, we get a new basic range outing for the MB1086 Scania P360 Fire Engine. I can't believe this model has barely been used in the basic range since it debuted back in 2018. Thankfully, it has not been forgotten, and appears as MB16 in white.

As you can see, the model sports a Feuerwehr livery on the side. I have no idea if white feuerwehr trucks are found in Germany. I tried doing a Google search, and everything I found was red. If anybody knows if white fire trucks are found in Germany, please let me know. I am curious to find out. But, that aside, I think this is a really nice livery. Simple, with stripes down the side and a few details here and there. Nothing fancy, and it works. 

However, I do notice that this model has no front print. We were spoiled with a number of releases where they managed to get the front done as well. I can't mark it down for the lack of a front print. We know that a general rule will see 2 passes through the tampo machine for a basic range. If we get a third, we are lucky. So, I am happy enough with this as is. I will score it a 10. 

So, time for a dive. As we know, this debuted back in 2018 in red. This was also a Feuerwehr livery. The casting was one of Abe Lugo's creations back in the day, and this debut look returned in the Best of Germany series in 2022.

We also saw a lovely pair of promotional models released that year, as it was chosen as Everett Marshall's Golf model for the 2018 event. As was the norm by then, half of the models are in pink for Breast Cancer Research, with the other half (this time in red) being sold on behalf of his Burns Foundation. 

In 2019, it was in yellow as a basic range model. 

After that, the model was dropped from the basic range. We did not see anything in 2020, but for 2021, it went crazy.  This was the first year of the "Best of" series with numerous countries getting a Scania. The UK got a Scania, France got a Scania. Russia got a Scania. Yes, we were inundated with red Scanias for different countries. 

And, well, that is it. During 2022 we saw a few carry forwards (the German Best of series got the debut back, and the UK Best of series saw the UK 2021 again. In 2023, the French one popped up in a carry forward 5-pack. But, nothing new at all. In fact, this is the first new offering on the Scania since that 2021 trio. Welcome back. As you can see, this has not had a lot of action since the 2018 debut. 6 regular issues and a duo of promotionals.

And, as I noted, this is only the third time it has been in the basic range. In 8 years!

Which is not something you can say about the following model. This is the MB1362 Koenigsegg Gemera. This model has been with us since 2023, meaning it is currently in its third year. Yet, this is already ahead of the Scania, as this is the model's 4th basic range release. It takes the MB55 slot in the range in matte black.

Which, I have to say, looks amazing. I don't know what it is about a matte black look on a sporty vehicle. It just looks cool. I believe this is referred to as Ash. A matte black look, which is more about exposed carbon fibre in real life. Something not really something that can be replicated in miniature. Just make it matte. 

And with the usual front and rear detailing that has been done on all the previous Gemeras, this is my favourite one to date. I love it. This is an easy 10.

The debut look was mirroring the show model in grey with a yellow interior. I know that was a good start, but I have to admit, this is my least favourite of the 4 to date. This appeared at the start of 2023.

And then at the end of 2023 (actually the first batch of 2024, but as a 2023 model), we saw another 2023 issue in yellow. This was my favourite one until now. 

With last year's official 2024 release being in turquoise. I think you can guess where that fits in my list of favourite to least favourite now. 

So, yeah, 3 years in and 4 basic range releases so far. This one has really been flying out of the Mattel offices. I wonder how much longer we will see it in the basic range. 

And now, the first of 2 new castings that I am looking at in this batch. The MB1501 '23 BMW M2. This debuts in the MB77 slot in red.

Wow! Just wow! This looks amazing. Created by Abe Lugo, which funnily enough, every single model I am looking at this week is an Abe Lugo creation. BMW launched the 2-series in 2014, and an M2 followed in 2016. When they released the 2nd generation 2-series in 2021, again the M2 was a little later. 2023 was the debut for the 2nd gen (also known by the internal code G87). This is obviously the first time that Matchbox has done a 2-series in miniature. I am very happy that they have. I love that we get all these BMWs in the range. 

The shape of the real vehicle has been captured extremely well. The side profile in particular is almost identical. Abe did wonders with that. great job.

The rear is also well represented on the model, with the exhausts sticking out that way. You can see the flared wheel arches are also immaculately curated. However, there is one little thing I couldn't help noticing.

Inside the kidney bean front end, real M2s have a more detailed grille. It is like a rippled effect in there, and this is smooth. You can see the lower slots have a ripple inside. So why was the main grille left smooth? It is the one flaw I could find in an almost perfect replica. Not that it is putting me off. I think this is awesome! But, it is the one thing that stops the casting from being perfect in my eyes.

When it comes to the design. This is what BMW called Toronto red. A beautiful bright red look, with a carbon fibre roof being replicated as well. And look at how lovely that roof is.

No, that was not a little jab at the roof on the 2024 Moving Parts MB1466 '22 Jaguar I-pace. What gives you that idea? Along with simple front and rear tampo prints, they have nailed the finished look on this model beautifully. 

So, scoring the new castings in 3 ways. Inclusion. I have to admit, any BMW being added is going to be popular for me. Unless the whole range was BMWs. Maybe that is too far. But, I love that they added another modern ICE model and cannot think of anything less than giving it a 10. Casting. Sadly, the front grille is a small sticking point. It should have been better detailed and not left smooth. A 9 out of 10 there. Design. Spotless. An easy 10. Overall, this gives the model a 29 out of 30. Which may not sound perfect, but I am still loving this model. I think it is one of my favourite BMWs released to date. 

Has anybody noticed that bases are getting less detailed lately? I am wondering if it is all the legal stuff they need to squeeze on them, making them more basic in general. 

And we are straight into the other new casting. As I noted, this is another Abe Lugo creation. The MB1502 '17 Toyota Land Cruiser 78. It debuts in the MB109 slot in tan.

Before I get into anything else, I just wanted to point out one thing immediately. The model has been created with an air funnel on the driver side, which in the artwork is detailed black. Yet, the model did not get a black print to the funnel. I will circle back to that. But first, let's do a little history of the Land Cruiser lineage. The name first appeared in 1951 with the BJ-series. This was developed as a military style vehicle, and in 1955, the J20 was added as a civilian vehicle. This was replaced by J40 series (often referred to as FJ40) and shortly after, the military BJ-series was phased out. The J40 was later replaced by the J70 series. Lower numbers in the 70s were assigned to short wheelbase models, and higher numbers to long wheelbase. This, being a 78, is a long wheelbase model. The 70-series is still going, after debuting in 1984, the model has seen mild face-lifts over the years, but is still essentially the same model. Since 1967, Toyota have also had the J50, followed by J60, J80, J100, J200 and J300 Land Cruiser. This is a more luxurious SUV style. Think of the J70 series as a Land Rover equivalent, and the J50 through J300 series as a Range Rover equivalent. There is also a Prado, which is a slightly smaller variant, which has been with us since 1990. Could this be like a Range Rover Sport equivalent? They do like making it complicated by calling 3 different vehicle a Land Cruiser. Toyota simply refer to them as the light duty (Prado), heavy duty (J70) and station wagon (currently J300) variants. 

As I mentioned, this is a long wheelbase model. However, I may be wrong, but I believe with the long wheelbase models, a 78 should refer to an SUV style, with 79 being pickup. It does appear that the real vehicle sports wheel arches like this. Making them out of the interior is the perfect way of giving us the automatic colour split. As well as being a long wheelbase, this is also the double cab variant, and has the added funnel. 

And it comes with a tow hook. This makes it a pretty long vehicle. 

The rear bed is partially formed from the interior, and the rest a part of the body. It also sports various items in there. I have not heard of an empty bed variant, so no Easter Egg here. Unless somebody knows differently. 

This model does appear to have some detailing to the grille part of the casting. It gives it a little sense of depth there. Plus, the front is detailed. 

This colour is simply known as Sand Beige by Toyota, and is real. We also see a little side design. This side graphic is something that has been added to real 78s and 79s. It is a shame that the funnel was not able to be detailed. However, when you think about it, we got front and both sides. That is already 3 passes through the tampo machine. Had they done just the side edge of the funnel, it would have looked weird. To do it properly, they would have to detail it all round. So, I do think, for the price point, they were never going to get the funnel done. However, did anybody notice the artwork showed a chrome line going through the grille? Something that was also not done in the model. That was a mistake. That could have easily been done. Yes ,I am being picky. Sometimes you do need to be. These are very well done models, so you have to look at the small things to pull them up on. 

So, how do I rate this? Well, inclusion is a 9. Why? 78, 79.  I was trying to figure out where to drop a point? Is it a casting? Not, not really. Is it inclusion? Well, I think a better option. Should they have done a 78 wagon or a 79 pickup? Pickup for sure, but they should have correctly called it a 79. That is what I think. Casting. To be honest, I can't see any reason to drop anything on the casting. Everything is done exactly how I would want it to be done. We even got a tow hook. So, here it does get a 10. Design. So close again. A dropped point for not chroming the front grille properly. I am not scoring down for not detailing the funnel. Another 9. This gives it a 28 out of 30. A decent score, and I do really like it. I can't wait to see more of them. 

Another fairly plain base. Although, at the end of the day, I don't pay too much attention.

The last model in the batch is the MB1356 '20 Polaric Ranger EV. For 2025, it gets a blue outing as MB111. 

As i said, everything this week was created by Abe Lugo. It first debuted back in 2023, and is now on its third year in the range. From what I can tell, Polaris only sell this in grey or camouflage looks. I may be wrong. However, none of those have been done by Matchbox. This is Polaris Blue. A colour used on other Polaris side by sides. Which is why they are using the design as used on the Ranger XP. It even has an XP logo on the side. Is it wrong? Technically, yes. Selling an EV with an XP look. Does it matter? Probably not. When shrunk down to miniature size, there is not a massive difference between an XP and an EV. And I think this livery is a little more lively than the one they put on the EV. Market it as an electric vehicle, but give it the look of an ICE vehicle. Ha ha!

They even managed to get tampo across the front here as well. Wait, this is the third model in a row with 3 passes through the tampo machine (or very clever 2 passes).  Whichever way, they do work hard in getting us as much as they can in the tampo printing. This is why I let things like a funnel slide. I know they have limitations, but they push them as far as they can. So, what do I score this? A 9. It is not correct, but is still a decent look.

The 2023 model debuted in black, and also had Polaris across the front. 

And last year saw the mirror of this one. That was white with blue detailing. This is blue with white detailing. I like the consistency. I may not be a massive fan of side by sides, or ATVs. But, I know they have a place, and I do like that Matchbox has a wider variety of road vehicles. 

I don't know if they will actually do the correct grey or camouflage looks for the EV. Time will tell. And that brings me to the end of this C batch. But, I am throwing in a small bonus. 

Now, Wheel Collectors have not had these in (yet, they may still get them). But, I sourced this one off eBay. Just the one. You will note that it is number 1 of 6. The Candy series first appeared in 2019 with 6 models, and then a whole new set of 6 was released in 2020. In 2024, the 2020 set returned, and a second set was added later in the year. I picked up the 2020 carry forwards in 2024, and found that pretty much everything had a variation of some sort. A 4 year gap between production runs can do that. But, for 2025, only this MB1041 '62 Nissan Junior is new. It is number 1 of 6. I contemplated. I open everything up.  The artwork is new for 2025. But, that is wasted on me. 

The Nissan was another of Abe's castings. I told you. This release sees it in pink displaying DOTS on the side. DOTS are gum drops sold in the US by Tootsie Roll Industries, which is where all the other models in the current Candy series come from. Yes, it is bright pink. Yes, it has a bright green base and green windows. Quite a lurid look, but it is funky. Not everything has to be real. And, if you look carefully, you will note that there are little eggs on the tampo as well. This is because Tootsie sell an Easter DOTS package in a pink box. Hence, the pink truck. Hmm! I should have put this in last week's blog. Ha ha!

In a weird way, I like it. I am scoring this a funky 10. Yeah, I know. The most unrealistic model of the lot gets the best score. But, then, I am weird like that. Now, what else was in the batch?

Number 2 in the set was the MB741 VW Caddy, which repeated the 2020 and 2024 release of Tootsie Roll Pop. With a 4-year gap, the difference in orange base was huge, but I heard this year saw no discernible difference. Which is why I decided not to waste money on getting something from the USA, pay to get it shipped over, to show it and then get rid of it. In fact, all the rest of the models were the same way. With 5 of 6 being carry forwards, and nothing with any discernible difference, I was not prepared to spend my money on something I really did not want. I do like my shades, but don't want to be spending money on small possibilities. You may see more of me doing that down the line. I think I will tow the line a little on carry forwards. 

Number 3 in the 2025 is a repeat of the 2024 release of the MB1226 '19 Ford Mustang GT in Razzles livery.

Number 4 repeated the 2024 release of the MB765 '64 Austin Mini Cooper 1275S in Charleston Chew design.

Number 5 is another run for the 2024 release of the MB927 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor in a Candy Blox look. 

With number 6 being a third opportunity to get the MB713 '65 Austin Minivan in its 2020 and 2024 Junior Mints look, which saw a change to the brown before. That's enough for me. If you like artwork, you might want to chase all 6. I am more than happy with just the Nissan Junior.

Which brings me to the end of another report. There were 2 new castings debuting here. 

We also saw another 3 models all in their 3rd year in the basic range. One from 2018, and 1 seeing 4 outings in its 3 years. 

And a fun little quirky addition, just for the fun of it. Next week, I turn my attention to a different range. 

Until then, it is time for these to make their way to my collection. I hope you enjoyed the latest read. And, as always, have a safe and happy week.