Matchbox Monday finishes off batch D of 2022

Well as it has been a good few weeks since the first half of these, I thought it was about time I finished off batch D of the 2022 basic range.  

I am quite amazed at how the Matchbox team have worked hard on digging out some of the slightly older castings, freshen them up, and give them a new lease of life.  One such example is the MB611 Nissan Z.  The packaging is showing it as the 2003 Nissan 350Z.  But when it first appeared, it was simply the Z.  This is the second time we have seen it since it was revamped and revitalized.  It is MB13 in the 2022 basic range.  

It comes in silver for this release, and sports a red and white flash down the sides, along with various logos, including a Matchbox Japan one.  This logo appears to be somewhat similar to others I have seen recently.  

And what you may have noticed more than anything, is that you can see through those windows.  Yes.  When it made its comeback last year, the windows were black, and there was no interior.  People thought it had been cost reduced.  But I think this is a casting that can sort of be mid-way.  If they need only so many parts for the series, they can cut it, but if they have space to add it, that interior can still be included.  The Matchbox team does have budgetary constraints, as any company will.  They will try their best to squeeze in as much as they can.  Occasionally, they look like they have a few models that can be built with or without an interior.  This, and the '19 Mustang GT are prime examples.  We may see them go either way. As I have mentioned before, the profit margin for the basic range is wafer thin.  The Moving Parts range is slowly building up, and I hope that it could take over.  They have a little more wiggle room with those to do more that we, as collectors, like.  

So, I know I did it last year, but let's go through these again. 2004.  Yes, 18 years ago, the Nissan Z first made its debut in the Matchbox range, taking the MB62 slot in red.  

It was also given a second outing that same year.  The new team, based in El Segundo, had just taken charge, and this was one of the first little things they did.  Give us a few version 2s in the range. So it later turned blue.  And me being me, I have found lighter and darker shades.  

It was also added to the Superfast series as well.  This model was in bronze, but was limited to the US market.

For 2005, the model was sold as MB29 in the basic range.  It was black, had red windows, and a large white "Z" side design.  I did find a blooper.  One that was missing the tampo.  

2005 also saw a launcher model.  This was in green and featured black windows.  It was in a set called Auto Carrier.  

And for the 2005 Superfast series, the US release stayed as the US release, but a secondary one was also sold in other markets.  The US was in yellow, limited to 15,000 examples, whereas the ROW was in white and limited to only 7,500.  

For 2006 the model was dropped from the basic range.  However, licensed 5-packs seemed to be its major source for outings.  It appeared in 2 different ones.  Both with a sort of anime theme. There was an Avatar release in white, and a Shonen Jump release in yellow.  

And we still got the Superfast issue.  However, the ROW experiment had gone, and it was back to just the US issue.  This time it was in tan.  

2007 saw it back in the basic range, in lime gold as MB15.  Again, I was noticing the shade was useful for a shade or 2.  

This time, an alternate appeared in the "Real" 10-pack that year in cranberry.  

2008 saw it sold as MB23 in the basic range.  Again, this was a 2-release seller.  It started off in charcoal, of which I was noticing nice shades.  

And later on, it turned grey.  This had a bit of a NISMO look going over the front corner of it too.  Very cool.  Again, I did spot a shade to it.  

And it was also a part of the "Real" 10-pack again.  This time it was blue, and as I had done with all 2008 issues, I got shades.  After that?  Tumbleweeds....

Until last year, when it returned after a 13-year absence.  It was sold as MB75 in off-white, or cream, depending on how your shade turned out.  As I said, this featured black windows again, and no interior.  Some thought that was it.  The interior was gone.  But no.  It has the capability to be sold with, or without.  It just depends on the current circumstances.

So what's next?  The MB1243 MBX Field Car.  Now in year 2 of its life, this time out it is being sold as MB15 in blue.

It features a lovely little Mountain Bike Ridge logo on a striped side design.  A nice little design, and obviously in this day and age, promoting a healthy lifestyle too.  

I like the look of this one.  Although I did enjoy the debut look too.  This may be a Matchbox Originals design, but it is a nice design.  

And talking of the original, the MB17 from 2021 pops up too.  As we know, this was good for shades, as it appeared in the basic, and then was thrown in a number of 9-packs too.  It saw production for quite a while.  

A little bit more than this one.  The 2021 Toy Fair model. That was extremely limited, and not easy to obtain.  

So this casting is still in early days.  And as it sports a tow hook, I am waiting for them to give it something to tow. Come on, Hitch & Haul release.  

Hello brand-new casting.  This is the MB1291 '66 Dodge Charger.   It is being sold in the 2022 range as MB51.  

It debuts in orange with very simple front and rear detailing.  How simple?  Did you even notice the front?

Due to the front grille being a part of the base, and chromed, there was not a lot of extra detailing to be had.  But there is a little silver trim going around it, and the word Dodge is in the middle there.  

The rear is a little more noticeable, as the word Charger is on a red background.  It stands out more.  Sure, the Dodge trunk emblem is a little plain, but it is being highlighted.

There is no tampo detailing to the sides, as expected if front and rear are done.  But then, the real vehicle has precious little on the sides that would have needed picking out anyway.  And this view gives us a great indication of the shape the model takes.  This definitely looks like a great representation of the real vehicle.  I think the team have done a wonderful job recreating this in miniature.  

It is definitely a model that, when announced, I was really looking forward to it, but when I arrives it is even better than I hoped. I think "Wow!"  Yes, I am loving this one.  A great job, with a lot of small details carefully picked out.  The only minor gripe I would have is with that rear trunk emblem.  When you see the real vehicle (mostly in pictures), you notice how the emblem is concave. This appears more convex. But it does stick up at first, to then go concave.  It might just have been a little tough to get that correctly in miniature, so I am not going to worry about it.  Although it is a shame it didn't get a touch more detailing to it.

And being a new casting means I will show a base shot.  I know some people like to see what is on there.

But I am not finished with this one yet.  Because, you know, shades!  Oh, look at the difference between lighter and darker orange.  That is quite a stark difference.  

Although with the light one, it actually appears to have a slight fade to it.  Yes, the front is slightly lighter than the rear.  I think it has a little to do with how much covering it has.  It looks like the front was perhaps not getting a full coverage.  

And of course, I could not move on to the next model without a little addendum.  I have actually wanted somethinglike this ever since I was a kid.  Because when Lesney came up with a Charger, they turned it into a bunch of wilder vehicles. The first of which was the Dragster in 1972.  

So when we had that, and Big Banger, Pi-Eyed Piper, and all I wanted was a simple Charger.  50 years later and I finally get one. As I said, Wow!  I am very happy with this.  Plus, as I move on to the next model, it is even cooler.

Because after the Dodge Charger, we get a Dodge Charger!  Woohoo!  This is the modern one.  The MB1168 '18 Dodge Charger.  I am a big fan of multi generations of the same model. It also takes the next number too; MB52.  

It comes in purple.  I checked.  Dodge has a colour choice very similar to this called Hellraisin.  It is not quite this shade, but it is close.  Maybe having "hell" in the name, they were a little worried over making it exact.  Ha ha!  What?  They are officially kids toys.  I know we had "Hellraiser" in the 1970s, but that was a different age.  In those days, they would put cigarette company logos on toy cars. As times change, so does responsibilities over what can and can't be added to toys.

But regardless of any possible politics (or not, it may be nothing to do with that), I really like this one.  I love seeing models in not grey, black, white, blue or red. There is nothing wrong with any of those. I drive a red car. It is just that those are the 5 most common colours for cars, and I do enjoy when we get other possibilities.  Purple, green, yellow, orange, pink, brown, and so many subtle shades too (like teal, gold, well you know what I mean, I could go on for ages).  What do you mean I do anyway? Ha ha!  This one is a really nice model, with simple front and rear detailing, and just looks fantastic to me.

Especially when I find it is good for a shade. I keep finding them don't I.  

So, darker and lighter purple?  Still not the "hellraisin" shade.  But both really cool.  

And this is just a brilliant "then and now" for the Dodge Charger.  And look, neither were in a really common colour.  Orange and purple. Loving them. Well, this one does have a back history, so shall I dive in?

It first arrived in 2019 as MB2 in green.  

And for 2020, it turned blue as MB15 for the year.  

For 2021, the model turned plain grey as MB55.  

This year, therefore, marks its 4th outing in the basic range, but also the first time we have seen it elsewhere.  This red one was a part of the first Walmart Dodge series batch earlier this year.

And this latest release is the first time we have seen the rear licence plate not sporting either the model's first or last name.  Charger, Dodge, Charger, Charger.... PlmCrzy!  Oh yeah, I just love checking out licence plates.  Especially for the fun ones.  Although I am still to find one that beats the Trailer Trawler's "Campy AF" plate.  

I guess it is time for a different manufacturer now.  Mazda. This is the MB1077 Mazda CX-5, 2nd generation.  I am glad to see this model is getting a little more love again.

Taking the MB57 slot in the 2022 basic range, it now comes in a dark blue. I think this is officially known as deep crystal blue mica.  Again, as with so many models, this gets a lovely simple front and rear tampo design.  

Which, I have to admit, is often my preferred choice for getting models.  I love the simple and realistic look.  It is what Matchbox does best.  That was the reason I fell in love with this brand, and continue to support it. And this model is getting this in spades.  

Because this arrived as MB93 in 2018 in grey.  This was the only release in its original incarnation before the casting was altered.  For some reason, Mazda really wanted the front licence plate to be added.

As such, that arrived for the 2019 MB18 release in red.  And it just has Mazda printed on it.  

But after 2019, the model took a year off.  However, 2021 saw it return as MB63 in black.  

This is the model's 4th release, and so far it has only been seen in the basic range.  At some point, I wonder if it will move to another range.  I also wonder if there will be a chance for a carry forward, and they re-release the debut grey one.  Because obviously, that will get the updated casting.  

Ooh, the fun one.  The MB1251 Road Stripe King.  This model takes the MB60 slot for 2022 in its second outing.  

It comes in a nice design, in white with a blue base, grey window/interior component and Matchbox Freeway Services side design.  Simple, straightforward, and I think a nice look for the model.

Plus, the model sports that lovely little hole in the middle.

So that you can pop in a pencil, felt tip or something similar (although it does have to be fairly thin), to enable you to scribble the surface you are rolling the model around on.  

If you may remember, it debuted last year as MB25 in yellow, in a recurring Matchbox City livery.  

The shading was so good for that model that I ended up with 3 of them.  It was so cool.  

I really like the look of this one.  The MB1207 '41 Cadillac Series 62 in red. It is a series 62, and also appears as MB62 in the range.  Coincidence? Yeah, I am guessing so.  It was a 1 in 100 chance, after all. And as I often notice (I do read them before ripping apart, the packaging does add "Convertible Coupe" to the title too.  

As I said, this is a lovely colour for this model. I think this shade of red really suits the Cadillac.  As has been the case since it first arrived, this model is sporting a chrome base, along with front and side detailing.  

Paired with a tan interior, this gives a lovely end result to this model, and I have to say, it is definitely one of my favourites seen so far from the casting.  So I am very happy with this one.And how can I improve on that?

Why, by finding a shade, of course.  Yes, as I have done with quite a few from this batch, I have noticed this has been doing a good job in coming in different shades of red.  

So I find something good and double up.  Yes, this makes me happy.  So, shall I do a recap again?  Why not.

It was 2020 when we first saw this casting.  It debuted in the basic range as MB9 and came in a dark green metallic shade.  I believe it is referred to as El Centro, and I also believe that Abe Lugo, who runs the Matchbox team in El Segundo, owns one in this colour.  

The 2021 MB34 in pale yellow was another that I spotted a shade to.  

But this was not all we saw for 2021, as there was a Walmart exclusive (in the USA) Cadillac Series.  Both batches saw a unique Series 62, and the first was even more special.  The roof was up.  I love that look, and am still awaiting them to do another with the roof up. Plus, it looked really nice in black. 

The second batch saw another, this time in a dark metallic blue.  

Which means we are currently up to 5 models released so far for this casting.  Daft fact, they all have the same tampo printing, wheels and chrome base.  But if the top is down, they have a tan interior.  If it is up, they have a red interior.  Coincidence?  Again, I have a feeling it is.  But I absolutely love this consistency with this one.  

Wait, have I just done them all?  2x Dodges, a Cadillac, MBX Field Car, Road Stripe, Nissan, and a Mazda.  Yep.  That's it, batch D is in the books.  I need to get on with batch E soon.  But before anything else, you know what I am about to do now.  Another dive back.

I thought I would do something a little different to start.  But it is good.  The Ford D-series was launched in 1965 and production ran until 1980, when it was replaced by the Ford Cargo in Europe.  Lesney created a casting of a Grit Truck using the D-series chassis in 1966, and in 1967 added a Refuse Truck rear as an alternate too.  Both vehicles would stay in the same colour combination throughout their runs, and both would make the transition to Superfast too.  But only just.  So with both having little in the way of variations, I decided to lump them together.  

It was fairly common for Lesney to create alternatives using many of the same components for models.  I bet some people never even noticed there were 2 of the same vehicle in the range, as with alternate rears, they looked so different.  And both had such a high level of play value too.  Let's start with the Refuse Truck.

The Refuse Truck was first launched in 1967, taking the MB7 slot in the basic range, where it ran for 4 years.  It was always orange, and featured a grey plastic container and silver metal loader at the rear. Windows were always green, Shades of body and container are known, and in early years, small modifications were made to strengthen parts, because this was a seriously cool piece of construction.  

The container would tip backwards and the loader was on a slider, which would allow it to move back and rise with the container in the opposite direction.  It was an ingenious method of construction and I always loved the play value to this.  

Obviously, as I have mentioned in the past, I only begin with Superfast, which means my models are only from the final year or so of production.  The model was converted during 1970, and even for this final blast of production, shades of orange were really extreme.  

In the early years of Superfast, many models would see the new, updated bases sport axle clips.  Those were to be found in either black or red, and therefore are pretty common to mix and match.  Sometimes on the same model.  The factory weren't bothered.  Mind you, neither am I.  This was a pure coincidence for me, due to the lighter and darker orange shades.

Another thing is the fact that this model was replaced in 1971.  But that did not mean January 1.  It was at some point during the year that a certain Hairy Hustler saw its debut, which meant that in later 1971 runs of the model as it was fading out saw the new wider wheels added.  This was because they were noticing the new track they were selling wasn't holding models with thin wheels as well as those with wide ones.  So they set about fattening all the wheels across the entire range.  This just happened to see the change just before being replaced, as there was no work involved in changing them.  Some models needed quite a bit of cosmetic surgery to the castings to make the wider wheels fit.  But sadly, once the Hairy Hustler was out, this model was gone for good.

But the earlier Ford D-series casting that had debuted in 1966 was still plodding along.  Although they were based off the same cab, a lot of the rest, from the cab onwards, was completely different.  

From the front, you can tell these were the same basic casting.  When creating the Refuse Truck, they took the Grit Spreader and adapted it into something new.  The Grit Spreader was always red with a yellow spreader section.  

Again, only owning Superfast ones, I can only mention the pre-Superfast MB70 issues from 1969 through 1969.  A few small tweaks to the casting for strengthening purposes was all we saw apart from one small change.  I can show you the clever little play value of this one.  Do you notice the spreader has a hole at the bottom of the yellow section.  

It had a small plastic slider at the back of the truck.  If you were to pull it out, the gap at the bottom of the spreader section would then open properly, and if somebody were to pop in some sand, or other fine materials, these would go down the chute and fall out of the bottom of the truck as it was moving along.  This truck is what the Road Stripe King I showcased earlier in this report, reminds me of.  

Because if you were to fill it with something, open the slider, and roll the model, whatever was inside would fall down the chute, through that gap, and be left on the floor, table, or whatever surface you were rolling the model along.  What fun.  That slider was originally black, but was soon turned grey, long before the Superfast switch.  Superfast models only have grey sliders.

But the weird part of this one is that it didn't follow the same route as the Refuse Truck.  Yes, we saw red or black clips on the base.  That was pretty general.  Black does tend to be more common in general, too. But where I had mentioned the Refuse Truck switching from thin to thick wheels as it was being phased out in 1971, this one didn't.  It even ran all the way through 1971 before being dropped quite early in 1972, replaced by a Dodge Dragster.  But although the wheels were always thin, we did see them either sporting 4-spokes or 5-spokes.  Again, after it was dropped, we never saw this, or any other D-series related model in the basic range again.  

So time to move on to the 1980s.  Well, in Matchbox terms anyway.  Jerry "Tyrone" Malone had been working with Bandag Inc, a US company specializing in repurposed tyres, and he created 2 extreme creations based on a Kenworth chassis.  The Bandag Bandit in black, and the Super Boss in white.  These were taken on specialist Kenworth custom trailer units around the USA, touring and showing off their extreme abilities.  But they were created in the 1970s.  But it took Lesney until 1982 to add them both.  Bandag Bandit was only in the US range, but Super Boss was put in the range worldwide as MB66-D.  It was white (obviously) but the level of blue and red decoration was not as extreme as the real vehicle.  Pre-production samples were showing the model sporting wheels that were actually used on the PowerTrack slot car racing sets, but when it debuted, it had regular wheels that we would always see on basic range models.  However, the first production run sported the Bandag door logo that was also included on the Bandag Bandit.  But they quickly decided to stop doing that.

And almost immediately it was switched to a plain blue dot, that continued on for the rest of production.  Those with the Bandag logo are not the easiest to find.  

But you know, this was Lesney with England production, so you know that things changes all the time.  There was only the 1 run with Bandag written on the door, so it has just one variant, but after the switch to a simple blue dot?  Well, the gloves were off for that.

For example, when it came to tampo printing the huge rear wing, there was the full blue and red printing.  There was the "we forgot the red print" variant.  There was the "huh, we were supposed to tampo print this thing" variant.  That factory was just so much fun.  

Then we get the wheels.  5-crown front wheels were the norm, but they were often found with dot-dash. The rear also saw the regular dot-dash switch to 5-arch on occasion.  

Then of course, as the year was finishing up, they decided that they should add Detroit Diesel to the roof.  Strangely enough, this was at the end of the year, at the time when they had just given up with the whole tampo printing of the spoiler routine.  So a Detroit Diesel roof will only appear on a plain spoiler model.  

And if you were really paying attention, you might find the rear wheel wider and narrower assortment too.  The narrower is still pretty wide, so it can be easy to miss.

The widest wheels are the aforementioned 5-arch wheels.  

This is a fun little point too.  As 1983 began, they decided to add the actual transporter vehicle that Malone had designed back in the 1970s to transport the real Bandag Bandit and Super Boss around the country.  Production was still in England temporarily, and they decided to change something with the model for the debut of CY-10.

They decided that for the Convoy release, the windows would be red.

Instead of the usual green windows that the basic range had.  Of course, not all the Convoy ones saw red windows.  Some were found with green ones.  Shortly after production started, they moved production of the Kenworth over to Macau, but left a secondary one in the UK.  The England factory didn't bother with red windows after a short run, and just left it with green.  After a few years, CY-10 was dropped and that was it for England production.  

But as I said, in 1983, the basic range was moved to Macau.  Just look how different it was.

Yeah, you do need to check the base to see where it was made.  There are no obvious clues.

But Macau was not so straightforward either.  MB066 was sold for just one more year in the US range.  They dropped it after 1983.  But the ROW range kept it going until 1986. However, Macau was not quite prepared for this weird spoiler.  At first they simply added a decal to the rear of it with Tyrone Malone on it, until they figured out how to tampo print it.  Although there is a crossover.  If you were to look carefully, you might find the decal with name, and 4 tampo printed stripes.  They didn't want to waste the decals.  A short run later, and the whole thing was tampo printed.  This was all during 1983, so appeared worldwide.  

And obviously the tampo printing (especially the blue) was good for shades.

But after 1983, the ROW range was plodding along, and late in 1985 they decided to switch the wider front wheels for narrower ones.  

And during 1986, another major change occurred.  You can obviously see what that was.  

Well, obviously, they moved production from Macau to China to finish off.  The model was dropped from the ROW range after 1986.  Chinese models all kept the thinner front wheel that Macau had switched to in 1985.

But this was not the end of the model.  It was adapted in 1987 to be a part of the Roadblasters series.  Barrel Bomber was a part of the Turbo Force team, and came in tan with an alternate rear section in place of the spoiler.  

It came with 2 rockets on a launcher that could be clipped into the back of the model.

The launcher itself would pivot up and down on the rear ramp section, and (using your imagination) fire the 2 rockets off to defeat the enemies.  

After this, the model did go a little quiet.  But it came back in 1991 for a little fun.  They included it in the Graffic Traffic series in plain white.

And the model was also one of many brought back for a SuperValuePack.  These were a Chinese made run of castings that had not been seen much, which were then packaged up in selections of 6 and sold in the USA.  

The biggest difference between these and the 1986 basic range was the maltese cross front wheels, in place of the thinner 5-crown that had been used before.  

Although if you were to check the base, you would find that it was slightly different too.  The earlier one had been adapted from the original England base.  This run had been adapted from the later Macau base.  After these, the casting was retired.

Time to move into the 1990s properly now, with a model that didn't hang around for very long.  The MB252 Ford Escort RS Cosworth.  The third of 3 different Escorts that Matchbox has made over the years (2nd gen, 3rd gen, 4th gen, although some split 3 and 4 into 2 separate generations, even though they were only facelifts in reality).  The model debuted as MB52 worldwide in 1994, and ran for 4 years.  

Production began in Thailand, but was swiftly sent off to China instead. It stayed in China for the rest of its life. 

Gold wheels were a 1994 thing, as part of their debut under Tyco's regime.  For 1995 it switched to chrome wheels.  

But then they decided to switch things up.  When debuting, the model had a blue interior and white base. Part way through 1995, these were reversed.  The blue interior became white.

With the white base turning blue.  I think that was quite a logical choice for the base, as with it forming the rear bumpers, they were tampo printing the base section blue on the sides.  By switching it, they no longer had to tampo print the base.  

For 1996 it was given a new look.  Gone was the rally livery and in came a metallic red with yellow side flash design.  Yes, Tyco had really got the teeth into this one.  

The base was good for shade. I got it because of the previously mentioned bumper part, but flipped to show the base, as it is easier to see like that.  

The design did run until 1997, but before they released the 1997 look, final runs did see the new concave 5-spoke wheel debut on the 1996 model.

The model was also added to 2 different 4-packs in 1996.  The first was a Racing pack, and it was white with a black and Ford/23 design.  The second was as a part of an ROW only City Life set in red with a 5 splash on the side.  This red one did also run into 1997, and the final run was switched to the new concave 5-spokes too, although I cannot find one to save my life.

It also saw a Mol promotional issue, which was sold in Hungary.  These came in unique boxes with the Mol logo on them.  

For its final year in the basic range, it turned black with a 1 and yellow/white flash design for the basic range.  

As this was 1997, if you lived in the USA, you would be able to participate in the Gold Challenge hunt.  Random boxes of basics would find models in gold in place of their usual looks.  Therefore, the Escort would be found in gold there.  

I did obtain a pre-production sample is plain non-metallic gold.  

After 1997, the model was dropped and lay dormant for a few years.  However, for those in the UK market, for 2000, it was included as MB15 in white with the UK flag on the side.  All the sub-series of 5 had this flag on the side.  But once this was finished, so was the model.  A new Focus (the Escort's replacement) had debuted that year too, so this was deemed out of date and discarded.  

So now we move into the 2000s, and a Matchbox originals casting.  The early 2000s saw a lot of these, with many based around "heroic" vehicles, due to the move to Hero City.  It made sense.  But there were a lot of fire vehicles added.  This particular one was the MB566 Highway Rescue Fire Truck. And it had a busy start.  It debuted in the 2003 range as MB1 in dark metallic red.

Which meant, being the last of 3 logo years, this model came with a Hero City logo on the first 10,000 examples.  

We also saw it at the end of the year in a Mattel store exclusive 20-pack.  These packs contained 20 models from that year's range.  However, 3 were in exclusive liveries, 7 saw a change of something specific (like a colour), with the rest simply seeing gold wheels in place of the regular chrome ones.  

But that was not it for the debut year.  It was a part of a 5-Alarm Launcher pack too in white.  

And another dark metallic red release was included in a USA only 3-pack.  This was part of their "Heroes" series.  

In comparison, 2004 was very quiet.  It was not in the basic range. At all.  Period.  1 year and it was done there.  We only saw 1 issue.  That was an exclusive model in one of the unique Car-Go playsets that they came up with.  These sets were actually designed like a large cup, and (as the name suggests) were designed to slot into the drinks holder in a car.  But when you open them up, there was a capability to create a tiny set of sorts to play with.  

For 2005, the model was added to the Fire 5-pack in white.

And it was given not 1, but 2 Launcher pack releases.  Both in metallic dark red too.  The grey reared model was in the Fire Truck set, and the brown reared model was in the Rescue set.  

2006 saw another 5-pack issue of the model.  With the Metropolis name emblazoned on the side of this model, I think you might guess this gold release was part of the Superman Returns film tie-in that they released.  

It was also given another playset release.  This time a part of the Pop-up Fire Station set.  

It took 2007 off before coming back in 2008 in yet another playset.  This time it was a Transporter set.

But again, it was not alone.  A Skybusters Action Pack called Highway Rescue found this model, along with another miniature, a Skybusters plane, a mini playmat and few accessories.  

So, playsets.  Yes, 2009 saw 2 of them.  Red was in the Pop-Up Fire Rescue set, and white was a part of a Transporter set.  

We didn't see the model for a few years after that.  By which time, playset exclusives were being phased out.  So it was back to 5-packs for this one.  In 2012, it was in the EMT pack.  However, you might have noticed that some came with a milky red window component, compared to the regular red window.  

For 2013, it was in another EMT 5-pack.  But during the last year, they slightly modified the casting, and as such it was now known as MB871.  

That particular model only saw 2 releases.  After the yellow 2013, we saw nothing for 2 years, before it popped back up in the 2016 Fire 5-pack.  We have not seen the casting since.  

The MB1081 Yamaha Bolt SCR950.  This model was created for the 2018 basic range and debuted as MB89.

It was mainly black, with a red tank and grey handlebars.  It also sported the Yamaha name on the side.  It was the second Yamaha that Matchbox had ever made for the basic range after the Rhino.

But this one did not last.  Because this is it.  A debut and ending.  We have not seen it since.  I don't know why.  

I always get a little sad with 1-and-done castings.  Such a shame when things just see a single release and never get used again.  Maybe it will crop up again.  There are a few bike castings out there, especially in relation to the Jurassic World series.  So who knows if we will see it again.  

But you will see me again.  I will be back next week with another rundown of Matchbox models.  But not batch D, as that is finished.  This half had 2 originals castings.  

3x US vehicles, 2 of which were Dodge Chargers.

As well as 2x Japanese vehicles.  Next week...

Why am I getting stuck on "Japanese"?  Hmm!  Next week, another run down of some new stuff and more dives in to my collection.  Until then, I hope you all have a good week and catch you here at my new home at Wheel Collectors for more vehicles.