Matchbox Monday goes giddy for Moving Parts G

Wow! This is a lot of new castings. Out of the 6 models that appeared in the 7th, and penultimate batch of 2025, all but one are new. And the other one only debuted last year. Well, when you think about it, Matchbox release over 20 new castings in Moving Parts each year. That means almost half the range is made up of new tooling. That is a high percentage. Factor in that there will be a couple that actually debut in Collectors that can slide over into Moving Parts as well, and you can see how we get a lot of new stuff, and most of it sees one or two random outings before being largely ignored. What? You think this is another rant about how Moving Parts should be a larger range? You bet it is. We have plenty of tooling in the bank now to double the range and still feel pretty fresh. After all, many collectors seem to agree with me, that this is the best range that Matchbox has. It is the one people tend to look forward to, the most. Of course, where I am (the UK) doesn't stock these. We did have a major outlet for 3 months last year. Sainsburys took them on. Mis-handled completely. Put a box out, sells out in a day, leave empty for a month before doing the same. After 3 months of only selling 3 boxes (which only actually took 3 days to sell through), they dropped them. They weren't selling enough. Err, you weren't putting them out enough. The old adage always rings true. We can't buy what we can't find. Still, rant over, I am extremely thankful for having Wheel Collectors around, as they will happily send me all the Moving Parts models. So, let's get on with them.

Let's get the old one out-of-the-way first before checking out the new castings. He says old one. It debuted last year. Hardly old. This is the MB1463 '18 Ford Focus RS. For 2025, it takes the number 6 slot in grey.

It's not a solid grey. There is a metal flake in there. But, this does look a lot like Stealth Grey, which is an official Ford option. However, that one is a solid colour. But, as I have said numerous times, they don't have to be official colours. They took one and turned it into a more shimmery look. Personally, I think it looks great. The black wheel hubs suit this particular model as well. I think they are better than if they had chromed them, or had a gunmetal grey finish. 

The front end gets a tampo hit, as does the engine inside. The engine bay is a part of the interior section, so this does equate to 2 passes at the front end. 

And look at how well those rear lights wrap around the sides. Terrific work here from the Matchbox team. Garry Gopinath created a fantastic casting, and it is getting some awesome releases. I give this one a 10 out of 10 for the look. 

Hmm! Do I prefer it to the Nitrous Blue debut from last year? That is a tough call. These both look fantastic. I don't normally like the greys, but this one being all shimmery works well. I honestly can't decide which I prefer. Let's see whether they can match it again with the next one. 

And now it is time to settle down and check out all these awesome new castings. The first one is the MB1531 '24 Maserati GranTurismo Folgore. It takes the number 11 slot in the range in brown. 

Maserati has been poorly represented by Matchbox. Until 2025, we had a grand total of 2. A Maserati 4CLT racing car was the very first number 52, back in 1958. It ran until 1965, and a replica was created in 1994 as part of the Originals series. We then saw a Bora as MB32 from 1973 through 1977, which morphed into a US exclusive Sun Burner in 1981 for 3 years, and then cost-reduced to a Super GT model in 1985. But, those were the only 2 castings until this year, when we saw the MC-12 in the basic range, and this one in Moving Parts. And, I have to say, I much prefer this. The GranTurismo first appeared in 2007, going from planning to production in just 9 months, which was a record for a motor company. It was sold until 2019, but the mark II did not appear until 2023. It comes in 3 configurations. The Modena, which is a basic model. Then there is the Trofeo, which is the more powerful one. Both feature an ICE engine. Then we get Folgore, which is the electric variant. Matchbox has gone with the Folgore. 

The only difference between electric and ICE, apart from what is under the hood, is that there is no exhaust pipe sticking out the back. They made no effort to show off that this is an electric vehicle. It's a Maserati. Why bother trying to further up things?

Garry Gopinath is the mastermind behind this casting. He does a lot of the Moving Parts stuff. And he has done wonders here. He has captured the curves perfectly. However, there is one area that he has ignored. The bottom part of the door does curve in quite a bit. In fact, this starts shortly before the door. It has not been replicated in miniature. I am not sure why. I can't see how it would make a difference to the opening doors. It is the only thing I can that could have been done a little better. 

Talking of doors, they are the opening part in question. And they are smooth! They open and close with such ease. They fit very nicely into the side of the car, with little gap around them. Garry has done a wonderful job with that. But, I am sure, if we had the indent at the bottom of the door, it would not have affected this.

And the front area is spot on. The grille area sits just far enough in to replicate the real car perfectly. The window wipers are fantastically formed in the window. This model is a great casting. It is such a shame the door indentation isn't there to make it perfect.

Moving to the final part. The end design. The colour looks quite a lot like Rame Folgore. This is a specific copper colour that Maserati has for electric vehicles. It makes sense. The real vehicle has a shiny metallic look, but this one is more of a matte finish. Which, is fine with me. It is definitely different, and makes it stand out. Tampo printing is simply at the front and rear. Much akin to basic range models. But, to be honest, a tiny dab of colour on the side vents, and the Maserati badge detailed on the rear pillar are all that are missing. And this is a core vehicle. So, I am okay with it.

And when you open the doors, you get a lovely burgundy interior behind that light smoke window. Perfect. I am very happy with the end look. 

Final scores. Inclusion. A perfect 10. I have been wanting more Maseratis for ages, and finally we are getting some. This is well worth including. Casting. Sadly, a point off for the lack of indentation to the lower door area. It is the only thing stopping this from being absolutely perfect. Although, I think this is still one of my favourite new castings of the year. I am starting to formulate my Top 10s for the end of the year. We are only a few weeks away. Design. Again, this is back to being a perfect 10. Being a core vehicle, I am not going to downgrade for not putting side details on. This gives the model an overall score of 29 out of 30. A pretty decent debut, and something I am very much looking forward to seeing plenty more of.

I guess I will be doing a few base shots this week. First of 5.

Finally. A new classic T-bird. This one has felt like it has been a long time coming as well. The MB1543 '63 Ford Thunderbird arrives in the number 25 slot in sea blue. 

I think anybody who knows Matchbox knows that they created a casting of the MB042 '57 Ford Thunderbird way back in 1982. Somehow, it got the copyright date wrong when it transitioned from a metal to a plastic base, and it has since stated 1988. But, that model has plodded along for a very long time. It was last seen in a 2021 5-pack. Which does equate to about 4 decades of action. With 11 generations to choose from, between 1955 and 2005, we saw a second generation in 1960, when it was still fairly current. We then had a 9th generation when that was current. And the final generation was created purely as a premium casting. We also had a few NASCAR related models in the 1990s. But, there is still a lot of history to dive into. And, the last few decades has only seen that 1st gen '57 plodding along. So, finally coming up with a new "classic" has been long overdue. 

The 1963 is the final year of the 3rd generation. They also chose to go with another convertible. This was the least popular choice at the time. They sold just over 63,000 that year, and the hardtop was most popular. A Landau roof variant sold just over 12,000 and the convertible just under 6,000. The rest (around 45,000) were hardtops. So, this is quite a left field choice, considering they did the convertible on the '57. But, why do the most common? 6,000 convertibles were made. Mind you, I have been rattling my brain as to what exactly makes this a 1963. I believe this is down to the door. This time, what makes the door unique has been highlighted. There are 3 dashes on it, which appear to be a standard look on 1963 T-birds. 

And Garry, who has created this one, has made the interior slot in perfectly to the body. It's almost seamless. Which is better than the hood. That appears to be quite the gap there. Did it need to be that big?

It opens smoothly, and showcases an amazingly detailed engine bay. Wow! They have gone to town with that section. I am very impressed. But, the hood, when closed, does appear quite far from the window. 

It is the only thing I can put into question. The rest of the casting is perfect. I honestly don't know if making it a closer fit could cause it not to open properly. I am not skilled in that respect. But, the end result is the one minor blemish on a fantastic model. 

When it comes to the design, it debuts in Chalfonte Blue. An official colour option at the time. It looks spectaulat in that colour. It has lashings of chrome, which fits the vehicle perfectly. We also see that the chrome part at the rear is where the tampo comes in. Highlighting the rear lights is logical. But, as the badge is a part of the body section, we do miss that. But, again, this is a core model. We are not always going to get everything tampo printed, and I accept that.

The model does get pin striping down the sides, which I think really needs to be done to highlight the 1963 door. Wheel? Perfect. Interior. I think this suits it as well, as does the light smoke window. 

We do get a little touch of detail on the front of the hood. Which does mean we get a lot of passes through the tampo machine. Do you notice the headlights? Not simple chrome. Yes, they detailed the chrome section again. So, hood, under the hood, front, rear and 2x sides equates to 6 passes through the machine. That is a lot. I can't argue a 7th should have been done. So, scoring this is relatively easy. Inclusion. A perfect 10. This has been long overdue. Casting. A minor blemish as the hood sits too far from the window. A 9. Design. I can't argue with the level of detail they have given this. A perfect 10 again. So, another 29 out of 30 debut. Is this becoming the routine for these?

After showing base 2 of 5, let's move on to the third new casting. 

This is the MB1544 '94 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning. It debuts in the number 28 slot in red.

This is a 9th generation F-series. Matchbox has made a number of F-series castings over the years, and actually made a 9th gen as a large 4x4 vehicle during its time in production. They never made it stock. And the SVT Lightning is technically stock. It was the top of the range model for the 1993 through 1995 model years, and was developed from the original F-150 to add a sportier edge to the model. In fact, Jackie Stewart, a former F1 world champion, helped the Ford Special Vehicle Team with the handling. It had been created to compete with the Chevy 454SS truck that had launched in 1990. So, it is really cool to see Matchbox go with the sporty truck. Not a regular stock version. 

And, yes, I have been checking pictures. It appears real ones do have a bumper that sticks out that back that far. So, this is perfectly cast. And the front bumper does extend out that far. They did their homework. Of course, the basic shape of the F-series is quite boxy, so you would expect that here. And, yes, they have nailed this one. 

And that hood is a pretty tight fit. No major gaps. This is a much better finish than on the T-bird. 

But the hood is not the only opening part. The rear tailgate pops down as well. 

And that slotted in the back perfectly as well. This is a superb build. I am mega impressed with this one. 

Again, this model is seeing a lot of tampo detailing. You might have noticed the rear lights were tampo printed at the back. Well, so is the edge of the bumper, but the tailgate is a different piece. So, as that gets a print, we actually have 2 rear prints. And the sides are also seeing the logos you would see on the F-150 SVT Lightning in Vermillion, as Ford would call it. 

And, again, the engine is detailed, as well as the front. So, these would have required 2 hits again. So, yet again, we see 6 tampo prints on a model. Jeez! These are getting some serious love for core models. 

In fact, can I say, these headlights are about the best detailed headlights I have ever seen. You can almost feel the plastic ness of them in the tampo print. That is awesome.

So, how to score this? Easy. Inclusion. I think it is fantastic that they have a sporty pickup in the Moving Parts series. An easy 10. I don't think there are too many F-series yet. It's a popular truck, so we deserve a variety from across the generations. Casting. A perfect score here. I cannot fault it. 10 out of 10. Design. Again, this is as good as you could expect from a core model. A perfect 10. Well, we have a leader. A perfect 30 out of 30 for a debut. I look forward to seeing what they come up with next for it. 

Base 3 of 5. I honestly have no idea why they wasted a chroming on this one. You can only see it when you flip the model over. That was perhaps a little too much. But, I scored it how I scored it. The base is not something I worry about too much. 

Another red one. This is the MB1546 '84 Rover SD1 Vitesse. It takes the number 36 slot for its debut. 

They did miss a trick with this. As some may know, during the Lesney era, Matchbox came up with the Rover 3500 in 1980, which is the top of the range SD1. When they were getting close to launch, one of their biggest competitors actually debuted the model in yellow. Their original plan was yellow, but this was swiftly changed to bronze. The yellow was simply thrown in the Car Transporter gift set to get rid of the small run that had been made. Seeing that we had a red Ford, they should have debuted this one in yellow. Yellow was an option on the 1984 SD1. 

Being a later variant than the older Rover 3500 from 1980, To put them in context, the SD1 debuted in 1977, and in 1982, it saw a facelift, being referred to as the series 2. The basic shape is the same, but there were lots of differences between series 1 and series 2. So, it is cool that they have gone with the later gen model. I am not going to compare it here with the old Lesney one. I am simply going to look at it through new eyes. After all, the Lesney era was a completely different era, and models were often created much fatter than real vehicles. This has been scaled back somewhat in the modern era. So, although both are about the same size, the new one does look much leaner. And it looks just like a series 2 SD1. It has a cool rear spoiler. The shape has been captured extremely well by Garry.

A part of me is sad they didn't go with the opening sunroof. But, let's be honest, it does require a lip on the top to enable you to do it. Sure, there is a nostalgia factor, but I bet people would complain it was not realistic. And this is so realistic. 

They went with the opening bonnet, as it is referred to as in the UK. It is a British car. And this one opens the other way, tilting forward. 

And we do get a lovely detailed engine in there. This is fantastic work. 

However, as you sometimes get, it doesn't always close correctly. If you try to close it fast, you might end up getting it in a weird position. And it doesn't just click down. Well, it might. But, you might damage it doing that. I re-opened it and closed it again. 

When it comes to the design, as I said, they missed a perfect opportunity to debut it in yellow, as the original was supposed to have been. The red is very nice, though. Monza Red, as it was officially known as. We saw simple front and rear tampo, as well as the engine bay. We also had side pin striping and window edging. 5 passes. A decent amount. 

So, how do I score this? Inclusion. I love it! A classic British vehicle from the 1980s. A perfect addition, and a nod to the past. What's not to love? Casting? Oh dear, I am docking a point due to the flaw with the opening bonnet. Had it closed effortlessly each time, this would have been a perfect score, but I cannot give it that with this flaw. So, a 9. Design. You can't argue that this is extremely well finished. But, due to there already being a red new casting, and this being a nod to the past, shall I nudge a half point off for not going with yellow? Am I being cruel? Perhaps. But, sometimes I have to be. I mean, I can't just keep throwing out 10s for everything. So, a 9.5 here. Which puts this bottom of the pile on a 28.5. Oh, dear. And I love it. And yet, I have just scored it the lowest out of the new castings. Well, it's strange how things go. 

The red base fits the red car much better than with the F-150s chrome. That's 4 out of 5 bases. 

Which means I am on to my last model. The MB1542 '04 Ford Excursion. It debuts in the number 50 slot out of 50, and comes in a lovely metallic dark blue.

The Ford Excursion was only ever available in this one generation. It was created in 2000 as a competitor to the larger Chevy Suburban option or GMC Yukon XL, when it arrived, it was the largest, and heaviest SUV to enter the market. It was based on a larger F-series platform. The smaller F-series, that the Expedition was based on, was too fragile to hold this weight. This was a behemoth. And, let's be honest, the model looks like one as well. 

This is a big model. Garry, Gopinath did not shrink it down too much. He utilized as much are as he could to make this feel big, even when small. And he has nailed the aesthetic of the real thing. Just look at all the attention to detail in the door handles, door frames etc. I can't see anything here that he could have done differently. 

But, when looking from above, what am I seeing? Yes, a big gap leading to the opening hood. 

It opens very smoothly, and as is the norm, we are seeing a fully detailed engine in there. But, again, is this not something that can be a little closer to the body? I just feel that these opening parts can sometimes have too much of a gap around them. To be honest, we are getting a lot of engine bays being opened. I am starting to tire of this being the go-to opening feature. We saw just the Maserati with an alternate opening (although the F-150 did get the tailgate as well). Yes, they have engines. But, why was this not opened elsewhere? I would have gone doors again. Although, with the fact that doors had tampo printing along the bottom, maybe the rear? Because, do you know how they opened the rear? Window lifts up, doors open from the middle to the sides. I would have loved for them to attempt that unique feature. But, no, we went with the boring engine bay again. 

I think the possibility was there to attempt a unique rear opening. 

When it comes to design, Deep Wedewood Blue Clearcoat was an official option on the Excursion. And this has been lovingly recreated. The front chromed are is perfect as part of the chrome base, and this also gets a tampo hit. The headlights are a part of the body section, which means the front saw 3 passes. Engine, lights, grille. 

With the rear seeing just lights and badges. 

With the sides getting nothing. The grey lower section is actually a part of the interior. Which could be partly why they didn't do the doors. I still think the rear could have been an option. Anyway, let's score this. Inclusion. A unique vehicle. I love seeing random vehicles you wouldn't naturally think of. Classic Fords? Thunderbird. Yes. F-series? Yes. Both appearing in this batch. Both very well known. Excursion? What? Oh, there was one. I love it. The randomness of this one. 10 out of 10. Casting. Again, that opening hood leaving a large gap is annoying. I honestly do not know if this is something that they have no control over. But, it still irks me. So a 9. Design. I cannot fault the end look. 10. So, we get yet another 29 out of 30 for a new casting. Only the F-150 scored higher, and the Rover fractionally lower. It is a great addition, though. I hope we see plenty of them. 

And, with a 5th and final base shot, I am done for another batch. 

Ford, Ford, Ford. Am I missing something?

Oh, yes, another Ford. Along with a Rover and Maserati. This was rather Ford-heavy. And also engine bay heavy. Only the Maserati kept the engine bay hidden.

So, as these head off to join the collection, I suppose I should finish off batch L next week. Just in time for Christmas. In the meantime, I hope everybody has a safe and happy week.