Matchbox Monday hands us the rest of batch H

I'm back in the basic range again. However, before I continue, I would also like to point out that Leipzig is closing in, and if you head over to the Lamley Group web page, you will find the first batch of auction items that Dirk Schleuer has offered to anybody to bid on. That is, if you are reading this on the week it was posted. If you read it in week 2, you will find the last batch of auction items, and after that, bidding is closed. You will also find me having a nose at the lovely exclusives that Matchbox created for the event next week. But, for now, I do have a batch of basics to finish up. So, without further delay, let's get on with them.

I start this week with the MB1302 '18 Toyota 4Runner, which makes its return to the basic range as MB9. For 2025, it is sold in white.

Toyota called this "Super White". I am not sure why. What is super about it? It does look great on a model, though. Matchbox has given us a lovely rendition, expertly created by Abe Lugo, featuring simple front and rear tampo, plus black wheel hubs. They look great on a white model. However, the interior is grey. This forms the lower front bumper section, and stands out due to being so light. I have done a little searching, and it appears that the real ones do come with a grey lower section like that. Although it does appear more common with either a black or white section. I think black might have been a little better. Personal choice I guess. Mind you, with the black tampo for the radiator grille in place, were they thinking it was too much black? I think it would have worked better.

It does sneak out the rear a little bit. Not as much. The rest of the rear is spot on. I love the realism they put on to models like this detailing lights and badges. 

And, as a bonus, we also got a shade. White is often good for a shade, as the thicker application of paint (usually at the top or bottom end of the paint tree, where the sprayer stops to start going back the other way), does tend to give off a bit of a creamier hue to the model. But, I am not overly happy with the grey interior. So, I will score this one a 9.

It worked better on the 2022 debut in red. Which I did find a little shading to. Some coming out a little more pinkish in the tint. 

And 2023 gave us this awesome light blue. Again, I saw a shade. But, this one does feature the black interior.It works fine with the tampo printed grille above. 

And, after taking 2024 off, it returned earlier this year as a Super Chase. Again, shades were to be found, but again, this had a black interior.

So, 4 releases in. I do prefer having a black interior. Unless they come out with a dark grey. Light grey would work better then. I still look forward to seeing what the next one will look like.

Porsche! I mean, next up we have the MB1305 Porsche Cayenne Turbo. Another of Abe's creations, which comes in a dark purple hue for 2025 as MB19.

As we know, Porsche has this thing called Paint to Sample. And included are many colour options. The closest we have is Velvet Purple Metallic. It does look like the model is a slightly darker hue. But, it is fairly close. We get the usual front and rear prints. Chrome wheel hubs look perfect here. And a clear window shows off the black interior perfectly. 

I don't think there is much that can be done, except it is a shame they don't add a license plate detail. I just feel it would have helped the rear end by having a plate added. It looks like quite a large blank area. Much like the Audi TTRS that suffers with the same blandness at the rear. I think I will give this a 9 out of 10 as well. Had it had a plate, I would have given it top marks.

This model had a cool debut. It was launched in the Germany series in 2022. This was in all black, almost including the window. That was a very dark tint. We also saw this debut later in the Global series, and again when it carried forward to the Germany 2023 series. I heard that the original plan was to bring back the older Cayenne casting for the Germany series, but Porsche asked if they could do the current one instead, so tooled up the modern one. 

In 2023, the model arrived in the basic range in metallic blue. This was very good for shading. 

We also saw a red issue in the Walmart Porsche series. 

2024 gave us a white model in the basic range. Just like the Toyota I just previewed, was good for a creamier hue if you hunted.

We also saw a Collectors release in metallic light green.Or Peridot as Porsche calls it. Again, I could see shades on that one. 

I have so far not found a shade to the purple. Where the Toyota has seen shades on every release, the Porsche has been found on half of them. I wonder whether I will find a shade to the next one?

Third on the list for this report is the MB1343 Mercedes-AMG SL63. It comes in metallic orange in the MB26 slot for 2025.

This is actually a limited edition colour option that was issued by Mercedes-Benz for 2024. It is known as the Big Sur special, and is a Manufaktur Orange Flame Metallic. Manufaktur being the Mercedes-Benz special paint package option. And the interior to this Big Sur special is a medium-dark grey, so the model is very closely following the real one. Obviously, it doesn't have all the interior trim details highlighted, but I think the grey is the best option for the model. As we know, Mercedes-Benz did ask for these special wheels, which you will only see on modern Mercs in the range. And they are pretty much the exact wheel you will get on the real vehicle. How can I complain about this?

I can't. They have absolutely nailed it. It is stunning. This gets a perfect 10 out of 10 from me. 

And the best part about it is that this one is really coming through with the shades. I don't know why orange has such a wide variety of hues, but I love it. This one is massive!

I did see some shading to the 2023 debut release in blue as well. 

However, I did not spot anything with the 2024 metallic black release. 

I am sure Abe Lugo was very proud of this one when he created it. I have thoroughly enjoyed all 3 releases to date with their exclusive Merc wheels, and am looking forward to seeing what will come next. 

Now, this is a surprising return. I was not expecting to see this one. Honestly. It returns in dark yellow with the recurring Matchbox Construction theme. 

For those who may have forgotten, the International CXT debuted back in 2006, but was originally under the MB687 moniker. In 2015, the casting was retooled, and the majority of the rear bed was turned into part of the interior section. Since then, it has only seen a little usage. This is the first time it has been seen in 7 years. CXT stands for Commercial Extreme Truck (although they used the X instead of E for the middle initial), and was the first of the XT range of trucks that International made. The real vehicle was made between 2004 and 2008, but the model still looks pretty fresh. It's hard to believe it is now over 20 years old. Jeez! 

For the model, we get the latest in the recurring Matchbox Construction theme. I think it is the perfect scheme to bring it back for. Although, I am still waiting on a Ranec release. I am loving that they have dug an older casting out and re-used it. I am also loving the recurring theme in use again. So, I have no qualms in giving this top marks. 10 out of 10. 

And, just to cap it off, I did see some shading. Woohoo! Now, let's do a dive back. This will be a bit longer. 

As I said, this debuted back in 2006, under the original MB687 manufacturing number, and a rear bed that was wholly part of the body section. I spotted that yellow debut was also good for some shading. 

It was also good for a wheel variation, as some came with black wheel hubs. 

It was also given a premium outing in the 2006 Superfast range in red with full tampo detailing. 

Which was followed by another premium release, as this was chosen to be the 2007 Toy Fair model.  It came in black and orange. 

Then we actually head into 2007, and a second basic range release in blue was also great for the shade enthusiasts. 

It was also a part of the 2007 Battle Kings: Front Liners twin pack, which also included 10 additional accessories. This was also ripe for a shade variation. 

Although I never found a shade to the olive release in the Adventure 10-pack.

2008 saw a single release in white with a farming theme, available in US and LAAM markets only, and red was from the Ocean Research 5-pack. These were the only 2008 outings, and both only sported a single variant (as far as I could find). 

For 2009, it was only available in the US market. Both LAAM and ROW markets ignored it. I still managed to obtain some shades to the dark metallic orange model. 

It also made 2 5-pack appearances. A Handy Manny licensed 5-pack saw a large print over the rear bed on a blue model, and the Jungle Attack regular 5-pack came in black with added camouflage. 

In 2010, the basic range release was vailable worldwide, and this was also a yellow construction themed model. Although that was a brighter yellow, and featured King Construction on the side. I also noticed a little shading there. 

A Service Center 5-pack was also released, with this seeing shades to the gold model included. 

For 2011, it was still found worldwide in the basic range, and this was one of Michael Heralda's designs. The Lyons Bros logo still appears randomly on models, with this being one of the first.

It was also a part of the Farm Rigs 5-pack that year. This silver model didn't sport shades. No, it sported a wheel variation. You could find it with either cog or crown wheels. 

2012 saw a green release in the basic range, and was an early environmental look, with the "Algae Alt Fuel" livery. 

The model was not used in 2013, but returned for 1 final basic range outing in 2014 in the recurring blue INC theme. 

As I mentioned, this was the point where the casting was modified into MB986. The big change was the interior now spread over most of the rear bed. It first appeared in the 2015 Construction Zone 5-pack in red.

Another year off in 2016, and it popped up in the 2017 Jungle Mission 5-pack in gunmetal blue. 

Before finally returning to the basic range in 2018 in green. 

And that was the last time we saw it. Until now. As I said, 7 years. This does mean, that if you only use the MB986 moniker, it has had 4 outings. As I also said, give us a Ranec!

The last of the regular 1-125 releases for 2025 is the MB1217 Garbage Scout. It has not been AWOL as long as the CXT, as this was last used in 2022. So, only 3 years between releases, as it takes the MB97 slot in white. 

This is quite a clever little model. It may be a Matchbox Originals design, something created by Abe Lugo back in 2020, but I thought it was pretty cleverly done. The interior is missing due to the way they constructed it to have a removable garbage bin. Plus, I thought the front end design of the casting was simple, but extremely realistic. I have always liked this one. 

It comes with a West Coast side design, which was seen previously on the RW051 Garbage King XL in 2023 and MB742 '08 Garbage Truck in 2021. So this officially makes it a recurring theme. 2 means it is repeated, 3 means it is recurring. So, I am absolutely loving this one. However, I do think the grey shade was perhaps too light. I think it should have been a mid-grey shade, not light grey. I think it makes the vehicle look a little pale. Does that make sense? So, although I am loving the recurring theme, I am only giving it a 9. Which isn't bad. In fact, out of the 3 regular releases, only 2 got a perfect 10, and all the others saw a 9. A pretty decent set of models. 

A little recap again, as it debuted in 2020 in blue, with a blue garbage bin. 

This was followed in 2021 by another white model, but this one had an orange bin. Which you might be able to find in lighter or darker oranges. 

Whereas I found a shade to the all-yellow 2022 release. This one even managed to sneak in a front print, due to the sides only featuring 2 colours. 

After a 3-year delay, we finally get version number 4. And, with the bins being removable....

We can mix and match. I think the orange bin from 2021 works well with this one as well. I wonder when we will see it next?

Which brings me to the last model in the batch. The MB1435 '23 Toyota GR Supra. This model is only to be found in Target stores in the USA. It is marked as 4 of 6, which is in line with where it should be. However, we saw a Chevy C10 in batch B, and a Porsche 911GT3 in batch D. This is batch H. Where is the batch F model? This was supposed to have been the MB1343 Mercedes-AMG SL63. But, wait, I have just done a review of the latest release of that one in this report, and made no mention of a Target Red. I have no idea what happened, but this particular red issue has not been seen. I don't know what happened. Did Target not order batch F? Has the model even been produced? We had issues with the last 2024 supposed release of the Lamborghini Galardo LP560-4 Polizia. It never appeared. I have a feeling we will only end up with 5 of the 6 models. 

I don't know if it is just me, but I sort of feel a little under-whelmed with this one? Don't get me wrong. I am loving the red. Toyota calls this Prominence Red. It is a real colour. In fact, everything about it is what I would expect from a basic range model. Smoke windows? Fine. Chrome wheel hubs? Good. Front and rear detailing? Spot on!

Had this been a regular 1-125 release in red, I would easily scored this a perfect 10. But, this was a Target Red. The ones we have been getting have seen additional printing on them. A white stripe here, a white pattern there. Maybe an alternate colour pattern. Red or white wheel hubs. Just a little something that makes them stand out a bit. As gorgeous as this look, I do feel like they made no effort in giving it a Target exclusive attire. Just paint it red. I feel that perhaps that is not enough? I know it sounds daft, but I am scoring this a 7 because I feel let down in obtaining a unique Target exclusive, that just happens to be red. Which is really annoying. I mentioned how lovely it is. Doh!

This only debuted last year in white in the basic range. Oh, look, some come out a bit creamier. 

This is simply an alternate colour for the model. Not something snazzy for Target. 

And, on that sour note, I think I am done for another week. We saw 2 modern Japanese models this time. 

2 modern German vehicles. 

And 2 returnees. 

Next week, I will be reviewing the Leipzig exclusive models that Dirk has kindly sent my way. And, don't forget, if you are reading this on week 1, Auction A is currently active (finishing the Saturday of the convention), with all details and pictures available on the Lamley Group website. If you are reading this a week later, check out Auction C. Any later, and you missed out! So, until next time, I hope everybody has a safe and happy week.