Matchbox Monday whips up a Walmart??? adventure

Well, we are now on to the third of the 4 Walmart exclusive sets of models that are due for 2025. However, I am not sure what is going on at Walmart in the USA, as I have not heard of any of them having this set in. In fact, I am hearing a lot haven't even moved on to the last batch. Some are still on 2024. That is not great to hear. I hope this is not something that Walmart will think to drop in the near future. I enjoy these sidelines. I actually thought that with the change from a set of 6, with half new and half carried forward into a set of 5 with only 2 carry forwards, that it would improve things. The carry forwards are often the ones that clog up pegs. Especially if they are recent models. Perhaps they should just drop it to a set of 3, all being new. However, selling them in boxes of 10 is also not great. You would have thought that would be easy. 2 of each per box. But, no, they do 3 of one, 2 of 3, and a single of a final model. There is no logic behind a lot of things. I don't know why we can't have a set of 5 that are all unique. They are only allowed so many UPCs. Why? Who came up with that rule? Mattel?But, we are getting bottlenecks. Something does need to be improved. I don't know what? I just know something needs to be tweaked. Of course, we are only a week from this year's Gathering, and there will be a few members from Mattel in attendance for the event. As well as a few alumni. I will be very interested in hearing what they have planned for 2026. But, until then, I do have this last report before I fly out to the USA. So, this is technically the 3rd Walmart batch of 2025. However, other countries are allowed to order them as well, and mine came from a different country. So, let's get on with the MBX Adventure Guides batch. 

The first model in the batch (which you may note does not have the MBX Adventure Guides name, we just go by what was shown at last year's Gathering for the name) is the MB860 Ford Explorer. This is the model's first new look since 2019. Since the model was replaced by a later Ford Interceptor Utility, it's only popped up on occasion. It comes in green for this release.

This is a bit different to any of the previous looks for this model, but I have to say, seeing this in a Jungle Guides look does not look out of place. It has lights on the roof, big spots and a push bar on the front. All things that work in this sort of scenario. So, I think they made a really good choice on this one. 

Plus, the Jungle Guides look has been used on previous occasions. So, that makes this a recurring theme. Something that I always like. The yellow interior and matte olive green make a bold statement. But, again, I think it works. I actually really like this. It is definitely the star of the batch in my eyes. This is getting a 10 out of 10 from me. I am not sure if this sort of theme is everybody's cup of tea, but I like some variety with the type of vehicles they do. I like some adventure stuff alongside the real vehicles. I remember back during the last "golden age", we used to get 10-packs in "real", "action" and "adventure" sets (along with a 1st Editions). The real were cars you see on the street. The action were other types of vehicles on the street, like police, fire engines, ambulances, school busses, utility vehicles etc. And adventure would be the types of vehicles you could take off road. Sure, Land Rovers, Jeeps, Toyota Land Cruisers all work. But, they have other off-road vehicles as well, and I thought they worked well. And some, like this model, have a certain crossover appeal. Action or adventure, and it fits in. So, niece work Matchbox.

I think I need a dive back to double check to make sure this is the only one that fits an adventure theme. First off, it debuted in the 2012 range in white. Hmm! A Forest Ranger look? Well, that is more adventure than action I guess. So, it turns out this is not quite the first one. 

For those interested, this year has seen a minor change to the base. The old logo was on the base until 2025, and has now just been updated to the lozenge. Aside from that, this is unchanged from when it debuted.

2013 saw 2 different basic range outings. First off, it was white in a Fire Chief theme, and then later on was in black with an MBX County Police theme. Both definitely action models. 

We also saw a really cool orange release as part of the 60th Anniversary series. This was an MBX Construction themed model, which I still count as an action livery.

In 2014, it only saw the 1 outing. This black model was in the Police Squad Mission Force set. Again, an action livery.

In 2015, it saw a few outings. However, both the basic range and the Police Squad 5-pack saw the same one. This MBX Sheriff theme. 

And it was also added to the Supreme Heroes premium series in a CHP livery. Both of these looks for 2015 were definitely action themed.

And it saw another basic in 2016 in blue. This was also carried forward to a 2018 Police 5-pack. Again, the livery, being police themed, was definitely action again. I did spot some shading to that one. 

And, as I said earlier, a final basic range outing occurred in 2019, with this San Diego Police livery. Another action theme. So, yes, we appear to be almost entirely action themed. Just the first being a little more adventure-style, and the new one being definitely adventure style.

As an FYI, both of the first 2 releases have also been carried forward. The debut popped up again in the 2022 MBX Mountain II 5-pack and the second was in this year's MBX Marine Rescue 5-pack. That one was the first to sport the updated logo base. 

After all that, I am surprised to find it only has had 10 looks since it debuted. Less than 1 per year. However, this really shows how versatile it is, and I think this should be a candidate for a future National Parks release. I think this would be awesome in mint!

Hmm! Number 2 of 5 is the MB716 Ridge Raider. It comes in matte black and sports the recurring Anaconda theme. 

Now, before anyone says anything, my example has come out a little wonky. It doesn't sit level on the axles. It leans to the side. I am not going to attempt to get a second. I am fine. It sort of makes it unique. However, seeing the Ridge Raider yet again is a little worrying. One of the things I am hearing is last year's Walmart exclusive Ridge Raider is the one that has caused a backlog at many Walmart stores. But, that could be because it was a carry forward. Not a new look. Or, are people just a little tired of seeing this casting overused? I mean, why do they barely use the MB767 Quick Sander? It arrived after Ridge Raider, to complement it as a Dakar rally style vehicle. And, I much prefer Quick Sander to Ridge Raider. I think they should have done Quick Sander in this look instead. Just to be different. 

That being said, the look itself is brilliant. I love a recurring theme (I often say that, you know, as a recurring theme (ha ha)). So, when I am purely looking at the matte black, tan interior and olive Anaconda livery sprawled over the sides and the front, I have to smile. For the livery alone, I will score a 10. But, the choice of vehicle it adorns, I am scoring a 5. I don't hate the Ridge Raider, but I just feel it gets severely overused. So, that averages out at a 7.5 out of 10. 

Let's see how much it is overused. A dive back again. It started off in red in the 2007 basic range. I did notice the yellow stripe was rather green looking on some examples. 

This was followed up a version 2 in teal, with the same livery. Again, variations were found, this time with the 6-spoke wheels. Some have a thin rim, others a thick rim. Known as narrow or wide. 

And then it was found in a lump of coal at Christmas that year (the seasonal Coal Cars 2-packs) in brown.

As well as appearing in yellow in the final 10-pack of the year, which was the 1st Editions one. That is 4 looks in just the debut year.

In 2008, the year of the 3-way basic range split, it was a part of the US and ROW ranges in orange. The LAAM market didn't get it. I noticed the orange was good for shades.

I even found an error. Oops! Somebody forgot to tampo.

It was also a part of the Off Road 5-pack that year in silver.

It was also a part of the Battle Kings series in the Island Attack set. This tan was good for shades.

And wheel variations. The 2 different 6-spokes were in use again. 

Plus, it was in the Adventure 10-pack this year. It came in olive, which again was good for shades. That means, by the end of year 2, we already had 8 different releases. 8! in 2 years!

2009 was a little quieter. Basics had a matte black release, again for the US and ROW markets, but not LAAM ones. This sometimes came out more satin black than matte black.

It was also a part of the Desert Adventure 5-pack in white. Again, both 6-spoke wheels were in use.

And it was in the Adventure 10-pack again, in green this time. Another one that is good for shades. I told you this year was a little quieter. Only 3 releases. That means, in just 3 years, this model had already seen more action than the Ford Explorer I just showed had in 14 years!

In 2010, it was only in the US basic range (ROW and LAAM did not have it). The blue one saw 6-spoke or cog wheel variants. 

A bright yellow model was a part of the Mountain Adventure 5-pack as well. This was good for a shade or 2.

And it was in the Nickelodeon licensed 5-pack in white. The variation here is how the livery is applied. The bottom one has a fusion graphics application. Nice and smooth, but an expensive way of doing it. The top one has ink jet printing. Much cheaper, but it leaves a coarse, rough looking finish. And, yes, another 3, makes 14 in 4 years. 

2011 gave us this orange look for the basic range.

Then, there was the Dino Adventure 5-pack which sported many variations. Shade of brown, plus cog or 6-spokes. 

And we also had this blue Go Diego Go licensed 5-pack outing. So, 5 years in, and we are up to 17 releases. 

2012 only gave us 2 outings. The basic range was in tan, which again saw some shading. 

The other being the Desert Adventure 5-pack in white. 2013 only saw 1 look. A desert 5-pack in silver, which saw some shading. 7 years in and we hit the 20 mark on liveries. 

2014 also saw just the one look. A Dino Adventure release in blue. Again, I found an error with missing tampo. Number 21 so far.

Version number 22 didn't come in 2015. It took the year off. It returned as a 9-pack exclusive in 2016 in matte black again. 

With version number 23 coming in 2017's basic range in green.

2018 actually saw a carry forward in the basic range. 

Plus, we also saw a sideline as a Colour Changing MB1131 casting appeared. Does this count as a version? I say no, as I am looking specifically at MB716. Still at 23.

Version number 24. This was the 2019 basic range outing for the model. 

And we hit a quarter century of liveries with this purple Off Road Rally Walmart exclusive issue in 2020. 

In 2021, an MBX Rally II 5-pack saw the 2010 model return for a second outing. 

This was at a point where they redid the base writing. 

With version number 26 coming in the basic range that year. 

So, as the next years didn't see anything, and 2024 saw the 2012 5-pack issue return in the Walmart Off Road Rally II series, and apparently still on pegs in some stores, I wonder, is this 27th livery just too much on this casting? Quick Sander is up to 16 (with 1 being a Toy Fair model), so is a little behind this one. I would have definitely preferred seeing the Quick Sander return. 

Okay, on to the last of the 3 new looks for the series. In a rather surprising twist, the 3rd model is the MB910 Sahara Sweeper. It takes the number 3 slot in tan. 

When they were doing the rundown of what to expect from 2025, it was originally announced they were doing the MB942 Sahara Survivor. As I always say, when I run the reports on line previews, things are subject to change. Normally, this is down to a licencor being slow at okaying things, and they have to move in a different direction. However, one Matchbox originals to another? I wonder if the Sahara Survivor casting has some issues that couldn't be fixed quickly? It is a shame, as I was always a bit of a fan of the original MB782 casting, although a bit sad when it was cost-reduced into the updated one. It lost some of its character (especially the broken rear lights). However, having not been used since 2017, there may have been something wrong with it. So, they switched it. Purely speculation on my behalf. Don't take this as gospel. I would have perhaps preferred the MB941 Jungle Crawler. This is still plugging away. I have never really been a big fan of this Sahara Sweeper. Nothing against Windsor Williams, who created it back in 2014. But, it just didn't really gel with me. There were plenty of alternatives. Aside from Jungle Crawler, we could have had MB732 Badlander, MB795 Cliff Hanger, MB797 Baja Bullet, MB818 Dune Dog, MB899 Questor, MB923 Travel Tracker, MB997 Swamp Raider or MB1084 Camo Convoy as the third model in an exclusive look. Notice, I only chose non-licensed models here. Yes, I gave quite the list of alternative. But, I have to say, the final look is decent. A recurring theme. The Jungle Safari X look has been used a number of times before. But, it could have been applied to any of the ones I listed and look great. I do worry this may be the biggest peg warmer of the batch, and it is an exclusive one.  

So, again, when it comes to the design, a recurring theme gives it a 10. But, I really did not want to see this casting return in it. Any of those others I listed would have been a massive improvement, and still been used with no application for a license.  So, for which model it went on, I am scoring this low. A 2. I don't hate the model, but I know it was never popular before. I fear it will stay that way.That averages out as a 6. Hmm! Not the best. I suppose I should dive back. 

This debuted back in 2014 in green. For those who like variations, the Delta 81 tampo at the front was found to come in either a bright white (left) or light grey (right). 

And, if you were to check bases, they were also known to vary, from a lighter to darker shade of grey.

For 2015, it turned tan in the basic range. A fairly similar colour to the new one. 

In 2015, this model was also randomly thrown in a Jurassic World 5-pack. The funny thing was, as Mattel received the license to do Jurassic stuff so late, they really didn't have a lot of time to do anything. The first series of items was randomly thrown together out of whatever they had that sort of suited, and they didn't know much about the movie either. So, this set was called the Desert set. When they later found out there is no desert scene in Jurassic World, they changed the name to Island. As we know, they then spent 3 years perfecting the Jurassic stuff in time for the second film. I did spot a little shading between production runs. 

In 2016, it only appeared in a military 5-pack in beige. However, this time it was the canopy that sported shades. 

As did 2017's Desert 5-pack release in brown. 

And, for some reason, the original release repeated in the 2018 basic range. However, only in the grey tampo look. The newer run was a slightly brighter green than the original 2014 issue was. 

And, now we have this one. The model's 6th release. I did not mind it too much in a multipack. It had its place with similar vehicles. But, as a standalone single issue, I do think this is not the best to try and market. Again, many apologies to Windsor, if he is reading. 

And now we move to the carry forwards. And this is where they really fell flat. The MB1184 '65 Land Rover Gen II Safari returns as number 4 in the series. It sports the exact same Jungle Safari X look as the Sahara Sweeper. Okay, 2 out of 5 sporting the same design. It is acceptable. But, this one has appeared twice already. It was in the basic range in 2020, and carried forward to the 2022 City Adventure III 5-pack. 

Now, obviously, the model comes with 2 variants. The roof items are either a partial load or full load. The one I have received is the full load. So, do I need another?

No. The shade of tan appears to be a great match. The livery matches as well. When I saw the 2022 5-pack, the only difference I found was the roof items being a little darker green than they were in the 2020 run. So, I grabbed both then. The new run seems to match the 2022 run in terms of green luggage shade. So, unless you are really into card art and need both, I would not worry too much. 

But, what of the other carry forward? When they announced it at the Gathering last year, this was planned to be the '68 Toyota Land Cruiser. Checking back, the MB764 casting saw a black Anaconda livery in the 2010 basic range, but as the tooling was modifed into MB990 in 2015, this would have been awesome. I mean, an instant variation. Sadly, they have switched it to the MB784 Jeep Willys, repeating the 2022 livery.

Apart from being completely bummed that the Toyota didn't appear in its updated guise (especially as the original was only found in US and LAAM markets in 2010, with ROW markets not seeing it), but they went and chose a cary forward in the exact same look as the Land Rover. Which was the same look as Sahara Sweeper. That means, out of the 5 models, 3 get the same Jungle Safari X livery. 2 out of 5 with that livery, and 2 out of 5 with Anaconda, and the Jungle Guides finishing things off? A nice mix. 3 of 1 livery? And likely the 3 that will sell the least. One being a dodgy casting, and the other 2 the carry forwards. I just feel it was just a bad choice. I like this Jeep. I like the livery. But, I feel they should have chosen one of the other 2 liveries in this set (Anaconda or Jungle Guides) and grabbed another from one of those to carry forward. Give the set a bit more variety. If you are not a fan of snakeskin, you will be sorely disappointed. As to the Jeep? Well, when it was first out, I did see some shades to the tan. The new one?

It's minor. The new release has a slightly lighter green interior. You can just make it out in the picture. The shade of tan did match one of the ones I already had. But, that is me being me. I'm still not happy seeing so much of this livery and only 1 of each of the other 2. I just feel the set needs a little bit of a better balance. 

So, there we go. 3 new releases, all with recurring themes and different looks. Smart. Variety. 

And 2 of the same sort of carry forwards. I have to say this is not the best of series from them. 1 awesome model, 1 that is overused, 1 that is just bad, and 2 of the same old same old carry forwards from recent years. I do think one of their sore points is their choice of carry forwards. Yes, I know they have to put them in. But, I could think of a number of alternatives I would have put in place of the 2 we got. 

So, was this a case of the good, the bad and the ugly? I don't know. All I know is, I am really looking forward to the next batch. As well as next week. Time to pack my bags and head to the USA for some fun, friends and a Gathering. My next report may not be out on time. It all depends on how things go on the Sunday after all the announcements are made Saturday evening. I cannot 100% guarantee that everything will be written up and completed by the Monday. I will try my best, but I am on vacation at the same time. I will be wanting to enjoy myself as well. But, if I get the chance, I will do my best to get the report up on Monday as usual. So, bear with me if I don't. Until then, I hope everybody has a safe and happy week.