There is so much to share from last weekend's Matchbox Gathering, that it is hard to know where to start. But I have some help in deciding.
Mother Nature.
I am lost in the woods. By choice, thankfully, but deep in the woods nonetheless. A family trip to the Island Park/Yellowstone area was on the books following the Gathering, and here we are. It is beautiful, and I highly recommends visiting the area. Being deep in the woods also means that piecing together a wifi signal for my macbook is quite the task.
I have a signal, but it is weak, as I learned late last night while trying to upload the 75 photos I have of the upcoming 2016 Matchbox models. Every device just gave up trying. So if I can find an area closer to civilization later today, I will upload them then, and put up the post tonight or tomorrow morning.
But that doesn't mean we are devoid of news we can share (i.e. less photos to upload). In fact, this bit of news might be even more fun.
In December of this year, we will see this:
It is Matchbox's latest premium series, Best of the World, and it looks fantastic. 10 models, sitting on premium 2-piece wheels, with full deco. And if you look, for 10 models there is a lot of variety. Three from the UK, three from the US (Mack too?), a couple of German BMW's, and an Italian Lambo. Plus, a fire truck, a motorcycle, a bus, a cop car, and on and on. This set conjures up thoughts of the Golden Age we harp on about all the time.
Ten models might not seem like a lot, but it is a great place to start. We will get into it a bit more on a future post, but there have been a lot of changes at Matchbox. Personnel being one, where the brand fits within Mattel another. On one hand it means there is a lot to prove, on the other there is some wide open space to take the brand in the best possible direction. It should be fun to watch, and we collectors could really benefit.
But there are some casualties. The Supreme Heroes line is done. A line that held so much promise (18 emergency models, all premium), died a slow death, and now only four models released in the initial batch is what we have to show for it. At least we got those, and at least the wheels were developed for it. They are the same wheels we will see in Best of World.
Best of the World should be better. Ten is a more realistic number, and the variety of the models should bring the collectors out. There is no way that A100 and Foxbody Mustang will hang on the pegs for too long.
And we can feel confident about saying that, because the folks at Matchbox were nice enough to share images of the first model in the series, the BMW 1M, and oh my...
How good does that look!?! Simple but stunning deco, and matte black on gloss. It is a stunner of a model, and even better sitting on Matchbox's version of real riders.
We are all in on this, and cannot wait for December for when this hits. The new Matchbox team is very forthcoming on news, so we should see more details coming from them directly or in the reports of our new Ambassador, Dirk Schleuer.
I can't wait for this one. You?
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