There are a ton of reasons to love the new Matchbox NYPD 5-pack...

I friggin' LOVE Matchbox police cars.

In fact, I am tired of being the JDM Hype guy. Complaining about Lamley hyping JDM is SO yesterday. Let's complain about something new. I'll start:

"Here we go again, Lamley hyping police cars. Remember when a lot of people liked diecast police cars? Well, now thanks to Lamley, a lot of people still like police cars. #jordancryface"

There, you can copy and paste that onto your Facebook account, Instagram, Twitter, whatever. It is my gift to you. But I am done hyping JDM. From now on I will just post about the JDM cars I like, which is pretty much all of them. So all will be the same, just know I am not hyping them, I am just writing about them. So glad that phase is over.

I am now hyping police cars. Again, all will look the same, because I have always gotten giddy for diecast police cars, especially Matchbox, and I feature them a lot, but it is now officially #lamleyhype. Welcome.

All smirking aside, I couldn't grab the Matchbox NYPD 5-pack off the pegs at Target fast enough yesterday. Ever since Matchbox hinted that this was coming, I haven't been more excited about a 5-pack. Not only do we get a 5-pack where all models share the same deco, but it is a licensed deco, and it is NYPD at that. That is such a treat.

But that goes without saying. The fact that this entire 5-pack is dedicated to NYPD is hugely significant, and I think most of you would share my hope that this is an indicator of things to come. All CHP 5-pack? All highway patrol 5-pack, featuring various forces? And how about the most no-brainer 5-pack of all, now that Matchbox made the Cadillac One? A Presidential Motorcade 5-pack, with the Caddie One, a black Suburban, the BMW Police Motorcycle, a Dodge Charger Police, and maybe one more black car, just for kicks? That MUST be done.

Anyway, back to the NYPD pack. There are lots of other reasons why I like this pack. I love the model choices, outside of one glaring exception, but I think I know why it is there. Of all the models, the Dodge Charger is the obvious star, and it should be. I would not have complained if there were two Dodge Chargers in the pack, with identical liveries, save the precinct or ID number. It is that cool. The Suburban is also a great choice, and looks phenomenal with the disk wheels. Matchbox then diversified wonderfully with the GMC Wrecker in black, and especially with the Meter Made. I love that the Meter Made is in there. Well, because this:

Yep, that's a parking enforcement force. And yes, it is very tempting to buy a few packs to create it.

I talk about Matchbox unlicensed models a lot. I am not opposed to them at all, just as long as they replicate real vehicles. The Meter Made is one. I don't care that it isn't licensed, I just care that it looks like something I would see, in this case in New York. Just don't give me something too cartoony, like that 4x4 School Bus, or something that should be licensed, like a Police SUV.

Which leads us exactly to the Police SUV. Yeah, it is a bummer that it is in this pack. This casting was made to provide a police-like casting for playsets and other lines where having a licensed model isn't necessary, so I get its existence. But I wish it wasn't in this pack. Another police casting like the Crown Vic or Dodge Monaco would have fit in so well here, but I think I understand why the generic SUV is there. It's back to budget, baby.

My guess is every 5-pack that Matchbox produces has a specific budget. If you do all licensed models, like the recent Exotics 5-pack, the licensing alone would take up a bulk of the cost. But the models in the Exotics pack didn't need licensed decos. Just a nice color and design. The NYPD pack is different. NYPD has its own licensing department. My guess is the NYPD license is not cheap. So it you want to do 5 models, all with the NYPD logo, you'z is gonna pay. That might not leave enough budget for five licensed models. So considering that, I think the 3 licensed models make sense. The Meter Made is a perfect addition, but there might be some other unlicensed castings that could have taken the place of the Police SUV. Like maybe the Hazard Squad?

But at least the Police SUV has never looked better, and yes, it will take a spot in the collection.

Which leads to my last little tidbit on why I like this pack. Yeah, the Police SUV isn't the best casting, but how good does it look with the 5-spoke wheels? In fact, look at all the models. The Charger also sports the 5-spokes. The Suburban has the dog dish caps, and the Wrecker and Meter Made are also in the disks. There is no argument that Matchbox has the best basic wheels in diecast, by a mile.

The same can be said for Hot Wheels in the two-piece game, but in basics? It's all Matchbox. They pretty much have a wheel for everything. I don't need to list all of them, but start looking at your Matchbox, and the evidence is there. I look at models like Hot Wheels' Porsche 356A, and wonder if the guys over at blue, if they were really nice, and brought doughnuts, could convince the guys at orange to let them use the dog dish wheels for the next release of the 356A. Same goes for the BMW CSL and Matchbox's trispoke wheels.

Anyway, I will stop the hype machine. Actually, no I won't. Matchbox police cars are one of my favorite models to collect, and we are in an era of so many police riches. Let me think of a few off the top of my head - Lambo Gallargo, Mitsu Evo, Subaru Impreza, Crown Vic, Corvette Stingray, BMW M5, upcoming Dodge Ram, Ford Interceptor, Foxbody Mustang, Buick Century, Dodge Monaco, and on and on. It's plentiful.

And I love them in licensed liveries. The NYPD livery, for example, marks the third time the Charger has sported a licensed deco, and how good do they all look?