The long wait for the Matchbox Range Rover Evoque comes to an end. Was it worth it?

Find the Evoque and the rest of the Matchbox F & G Case at Wheel Collectors...

So how long has it been from the time the Range Rover Evoque was announced, to the time it was actually released?

I can't remember.  In fact, I can't even remember when and where it was announced.  That history is a little cloudy.  Here is what I do remember.

A few years ago Matchbox announced a couple of models that never came to fruition.  One was a Rolls Royce, the other a Land Rover LR3.  Licensing agreements could never be worked out with Rolls Royce, and it was eventually replaced by the '93 Ford Mustang LX SSP.  I don't know if there was ever an official replacement for the LR3, but that model was canned as well.

During that process, the Range Rover Evoque was announced.  And that is when the wait began.  Every once in awhile a collector would ask me about the status of the Evoque, and I never had an answer.  Some thought it would come at the end of the 2014 line, then 2015 seemed logical, but here we are in 2016, and it has finally been released.

So hopefully a few of you are excited to see it.  I am happy to see if it is finally here.  Does the Evoque generate a lot of excitement for me?  Not really.  In a Matchbox context, yes, because it is a another licensed model, executed nicely, and one that debuts in a fantastic color.  The Evoque itself is a bit of a drab vehicle, at least for me.  I would rather have seen the standard Range Rover, but that's just me.

But Matchbox is strongest when it has realistic castings, and a nice variety.  The Evoque definitely adds to that, and when it sits next to the other new models of this batch - the MX-5 Miata, Corvette Police, and Mudstanger, it works great.

So even though I think the car itself isn't that exciting, I have no qualms with it, since Matchbox is doing a realistic model and doing it well.  The orange with dark rims really pops, and it is a great debut color.

So yes, the Evoque probably got a little more attention than normal because of the wait, and now we can all move on to the next wait.  When is that Skyline out again?

(Find the Evoque and the rest of the Matchbox F & G Case at Wheel Collectors...)