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Battle Mission 5-pack
Topic Started: Sep 5 2013, 04:45 PM (3,222 Views)
mbx64
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Matchbox Collector
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New 5-packs are finally hitting stores, and the last two exclusive 5-packs are included, one of them being the Battle Mission 5-pack. The Battle Mission 5-pack is generally shunned by collectors. They have consistently had dull, drabby matte colors, and not a collector-appeasing vehicle selection. That has changed pretty drastically with Matchbox's latest direction, so no longer do we have to worry about dull Battle Mission 5-packs. In fact, we can be excited with nearly every new exclusive 5-pack, as Matchbox has now made it a fairly decent habit of throwing a bone in every one for us.

But we'll get to that model shortly. The first model in the pack is MB486 1998 Jeep Wrangler with Luggage, and right off of the bat it doesn't seem very military friendly. This isn't quite a military 5-pack, but the Battle Mission name is sort of a fun, child-attracting way to say 'military', so I would've been more expecting of a military livery, rather than a colorful, abstract one. Even though, with the pack label aside, it is a rather nice model.
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I am very fond of cog wheels, and I am always happy to see them placed on more rugged vehicles. The utility wheels are being phased out with both dot-dash wheels and cog wheels, which is a delightful transition for me to witness, as the utility wheels are rather boring, although they do get the job done. The bright, glossy blue on this Jeep gives it a friendly, happy-go-lucky look. The tan interior goes well with the blue body, and the black roof rack and luggage is realistic and simple. Even the windows are new, non-recycled plastic, which has also been used on Matchboxes a lot more lately.
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Although the Jeep is not colored for military use, it does have the blocky, rectangular camouflage design that can often be seen on military dress. Some may find it unfortunate that 'MBX' is written on the side, but in a font like that, I can't complain. Very cool!
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Here are a couple more shots of MB486 1998 Jeep Wrangler with Luggage:
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Alright, to the good stuff! The treat. The bone. The best. All can be said about MB786 1957 GMC Pickup being included in this pack. The great thing about it is that of all the models in the pack, it is the most correct. It has a common olive, drabby military color that suits the GMC rather well. It has a star on the door, with an interesting notation on the lower portion of the door.
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The door-handle is highlighted in black, and a GMC badge can be seen on the side, too. The hub-stamp disc wheels suit this model very well, as does the dark grey front fascia and bumpers. It is much more realistic of a military-personnel vehicle to have lower trim levels, so VUM chrome is out of the question. The tan interior is also a superb addition to the 1957 Pickup, and you'll be happy to see that the windows are clear, smoked plastic as well.
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The only complaint I can conjure up is the 'MBX' logo on the rear fender, but it is not a huge criticism. There has to be something that could've been done better, so that would have to be it. This is definitely the best model in the pack. There is no getting around it. The olive green, starred-doors, hub-stamped rims and crisp casting make for a fantastic Matchbox that is a must-have for a collection. Although we have been left behind in recent years, Matchbox can still make something great when they want to. It's still all there, but it can't be fully released with the direction currently at-hand. And, with the 2014 Toy Fair Dump Dozer recently being added to the air, things don't look great for us folk.
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Here are more photos of the splendid MB786 1957 GMC Pickup:
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The third model in the pack is MB855 Oshkosh M-ATV. The Oshkosh is actually the model in the pack that was pulled from the mainline, but it has yet to be released, so it will be thoroughly included in this post. It has been a while since we have seen the Oshkosh, albeit it has not been as long as the GMC's hiatus. Still, it had no use after its 2012 debut model until now, which is a considerable time gap. Ironically, the tactical Crew Mission Force Set was recently released, which also includes an M-ATV, in a much more handsome spectraflame maroon, however.
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I can't imagine military-enthusiasts being too pleased with this version. It's definitely 'out-there', with its bright orange body and orange cog wheels. Even though of this, it is still a relatively attractive model. It could just be the fact that it's a super crisp casting, with a diecast body and a sense of power. The olive drab green is used on the armored doors, with a stainless-steel plated look. The black surrounds on the reinforcement frames fill up the side nicely, but doesn't make it all too busy. You can find the military star here, as well as an 'Oshkosh' and 'M-ATV' logo.
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Basically, it's not quite a model to be overly excited about, but if you are a fan of the Oshkosh, it should be a nice version to add to your lineup. Here are more photos of MB855 Oshkosh M-ATV.
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The next model is MB246 Humvee with Turret. It has been a while since we have seen the Humvee, although we did see the Hummer H1 Alpha in the 2012 mainline. The Humvee is sporting a decent military vehicle color: tan. Tan is often used now on US military vehicles more than any other color, so it is definitely smart that the Humvee was coated with a desert-sand-tan.
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The Humvee also sports the military star, as well as black highlights and silver dots to act as a sort of funky camouflage. It sports black cog wheels and blacked out windows. The Humvee is a particularly good model because of its play value. The gun turret that you see on the top of the roof rotates, and the back compartment opens up.
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Here are more photos of MB246 Humvee with Turret in the 2013 Battle Mission 5-pack:
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Lastly, we arrive at MB606 Armored Response Vehicle. It does not quite fit into the Battle Mission genre, but it's not actually labeled as a police SWAT Vehicle, so it has a reasonable inclusion. There's actually an interesting story behind this exact model, too. When it was shown in an Ambassador Update, I was disappointed with it. My main complaint was that none of the colors matched. The windows were tinted red, with green striping on the back and spectraflame green-lipped rims that didn't match the darker green striping. Both of my complaints were fixed with the Armored Response Vehicle. The window tint is now green, and the green striping on the body is brighter to match the rims better. Cool, huh?
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This truck is also a very good Matchbox because of its high play value. The back cover clips off, and unveils some SWAT shields, seats, and other equipment. It is certainly something a little one could enjoy! Here are more photos of MB606 Armored Response Vehicle.
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This is definitely a Matchbox 5-pack worth investing in. Although there is only one true collector model, each Matchbox in the pack has something good going for it, whether it be design, casting, or play value.

Next time, you can expect a review on the vehicles below:
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Check the Matchbox Bay here at Swifty's on Saturday at 12:00 PM EST for this review.

Nicolas
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adbutler
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Honda all the way!!!!!
Nice review Nic. I'd have to agree that the GMC pickup is the best here, by a huge margin IMHO.
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Stampede
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Team Canada
Great review, Nicolas! I love the GMC in this pack too, but the others are actually ok! I feel like they should've pulled either the Jeep or Armored response vehicle out and put in the MXT-MVA instead. It would've complemented this pack very well!

Thanks for posting this!
Edited by Stampede, Sep 5 2013, 08:18 PM.
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daniel60
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Personal Luxury Car
Excellent pictures sorry I haven't read the narrative yet but will later. Those pictures are really nice however that orange one wouldn't work well in battle since it will not conceal well but gosh those photos rock!! Outstanding.
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daniel60
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Personal Luxury Car
Please nominate the second picture of the GMC Pick-up for POTM please, she's a illuminating beauty. :thumbup: :thumbup: :drool:
Edited by daniel60, Sep 5 2013, 07:22 PM.
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mbx64
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adbutler
Sep 5 2013, 05:44 PM
Nice review Nic. I'd have to agree that the GMC pickup is the best here, by a huge margin IMHO.
Thanks, Aaron. I'm not surprised that you'd be a fan of the GMC!

Stampede
 
Great review, Nicolas! I love the GMC in this pack too, but the others are actually ok! I feel like they should've pulled either the Jeep or Armored response vehicle out and put in the MXT-MVA instead. It would've complemented this pack very well!

Thanks for posting this!

Thanks for the kind words, Terence! I agree that the MXT-MVA would've been a super model for this pack. But don't forget, it's going to be in 2014's Military 5-pack! At least we can look forward to that one. :toy:

daniel60
 
Excellent pictures sorry I haven't read the narrative yet but will later. Those pictures are really nice however that orange one wouldn't work well in battle since it will not conceal well but gosh those photos rock!! Outstanding.

Wow, thanks for your compliments, Daniel. A photo compliment coming from you is a real treat, considering how amazing yours are! ;)



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Hosspower98
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Forever Blue Oval
Perfect review, perfect pictures. Kudos to Nick.
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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
The GMC pickup is the definite winner of this five pack. It would have been nice if they would have made all five models more "military" in color/theme. To me this is just a hodgepodge of models tossed together to call it a battle mission five pack. They have plenty of models available to do a nice battle theme or military based five pack...and yes Army toys sell nicely. Seeing the Hummer with the cannon brings back a memory of a comment my wife made a number of years ago after our car accident (a Toyota turned in front of us while I was at 65 mph). She said when we went shopping for a car to replace our destroyed Mazda she wanted a Hummer with a cannon. It was always fun to see the look on the salesman face when she told him what she wanted. :D
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Stampede
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Team Canada
pjedsel
Sep 5 2013, 10:59 PM
Seeing the Hummer with the cannon brings back a memory of a comment my wife made a number of years ago after our car accident (a Toyota turned in front of us while I was at 65 mph). She said when we went shopping for a car to replace our destroyed Mazda she wanted a Hummer with a cannon. It was always fun to see the look on the salesman face when she told him what she wanted. :D
:lol: LOL! :toofunny:
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kurikabu
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Fullsize
Beautiful write-up and excellent photographs! Overly excited for my 5pack to arrive. One of the best 5-packs that MBX made.
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mbx64
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Matchbox Collector
Hosspower98
Sep 5 2013, 08:58 PM
Perfect review, perfect pictures. Kudos to Nick.
Thanks, Jack!

kurikabu
 
Beautiful write-up and excellent photographs! Overly excited for my 5pack to arrive. One of the best 5-packs that MBX made.

Thanks! This is definitely one of Matchbox's better packs.

pjedsel
 
The GMC pickup is the definite winner of this five pack. It would have been nice if they would have made all five models more "military" in color/theme. To me this is just a hodgepodge of models tossed together to call it a battle mission five pack. They have plenty of models available to do a nice battle theme or military based five pack...and yes Army toys sell nicely. Seeing the Hummer with the cannon brings back a memory of a comment my wife made a number of years ago after our car accident (a Toyota turned in front of us while I was at 65 mph). She said when we went shopping for a car to replace our destroyed Mazda she wanted a Hummer with a cannon. It was always fun to see the look on the salesman face when she told him what she wanted. :D


I couldn't agree with you more, John. The GMC is the diamond of the pack. I do agree also that the pack is somewhat cluttered when it comes to vehicle diversity, but it is more than acceptable.

And funny story! That must've thrown them all for a wild loop. . . :toofunny:
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craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

Added the 2nd pic to the nomination list.

I'd agree with John. Call it a military pack and be done with it. Add in some actual army/navy style vehicles and ditch the police swat team vehicle. The GMC would be the only one I want.
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