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Bert Finds the Matchbox; A Nostalgia Trip
Topic Started: Oct 22 2015, 10:00 PM (23,060 Views)
guy64
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We were very glad when MB issued the '71 Chevelle...

Posted Image :wub:

...especially because of this...

Posted Image :wub: :wub:

The claimed scale ratio for this "New Superfast" edition compares well with other more expensive 1/64 models of the early '70s Chevelle we have, so I'm liking it. Those retro-superfast wheels are a bit too big for the casting, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from bringing this beauty home.

Happily, MB would eventually issue the car in the regular line with much better wheels.

"Hey kid, I wonder what those look like."

What, you don't remember? Has it been that long, Officer?
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Attachments: 8460MB71ChevelleConv_64c.jpg (34.28 KB)
Attachments: 8453CHEVCHASSIS164c.jpg (53.33 KB)
Edited by guy64, Jul 15 2017, 10:43 PM.
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microbuss
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wasn't there a Pizza Zone VW van too?
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guy64
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microbuss
Jul 9 2016, 05:17 PM
wasn't there a Pizza Zone VW van too?
There was a Burger Zone VW van (already posted), but I don't know of a Pizza Zone VW van (doesn't mean there wasn't one).

There was this pizza van...

Posted Image

It's cheezy!

"Kid, that's from the old neighborhood."

Yeah, Officer, I must've skipped it by accident when I was posting the older shots.

"Well, let's try to be more careful! This is important stuff!"

Uh, yeah, I'll be sure and do that, Officer, sure. :blink:
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Edited by guy64, Jul 16 2017, 12:21 AM.
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guy64
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For a while there, Matchbox was on a roll...

Posted Image

... a 1/64 scale roll...

Posted Image

... and with a Volvo, no less. The XC 90 is something I used to see quite a bit around SoCal roads. (Nowadays, not so much.) Like several other SUVs we've seen already, this SUV (or is it a crossover?) is outfitted with mud tires. The silver body paint, black interior and oh-so-slight tint in the glass suit it, and MB tamped us some tail lights to show us that--yes--Volvo really did make those lights run all the way up the rear corners.

No headlight or grill tamps though. Too bad, it would have been $1 perfection had they done that.

"Well kid, I guess we can't have everything, can we?"

Apparently not, Officer. Not every time anyway. :(
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Attachments: 8345MBVolvoXC90_64c.jpg (34.43 KB)
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Edited by guy64, Jul 16 2017, 12:25 AM.
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

guy64
Jul 9 2016, 04:28 PM
juantoo3
Jul 8 2016, 09:13 PM
I didn't know about a Burger Zone 5 pack...but I did know about a playset with a '57 (or was it '55?) Chevy in it.
There were actually two versions of the play set, done with different colors. The '57 Chevrolet Bel Air from each set was differently colored as well. Both versions of the Chevy have been posted here already.

The building in the Burger Zone play set is a very strange design, having a drive-thru booth perched on the roof of the dining room. To get to the booth, the car is lifted up to the booth's driveway by an elevator which looks like a deep frying basket that french fries would be cooked in. Exiting is done via a down-ramp. The whole concept seems more suited to Hot Wheels than Matchbox.

Maybe one of these days I'll get Bert to pose with each of the playsets we have.

"Yeah kid, sure."
Maybe Bert would prefer a donut shop?

<ducks and runs....>
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guy64
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juantoo3
Jul 11 2016, 08:45 PM
Maybe Bert would prefer a donut shop?

<ducks and runs....>
Did MB make one? If they did, it might be just the thing to make Bert stand still long enough to put a few cars in front of him.

We have a donut shop on our Christmas train layout, but Bert never goes there.

"Too much snow, kid. WAY too much snow."
Edited by guy64, Jul 16 2017, 12:25 AM.
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guy64
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The wheels on this one make me a bit crabby...

Posted Image

... but, I suppose flower wheels do fit in with the SpongeBob SquarePants world. In fact, flower wheels look like something that may have been designed in Bikini Bottom. (I wonder what Squidward thinks of them.)

"I suppose that amber glass is for driving under water, huh kid?"

As good an explanation as any, Officer.
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Edited by guy64, Jul 16 2017, 12:27 AM.
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daniel60
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guy64
Jun 29 2016, 07:01 PM
A more recent high point...

Posted Image

Is it a coincidence that it's also a retake on a very cool subject from the Lesney era; the #41 Ford GT40 Sports Racer? (Although I believe this is the "new" GT40, not the original 1960's car.)

Another very cool thing (for us anyway) is that this time MB chose to make it closer to 1/64 than the 1/67 Lesney original. At 1/62 Mattel overshot the mark, but still gotta give them credit for going in the right direction. (I assume that the scale figure is accurate. Bert kinda wonders about that.)

"Well, that doesn't explain why they didn't just go ahead and make it perfect at 1/64, does it, kid? :huh: "

I have never seen or heard that recurring mystery explained adequately, Officer. Not with this or any other near miss.

"You gonna post it, or shall I?"

Go ahead Officer. Make my day.

"Okay... :beatit: "
Great car. :thumbup:
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guy64
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A decent model from the infamous "Hero City" era...

Posted Image

... though the casting itself did appear a year earlier.

The amber glass detracts from the model (as usual), which is covered in a nice, rich candy apple red. An unlikely color for a taxi I think, but I like it anyway. The only complaint we have about the Hero City tamping on the side is that it undoubtedly used up a tampo budget which would have been better spent on headlights and a marked beacon.

Then again, MB did spare us another appearance of :P flower wheels.

"Guess they knew we would take only so much, huh kid?"

Let's hope that was their thinking, Officer.

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Edited by guy64, Jul 16 2017, 12:29 AM.
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guy64
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Same as before, but in blue...

Posted Image

I think it would have been better to have the body a nice, solid sea-blue instead of metallic blue, but that's me. Metallic colors are kind of wasted under water, if you ask me.

"Well kid, if you ask me, blue is better than non-blue."

I sort of assumed that, Officer.
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Edited by guy64, Jul 16 2017, 12:31 AM.
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deja Vu in blue....
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microbuss
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neato
I likes SpongeBob
My fave episode is Rock Bottom :lol:

I bought a Krusty Krab building from Petco B)

Matchbox made a bunch of SpongeBob vehicles
Including a boat
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guy64
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For some reason, MB and JL did this Beetle taxi...

Posted Image

Dunno if any other diecast maker did. Tampoes on this one aren't all that elaborate, so it would have been nice to have a marked beacon (not to mention headlights). The BMW-ish Y-spoke wheels are an interesting choice for this particular taxi. There are better choices for wheels on a VW taxi. (Yeah, I know, and worse choices too.)

"Never saw those taxi colors around here before, kid."

You had to go pretty far south to see them, Officer. Mexico City, I think.

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Edited by guy64, Jul 16 2017, 12:33 AM.
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For a moment I thought our favorite officer was hailing a cab...in Mexico City. What's he doing down there?
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Milton Fox Racing
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Tijauna really know?
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guy64
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Bert's taxi-ed out.

Time for some sporty late-night elegance...

Posted Image

... in 1/64 scale!

This Jaguar XK is another 1/64 winner from MB. Could it be a coincidence that the car and the model both have British roots? And the model is rendered in a scale ratio based solidly on the English system of measurement?

"You get a bit conspiratorial in the wee hours, doncha kid?"

Yeah, I guess it is kinda late... :bored:
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Edited by guy64, Jul 16 2017, 12:35 AM.
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guy64
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microbuss
Jul 14 2016, 10:49 PM
I likes SpongeBob
My fave episode is Rock Bottom :lol:
I've seen very few, but of those my favorite is the one where Squidward becomes addicted to Crabby Paddies.
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guy64
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One which makes me wish I'd never stopped collecting Matchbox...

Posted Image

... or at least had kept an eye on the line.

The Tow Joe is typical "1970s Modern" vehicular style. MB may have been diverted somewhat from their trademark prototypical realism by trying to compete with Hot Wheels, but when they came up with an in-house design like this it became apparent that it wasn't all bad.

"Well kid, I wasn't around then. But if this guy needs some business I'm sure I can find some."

People "parking poorly" these days, Officer?

"Kid, you would not buh-leeeve..."
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Edited by guy64, Jul 16 2017, 12:38 AM.
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Hobie-wan
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Tow Joe was one of the earlier MBs I got, given by my English grandfather. I was extra careful with it as I didn't want to lose the hooks. Still have it in pretty good shape too. It's a fun one for sure. :)
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guy64
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Hobie-wan...

I've heard that the hooks are prone to loss. One is missing from Bert's example.

My first Matchbox was a different "wrecker", the #13 Bedford Wreck Truck. It was given to me by my grandmother, who also happened to be English.

Grandparents sometimes know the best toys!
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guy64
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Bert may have thought we were done with VW Beetles...

Posted Image

If so, he was wrong.

He's on to the wife-unit's Bug-loving ways anyway. Given that, this version of MB's 1/58 scale Bug was not to be left on the peg. I mean, the color, the extra tamping detail, and those wheels! How could I not bring this one home?

"Still doesn't look any smaller, kid."

Yeah, I know, Officer. If not for the excess bigness, it would be perfect.
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Edited by guy64, Jul 16 2017, 12:41 AM.
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microbuss
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I did think & still will think that tow truck looks like a chopped Stretcha Fetcha kinda

Well I still look for the older Made in England MBs, guy64 ;)
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Hobie-wan
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That Beetle is awesome. Those wheels just make it.
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guy64
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I thought this was a civilian vehicle but now...

Posted Image

... it seems not.

Got it at a train meet a couple years ago, as I recall. It was covered with dirt; obviously well-enjoyed by its original owner, but in good shape. Not having my "readers" on at the time, I assumed it was a civilian Explorer with some "pretty" graphics. But as I look closely at this pic, I see some kind of vehicle number on the rear fender. Dunno what the "09-99" means, but it appears to be some type of service vehicle. Rescue? "Courtesy"? Maybe Bert knows...

"Kid, I haven't got time to keep up with every service org on the planet. Check BAMCA, why doncha?"

Well, okaayyyy...

Seems this version is from the "Mount Discovery" 5-Pack, Officer. Interesting that it's the only vehicle from that pack I'd care to have. Worth the 50 cents, and it's well-suited to a spot on the Christmas layout. (There's a snow-covered mountain there!)
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guy64
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This one seems to beg for some type of business tamps...

Posted Image

... but I'm glad MB didn't because I love the color.

The VW Caddy was seen on the pegs quite a bit during the time it was... um, on the pegs a lot. (I had hoped the Ford Transit Connect would follow the same pattern, but it went the opposite way. Still haven't found one.) In other colors the Caddy "serves" several businesses in Bert's world. At 1/62 it's a smidge on the big side, but with a vehicle of this type that isn't too noticeable. Well, not for somebody who hasn't been around them much.

Scale issues aside, MB appears to have done a great job on it, choosing the division of parts well. These "Prius wheels" are a good choice also. Colors inside and out, tamping, glass, all great.

If only it was 1/64...

"Well kid, as blue as it is, I sure can't complain."

Yes Officer, we know you're a push-over for blue.
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Edited by guy64, Jul 16 2017, 12:45 AM.
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