After several weeks of slow Matchbox news, we suddenly have a flurry of new sneaks and info. First up is a rare sneak from the Convoy line: a Shell tanker truck!
I absolutely love this model. The Convoy line has felt rather stale and half-hearted for the past few years, but this model brings me straight back to the Matchbox trucks of my childhood. With a licensed livery, it’s instantly cooler than the generic version of the tanker truck we’ve seen, and the Shell branding on the cab looks excellent. I don’t recognize this truck, but the W on the fender suggests it is a Western Star. Assuming that’s true, it’s great to be getting more licensed vehicles in the Convoy line. Now they just need to find a retailer to carry them!
Shell appears to be a recurring theme in recent mixes, and we can see a Shell Mustang GT next to the Convoy. While I don’t generally like cars without headlight and brake light detailing, I think this livery works pretty well. The plethora of Shell branded vehicles makes me wonder if we might get a Shell gas station playset in the near future…
The Audi e-tron looks ready for another outing, this time in silver. I just got my hands on the debut blue model, which looks excellent, so I’m up for another! Silver seems like a sensible if slightly boring color choice (though probably the most common color for the 1:1 e-tron).
The Mustang Mach-e is also returning, now wearing what appears to be an NYC taxi livery. I usually want every car in a stock deco, but I think this livery works since NYC actually has Mach-e taxis. It’s barely visible in these sneaks, but it looks like this model still gets headlights and front end detailing. Sadly, this means there is likely no detailing on the back.
INC collectors will be happy to see this INC version of the Road Stripe King.
Looks like the popular Opel Kadett in orange, next to what I believe is an offroad or police version of the Honda N600. My best guess is this model is based on Honda’s first American race car.
Autobahn Express is one of my favorite recurring 5 pack themes, and we have a fourth version coming hot on the heels of the third. Sadly, this one falls a little short for me. I love the gold Alfa Romeo Giulia and black Audi TTRS, but I don’t particularly care for the Polizei Beetle or blue BMW 2002. Neither of those cars seem particularly up to the task of taking on the high speed Autobahn. Frankly, neither does the Mercedes, but the classic brown color makes it more appealing to me, even though the light gray base seems a bit out of place.
Lastly, we got some pictures of Mix 2, which actually has a few surprise recolors in it, as well as a few new releases.
The Karma GS-6 is the spiritual successor to the Fisker Karma, which looks good in this deep blue/purple color. The model looks very long to me, so I think I’ll have to line it up with the old Fisker casting to compare them.
This black Cadillac CT5-V is a wonderful surprise recolor, though I’m not sure why they didn’t use the light blue color of the CT5-V Blackwing press cars. I’m also not sure about Matchbox’s current obsession with gold wheels. Nevertheless, I love this casting and am glad to see it make a return so soon after the debut.
The Renault Megane and Bentley Bentayga are getting recolors in red and white respectively. I like both of these models, despite the Bentley’s lack of an interior. (Does the rear end of the Megane look squished to anyone else?)
We also saw a green Ford Ranchero, a white Dodge Sweptside Pickup, and a Wrangler Superlift with a Warn livery.
Finally, we got a picture of the first “70 Years” model – a Ford F-150 Lightning. I’m not crazy about the livery, especially since it just debuted in that same silver base color. I do like the Lightning graphic on the back of the truck though.
After the recent drought of information, it’s great to finally get a taste of what’s to come from Matchbox in the next few months. Hopefully we see these models make their way into stores soon!
diecastleno.com 
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