It’s been quite a while since we got some good sneaks from Matchbox, but the dry spell was broken this week when Matchbox previewed some heavy hitters. There’s lots of good stuff here, so let’s jump right in.
Where else could we start? After being teased at the Gathering last year, it’s been silence on the upcoming Lexus LFA…until now. We finally got our first look, and I’m happy to see what appears to be a standard LFA rather than the Nurburgring Edition with the big wing. Lamley released some teaser images of this model as well, complete with some more information on the casting itself. Per their Instagram post, this will be a premium model with a metal base (similar to Car Culture) and it will feature a new premium wheel styled similar to Matchbox’s excellent basic five spokes. I actually find the metal base a little disappointing because it means we probably won’t see this casting in the Moving Parts series.
The casting itself looks good, though as usual I would prefer it without the opening doors. The LFA’s signature triangle of exhaust tips is here and accounted for, as are the hood vents and the intake at the base of the hood. Obviously this is an early preproduction sample, so hopefully we will see more of this model soon!
The LFA isn’t the only new model shown in these sneaks though, because we also saw an Autozam AZ-1. It appears to be a mainline model rather than a Moving Parts model, and in these pictures it looks a little too big. Obviously Matchbox models aren’t really to scale, but the AZ-1 is a small car and this model dwarfs the Corvette next to it! On the plus side, we’re getting printed tail lights and the headlights are part of the window piece, so it’s plenty detailed.
Also new for these sneaks is the Fiat 500e with an opening rear hatch. A slightly odd casting choice given that Matchbox also makes a mainline Fiat 500, but I suppose it fits with their EV brand strategy. The color choice is nice and I’m definitely liking all the front end detailing.
The 5th Gen Toyota 4Runner is already returning in what I believe is supposed to be 2019’s Voodoo Blue, though the shade looks a little too light to me. We’ve seen this model teased before but this is our best look yet, and it looks like it has full front end detailing. Note that this paint job is replicating the TRD version, so the silver lower valence on the debut red model appears to have been changed to black. Given the popularity of the red one, I’m sure this is another model that will be tough to track down.
I’m glad to see the mainline C8 Corvette casting regain its tail lights after the white version removed them in favor of adding side blades. I find the tail lights to be a much more important detail, and the orange paint color looks excellent as well.
The Mustang GT Coupe is also returning to its original detailing after getting side liveries for Brembo and Shell. This is a welcome turn of events, as I quite like this casting but figured its days of stock decos were over. I can’t wait to pick this one up!
I believe this is a ‘57 Ford Wagon with one heck of a cool deco. I’m not sure if this one will be a Moving Parts or Collectors model, but there’s a ton of tampo detailing on it.
Finally, we saw a number of previously teased cars in their final packaging, which means we should be able to expect them to hit stores soon! I’m really liking the silver on that Tesla Roadster.
The list of upcoming Matchbox models has been updated to reflect these new sneaks.
diecastleno.com 
Leave a comment