Matchbox News – 4/15/2024 – Durango Police, Mini Cooper S, Sentra, Mustang

After a few weeks of not hearing much from Matchbox, we finally have another set of exciting sneaks, including some new castings I didn’t even know were coming! 

The most notable surprise casting in this week’s sneaks was the Dodge Durango Police car in a Boone County Sheriff Livery.  I don’t remember this model even being announced during the 2024 line preview at the Gathering, so this one was quite a surprise!  I’m immediately struck by the amount of detailing on this model, as the additional budget of the Moving Parts (or possibly Collector) line finally gives Matchbox the opportunity to make a police car with proper front detailing.  While we don’t get a proper view of the back of this model, the corner of the brake light is visible from the side, so it seems likely that this model has rear detailing as well!  Unfortunately, the panel gap around the rear doors messes with the Sheriff logo a bit, but at least those opening doors actually add some play value on a model like this.  I can’t wait to get my hands on this Durango, and I’m glad it’s getting a licensed livery for its debut! 

Speaking of licensed decos, the Matchbox County recurring theme is becoming so prevalent that it’s starting to feel like a licensed livery! While it may technically be generic, the graphic design for the Matchbox County logo is so great and it’s appearing on so many models that I’m actually glad to see it return.  Interestingly, this looks to be the older generation Explorer Police Interceptor, not the new 2023 model that we just saw debut in a Peel County Ambulance livery.  Perhaps these two generations of Explorer Police cars will coexist in the Matchbox lineup for a while, just like they do in actual police fleets. 

Shortly after reappearing in red, the 2016 Nissan Sentra looks to be returning to the Matchbox lineup in gray.  It looks great, as this casting always does, though I worry that so many releases in short succession (on a non-enthusiast car) will make this gray version a bit of a pegwarmer.  Time will tell, but I hope they don’t end up overusing this casting like the Jeep Renegade. 

The Ford Mustang Coupe is an excellent casting that now appears in black.  Unfortunately, this model has the same gold wheels that we’ve seen so often lately, which are starting to feel quite overused.  Personally, I feel like this black Mustang would have been better suited by black five spokes, or perhaps a set of chrome 10 spoke wheels like the red recolor has. 

I’ll admit, I had to look up what this model was.  As it turns out, this is a Nissan Townstar, an electric van that doesn’t appear to be destined for sale in the US.  It makes its debut in a generic dry cleaners livery, which looks good but isn’t terribly exciting.  Luckily, the casting looks really nicely proportioned and has full front end detailing, so I can see a lot of potential for licensed liveries.  Imagine how great this Townstar would look wearing a FedEx livery or the Goodyear livery we’ve seen appearing recently.  Unlike the Mercedes Sprinter, it looks as though the sliding doors open on both sides of this casting, which makes for some great diorama potential! 

I had to look at this Mini Cooper for quite a while because I couldn’t decide if it was new or just a casting I’d forgotten about.  What caught my attention was the Union Jack brake lights, a Mini Cooper feature I love that I don’t remember seeing on previous Matchbox models.  I believe this to be a new Moving Parts casting as it looks like there’s a panel gap around the hood.  The hood fitment looks surprisingly good, and it looks like we get detailed headlights to go with those awesome brake lights. 

The Mercedes Unimog combined with the famous INC livery is sure to be a popular combination, though I can’t see a construction company actually using a Unimog (at least in the US). 

This Ford Fiesta is likely to be popular with the European collectors, though I can’t say I personally have any strong feelings about the Fiesta. I’d rather see a modern Fiesta ST!  This casting looks nice though, if perhaps a bit on the big side when compared to the Durango. 

That’s it for this week’s sneaks! As always, the list of upcoming Matchbox models has been updated to reflect this new information.