It’s been a slow few months for Matchbox news, as product has slowly been trickling into stores for the holiday season but relatively few new products have been teased on the @matchboxworld Instagram. The last two weeks have had some interesting tidbits though, so let’s dive in for a better look at all the new sneaks!
The most unexpected model to be previewed was this convertible C8 Corvette. Based on the styling, this is either a Z06 or an E-Ray, but without being able to see the exhaust at the back it’s hard to identify for sure. The large rear wing suggests Z06, but the E-Ray would fit better with Matchbox’s EV-focused brand position, so we’ll have to wait for some future sneaks to positively identify this casting. Either way, I’m glad to see one of the higher-performance C8 trims make its way into the diecast world. This casting is particularly interesting because it was not shown at the 2025 line preview – according to a comment on the Instagram post, this C8 convertible will be replacing another model that was dropped from the lineup.
This Morgan 3 Wheeler is exactly the kind of oddball car that Matchbox specializes in. It looks phenomenally well-detailed, with a chrome engine and exhaust, front and rear printed detailing, and a caramel brown interior. Being a British car, it’s only proper for it to debut with a dark green paint job. This casting is also debuting a new wheel design styled to look like a wire wheel, and I think it looks great! Unfortunately, given its small width, I suspect this wheel won’t make its way onto too many castings. I hope we see a wider version in the future, because it would look perfect on many of the exotic supercars that have been making their way into the Matchbox lineup over the past few years.
One of the cars I’ve been most excited for in the 2025 lineup is this Porsche Boxster Spyder RS, and this is our first good look at it. To my eye, it looks far better than the 3D printed prototype we saw at the Gathering! The splitter is still a little on the big side, but the rest of the proportions look good, and this metallic blue paint is a very cool choice. It features detailing on all four sides (you can just make out the corner of the brake light) and what looks to be one of the best Matchbox interiors in recent memory! Side mirrors are another place where recent Matchbox castings have been substantially improving, and that trend continues here – those mirrors look distinctly Porsche-like.
The recent sneaks have also featured so many red BMWs. Let’s start with this BMW 850i, which is scheduled to appear in the Collectors series. As with most Collectors series models, the premium wheels feel like they’re holding back the casting, which otherwise looks decent. I’ve never been a huge fan of styling of the E31 BMW 8-Series, but it looks like Matchbox has replicated it admirably. The door fitment leaves a bit to be desired, but this is just a prototype, so we’ll have to see if they manage to improve the fit for the production version. The full front detailing is nice to see – especially the front license plate – and being a Collectors model, it will likely also get full rear detailing.
The next red BMW is more my style: a brand new 2024 BMW 7-Series. There’s just something cool about a big luxury barge like this, although I am a little disappointed by the apparent lack of texture in the grille. This seems odd, because the original prototype that was shown at the Gathering featured a textured grille, but these pictures make it look more like the Lexus LX with its fully printed grille. Front end styling aside, I’m glad to see that this casting looks big and chunky, just as a massive executive sedan like this should.
We move from one of the biggest, most expensive cars in BMW’s lineup to one of the smallest and cheapest. This is the BMW 318ti, an oddball BMW model that seems like a good fit for Matchbox. Obviously, this is a pretty early prototype, so we don’t even know what color it will be yet, but the overall proportions look nice.
In case we were tired of red BMWs, the team over at Matchbox made sure to throw in a green one too! Based on the bodylines, I’m assuming this is a BMW i4. This casting looks very promising, though I question the decision to have an integrated lightbar because it will limit this casting to police liveries, much like the M5 Police Car that came before it. If we’re lucky, we’ll at least see a premium release with detailing on all four sides, because that front end will wind up looking very plain without any grille and headlight detailing!
Last but not least, we have the 1987 VW Golf Cabriolet! This model debuts in a very 80’s-appropriate triple white color scheme that looks awesome! I appreciate how square this car looks, and the front and rear detailing looks spot on. There’s no other car to provide a good scale comparison in these pictures, but I hope this casting ends up feeling smaller than the SUV-proportioned Mk3 Golf Moving Parts casting.
That’s it for this round of sneaks! As always, the list of upcoming Matchbox models has been updated to reflect this new information, and be sure to stay tuned for my annual Top 5 lists that will be released over the coming weeks!
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