I think it is safe to say this lineup of 2020 New Models is loaded. Abe & the Matchbox Team dropped several hammers during the Sneaks Presentation at the Gathering last night, and it was pretty awesome to see.
I live-streamed the presentation, which is below, and took some quick footage of the display cases afterwards. More in-depth videos are coming as well. Thanks to the Matchbox Team for sharing:
Some great cars due out, but it disheartens me that we in the UK and some in the US will never see these cars due to the piss poor distribution by Mattel. Someone also needs to tell the auctioneer that once the gavel has come down on an item then that item is sold, I would be livid if I’d won something at $40 only for some screaming harpie at the back complaining that she hadn’t bid only for the auctioneer to reopen the auction on that item.
The Bugatti is no doubt the star of the show but I’m more excited for the Mercedes GT63 and Alfa Giulia. I love sports saloons (as much as supercars, if not more) and I’ve been wanting Matchbox to make one for a long time. The last one they made was the Porsche Panamera way back in 2011. The Alfa was a no-brainer but the AMG is a bit of a left field choice. And it’ll look great next to the Hot Wheels RS6, Panamera ST and also the AMG GT. So yes, this year is loaded but the Mercedes is the one I’m most looking forward to.
I need that Mercedes in my life.
At least where I live, the three new generic tools and the Civic will likely be huge pegwarmers Kangoo is a really weird choice; not known at all in the US; and the Majorette version is in every way, better. And if I’m looking at the prototype correctly, it will have opaque windows like the Nissan.
With that being said, I’m really excited for the Nissan Hardbody, a common truck in my neck of the woods; especially as the late production “Frontier”. Not too crazy about the plastic fenders.
Golf and Powell Sport Truck are also definite purchases.
Nothing wrong with the RZR, though I feel MBX could have leveraged their Kawasaki license and made the far more utilitarian MULE. We don’t have a decent workhorse UTV with a large bed in the lineup. Trail Tracker is awful, and Foam Fire Truck is decent, but upfitted for firefighting.
RWR is a bit disappointing, seeing as it’s just basically gonna be repaints of existing tools. It’s what I disliked about it before it was discontinued–same old stuff over and over again.
Same with Convoy. I don’t know what’s worse; loud, childish color schemes on many of the trucks, or the fact that if I were to buy one, I’m largely stuck with generics I don’t want.
The real shame is Skybusters. MBX is really working hard to add realistic aircraft (Including military) in the lineup, but I can’t find them. Only select Walmarts carry them (mine isn’t one of them) and the only local store I have is one Dollar General; and I rarely see anything more than maybe a couple new issues a year. Never a whole case. This year, I’ve only came across the Dream Chaser, Airbus H-130, and Sikorsky S-92. My Walmart dropped Skybusters not long after the RCMP rescue helicopter came out (which was what, 2017?). The reason it wasn’t selling well was all those silly looking fantasy aircraft; now that they’ve been heavily cut back, the line should sell better.
Well I have to admit, 2020 seems to be a great year from what I’m seeing. I just posted an angry comment about distribution and terrible quality from Matchbox and how I hope 2020 makes up for it. I think it pretty much did when it comes to selection! There’s tons to get excited about: Alfa Romeo Giulia, C8 Corvette, Mercedes GT63, Nissan Hardbody, Jeep Gladiator, MK1 Golf, etc.! I’m even excited for the new gen Mazda 3, Volkswagen Beetle, and new Ford Ranger in the Superfast line. That banana car looks interesting as well! Hopefully the classic cars like the ’42 Cadillac, MG, and that older pickup won’t get plagued with grey plastic and get their appropriate chrome!
When the hammer comes down, the auction is over and an oral contract is in place – you can’t legally re-open it!
Nice lineups… 2020 is to be fair looking good. From the banana to the Cadillac soft top back to future ? Minus the manure!… Hats off. Now for as echoed ….chrome, metal ,distribution and advertise this brand. No way out colours and real logos on some. We in poundland just had a one off sale of powergrab box from 2018. They sold very quickly. I think kids and general preferred the box. Less plastic and looks good…… Now Tesco?!?!……..
Oh …… The kangoo van would be good in Royal mail….!!!… London electric cab is also cool…. They won’t be pegwarmers here!… Everyday vehicles to us. Good to see a mixed selection…..
Well you will be happy to hear Tesco are stocking Matchbox once again! Hopefully this time they wont ditch them again after what felt like a couple of months. After Asda stopped selling the brand earlier this year, i genuinely stopped collecting them as they werent readily available anywhere and im not paying the ridiculous online prices! Tesco are currently selling the basic assortment, 5 packs and 10 packs, and the best thing is the basics are 50p less than Hotwheels at £1.25, the 5 packs are £5 and the 10 packs are £8! Hopefully these price drops will make the brand more attractive to potential customers!
The choices generally look really good. Over the past decade or so, Matchbox has selected some really nice topics. The issue I have with the product is the execution. Remember the Porsche 914, Jag E-type, and the Alfa Romeo GTA from many years ago? Beautiful castings, let down by chrome interiors. Now we are getting classics with blue windows, or trucks with plastic bodies. Most of the models are 2/3 perfection and 1/3 horrifying. The power grab box follows the same formula. Everything is quite nice until you get to the un-closeable flap.
Why can’t we get past these weird decisions?
Not overly impressed with the new offerings. Like the Jeep Gladiator and Renegade – I think a better choice would have been the Grand Cherokee – there are so many on the roads these days, and the Caprice police car. Caddy looks nice. I for one would have liked to see an American LaFrance fire truck, 60’s Chevy Impala or 60’s Ford or Chevy pick-up.
I’ve been the one saying that for years. When the Mack CF (actually my idea) came out, the original plan was to go with an American LaFrance, but then came the 2014 bankruptcy. There are a few American LaFrance models made since then–i.e. the AMT 1000 Series kit reissue, so the licensing is still available.
May I ask, is there anything to know about the Volvo fire vehicle? It was announced maybe 2 years ago, its prepo could be seen last year… (sorry if I missed the info I couldn’t watch all the vid yet). Where is it? Would’ve been great to haveat least that emergency casting…
From the presentation, 2020 is shaping up to be much better than 2019. I’ve only found 9 models worth picking up so far this year.
I’m very excited for the Bugatti Divo, Aston Martin DBR1, Mercedes-AMG GT 4-door, Alfa Romeo Giulia, Mazda3 hatch, Mk I VW GTI and yes, even the humble ’76 Honda Civic CVCC My first car was a late 70’s CVCC and I’ve been waiting for someone to memorialize it in 1:64 scale!
I’ve also got my eye on the first-ever mid-engine Corvette, ’62 Ewy Rosqvist M-B 220SE Rally and ’71 MGB GT.
I would love to get my hands on that upcoming Basic Plus/Moving Parts Porsche 550 and perhaps the Centenario, but alas, nobody seems to carry this line. I’ve yet to see anything from 2019 at retail.
I’m also concerned that MBX’s plans for the 2020 Superfast line may be far too ambitious. If I’m looking at the slides correctly, it would appear they plan to release 14 Superfast models in 2020. I have extreme doubts they can pull this off, when in 2019, they’ve only been able to get 3 models into stores to date. If by some miracle they do manage to pull this off, sign me up for the Porsche 911, Civic Hatch, Nissan 280Z, Range Rover and VW Bus.
While I want to be excited for Convoy, the execution is rather disappointing. Don’t care for the decos/licenses used. The Tesla set is a maybe, but quite honestly I’m not the biggest Tesla fan. I’d be down for a car carrier, but why pair it with a lame duck Fiat 500X? Love the black aero rig/cab shown last, but not the GHE-O looking thing that comes with it. And I can’t quite make out the shape of the trailer. Almost looks like a tanker instead of a box trailer.
Great cars, but nothing new military? Why not new colors for the old military models (like Abrams or Bradley or International MXT MVA etc) or why not European military models?
Are the convoys going to be “Super Convoy” size or the original convoy size?
I’m somewhat disappointed that only one new casting for Real Working Rigs is planned for 2020 and the others are just recolors from last year.
The Banana Car is a weird one for sure, because cars like that seem more like Hot Wheels territory, but it’s based on a 1:1 real-life custom car, which sets it apart. Some people may love it, others may hate it, but from my viewpoint, I think it’s unique. I’ll probably be fine with the Banana Car, as long as it doesn’t become a recurring thing for Matchbox. The 1956 Powell pickup, even though it may seem a little out of the blue for some, I think it was some creative out-of-the-box thinking for Mattel to choose that one. The MG, Volkswagen Golf MK1, Caprice Classic, Cadillac convertible, that ’60s Mercedes, ’76 Honda Civic, Aston Martin DBR1, and the motorcycle trailer are cool as well. I’m not as hyped for the Divo, because I’m more of an “olde school” guy.
But overall, I think that 2020 will be a pretty good year for Matchbox, and I hope to see the new cars in stores next year, or sooner around Christmas season. 🙂
1. When i saw that Convoy logo my heart started to beat faster, but i expected them to be like original series of the 1980’s, i mean their scale should be like that of the 1980’s. I’d love to see classic trucks brands such as almighty MACK or Peterbilt, Kenworth or International Harvester, Diamond Reo or Ford Trucks of the ’60s, 70’s and 80’s, not to mention of some Fire trucks or buses like GM New Look Fishbowl oh yeah 🙂 This is where the potential is, not the crap they showed, sorry 🙁 Convoy series should rise like a phoenix from ashes of the past, it is important to collectors, it is needed ASAP 🙂
So, MG B didn’t make it this year but is scheduled for 2020, nice to know that ! Does anyone knows what happened to Jeepster Willys ? I hope it’s still coming, sooner or later ?
Renault Kangoo is very popular on the street’s, all of it’s generations that is. So Matchbox made Kangoo will be highly popular in Europe, if distribution gets better that is, model has potential nonetheless, another one worth mention is this iconic Caprice of the 1990’s, i can see it already in NYC police cruiser livery or Los Angeles L.A.P.D. oh let’s not forget it could be used as a yellow taxi, NYC taxi that is.
Well, I’m not getting excited about anything just now. As I live in the UK and distribution here is so, so poor at the moment, I’m expecting I won’t see any of the new models in UK shops!
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