Matchbox was the brand of small die-cast cars that I grew up with. There were more Matchbox cars than Hot Wheels cars where I’m from and that’s probably the reason why. The one set of Matchbox cars that really hit me was the 48-car carry case. It had a very simple but very nice design, vintage by today’s standard, but that’s where its charm comes from. It had a bunch of cars and I remember only some of them like the hovercraft, the Pontiac, a forklift and a Swamp Rat military hovercraft. All very nice cars. And all not mine. My cousin had that case, and I was allowed to play with it when I come around to their house. I’ll probably never get that set anymore in good condition (with a decent price), but I won’t forget how that experience made me what I am today when it comes to die-cast cars. You see, my cousin didn’t play with those cars the way that I used to. He was always very careful handling them and he would always insist that each car is back in the case at the end of the day. To an extent, that is how I am today.
Put that top down
The few Matchbox cars that I own now is mostly due to Hot Wheels being more widely available. These two that are on my desk, are cars that I am having second thoughts on. I mean, I love the Mini Cooper, and the original Mini Cooper revival from BMW was actually a good compromise between nostalgia and modernization. In fact, the Mini Cooper has become an icon all over again with its revival. But it does not appeal to me as being as collectible as the old Mini Coopers were.
I don’t even remember when I bought this pair of cabrios. What I do know is that I bought them because they looked better than a Hot Wheels Mini Cooper. Yes, there was a time that I got tired of looking at Hot Wheels because I felt that they were a bit exaggerated in some way. And the wheels on this yellow cabrio just looked nice to me.
British English
So the casting is exactly the same apart from the wheels. And as far as roofless cars go, these are nicely done. The windshield is strong enough that it does not bend. The casting is solid and is complete with fender flares, sculpted door handles, and oh-so-cool side mirrors! The whole interior has sculpted seats and includes the rolled up rag-top at the back. No removal top here like some Tomica convertibles, but the car looks cool nevertheless. There’s just something about the proportions of the whole package that makes it stand out. The racing stripes add on to the feel of the car overall and aren’t overly aggressive in that regard. Plus, you have painted on headlights and taillights as well so you pretty much have detailing covered. But while the overall package is very good, it still somehow lacked oomph, like it was missing some sort of X-factor. Alas, the model could have been a great collection for me, but there was just something missing (and I still can’t put my finger on it).
Toy Box Garage 