Matchbox Monday: Yellow, Yellow, or Yellow? by David Tilley...

Lamley co-founder and shade-variation fiend David Tilley is back with a look at Matchbox's obsession with yellow on a couple of old favorites that returned in 2013.

(And if your interest is peaked, you can find both the Porsche 911 Carrera Convertible and Dodge Viper GTSR on ebay...)

Enjoy:



Yellow, yellow or yellow
 
Do you ever get those dreaded feeling that turn out to be anything but?  When we saw the Matchbox sneak peeks earlier in the year of the basic range Porsche 911 Carrera Convertible and Dodge Viper GTSR, both were painted up yellow.  Oh jeez, I thought, these were actually going to be of little interest to me.  I mean, both of these models have seen 2 examples of yellow already.  How much mileage can you get out of yellow?  Quite a lot it seems.


Take the Porsche.  Now don’t get me wrong.  Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge Porsche nut.  I love them.  If I ever was to win the lottery I would own a Porsche 911.  It is my dream car.  And I loved the news that the Carrera Convertible was going to be in the basic range.  Plus, we had already seen a yellow example in a 5-pack this year.  So imagine my shock and horror at seeing another yellow as a basic range example.  From the first sneak peek the only thing really different was the wheels.  Little did I know just how different the model was.


The 5-pack model was quite a dark, mustard yellow.  The latest release (which only happened a few months later) is almost a lime yellow.  They are a lot different.  Now I still admit if I had a choice I would have gone with a totally different color rather than something like this, but in all honesty, I am quite satisfied. 


The 2 models are noticeably different.  But there is still the fact that the model actually debuted in yellow, way back in 1999.  It was actually a German exclusive at the time, meaning it took a while to track it down.  It is unbelievable that it is only a little over a decade ago yet the internet and world trading was not like it is now.  How times change.


That one is actually a pale pastel yellow.  Again, for three yellow models I am actually quite impressed with just how different all 3 are.


Now the original release also had the yellow edging on the window, but the lights are very basic compared to how they are done now.  One plus point for the classic, and one for the modern ones.  It is also amazing how one of the more popular wheels from the late 1990s is very similar to one they now use.


So after my initial worry over things being too similar, I am actually very pleased with all 3 of these significantly different vehicles.
 
But does the Dodge stack up as well?


This is the latest yellow Viper.  Released in the 2013 range, I was imagining that the only real difference would be the wheels.  How wrong I am.


The one on the right is the last yellow issue, as it was for the 2008 basic range.  Dated 5 years apart, both of these model sport identical tampo schemes, and as noted the wheels are different.  But they are totally different yellows.  The 2008 was a much deeper, almost orange yellow, compared to the yellow of the new issue.


So although in early pictures I was worried we were going to have to signify these as pretty much wheel variations, I am pleased to see that it is a really different shade and again noticeably different.
 
But again, there is a 3rd model in this pack.  It first appeared in yellow as a part of the 2004 Superfast series.


That one does sport a slightly different tampo, plus being a higher spec model it receives tampo prints across its whole body.  But that is a really bright yellow.  The new one is actually quite a dull yellow compared to it.  It is difficult to give plus or minus points for basic range compared to enhanced vehicles, but in all honesty, again one plus point for the original yellow for the full tampo prints, yet minus points for the hideous wheels.  Both the later versions have suitable wheels.


So again, my trepidation has been unjustified.  What we have here are 3 completely different yellows and easily identifiable as to which is which.


So as it turns out, yellow could mean yellow, yellow or yellow.  Not just yellow.

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