First Look: Matchbox 60th Anniversary All-Terrain Crane, Ground Grinder, and Blaze Blitzer...

Yesterday was Memorial Day here in the US, and after posting the Matchbox Ambassador Update, I closed the laptop and headed to the Spiral Jetty with my daughters.  We were up to our knees all day in the Salt Lake enjoying one of my favorite pieces of art, and arrived home late Monday.

So as has been the case before, we have postponed our Matchbox Monday post to Tuesday.  But that does not mean the regular Matchbox feature still can't be supported by MVE Collectibles.  It can.  So as usual, we ask you to check out MVE Collectibles and see the plethora of Matchbox and other brands for sale (including the three we are featuring today).

Last week we featured these three castings together as new basic models, and Matchbox up and released the 60th Anniversary models right at the same time.  Neato.  We also mentioned last week that the type of vehicles these three represent is not one of Lamley's fortes.  Nothing has changed since then.

We can offer our opinion, and move on the photos.  So once again, the Crane doesn't do it for us, but we will say this livery and color scheme is a vast improvement over the basic version.  We can also say that other two are improvements over the basic versions, but not as much, because we already liked the looks of the basic versions.

There.  Our opinion has been put forth.

Yours?


Matchbox All-Terrain Crane, Ground Grinder, and Blaze Blitzer (2013 60th Anniversary):

Model of the Day: Matchbox Morgan Aeromax...

Well, it isn't Matchbox Monday, but we can pretend it is.

During this year while I serve as Matchbox Ambassador, the plan has been to dedicate Mondays to Matchbox, starting with the Ambassador Update in the morning, followed by a Matchbox-focused post in the afternoon.  My time as Ambassador will end in July, and at that point we might do something different, but we won't change things until then.

One of the elements we have liked best about our Matchbox Mondays has been our partnership with MVE Collectibles.  Tim and MVE are one of the most Matchbox-oriented stores around, and we continue to enjoy working with them.  If you haven't checked out their store, you most certainly should.   You can even find this post's feature model there.

Because of a very hectic schedule, this post was slated for Matchbox Monday, but is delayed until now.  But we had to make sure it made it to the blog, because this is one of the coolest models Matchbox has released in the last few years.  Yes, I said "coolest".  

"Cool" is a word people throw around a lot, and really doesn't mean much, unless we use it the way it is supposed to be used.  A cool car makes you look.  It is unique.  It makes you jealous of the guy driving it.  People form strong opinions about it, good or bad.  Cool is the Morgan Aeromax.

The Coupe version of the Aero 8, Morgan first new design since 1948, the car shows modern and very classic lines.  It looks like nothing else on the road, unless of course you are at a classic car show.  There are only 100 Aeromax's made, but luckily Matchbox made a few more mini versions.  And what a job they did.  The Aeromax is really Matchbox at the peak of their design powers.  If you have one in hand look at all the details.  Then look at a few photos of the real thing.  It is almost dead on.

The car is a gem.  Now check out the mini Morgan:

2008 Basic

2009 Best of British

2009 Superfast

2009 Basic

2010 Basic

2011 Basic

The family:

The Lamley Custom Contest #1: The winner's prizes...

Through all the blissful mayhem that has been the first Lamley Custom Contest, we have not announced the prizes.  So we want to show what the prize catalog that the winners will be able to peruse.

One thing about collectors is that we all like different things, so we did not want to assign specific prize to a specific rank.  So we created a prize catalog, and we are allowing the Top 3 in each category choose their prize.  The Category A winner has the first choice, followed by the Category B winner, then the A 2nd place finisher, and then B, and so on.

Before we show the prizes, let us express our gratitude to our good friends who donated the prizes and helped with the judging.  Each brings a very unique expertise to our hobby, and their passion for what they do rubs off on us pretty easily.  Without their help we don't have a Custom Contest.

So be sure to follow each of our Contest partners on Facebook:

Wheel Collectors
Daboxtoys
MVE Collectibles
Japanese Nostalgic Car
JDM Legends

(Thanks again friends.)


Here is what the six top finishers will be choosing from, and we will let you know what they select:

- A Wheel Collectors $25 gift certificate good for any item in their shop (donated by Wheel Collectors)

- An MVE Collectibles $25 gift certificate good for any item in their shop (donated by MVE Collectibles)

- A Kyosho BMW Motorsports 3-car set (donated by Daboxtoys Model Cars)

- A carded Hot Wheels Racing RoadRCR '92 BMW E30 M3 (donated by Wheel Collectors)

- A Japanese Nostalgic Car Gift Pack (donated by Japanese Nostalgic Car)

- A JDM Legends Gift Pack (donated by JDM Legends)