The Rarest Models of the Mattel Era, Part 10: The plain white Ford GT from 2009...

It has been awhile since we have updated this series.  In fact, it has been a year-and-a-half.  That is probably a little too much time, and we have heard from enough of you Lamley regulars that it is time to continue.

My Lamley counterpart David Tilley has a tremendous amount of Mattel-era rarities, and will be featuring quite a few of them in the future, but I wanted to profile one of my favorites that has not yet gotten its due.

For those of you who haven't read Parts 1 through 9 of this series, you can find them here.  We started doing this because variations and rarities from Matchbox's time at Mattel have not been as well-documented as variations from the Lesney era.  There are Lesney Matchbox collectors who have written books about the different variations from that era, from wheel to shade to window shade differences, and everything in between.  One of those is our current Matchbox Ambassador Nigel Cooper, and if you haven't read his Matchbox history write-ups in the Ambassador Reports, you really should.

Nonetheless, the history of Mattel-era Matchbox rarities isn't even a fraction as rich, but there are some very interesting models.  And many of us were around to watch the stories unfold.  That was in fact one of the reasons the Lamley Group was formed.  We know quite a bit about models like the Chilean Mini or 10-spoke Australian 911, and we always want to find out more.  And now with the blog we can pass that knowledge on to those who are interested.

So here is another, and it is one of my personal faves.

The 2005 version of the Ford GT has always been one of my favorite Matchbox castings.  The casting debuted in 2005, helping usher in what many collectors consider Matchbox's last great era.  Matchbox moved away from the cartoonish castings of Hero City and began to focus on realistic cars and utility vehicles, highlighted by the New Superfast line.

The Ford GT was a big part of that.  It is an absolute stunner of a casting, perfectly detailed and very clean.  I have every version released in my collection.

One of those is the rarity we are focusing on today.  The Ford GT was released as part of the Modern Rides 5-pack in 2009.  Here is the only pic I could find:

The Ford GT in this pack was a wonderfully simple model.  White with headlight and tail light tampos, and the signature Ford GT side stripe in red.  It was in fact the first time the model had appeared without a hood and roof stripe.  It showed off the top details quite nicely.

As great as that model was, what really piqued our interest was this model reported found in Michigan:

It is pretty obvious the red stripe is missing.  The headlight and tail light tampos were there, however:

Of course the first thought is that this is just a no-side-tampo error.  As cool as it is, it is just an error.  We agreed, until the person who found it said the other side was blank as well.

Still, while less common, errors with tampos missing on both sides happens.  But they are still errors.

That was the consensus among collectors, until more were reported.  Plain white Ford GT's with headlight and tail light tampos were being reported found in several areas, mainly in the Midwest of the United States.

In many cases variations are by definition errors, but where there are enough of one type, classifying it a variation is easy.  That was the case here.  No one know why a decent number appeared only in plain white, but there were enough to classify it a variation.

Needless to say, that meant I needed one.  I was able to work out a trade for one, and bought another for my Lamley partner David Tilley.  There are a few more in other's collections.

So call it what you want, the Midwest Ford GT, or the No-Stripe Error, but we just call it the Plain White Ford GT.  Having it in plain white with only headlight and tail light tampos (and the Ford logo on the hood) makes it a very unique part of the Ford GT collection, and a unique model in general.

Anyone else out there lucky enough to have one of these?


Matchbox Ford GT (2009 Modern Rides 5-pack in plain white):

Matchbox Monday: Rarest Models of the Mattel Era, Part 9 - 2008 London Motorshow Lotus Evora...

This is Part 9 of our series on rare Matchbox models from the last few years.  If you missed previous installments, they are here.

(As always, Matchbox Monday is sponsored by our good friends at MVE Collectibles.  Be sure to check out their store for both the latest Matchbox, and those models you need to fill in your collection...)

Today we will look at a model that is in some ways very common, in others quite rare.  You know I am a DLMer, meaning I open just about every model I acquire.  There are some exceptions: rare variations, autographed cards, etc.  But there is only one Matchbox model I have not opened.

And there is a good reason.  If I did open it, the actual model inside the packaging would be just like its regular issue version.  It is the packaging that makes it rare.

The model I am referring to is the first issue of the Lotus Evora in 2008.  There have been times in the past that Mattel has worked with a carmaker to help promote a new car.  Chrysler had Hot Wheels create a mini version of their new Viper to help promote its release, and if I remember correctly Ford did the same thing with the 2010 Mustang.

The same goes with Lotus in 2008.  As they developed their first 2x2 sports car, they sent Matchbox all the specs and asked them to put together a mini version that they could use as a promotional tool.  It was determined that the Evora would be unveiled at the 2008 London Motorshow, and Matchbox created a special promo model for the occasion.

The model itself is no different from the regular issue.  Metalflake silver with 10sp.  But there were two different versions given out at the event in different packaging.  The most common was handed out as part of a press kit on the Evora.  It was in a blister very similar to the basic blister, only without the barcode.  The second is the one we are showing here.  It came in a special plexiglass case with a simple black background, and was only given to attendees of a special Lotus dealer event.

The back of the case mentions that there were no more than 550 made.  The number might be much smaller.  I have not been able to confirm if that number includes the blisterpacks, but nonetheless finding the plexiglass version is quite difficult to do.

I acquired this version several years ago from Matchbox historian and supercollector Paul Carr, who was able to get his hands on a couple.  I am glad I did, because I have not seen it since.

So yes, this one stays packaged, and it is lovingly displayed on my desk...

Matchbox Lotus Evora (2008 London Motorshow Exclusive):

With the regular 2008 issue:

And with my favorite version of the Evora, released last year:

Matchbox Monday: Rarest Models of the Mattel Era, Part 8: 2005 "ROW" Superfast Ford GT...

This is Part 8 in our series on rare Matchbox models produced by Mattel.  If you haven't read the other 7, I suggest you do...

Sometimes the word "rare" gets thrown around a little too much in the diecast hobby.  Of course the term is relative.  Just think about how many "rare" Super Treasure Hunts are produced.  The more accurate term may be "desired".  There have been plenty of variations that have only been reported found one or two times, but if no one cares, they are long forgotten.  So technically yes, the model is rare, but is it desired?

The "ROW" Superfast Ford GT would definitely fall more in the desired catogory than rare category.  But it makes sense to put in this series because it was definitely much harder to find than most Matchbox models. 

The silver GT was part of what has become a disappointingly common story with some of our favorite Mattel lines.  It was part of a late batch of a particular series that was produced in small numbers compared to the others, mainly because the series as constituted was getting shut down or changed (see Hot Ones, Speed Machines, Lesney Edition, HW Racing, etc). 

The 2005 Superfast range was a very interesting one.  There were two ranges produced - one for the US market, and another for the ROW (Rest-of-World) market.  Both ranges consisted of 75 cars, and the lineups were exactly the same.  Only the colors and some liveries were different.  So if you were in the United States, you could get all 75 models at your local big box, but you had to make friends overseas to get the ROW 75 if you wanted one or all of those models.  I didn't want them all, but there were definitely some I did want, and I made a lot of friends while making trades and buying from fellow collectors overseas.

Where I got lucky was with ROW Superfast Batch F.  There were several models in that batch that collectors were excited about, including a yellow Hummer H3, a Beetle Taxi, a Mustang Concept, and the Ford GT, a casting that had recently been released to much fanfare.  The US versions were released, and were fairly easy to get, but for some reason the ROW models were produced in far less numbers, and appeared in only a few ROW markets.

Looking back, Matchbox probably bit off a little more than they could chew by doing two separate lines for two markets.  As a collector I loved pursuing those models that I wanted, but I can see how it did not make a ton of sense from a marketing standpoint, especially considering the only difference between the ranges were colors.  The next year Matchbox produced a worldwide 75-count Superfast range, and the year after that changed it to a 20-count range.

So whether it was retail demand, or Matchbox production, the ROW Batch F was much harder to find.  And from that batch, the Ford GT appeared to be the one most desired.  It is easy to see why.  The Matchbox Ford GT (not the GT40) is one of Matchbox's best, and it looks so darn good in silver with the black center stripe.  Some people take issue with the wheels, but the model overall is beautiful.  And when you pair it with the US release in black, you have yourself a drop-dead duo.  If someone asked me to pick one model as my favorite Matchbox, I would probably pick the silver GT.

So is it as rare as the other rare Mattel models we have featured?  No.  Can you go anywhere and just get one?  Not really.  They do pop up occasionally, and I even saw one go for $10 on ebay not too long ago.  But there are a lot of collectors I know who have spent years looking for this one to no avail.  I am just glad my good friend JonathanC in Australia was nice enough to hook me up with one seven years ago...

Want to find a Superfast Ford GT?  Keep checking the listings on ebay...

Matchbox Ford GT (2005 "ROW" Superfast):

And it's alter ego, the equally gorgeous "US" Superfast Ford GT in black with silver stripes:

As always, Matchbox Monday comes to you by way of our partner MVE Collectibles. Be sure to check out their store to get the latest Matchbox (including the 60th Anniversary series), M2, Greenlight, and more...

Matchbox Monday: Rarest Models of the Mattel Era, Part 7...

Matchbox Monday today is going to be all about the Porsche 911 Turbo casting.  No, not the Porsche Turbo that debuted in 1978 (and continues to be David Tilley's obsession), but the Porsche 911 Turbo casting that debuted in the early 2000's.

This casting has been used twice this year, which is rare for a sports car in the Matchbox lineup these days.  And this after the casting took some time off.  But it remains one of my favorites, and in my opinion one of the best sports car castings Matchbox has ever done.  It still looks great 10 years into the game.

It just hit stores as part of the latest batch of Matchbox, and we will be featuring that model shortly.  But there is also a version of this casting that easily qualifies as a rare Matchbox, and makes a great subject for Part 7 of our ongoing series on rare Matchbox models of the Mattel era.

If you missed Parts 1-6, I would check them out.

The version of the Porsche 911 Turbo I am talking about is a variation of the 2006 mainline version.  Those of you collecting Matchbox back then will remember it.   A beautiful metalflake sky blue version, with full front and rear tampos.

Although I cannot remember if one came before the other, this model came with either the old flower wheels or lace wheels.  I am sure there was less of one than the other, but it was not by much.  Both wheel variations were easy to find.  Until the third wheel variation came out.

All during the 2006 range and into 2007, Matchbox was fading out the use of the less-realistic flower and lace wheels, and replacing them with the much better-looking trispoke, 6-spoke, and 10-spoke wheels.  The wheels looked more realistic, and the 10-spokes especially looked fantastic on current sports cars.  The 911 Turbo of 2006, however, was released early in 2006 and the new wheels had not been put into production at that point.

However, late in 2006, a batch of 3-packs started appearing in Australia, and one of the models found was the 2006 sky blue 911, this time sporting the new 10-spoke wheels.  When the variation was first reported, many collectors decided to wait and see if it would show up elsewhere, instead of the paying the expensive shipping rates from Australia.  But that proved fruitless.  Not only did the 10-spoke Porsche only show up in Australian 3-packs, but even the 3-packs ended up being hard to find there as well.  Porsche Nut David Tilley had the foresight to ask for one, and I followed suit and bought one from a fellow MCCH member from Down Under.  I am glad I did, as that collector never found anymore.

I don't know what the numbers ended up being, but there are not a lot of these.  And yes, I realize a lot of collectors don't care for wheel variations, especially when you have to pay 20 times the price of a model to acquire it.  But as a wheel nut, the 10-spoke version was a must have because it looks so much better.

Why not just do a custom you ask?  Well, if Mattel can do an official version for me, I want that one.  Yes, collectors are weird...


Matchbox Porsche 911 Turbo (2006 Mainline version with 10-spokes, only found in Australian 3-packs):

The three wheel variations:

Be sure to check out the store of our Matchbox Monday partner, MVE Collectibles, for both the latest and classic Matchbox, M2, Greenlight, and Johnny Lightning.  Also be sure to inquire about their subscription and "One of Each" program...