Matchbox gaming

Red was the one being used for this and the other Wrecker. The cranes were all using yellow and lemons. After that, the model disappeared for a while. But in it popped back up again. It was added to the TP twin pack in olive green with a S64 label on the side or not as some were found without.

If you are lucky, you might find one with chrome hubs instead of the usual black. I am still looking. I am also to find a random blue model too. Something was being planned for the model, and it ended up being dumped in MP-1 packs in , a lot were in Tesco stores in the UK.

I would have been 9 years old at the time when these multipacks appeared. They were a simple affair. A box, with a plastic insert that had bumps all down the insides. Small cardboard strips would be inserted into these bumps to create 3 slots for putting random models in.

As the cardboard could be inserted into many slots, they could put any old model in and just use the next slot to create the divider. So tall vehicles or short vehicles could be inserted.

A lot of items were factory clear out items, but there was also a lot of items included. I still remember vividly a massive end unit full of them as I walked into my local Tesco store. I would recognize models from the basic range that were sold on their own too, but also remember seeing some US issues that were also thrown in. Or just stuff I was not used to seeing. I talked my parents into getting a few packs as each pack was theoretically different, and so was busy hunting down packs that would have 3 models in them I liked.

There is a very good possibility I might have held a pack that had a blue Ford Heavy Duty Wreck Truck in it, but likely had other items I had so I put it back. I was 9. But if I only had a time machine to go back 40 years and have another chance to go through those racks and racks and racks. Still, I never got it then. I am still looking now. Wreck Truck. A Matchbox originals design. A lot of people have denoted this as being a Ford, just like the heavy duty was before.

Because it looked vaguely familiar to the Ford Transit that Matchbox had not long launched, people would often refer to this as a Ford too. But for starters, if it was a Ford, even without saying it on the base, Lesney had a habit of still putting the lettering on the front.

The Transit did. It had F O R D across the front. But this makes no mention of any company. It is generic. A nice generic I actually would say this is my favourite towing truck they ever made but I have often believed that this is in fact a Lesney own design that is loosely based on the Transit style, but also has a lot of influence from the Bedford CF series.

I have a feeling that whoever designed this saw a Bedford CF in use in their local area, and used it as a guide for creating a unique Matchbox model. I have been trying to find picture proof, but all I found was this.

A Bedford CF being used as a guide for what is on a tow truck. But anyway, the Matchbox one debuted in as well as MBC. It was red. I have one with amber windows, white booms and red hooks.. That is it. It ran for 3 years in red, and during that time has a whole bunch of variations. Hence me wanting to refresh myself too, as I feel I really need to work harder at picking more up. Amber windows are the norm. But there is a rare blue windowed example that tends to go for big bucks.

The hooks are also known to appear in black too, but just like before, hooks can be unclipped so there is no value to them. The booms were interchangeable with Toe Joe which is why red and green are known to appear as that was in twin pack use at the time.

So as you can see, I have a lot to find. The model turned yellow for one final year in the basic range in I have done a bit better with yellow ones.

I even have lighter and darker amber windows on this model. I did not make mention of white booms. They exist too, and I have neither the red or black hook versions. This one also sported base variations. As well as black we had brown, blue-grey, unpainted and greyish brown.

There is a lot to find for me. So I am putting the pictures here to show what I have and remind myself what I need. After being dropped from the basic range, the model saw one further use in a twin pack. Although if you are lucky, you might find one in a late single blister as the single issue was moving to a Peterbilt replacement. They do exist. Red or black hooks again and white or red booms exist here.

No green. It was also the only time the model saw a tampo print. Next up on my trip through memory lane is something brown. The Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser was brown, so I went with something from Universal that debuted in brown. Because why not. The US range did not see this tan model.

Although if you were in Japan with their hybrid series, it was issued as MB54 there. The amber windows on these 2 that I have are different shades. The top one is a lighter amber window than the bottom one. Shades of gold can be found with 2 years of production, even coming from the Macau factory. Now there is a crossover here, as in they went to turn it red and the last production run of gold had a brown interior and clear windows.

I am still on the hunt for that one. Which inevitably leads us to the red. This is where things get quite complicated for this model. For starters, they decided finally to add the model to the US range as MB Production at first was still in Macau and the model had a brown interior. Now this is an early Macau. For some reason they decided to give the base a textured look to it shortly after production began on red. I am not going to bother with that one.

But later in the year they moved production to Thailand as well. This gives us a different shade, and a slightly darker brown interior. Now obviously by now the base was textured, but it like a light mottled affect to it and in a picture like this is barely perceivable. At the end of the model was again dropped from the US range, but it was still going strong in ROW countries.

The first change happened in The Thailand factory changed the interior to cream, and for some reason added a crest to the doors. I have no idea what the crest means or why they did it, but this did not last long. Because by the crest was gone and it was just back to plain red again. Except now it was sporting a creamier interior. In another change happened.

They decided to move production over to China and throw it back in the US range again. This time as MB Chinese made models tend to come out quite a lighter shade. It carried on a second year made in China and finished up in After this the casting was retired. The last model was something brown because the Olds was brown.

I am going with the MB Chevy Tahoe. The eagle eyed will notice I found shades. Oh yes. It was in a First Editions twin pack in dark green and unpainted. I do not have those yet. In the model moved to the MB99 slot with a Clogs design on it. However, this was a bit of an unusual case. Hi Karen, video games are rather addictive. My Hubby is a huge gamer — has been all his life. He has worked in the industry since he got his first job working for Rare — he had a hand in making GoldenEye on the N That room full of retro gaming consoles sounds like heaven!

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