Credit
Where Due
Ever since
Mattel bought Tyco and acquired the Matchbox name, I have been preaching
doom and gloom. My original suspicion was that Mattel would do to
Matchbox what they had done to Corgi. There were a few problems for
Mattel with this strategy in that they had agreed to support the
Matchbox line to avoid anti-trust concerns during the Tyco take-over.
However, if the Matchbox line failed to be a viable product line,
Mattel could let it die out.
This is exactly what appeared to be happening. The Matchbox line was
saddled with castings no one wanted and their shelf space at major retail
outlets declined dramatically. Matchbox began to disappear from certain
stores and markets. This might have continued until Mattel could finally
pull the plug on Matchbox had it not been for the efforts of a few brave
souls at Matchbox who convinced the accountants and marketing types to
allow them to revive the 'Superfast' name and the famous 'Matchbox' packaging
that had given the brand its name.
At the same time all this was happening, Hot Wheels, the darling of the
toy car universe and Mattel's favorite son, saw sales began to slip after
the September 11th economic decline. By 2004, Mattel's 'Wheels' division
was into year three of negative to flat earnings. Any product that proved
a success in the toy car market was cause for celebration and the new
Matchbox Superfast line did just that.
Now in it's second year, the 'new Superfast' or NSF line as it is known,
is continuing to offer popular Matchbox models from the past 20 years.
The biggest change from the first year is a vast improvement in the choice
of wheels for different models. While the wheels all continue to be plastic,
the original rubber tires planned for the series being dropped due to
cost concerns, at least they are being selected with some sense of what
cars of certain vintages should wear. The first year, all but a handful
of models carried urbanized wheels with low profile tires. This looked
particularity bad on some classics of the 1950's and '60's. A retro Superfast-style
wheel had been used for some models and is now being used for many more
while a new modern wheel in a handsome five spoke pattern is replacing
the rather nasty tuner treads of 2004.
Comparison of the 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood from 2004 (black) and 2005
(lt. blue) shows what a difference a wheel makes. Adding for comparison,
the 50th Anniversary version of 2003, it is possible to see what the
NSF line was supposed to be before the bean-counters intervened.
2005 version - 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood
|
2004 version - 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood
|
2003 50th Anniversary - 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood
|
While the addition of a tampo-printed white-wall (as shown on the accompanying
box art) would make the 2005 version look even better, it is still an amazing
difference compared to the 2004 release. The rubber tires and chrome wheels
used on the 50th Anniversary car are very nice but clearly designed for
a car of 1:60 scale while this Fleetwood casting is much closer to 1:70
scale. The retro-Superfast wheels used in 2005 are smaller and give the
model a more realistic look. It is also interesting to note several other
differences between these models. The 2003 version has silver window trim,
tail-light surrounds and hood ornament. It also has the Cadillac script
and front and rear crests in gold, as did the real cars. The skirts and
rear rockers have silver highlights and even the dash-board has been detailed.
The 2004 model lost most of the painted trim, and is most noticeable in
the lack of silver window trim. The 2005 version added back much of the
silver trim although the silver hash-marks on the rear fender are now missing.
Even so, the 2005 version has re-captured much of the detail that makes
the 2003 version so appealing while correcting the tire-size. Matchbox
is clearly moving back in the right direction.
|
|
Comparison of the box art from the 2004 and 2005 NSF series shows another
change. The 2004 version included a picture of the prototype model with
oversized rubber tires, like the 2003 model. The 2005 NSF boxes have moved
to illustrations of the models that may not be representative of the car
inside but are much better to look at. With some 2005 NSF models like the
Jaguar XJ6 and Land Rover Discovery, the illustration shows a newer version
of the same car while the box contains the older Tyco casting.
As noted, Matchbox has already reached back over 20 years to castings that
were done by Universal and Tyco. This is great to see and we might even
see the return of some of the original Lesney Superfast castings that still
exist. This is the type of heritage that Matchbox should celebrate. Tomica
has done an excellent job of maintaining the use of their castings going
back over 35 years. Perhaps Matchbox can learn from this example. Where
the original castings no longer exist, it's fine to create new ones as
they have done with models like the Mercury Cougar and Ford GT40.
Mattel has began to discover what made Matchbox a household name. This
discovery is also a financial success as both kids and Baby Boomers are
happy to buy the NSF series. While Mattel might have originally planned
to let Matchbox sink slowly into diecast history, I expect those plans
are changing as we speak. That is some of the best toy car news in a long
time.
|
