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As models go they are brilliant and you can see where the money from Mattel is going, authentic designs and accurate liveries.

Ghosty.

GHOSTHUNTER wrote:As models go they are brilliant and you can see where the money from Mattel is going, authentic designs and accurate liveries.

Ghosty.

Kevin, I hope this aplies for the BMW only or do you mean you like the PLASTIC fire engine with the cheap cardboard box also?

marcel

Hello Marcel, it certainly does apply to the BMW and the other cars in the range. If the 'Fire Engine' is plastic then they have done a good job as I was not aware of this and once again it looks OK but with a better looking cab section which to me suggests 'SCANIA'.

So it looks like Mattel are trying to keep Matchbox models as accurate replicas, leaving 'Hot Wheels' to look after the weird and wonderful vehicles, that suits me fine...

Ghosty.

matchboxmarcel wrote:Jim, It looks the model will not be packed in a clear plastic case as previous years?

See my overview of those here:
http://www.moyshop.de/images/pdf/Mattel ... models.PDF

marcel

Thanks for your excellent perspex case listings! It's very useful for reference.

i see you've got the rare 2004 mattel china commemorative Porsche Boxter. To my understanding this was made to give to Ron Montalto by employees to express gratitude. Ron was the then VP of Mattel Asia division, who was also the boss of Mattel factory in southern china.

There's another Porsche Boxter in perspex case from 2003 I don't know if you are aware of. It's made to commemorate the marriage of Bryan & Jessica on Sep 20, 2003. I was told that Bryan is the son of Mattel's big boss (but I don't know whom the big boss is. May be the then CEO Bob Eckert?). This Porsche Boxter has 2 versions.

The formal private release is as below but in perspex case and outer paper box. I don't have an image of this formal release in perspex case but I understand the perspex case and outer paper box is identical to the employee version which i'll show next. Below is an image of a loose one from another collector. Note the wheels they used one of those hot wheels' redline wheels.
The employee version was made in smaller quantities than the above formal release. The difference is that it's made without the "name and photo" on the bonnet and without the date "9/20/03" printed on the trunk. Below are detailed pictures.
Side by side with my "Thanks Ron" Porsche. You may note my "Thanks Ron" Porsche does not have screw marks on the rivets unlike the wedding model (it came in unboxed). Apart from the above there's yet one more unlisted model in perspex case as I understand. It's a MB515 Chevrolet Corvette and was made in 2002 to commemorate the merge of 2 sub-divisions within mattel china factory. So it's also an employee car. Unfortunately I don't have an image of this in perspex case as well. Only an image of a loose one from another collector.
May be you can consider adding the 3 to your master list of perspex models.

Cheers,
r