Who makes the best of the Mercedes 560 SEC / 500 SEC - the coolest, most bad-ass car of the late 1980s - the “I’m a Miami drug kingpin, this is my car - don’t mess with me!!!”?

For 35 years I've thought the Mercedes Benz 560 SEC, especially in modified AMG form, was one of the coolest, most-intimidating looking cars on the road.  The SEC was already the best looking, most expensive, most powerful coupe on the road in the late 1980s (with only the exotic Aston Vantage having any ability to challenge it).  And the AMG version of the SEC doubled the SEC’s already crazy price, adding power, presence and speed in equal measure.  The resulting car made even a Lamborghini Countach look like a bratty pouser, with more presence than almost anything else on the road!

And the Matchbox model (technically of the rest-of-the-world 500 SEC) did a great job of capturing that essence - a big meaty bruiser of a luxury coupe - making it one of my favorite castings of the post-lesney era - and a frequent subject of this blog.  I've got it in many colors - though there still remain a number of variations that I DON'T have it in.  

But recently, Hot Wheels introduced its own basic series casting of the same car - and it’s a phenomenal casting - easily my favorite Hot Wheels basic casting of the last few years.  I've found it in black, red, and grey/silver.  As cool as the vintage Matchbox is, this new Hot Wheels casting had something about it that was different than the Matchbox - with more sculpted rear wheel arches - slightly more streamlined and proportional bodywork, with the gotta-play-with-it essence that makes for a great diecast model.  I couldn’t help feeling like this HAD to result in a throw down comparison test.  

But THEN….  …I found a vintage Road Champs model of the 500SEC, in a rich shade of dark blue, with opening doors and a metal base!  A great car and a great find… ...and as long as I was including THAT one, I felt I had to also include Yatming's version of the 500SEC, particularly since it was one of Yatming’s stronger models, again with opening doors and metal base.  I have 2 of that casting in identical silver paint.  

All of which sets up for a compelling comparison test!

While all 4 castings are undeniably cool on their own, all great models, all faithfully replicating the coolness of the authentic SEC, all with certain advantages…. …still not all of the 4 castings compete at the same level.  In any competition there are winners and non-winners, and that is certainly the case here.

As much as I root for the underdog, and like the early high-quality Yatming castings, the Yatming is unquestionably the laggard of the group - it makes for an easy-to-determine 4th place finish.   It’s still a great casting, with a real metal base, a separate insert for the front grill/bumper/headlights (though that insert looks a little cheaply/plasticky), good detail, a soft suspension, opening doors, cream-colored interior, etc., etc., etc.  On its own, it’s great, but in comparison to the others, it just doesn’t look as tough as the others.  The Matchbox and Hot Wheels are models of the AMG modified SEC, whereas the Yatming and the Road Champs are models of the normal (still very nice!) Mercedes, and the difference is evident.  It just looks less muscular than the Matchbox and Hot Wheels…. …and it relegates the Yatming to a (strong) last place.

The next casting that gets eliminated is the Road Champs, really for the same reason as the Yatming.  It’s essentially a nicer version of the Yatming, a better model of the normal SEC rather than the ultra-tough AMG monster SEC.  …But the regular SEC still oozed class, more class than anything on the road aside from a Bentley Turbo R, and here the Road Champs finds its niche.  It beats the nice Yatming in almost every category (save for perhaps the silkiness of its suspension).  It’s bigger, meatier, with richer classy dark blue paint, a more substantial baseplate, a metal insert for the front clip that drips with detail (down to the headlight windshield wipers!), a cast-in-metal 3-pointed star on the hood, a glass sunroof, etc. etc. etc.  This is a Great model!  …but just not as great as the next 2 models.  I love it - but not enough to move it beyond 3rd place. 

If the voting was hard earlier, it gets even harder at this point…. Both the original Matchbox and the new Hot Wheels are REALLY nice competitors.  The Matchbox has a silky soft suspension, a heavy feel, great metal detail, and opening doors.  But it has its own downfalls - chief of which is that it looks a little fat and tall, especially when viewed against the more accurately proportionately modeled Hot Wheels.  Plus, the Hot Wheels colors are just on fire.  In addition, the detail on the Hot Wheels is over the top, with a vented-open sunroof (a first-ever in a diecast car?), speaker cutouts on the interior rear shelf, the best dual-exhaust of the bunch, modern-era paint detail for the front and especially rear lights, etc.

And so the new Hot Wheels casting wins - even without opening doors - and against one of my all-time favorite Matchbox cars, and against amazing contenders from Yatming and Road Champs.  That being said, (and I know I say this all the time!), all 4 models are phenemonal castings, there’s not a true loser in the bunch.  All 4 competitors are truly worthy adversaries!  

I’ve got to SAY, what a TOY!

Cool Green Livestock Tractor Trailers from Diecast stalwarts Matchbox and Majorette! (and a surprise additional rig is included at the end of the blog post!)

I remember loving it as a kid in the early 1980s when Matchbox came out with their "Convoy" series of tractor trailers, with cool sleeper cab tractors and interchangeable trailers.  And this particular convoy set is one of the best!

It features a handsome Kenworth Aerodyne Tractor in showy green paint.  And it comes with a matching livestock trailer, with dropping side and rear tailgate doors to let the animals in and out, making for a different trailer than the normal run-of-the-mill box trailers that typically come with the convoy sets.  

The only real let-down for this set is that the trailer is built off of Matchbox's standard short lowboy flatbed trailer - but at first its hard to even understand why that is a letdown...

Ah - so here's the rub...  As you'd expect from one of my blog posts, I'm writing this post because we have another vintage offering - a similar Kenworth pulled livestock tractor trailer contender from Majorette - in almost the exact same color scheme as the Matchbox!  Time for a comparison test!  Which of the 1980s diecast heavyweights made the best livestock tractor trailer?!?  

Normally, I'd be the first to rate Matchbox tractor trailers as better than Majorette tractor trailers.  But after looking at this particular unit, I wondered why I was so quick to form that opinion.  It too features a Kenworth sleeper cab in green - this time with opening hood! - and mag wheels that are more unique than the cool looking (albeit common) ones on the Matchbox.  And the trailer seems like a solid contender as well - again with dropping livestock ramps on the side and back.  

Lining them up against each other, 2 things jump out:

1.  The color - The Matchbox is just a richer, more pleasing shade of green vs. the Majorette

2.  The length - the Majorette is a solid inch plus longer than the Matchbox - and makes the Matchbox look too short (a victim of the usage of the standard low-boy trailer).  In the past I've sometimes reflected on how Matchbox convoys seem slightly too short - in comparison to the Majorette - this critique seems much more magnified.  

And in the end, this 2nd critique ended up being the more important critique in this comparison test.  

Because I really like both tractor trailers.  The Matchbox rigs have always been favorites for me - and this one - especially with its sharp green paint and very unique trailer - is one of the best.  And I've always been partial to the custom look of the Kenworth cab with its extended height sleeper and skylights. 

But the Majorette is also super unique (and hard to find!) and handsome.  The opening hood is a plus, though not a huge plus.  But the length... ...the longer length just makes the Majorette seem more correct.  And in the end - this was enough to sway the scale just enough to make the Majorette the winner.  

At least, the winner until another contender rears its head...  ...read on to the end of the article for a surprise additional consideration!

So - the suspenseful part of the article - the additional contender - is a larger scale rig from Majorette - a slightly older piece with a 1970s cab - but a show-horse livestock trailer that incorporates a camper!  

Including this rig into the comparison test isn't at all fair - since the scales are all different.  But as another legitimate livestock trailer - and a super cool casting - I felt that I had to show it also...  

Overall, all 3 rigs are very nice - some of the nicest available.  Among the traditional Matchbox sized pieces - both contenders are really nice - but I give the advantage to the Majorette.  And the larger scale red Majorette is as cool of a piece as you'll ever find.  Get all 3 if you can!

 

The Tootsie-Toy model that (almost!) beats out a cool, antique Lesney Matchbox casting - a stalwart model of any Lesney aficionado's collection!

Who would ever think that a Tootsie-toy could ever compete with a Matchbox car?

Tootsie-toys were cheapy - without interiors - without glass - without suspensions...  ...cheap drugstore 5-packs of cars that uncles and aunts would give you to fill out your collection - with their undiscerning eyes failing to grasp how much of a throw-away toy they just got you...

So imagine my surprise when I found an antique fuel tanker in a hobby store, with a solid heft to the model, and turned it over to read "Tootsie Toy" on the bottom!

I lined it up with the red Matchbox Major-pack No 8 fuel tanker ("Thornycroft Tractor" and "Thornycroft 2400 Gallon Trailer Tanker") and the resemblances were astonishing.  The colors matched almost exactly.  Both were labeled as "Mobil".  The sizes were almost dead even - the Tootsie-toy is slightly longer only due to the nose of the conventional tractor vs. the cab-over design of the Lesney Matchbox.  Neither had window glass (window glass would not become a common item in Matchbox cars for another 5-10 years) nor suspensions (not common until the advent of Hot Wheels cars 10-15 years later).  In short, the 2 were true competitors in almost every way.  Sounds like a recipe for a "Matchbox Frenzy" comparison test!

But once we get to an actual comparison, it becomes clear - the Lesney Matchbox is obviously the nicer and higher quality model.  The level of trim detail is just greater (by quite a margin).  The wheels are higher quality.  The tractor has a base plate to it.  The trailer hitch is less stone-age.  

So what is it about the Tootsie Toy that got me so excited?  Well, mostly its the heft of the trailer.  It feels like its carved from a solid block of metal - as if there is no empty space inside of the trailer.  The heft of it is truly amazing - it is obviously heavier than the Matchbox.  

While the detail can't compare to the Matchbox (the Tootsie-toy comes off as somewhat crude in a direct head-to-head comparison), on its own it appears nicely detailed - especially for a Tootsie Toy!  And then there is the size comparison - which is dead on equivalent in scale proportions.  This is indeed a Tootsie-Toy that directly competes with a classic stalwart of the Lesney Matchbox line.  And that's really where my surprise and astonishment came from.  

So chalk this one up as the one Tootsie-toy that every true Lesney Collector should have in their collection - the only Tootsie-Toy that I've yet found that truly deserves to have a place alongside other classic Lesney models!

P.S.  If you are a Stephen King fan, you might be familiar with his first film "the Duel" - a short movie about a psycho in a fuel tanker truck terrorising a salesman out on the road.  If either of these trucks were black instead of red - they'd almost be candidates for the duel's tanker truck!

Which is the best of the recent hyper-premium (RLC and above) Porsche 911s from Hot Wheels and Matchbox?

Recently, several hyper-premium (RLC-quality) Porsche 911s have been released, including:

1. an ultra-expensive Hot Wheels "Mattel Creations" Daniel Arsham Porsche 930 (late '70's 911 Turbo) in white, 

2. a Hot Wheels "RLC Exclusive" Porsche 964 911 "Magnus Walker" "Urban Outlaw" in mint green, 

3. a "Matchbox Collectors" 1980 Porsche 911 Turbo in a pepto-bismal pink.  

All of these cars originally retailed on the Hot Wheels/Matchbox Collectors website for $30+ (including shipping) (the Arsham Porsche was twice that amount), and all sold out immediately.  I bought them on Ebay after the fact, and had to pay roughly $40 each for the 2 less expensive ones, and $130 for the Arsham Creations one.  

Just a few years ago I couldn't imagine ever paying more than $10 for a single car.  And now, I'm writing a blog entry about 3 cars - 2 of which were $40 and 1 of which was $130?!?  Seriously?!?  

So given the relatively insane price points of all of these cars, you'd be forgiven for wondering whether ANY of them are worth the price, and, if you were just going to splurge for 1 of them, which one was the nicest...  

So let me cut to the chase.  They are ALL extremely nice.  All of the paint jobs are spectacular.  All are wonderful models. If you can afford (stomach?) the price points to buy them all, then buy them all.  Period.  

But there are a lot more questions that you may have, such as:

1.  Are they actually worth $40 to $130 each?  

Well, that completely depends on your own financial circumstances and views on toy car value.  But I can at least assure you that they are "nice" models.  

2.  But more importantly - which is nicer?  How do they stack up?  If you were to only buy 1 of them, which should you buy?  

For this question, I have an easy answer for you.  Third place is clearly the pink Matchbox.  Its a nice model, but it just can't compete with the 2 Hot Wheels cars.  So if you don't want to buy them all - then cut out the Matchbox first.  

The race between first and second place is much closer, and so close that it may come down to personal preference, but for me, the ultra-expensive white Arsham studio car wins out over the green 964.  If you only buy 1 car, buy the white 930.  On the other hand, if value for the money is considered, then the green 964 easily wins - since it is just 1/3 the price point of the white 930 - but almost its equal.  

There you have it - that's my judgment!  

Now read on - for a more detailed description of each of the cars!

Pink Matchbox:  This is a very nice car.  In fact, if you view it on its own, you'll really like it, with a nice casting body, amazing paint, and great wheels.  Viewed on its own, the "gotta-have-it" factor definitely kicks in.

The paint detail is amazing - the rear lights detail is the best of the 3.  The deep-dish FUCHS wheels are period correct - even if I'm not crazy about the superman blue color of them.  The opening doors is a nice touch.  Finally - the thickness of the whaletail rear-spoiler feels just perfect - I didn't realize that other whale tail spoilers were way too thick and clunky until I looked at this Matchbox one in detail..

There ARE a few negatives...:  Most importantly - I think the casting is a reused casting from the earlier "moving parts" series.  While the moving parts 911 turbo was a nice casting, this materially more expensive version of the same casting doesn't give you much more to justify the higher price tag.  Are you really willing to shell out $40 to get what is basically a color variation (albeit - a very nice color variation) of a casting that you probably already have?!?  

Plus, the base is PLASTIC, which feels pretty cheapy at this price level.  The color choice for the black interior is unfortunate - the 2 Hot Wheels interiors are lighter with tons of painted-in detail, making the Matchbox's straight black somber interior seem cheap in comparison.  And finally, while the overall paint quality is great and the color scheme works, I just can't quite decide how I feel about a pepto-bismal-pink 911...!  

Again, while the prior paragraphs may make me sound as though I'm not a fan of this model, it's not true.  It is a VERY nice model.  But its not perfect - and its just not quite in the same league as the even NICER Hot Wheels models.  That all makes it an easy 3rd place finish.  

That leaves us with the 2 Hot Wheels premium models - a 964 against a 930, and this time the race is CLOSE.  Both models are absolute exquisite, almost jewel-like in their detail.  

The green 964 initially catches your eye more than the white 930 - mostly because of the mirror-like reflective quality to the paint.  But actually the paint is SO reflective that it is a little unrealistic, such that AFTER that first initial impression, I began to be less high about the paint.  

The opening trunk is a nice touch , with a highly detailed engine bay.  I love the custom after-market gold wheels (though I've read other internet commentary that didn't like the wheels).  The interior is beige, but with an absolutely beautiful tartan insert on the seats that just takes it over-the-top.  With its metal base, the model has a nice heft that the plastic base Matchbox can't touch.  Overall, this is an amazing model - well worth even the $30-40 entry purchase price - and it's hard to imagine that anything could beat it. 

But then you look at the white Arsham studio 930...   ...and...  ...you just can't take your eyes off of it!  The white paint is...  ...amazing...?  ...flawless...?  ...perfect in execution and choice of color...?  How much more complementary can I get about it?

Simply put - I love the color.  In addition, the paint detail is equally great/perfect.  

The wheels are beyond perfect (aside from the tires oddly saying "Arsham Studio" on them when they should say "Pirelli" or "Goodyear").  I absolutely love the choice of wheels/design of the wheels.  

The interior is off white - with beautiful contrasting seating surface trim.  I couldn't imagine having a nicer interior - that is until I compare it to the 964's interior - with its amazing tartan inserts (c'mon Hot Wheels - why couldn't you have given us those Tartan inserts on this car?!?).    

So, in sum, the Arsham 911 wins, eclipsing even the amazing 964 (albeit for a LOT more money).  

Again - all 3 cars are great pieces.  If you have the funds, buy all of them.  If you can only buy 1, splurge for the Arsham 930.  If you can't afford the Arsham, then buy the 964.  You can't go wrong with any of them!

All else being equal, are mint condition cars always preferable to non-mint condition cars? Answer: NO!

This sounds obvious, but...:

...Aren't mint condition cars ALWAYS preferable to non-mint cars?  No!

You see it all the time in die-cast car forums, where they will describe a reasonable but non-mint car as a "filler", a temporary place-holder until you can find a mint-condition example of that casting.  As if to say, that the only purpose of a non-mint car is to be a place-holder until you find the "better" mint example.  

Which begs the question, are there ANY instances where, all else being equal (color, variation status, wheels, etc.), you'd actually prefer a non-mint car over a mint car?  

...And my answer to that is a resounding YES! 

Now, to be clear, this IS the exception rather than the norm.  For the most part, better condition cars are almost always preferable over worse condition cars.  And broken cars are ALWAYS less desirable than non-broken cars.  But...  ...there are situations where I actually prefer the non-mint car over the mint car.  

Some of it comes from the sense of sentimentality, that the specific non-mint model in question may hold sentimental feelings for you, that you remember playing with that SPECIFIC model as a kid, and the mint model just can't compete.  

But some of it also comes from the fact that to my eyes, the mint models are sometimes TOO shiny.  And the non-mint but good condition model may somehow look more like an ordinary car on the street, with a little less shine, and few more scuffs.  This is particularly the case for cars that are SUPPOSED to have scuffs - for instance pick-up trucks - or rally cars - rather than Rolls Royce's or Cadillacs.

I instantly thought of 2 real-life examples.  And they are from 2 of my all-time favorite Matchbox castings - the Mercedes AMG 500 SEC, and the Red Transitional Superfast Ford Pick-up.  In both cases I compared highly beat-up examples (left-most), with mint examples (right-most), and with good "filler" examples (center).  

And in both cases, I found that the played-with-good condition examples just had something about them that the mint examples lacked - some sense of old-car realism (particularly relevant for an old pick-up truck) combined with a unique "come-play-with-me" siren call.  

To be clear, it doesn't hurt that both of these middle examples also have that sentimentality going for them.  In both cases, these specific examples were the actual first examples of these castings that I ever had.  In the case of the 500SEC, it was a casting that I had desired as a kid but didn't actually get until a decade later as an adult collector.  And in the case of the pick-up, this was a casting that I literally had never before seen, until the day that I pulled that actual truck out of a $.50 bargain bin at a Matchbox collector flea market, marveling that such a great casting even existed.  But I don't think that sentimentality is the only thing going for them, instead I think that I would prefer them even without that sentimentality.  

 

So what do you think?  Am I completely off-base?  Or is there something about the playwear that is magical - some sense of "Velveteen-Rabbit"-esque toy-magic - gradually imbued on them by countless hours of childhood play?