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!

 

Vintage Rolls Royce Convertible Comparison

If you've just read my prior post, you know that I love the Lesney-era Silver Shadows...  ...and I also love the "Silver Shadow Coupe", as Rolls Royce itself initially called the 2-door coupe that would soon be renamed the "Corniche", a name it would hold for the next 20 years.  Matchbox stuck with the original name even after Rolls Royce renamed it as the Corniche, resulting in a Corniche Convertible called a Silver Shadow Coupe.  Which I find confusing...

Regardless of the confusing name, it's a great model in both thin and thick-wheel transitional versions.  Technically it doesn't QUITE meet the strict definition of a transitional - as it was never available as a regular wheel model - but it was made during the era of the Transitionals, and thus is sometimes considered an honorary transitional.  It typically is seen in an aqua-ish blue, but occasionally can be found in a yellowish-greenish-gold color.  For most diecast enthusiast, it is the only known vintage model of a Rolls Royce convertible.

But the fascinating thing is that it is NOT the only vintage casting of a Rolls Royce Convertible...  Instead there are not one, but TWO other contenders within my collection - and they are both very interesting and worthy contenders...:  1.  Majorette did a lovely and highly detailed casting of the Corniche as part of their premium series (red with the brown interior).  And Impy LoneStar Roadmaster SuperCar (did you get that full name?) did a Silver Cloud convertible (red with the ivory interior). 

So with 3 distinct and beautiful castings, the obvious question is...   ...which is best?

Frankly, it's a hard question.  All 3 castings are great castings in their own right, and each have certain virtues and advantages to them.  But while all 3 are fascinating, picking a least favorite is a quick decision. 

The Majorette is an amazing piece.  The amount of detail is over-the-top crazy.  The lights are real plastic (not just painted - and the other 2 don't even have painted lights).  The wheels are correct replicas of a Corniche's wheels, rather than standard Matchbox or Impy wheels.  The interior appears to have individual seats rather than a 1 piece molded interior.  The are decals on the dashboard for dials.  The list of detail goes on and on and on... 

But while the detail is amazing, the model has 2 primary and over-arching flaws that limit it's ability to compete....  First, its BIG.  And while I like big models of big cars (and the Corniche was a BIG car), this model is TOO BIG.  It is overly large.  It is closer to 1/55 scale rather than 1/64th scale.  In the photos you can clearly see the size difference vs. the other models. 

Secondly, its got no heft.  It feels very light and plasticky.  It looks nice, but as soon as you touch it you feel let down by it's lack of substance.  You find yourself tapping the panels to see if anything is made of metal.  So in the critical "gotta-have-it" factor, the "pick it up and play with it" factor, the Majorette drops in contention compared to it's correctly scaled and HEFTY less detailed competitors, and ends up with a strong, but still third place, finish. 


Which brings us to the next casting - the Impy.  I've always been kind of fascinating by Impy's, with thier castings of atypically modeled cars, and multiple openings.  Impy is the only true vintage toy-maker (at least in 1/64 scale) who regularly offers opening doors AND trunks...  ...and sometimes even hoods. 

And this Silver Cloud is so cool that it might just be my favorite Impy casting.  The opening doors and trunk instantly give it a leg-up over the Lesney casting, but a closer inspection reveals that the hood opens as well - in TWO central hinged pieces!!!  A total of 5 opening parts in an era when you were lucky to get even 1... 

Scale-wise, the model appears slightly narrow (although full-size Clouds always look narrow to my eye - so maybe its actually accurate/correct?).  I've never been particularly sold on the Edsel-ish look of the Cloud's headlights and grills -  and I don't like it anymore in the casting.  But - its a pretty accurate representation  (and very well done!) of an ugly front-end.

The casting is identified as a Silver Cloud MPW, where MPW stands for Mulliner Park Ward - Rolls Royce' in-house coachbuilder. 

With 5 openings in the model, it's hard to argue with the level of detail.  And unlike the Majorette - this one is undoubtably made of metal.  In fact, this rare casting is SO solid, and the detail is so great, that I find myself wondering why Impy's like this one haven't been driven higher in price.  How is a Hot Wheels Redline worth so much more than this car?!?  But while the Impy Silver Cloud MPW is an amazing piece - is it good enough to de-throne the traditional king of diecast Rolls Royce Convertibles? 

As mentioned earlier, the Lesney/Matchbox casting, is a lovely casting, with nice size, nice weight, nice detail, a soft suspension from the glory days of the Transitional SuperFast era, etc.  I particularly like it with the thin rather than the thick wheels (the yellow/gold one shown has the later thicker wheels while the blue has the thin wheels).  In mint condition with an undamaged windshield (they are fragile so poor condition cars frequently have broken or bend windshields) and a tonneau boot cover still in place (again - these seem to get knocked off easily), it's a grand-looking car.  The grill and headlights are a single stuck-on metal piece - similar to the Silver Shadow Sedan's, which looks high quality until you compare it to the Impy - when it suddenly looks "stuck on".  Overall, it's a favorite casting of mine, and (before seeing the Impy) I would have had a hard time believing that anyone else also modeled it - let alone modeled it better...

So the real question is - can the Impy knock off the Lesney Matchbox and take the crown of best Vintage Rolls Royce convertible?

This one is definitely going to come down to personal choice.  The Impy is the more interesting casting.  And is of an older and even more rarely done model.  With 5 opening panels.  Including a SUPER cool center hinged hood.  In contrast, the Matchbox is a traditional Lesney Transitional - big and square and nice, a favorite model of mine for several decades.  How do I choose?

In the end, although I changed my mind a few times, the quircky charm of the rare Impy Cloud overwhelmed my loyalty of the traditional Matchbox Silver Shadow Coupe Convertible... 

Hope you enjoy the photos!

New vs. Old Comparison Test - Lifted Off-Road Jeep Grand Wagoneers.... Vintage Majorette vs. New "Premium" Hot Wheels!

Well readers...   ...its been a while!  Over a year, in fact, since my last post. 

However a recent crop of premium models from Hot Wheels and Matchbox have inspired me to blog again.  Today's post is motivated by the recently introduced premium Hot Wheels series called "Desert Rally", a 5-car line that includes a beautiful 1988 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, all jacked-up with huge off-road wheels.  Being as its part of the premium line, the entire casting is metal, giving it a nice weighty feel, and the paint and trim work is excellent.  So excellent in fact, that I started wondering how it would compare with one of my favorite models from my childhood - the Majorette Jeep Cherokee Chief, itself all jacked-up with huge off-road tires. 

While the vintage Majorette model is a 2 door late '70's Jeep and the Hot Wheels is a 4 door Grand Wagoneer from 1988, in fact the 10-year apart vehicles were based on the same platform - just slightly (ever so slightly!) - updated to try to keep the Grand Wagoneer relevant in the late '80s. 

Which means that its time for a "Matchbox Frenzy" comparison test... Who modeled it better - Majorette or Hot Wheels - and can a premium model from 2019 upstage a stalwart mainstay of the 1980's Majorette line?

But to be candid, as soon as I dug out the vintage Majorette casting, I knew that it was going to be the winner of the comparison test.  The Hot Wheels may be newer, and glitzier, with fresh paint, but the Majorette just has more heft and presence.  Although the Hot Wheels casting is nicely sized, the Majorette is still larger than the Hot Wheels, and feels more authentic in its square-jaw'd ruggedness.  Nowhere is the size difference more visible than from above - looking down at the roofs of both vehicles - with the Majorette's roof clearly dwarfing the narrow white roof of the Hot Wheels. 

As a kid who grew up in the era when these Jeep wagons were one of the few options for a luxury family SUV, I liked the looks of the Grand Wagoneer's grill, and remember it better than the earlier Cherokee grill.  The Hot Wheels grill is modeled well in all metal, with nice detail - including a winch.  But modeled in 1/64 scale, the Cherokee grill on the Majorette comes across simpler and more authentic than that of the Hot Wheels - which (only in comparison) seems too polished up - and just maybe slightly gaudy. 

The wheels of the Hot Wheels model are nicer than the standard big wheels of the Majorette.  Plus the tires are rubber rather than plastic.  Advantage Hot Wheels. 

Paint-wise - the Hot Wheels paint is terrific - a beautiful teal color - with lots and lots and LOTS of detail.  In comparison - the Majorette's paint is a horribly out of date shade of light orange...  But then again, the faded and chipped paint feels more authentic for an off-road truck.  Advantage?  Tie!

But this isn't going to be a comparison test where I add up points across categories, giving extra points for a working tailgate (Majorette!) or a beautifully modeled interior.  As I stated earlier - as soon as I picked up the vintage Majorette - I knew it was going to be the winner.  The Hot Wheels is a beautifully done piece - a steal at your local Wal-Mart/Target for just $5.50.  But the Majorette wins on size and scale alone - even before considering its authentic vintage nature.  If the Hot Wheels is a steal at $5.50, then the Majorette is an absolute steal on E-Bay - its common status meaning that its easy to find - and prices for even mint models (before factoring in shipping charges) aren't much more than that of the Hot Wheels at Wal-Mart. 

Check back to Matchbox Frenzy soon for hopefully another comparison post - and this time - perhaps the winner won't be pre-determined!

Old School Comparo: BMW 3.0 CSI, Matchbox vs. Majorette... Who did it better?

This is an old school comparison test, from models designed in the mid ‘70s by two of the foremost diecast companies out there, of one of the most iconic cars of the decade...  BMW’s gorgeous 3.0 coupe...  Who modeled it better, Matchbox or Majorette?

The Matchbox model was a very popular model of the era. Although I didn’t personally have one in my collection, I was well acquainted with it from friends’ collections, and especially from my cousin Joey and Shawn’s collection.  Typically painted in bright orange (as well as a few much, much rarer colors), with opening doors, exquisite metal bumper/grill/headlight detail in front and bumper/rear light/exhaust detail in back, a nicely detailed interior, Matchbox’s soft ‘superfast’ suspension, and a BMW roundel sticker displayed prominently on the hood, it has all the elements of a nice model.  Couple all that with the fact that the model being tested here is in absolutely mint condition, and it’s hard to find a fault...  ...or is it?

Unfortunately, the fault in this very common mid-‘70’s Lesney model was a recurring theme in other similar castings (notably the abysmal Ford Capri, but also the racing Fiat Abarth and other models), which is that it is HUGE...   ‘Uge as the POTUS would say...

In real life the 3.0 was a graceful, delicate car, while the Lesney model is wide and squat, built like an NFL linebacker rather than a ballerina.  It dwarfs supposedly larger cars like the Lincoln Mark V, and even dwarfs the correctly scaled German 450SEL...  The extra wide Matchbox tires of the era don’t do it any favors, reinforcing its size.  Both the width and height of the model are out of proportion, ensuring that, regardless of how amazing the detail may be, the model simply fails to adequately look like a real 3.0... Harsh words for a mainstay of the mid ‘70’s Matchbox line!

Enter the contender, made in France rather than England, the Majorette model.  Unlike the Matchbox, I DIDN’T have a childhood experience with the model, and in fact, at 44 years of age, just YESTERDAY saw the model for the first time in real life...  (which should provide ample evidence for why today’s blog subject was picked!).

Also unlike the Matchbox, the model in question is at best in fair condition, with heavy paint loss of the once lustrous wine colored paint.  So, how does it compare?  Well, it compares very well...

The Majorette also has opening doors, with headlight/bumper detail that is EVEN better and deeper than that of the Matchbox model.  In addition, body detail is more precise....  evidence for the difference in detail is shown in the gas cap - which for the Matchbox is a square detail that could be a rear indicator light, while for the Majorette is CLEARLY a gas cap.  The suspension is just as soft as the Matchbox, the wheels are nicer, etc.  But the MOST crucial element is just the overall proportions, the accurate and correct proportioned modeling...  this car is the ballerina 3.0, the one that ACTUALLY resembles the real thing...  Winner - Majorette!

Fine Mercedes 300 E / TE castings by Matchbox, Corgi and Majorette

More Mercedes castings...  I'm not sure why I find Mercedes passenger cars in 1:64 scale to be SO irresistible... 

The early '90s Matchbox 300 E is a very high quality casting - with a nice heft, nice detail, door mirrors, opening doors, 8 dot wheels, a separate grill, etc.   I have it in the 2 common colors, it's probably available in others but these are the 2 that I most often see - a civilian version in light blue, and a German police version in white with green lettering.  Both colors are nice.  I wish I had it in other colors...  This casting would be an excellent candidate for a customization/re-spray - the problem is that they are somewhat rare - so these are the only 2 examples I have...  Both are very nice and represent the best of Matchbox from this period. 

However, fans of the mid-size 300 cars, and fans of wagons in general (me!) have additional options...  Majorette made a very nice blue 300 TE station wagon, with an opening rear hatch.  The 2 that I have are in the same blue color, but with minor trim differences.  The car is nicely sized from a length perspective, but sits a little high for my tastes.  The standard issue Majorette wheels are also a bit of a letdown - the Matchbox 8 dot wheels just look nicer.  Overall, the casting is a bit of a mixed bag, with the nice (the hatch, the heft, the integrated roof rack) being offset by the not as nice (the bumpers look plasticky, the high stance, the cheapy wheels).  But still a good enough casting that you should try to get it... 

Lastly, Corgi also had a 300 TE wagon, in this version at least in ambulance guise (not sure if it was available in civilian colors).  This is the definite 3rd place casting relative to the nicer Matchbox (1st place) and Majorette (2nd place).  While the size is nice (its within a smidge of being as long as the Majorette, and is actually a bit wider - giving it a chunkier appearance) and the metal detail is reasonable, it has no opening parts, ultra-cheap standard 4 dot Corgi wheels that would look cheap on a Maisto/Fast Lane, a grossly done light bar (its the cheapest police light bar that I've seen on any die-cast car - ever!), etc.  Overall, while I'm happy to have it in my collection, I wouldn't recommend that other collectors seek it out to buy it.  It's only a marginal casting, and being a Corgi is hard to find and frequently a bit pricier than other brands, so its probably not worth the money you'll have to pay... 

Massive Comparison - the Car Carrier Extravaganza!!!

When I was a kid, I dreamed about how cool it would be to have a Matchbox tractor trailer that could actually fit a real Matchbox car inside of it.   I thought about this a lot, since I had a Matchbox 1-75 series 18 wheeler (one of the early ones, with the Matchbox logo on the trailer), but the box of the trailer was too narrow to fit a Matchbox car into. And, I had the awful Matchbox 2.5 inch long car carrier from the mid '70s (#11 - pictured to the right, in the foreground), with 3 tiny plastic cars permanently affixed to it, but even the 9 year old me knew that it was not what I wanted.

In the early '80s some manufacturer (Road Champs?) had a whole series of relatively cheap quality big rigs, and one of them was a car carrier (My cousins Joey and Shawn Sherburne had an example - I think it was orange).  But again it was too smaller and narrow to let any car other than perhaps a tootsie toy onto it.  My friend Andy Bradshaw had 2 kingsize car carriers from his brother's collection - that fit 4 and 5 cars onto them - but they seemed too big and out of scale - certainly bigger than my above-mentioned 18 wheeler... (Later as an adult, I realized that the King Size trucks were actually closer to true 1/64 Matchbox scale than the trucks in the 1-75 range...). 

Then Matchbox expanded their tractor trailers into the 'Convoy' series, and brought out a glorious tractor trailer that was pulled by an ordinary 1-75 truck (a red Kenworth COE - the right hand example in the below photo) but that fit 3 real Matchbox cars onto it, with even a ramp that lowered so cars could drive up onto it. I was simply bowled over, awestruck, by how perfect it was....  To this day it represents an excellent example of how a toy company could make a functioning toy while still staying within reasonable size dimensions.   

Since that time I've considered myself a connoisseur of car carriers and have eagerly collected them, with the provision that they had to be able to carry ordinary 1-75 Matchbox cars.  And it now seems like a good time to run a comparison test, to see which one is best.  Can my childhood favorite Convoy series rig win the crown for best carrier, withstanding severe competition from some of my newer additions?

I found 17 unique castings in my collection, across 5 distinctly different scales.  The smallest is undeniably the worst, and the clear loser in this competition, the earlier mentioned 2.5 inch long Bedford car carrier with the tiny affixed plastic cars.  It has nothing going for it - little detail, no interior, un-removable cars, etc. 

The next size up is where the fun begins - in roughly 1/90 scale (though these pieces were sold as part of the 1/64 scale collections).   I have 4 examples - the early blue/grey Lesney grey wheel Accessory Pack example, a yellow EFE piece with an Atkinson tractor, the earlier mentioned red Matchbox Convoy series pulled by the Kenworth COE, and a rather customized Hot Wheels Adult Collectible pulled by a classic Ford COE.  I forgot about the Hot Wheels unit until after the main photo-shoot - so I have a separate photo of it below.


The Accessory Pack and the EFE tractor trailers will fit smaller cars onto them - particularly the grey wheel or smaller regular wheels cars from the early-mid 60s.  However even with those, only the smaller examples of them will fit onto the bottom rack.  The Accessory Pack piece does not have a movable rack or any way to manually load the cars, and also doesn't have an interior on the cab.  In contrast, the EFE tractor is a beautifully detailed piece, a real show piece.  The top rack drops down and there is a ramp to allow car boarding.

I've already talked about the red convoy series.  It'll fit most matchbox cars onto the bottom or top racks, as long as they are not extra wide or too tall.  A huge plis is that tt can be pulled by any 1-75 series tractor.  The example pictured is my actual childhood example - though I also have a version in blue that I picked up as an adult.  The Hot Wheels piece is more different than the others with a very different trailer design.  The lower rack is artificially low so it'll only fit the specific cars that it came with (a Midget Sprint car and a C1 Corvette). 

Then I move into the next size of carriers - which I think are closest to 1:64 scale.  The picture to the right shows 7 of them, although the 2 in the middle are identical Corgi units but with different cabs (for the sake of the comparison test I will only include 1 of these). 

Starting from the left, I have the Lesney Major Pack #8 with the Guy Warrier tractor.  This is a nice piece with a folding top rack and a loading ramp, holding 4 total cars.  There's not much to critique on it, other than the fact the cab is permanently attached to the trailer, the loading ramp is a little steep, and there is no interior in the cab.  Next up is the Lesney Super King #11 DAF car carrier in yellow.  Again the cab (I love the DAF cabs) is permanently affixed to the trailer.  The trailer fits 5 cars with adjustable chocks.  I love the bright yellow color (its also available in a rarer blue color which I don't have). 

Next up is a Corgi Juniors Volvo unit from the '80s.  What is so unique about this carrier is that it has a trailer that can carry an additional 4 cars.  Both ramps drop and allow easy loading and unloading.  This unit also has adjustable chocks for each piece. 

The next 2 newer Corgi units (in blue) also have trailers - but these trailers run flush with the first trailer - allowing the cars to be driven from one trailer to the other.  In addition, this is the only design of them where the ramp for the front most trailer only drops half way down, requiring usage of the rear-most trailer to actually load cars (refer to the right photo).  This ramp design actually feels like the most realistic ramp design among any of them.  These are nice units - with a very modern and sophisticated feel.  One has a Renault cab, the other a Scania tractor. 

The last 2 units in this (approximately) 1:64 scale are the newest units and are widely available in the US at Walmarts and similar stores.  The first is by M2, and features a classic Dodge tractor.  Only the back half of the top rack actually drops down, but it is works fine, or would if there was a ramp that actually reached to the ground.  While I'm pleased to have this carrier, and like the old fashioned look of it, I'm a little disappointed that they didn't make it feel even higher quality.  The trailer has a plastic feel to it.  The last of these units is from the newest Matchbox tractor trailer series.  It looks nice from a distance, however the trailer is 100% plastic which really hurts the feel of it.  There are no wheel chocks at all, adjustable nor cast.  It holds 5 cars, but it really doesn't feel as nice as the '80s Convoy version. 

Now I start getting into the larger scale trucks, which still hold Matchbox size cars, but where the cabs seem a  little out of scale... 

First up is the coolest - the Corgi Tri-Deck carrier.  This version is so cool precisely because it has 3 (three!) car decks, allowing it to hold 7 or more cars.  It also has a retractable set of dolly lifts for when the trailer is separate from the cab.  This unit is a very rare unit and one of my favorite pieces - I like it so much that I have 3 examples of it! 


After the Tri-deck Corgi is another Corgi - the blue Carrimore Mark 4 with the Ford tractor.  While this one doesn't have 3 decks, it looks and feels very high quality, again has retractable dolly wheels, and the COE cab tips up to reveal the engine. 

The Lesney Super Kings K-40 Courier transporter is next.  This has a nicely molded set of ramps/racks, with molded in wheel chocks.  It feels nice until you compare it with the high quality Corgis, when it suddenly feels like a toy rather than a collectible. 

The yellow SIKU is a more modern unit (15 years old), but is nonetheless 100% metal.  It also has an attached trailer, (with a concave and convex break point - allowing it to turn corners without losing connectivity), and holds 7 cars.  Each of the 2 top decks drop down, allowing creative loading, and alone among the units it has 2 individual wheel tracks that reach the ground and retract when not in use. 

Finally, the Majorette unit.  It doesn't have all of the bells and whistles of some of the competitors (and feels more like a toy than a collectible), but it is all metal and holds 5 cars.  It is a high quality and solid unit, just without some of the real exciting twists of the other carriers. 

There is only 1 example of the largest size group, this green Corgi Ford Transporter.  This one is actually too large for 1:64 Matchbox (the wheel tracks are too far apart - and my Mercury Police Cruiser falls through the middle), and is really made for Super King or full-size Corgi toys.   It has individual wheel chocks and a dropping top ramp, but doesn't feel quite as nice as some of the other larger Corgis. 

So, which one is best?  For this comparison test, I compared all 17 units across 13 categories.  Most of the categories were in a 10 point range, with 5 having only a 5 point range.  The maximum possible score was 105.  ....and the winner is ...:

The Corgi Tri-Deck, with a score of 94 points.  This wasn't at all a surprise to me - it came into the competition as one of the favorites.  Three decks is hard to argue with, especially when you add in the additional quality of the detail on the cab, the detail on the wheels, a jack to hold the trailer up when not attached to the cab, and movable wheel chocks.  What surprised me was that the Siku came in 2nd, a unit that has some very impressive qualities (particularly its loading ramp arrangement and retractable ramps to get to the ground), but whose overall appeal seemed slightly less than some of the others.  3rd (Corgi Carrimore) and 4th place (the huge Corgi Ford) were also from the larger sizes, proving that my point system did not offer enough value to the more Matchbox 1-75 sized carriers. 

It wasn't until 5th and 6th place that we moved into the more moderately sized, with 2 more Corgi's claiming those spots (heavily helped by their having the 2nd trailers, and a nod of recognition to the very unique loading ramp movement of the Renault/Scania).  This really is an amazing accomplishment for Corgi - their 5 units were all in the top 6!  In contrast, the best placement for Matchbox' 7 units was 7th place - the DAF Superfast. 

And its not until 9th place (a tie) that one of the smaller units finally place, the Hot Wheels COE.  It was held back by its plastic body. 

Somehow by childhood favorite (the red Matchbox Convoy Kenworth COE) ended up 3rd from last, in 15th place.  The fault was mostly that its 3 car simple approach was less exotic than that of its competition.

And as expected, my childhood non-favorite, the tiny Bedford, ended up dead last. 

Anyway - a fun experiment and comparison.  I hope you enjoyed reading it.  And check back again, since I feel that I may want to re-compare the trucks using different categories and different scaling, to see if the rankings get shaken up.