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Diecast Customs Galleries: Matchbox Customs

Matchbox' castings are known for being far more authentic to the original vehicle than Mattel's. Matchbox was always about "miniature", where Hot Wheels has always been about one-of-a-kind cars and outrageously-customized versions of common vehicles. We love most of their European and Japanese cars, but their track record for American muscle and plain-jane Detroit steel isn't quite as stellar as Mattel's. Still, we find a good half-dozen castings every year which are spot-on-perfect adult collectibles or which scream out for better-quality wheels. And of course, every year Matchbox makes a couple of sets of wheels which turn out to be spot-on perfect "upgrades" for Hot Wheels or Johnny Lightning castings. (For 2010, look at the "dogdish" wheels used on the 50s pickups, VW Beetle's and Austin Mini's, and the "knockoff" Euro-sport wheels used on the Jaguar XKE and Citroen DS. Both are uniquely appealing wheel designs tailor-made for use on other vehicles.) And whenever we use a set of Matchbox wheels, we've got a donor carcass that we'll want to restore to functionality with a different wheelset.

2011 Mainlines
2010 Mainlines	2010 #01us Fisker Karma (gray) 2010 #02us 2008 Holden VE Ute SSV (lime) 2010 #03us Caterham 500 (white) 2010 #15us Audi R8 (white) 2010 #17us Volvo P1800 (red) 2010 #20us 1954 Jaguar XJ120 Coupe 2010 #24us 1969 Cadillac Sedan de Ville (pink)
2009 Mainlines	2009 #03w 1972 Lotus Europa S (blue) 2009 #08us 1968 Mercury Cougar (blue) 2009 #21us Audi R8 (black) 2009 Sports Cars 5pk Shelby Cobra 427S-C (red)
2008 Mainlines	2008 #01w 1968 Citroen DS (black) (n/a) 2008 #03w '68 Mercury Cougar (red) 2008 #13w 1965 Mustang GT (blue) 2008 Classic Cars 5pk 1965 Austin Mini Van (blue/white)
2007 Mainlines	2007 #01us Bentley Continental GT (silver) 2007 #27w 1957 T-Bird (yellow) 2007 #28w 1961 Jaguar E-Type Coupe (blue) 2007 #32w Alfa Romeo Guilia Sprint GTA (white) 2007 #40w Chevy Van (orange)
2006 Mainlines	2006 #04w 1961 Jaguar E-Type Coupe 2006 #18w 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Cvtbl 2006 #39w Chevy Van (white) 2006 Oldtimers 5pk 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood (fuchsia) 2006 Oldtimers 5pk 1957 Corvette Roadster (white) 2006 Oldtimers 5pk Shelby Cobra 427S-C (blue)
2005 Mainlines	2005 SuperFast Ford GT
2004 Mainlines	2004 #36w Honda Element (orange)
2003 Mainlines
1959-2002 Mainlines	2002 #70us Chevrolet SSR (blue) 2000 #18us 1971 Camaro Z-28 1996 Sauber Group C Racer 1993 #69us 1933 Willys Street Rod (white)
Miscellaneous Releases	200x SuperFast Shelby Cobra 427SC (green) 200x 1968 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet (yellow x2) / 200x SuperFast Nissan Z 200x 1970 Boss Mustang (green)

Rating system:

Ratings represent my personal assessments of a piece's value as an adult collectible out of a maximum five stars.
Examples:
: In my opinion, this was a 2-1/2-star piece out-of-the-box; customizing improved it by a full star.
: I loved it in its stock appearance, customizing was a mistake that cost it a star.
: Customizing didn't improve the piece...fortunately, it didn't hurt it either.
These ratings are provided as guidelines for selecting suitable candidate cars and appearances for do-it-yourself customizing. They are not to meant to indicate in any way that a given piece has any real or meaningful value relative to any other piece or to the original piece on which the custom was based. They are provided as suggested guidelines only.