Car Lamley Group: Lotus

Exactly as week from now, we will be enjoying the Southwest in the great town of Albuquerque, New Mexico, with our fellow Matchbox nerds at the 12th Annual International Matchbox Collectors Gathering of Friends.

We have already mentioned numerous times how much we enjoy this convention, so we are happily counting down the days. And to help us do that we are looking at models from Gatherings past. Last week we showcased the several Routemaster Buses that have been Gathering exclusives, and this week we thought we would pull one exclusive from the last 7 Gatherings.

Why 7? No reason. The 2014 event will actually be my 7th time visiting, and it would have been the 8th if certain circumstances hadn't prevented my from going in 2007. So maybe these 7 represent the 7 years I have been involved.

So we picked a model from each year and gave them the Lamley treatment. You can see that there is a large variety to the models picked, and the only consistency is that the models are licensed, and they are incredibly detailed. The Gathering exclusives are always the nicest produced models of each year.

And that will remain true in 2014. Event organizer Jim Gallegos had hinted to us that the models will not disappoint, and that they are some of the best models ever done for the Gathering. He even provided a teaser pic and we are showing at the bottom of this post. Scroll down and see if you can figure out what the model is.

So here we go, a model from each year since 2007. Try not to drool, and let us know your favorite. If you can pick one...

(In case you want one, some of these models are currently on ebay

...)

2007 - 5th Gathering - 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA (Dinner Model)

2008 - 6th Gathering - 1969 Cadillac Sedan Deville (Dealer Model)

2009 - 7th Gathering - 1972 Lotus Europa (Convention Model)

2010 - 8th Gathering - 1971 VW-Porsche 914 (Convention Model)

2011 - 9th Gathering - '68 Ford Mustang GT/CS (Dinner Model)

2012 - 10th Gathering - 1971 Pontiac Firebird Formula (Dinner Model)

2013 - 11th Gathering - '56 Buick Century Police Car (Dealer Model)

Finally, the sneak peek you have all been waiting for:

2014 - 12th Gathering - ________________ (Dinner Model)

Jim may have given too much away. Especially with these hints:

It is a Matchbox model.
It has wheels.
The Gathering logo is somewhere on the model.
It sits in a plexiglass case.
It will be opened by David Tilley, my Lamley counterpart, as soon as he gets his grubby hands on it.

Anyone excited?

Hot Wheels went all supercar in Batch G:

Let's look. Sesto Elemento in signature gunmetal gray (awesome), Alfa Romeo 8C in signature satin red (dope), Pagani Huayra in eye-popping green (nice), and that Lotus that could look good or bad but I wouldn't notice because I can't get over that horrible pinched nose.

We've already seen the Lambo and Alfa, and we will skip the Lotus (that nose!!) and have a gander at the green Pagani.

One of the cool things about supercars? They're supercars. They make you look. They make you scramble for your phone and take photos of them in your rear view mirror. That means they can be any color they damn well please. So if a supercar wants to be bright green, it might was well. You are going to look anyway.

So this one is green. And I like it. I would like it more if the casting was a little meaner. I've said it before, but it sits a little too high, and low is what makes the Huayra a true Pagani. Other than that, the model looks good.

But compared to the Sesto Elemento (look how low it sits) and Alfa Romeo (pretty and mean), it sits third in this batch of supercars. Don't get me started on the Lotus...

(Get all these super duper cars and the rest of Batch G at Wheels Collectors...)

Hot Wheels Pagani Huayra (2013 Mainline):