After the (might we say) mixed response of last week's off-road vehicles, I feel confident that these models will be met with a little more praise. Police cars have always been a specialty with Matchbox, and we have seen a variety of police castings released in the last few years, modern and classic. One of my favorite trends has been the introduction of "non-US" police castings, namely the Subaru WRX and Mitsubishi Evo. Each have proven to be collector faves, and now that the Subaru license is active again, I anticipate we will continue to see these castings used. And today we add another overseas police car to the mix, and boy is it a doozy.
Shall we get on with it?
(As always, these photos are used with Mattel's permission...)
MB867 Lamborghini Gallardo Police (60th Anniversary Edition):
Am I out on a limb if I say this one should be popular with collectors? The Gallardo Police, complete with roof light, is a no-brainer Matchbox model, and a great edition to a fantastic police lineup. It sports the Italian Polizia livery, with the 60th logo added. This is obviously the signature deco, and I am very glad that they reserved it for the complete 4-sided deco on the 60th model. Now that this livery is out of the way, they can get creative with new designs.
Speaking of...
MB867 Lamborghini Gallardo Police (2013 basic):
We also have the first shots of the "official" debut of the Lambo, in its basic clothes. Nice and clean, and sharp in black. And yes, a red light means red windows, but I can live with it.
There are more new Police castings to show, namely the Dodge Charger, but that will come later. In the meantime, enjoy these two police favorites that will be released shortly in the basic range:
Subaru WRX Police:
BMW Police Motorcycle:
The Subaru ditches the white treads for standard black this time, but spices things up with signature gold rims. Standard, although non-licensed, police livery completes a very good-looking scheme.
And the BMW bike gets a second outfit in the basic range, as one of the five recolors we will see in 2013, this time in military garb.
While some feel that realism is at a premium with Matchbox lately, I hope these four satisfy the hunger just a bit.
One note:
We will skip the Ambassador Update next week as we will be smack-dab in the middle of the holiday, but will jump back into it on New Year's Eve. We have many more models to show, including two more brand new European emergency vehicles.
Until then...
