Car Lamley Group: Routemaster Bus

The 12th International Matchbox Collectors Gathering of Friends is now less than three weeks away.

For us, it is the best diecast convention there is. Not too big, not too small, always in the same place (Albuquerque, New Mexico), and extremely well-run. Not to mention it is Mattel's adopted event for the Matchbox side, and they always send members of the design and marketing teams to hobnob with collectors and present the line for the next year.

It is not just for Matchbox nerds though. I have always returned home with a plethora of diecast. I have purchased a ton of Matchbox and Hot Wheels of course, but also Kyosho, Tomica Limited Vintage, Majorette, and a slew of other brands. Like we said, a diecast junky's paradise. If you can make it to New Mexico in July, you really should. And if not this year, then next. The Gathering never disappoints.

Oh, there is one other thing. The models. As stated earlier, Mattel has adopted the Gathering as their Matchbox event each year, and they produce the exclusive models for the event. And they go ALL OUT. Typically a Dinner Model and a Dealer Model are produced, with a special 75-count variant produced for the first 75 registrants of the event. They are must-have models to say the least.

(In fact, we have gotten word that the models for this year's Gathering are off-the-charts cool. We may even be lucky enough to get a bit of a teaser pic here in the next few days, so stay tuned...)

So to help prepare for the Gathering, we decided to show a few off over the coming days. Many have already been shown here, but why not a fresh set of photos for each?

And why not start with what has become the signature Matchbox model, the Routemaster Bus. The Routemaster started as a mainline model, but its heavy metal content has made it impossible for Mattel to produce as a $1 toy anymore. So it has become a premium model only. Think of it as the Matchbox equivalent to the Hot Wheels Drag Bus. We saw it as a 60th Anniversary Toy Fair model, as well as a standard and chase model for the 60th Anniversary line.

And it has had quite the presence at the Gathering as well. It was a Dealer Model for the 5th Gathering in 2007, and then reemerged last year as the Dinner and Early Registrant Model for the 11th Gathering. And beside that, a special one-off is produced for that year's outgoing Matchbox Ambassador, and presented at the dinner.

We have them all, so let's have a look...

We will start with the first, the Dealer Model from the 2007 Gathering. Upon first look, it seems like a great promo model decked out in Matchbox colors, but there is a lot more to it:

Have a looksy at these old photos:

Those photos are just way too cool. What you are looking at are the employee transport buses that the Lesney Factory in the UK used to haul its employees to the factory and back home. Lesney was Google before Google. Mattel paid homage to Lesney in such a cool way with this model. (Incidentally they did it one more time with the Routemaster, but that is for another article.)

As great as that first model was, no one complained when the Routemaster returned last year to the Gathering, this time as the Dinner Model in green with a 75-count early registrant model in zamac. Those in charge decided to bring the Routemaster back to help celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Matchbox. The Routemaster was used quite a bit in 2013, first as a Toy Fair exclusive, then for the 60th Anniversary line, both as a standard model and as a chase model, and finally these two. Note the very nostalgic Matchbox logo on the sides.

Finally, there is one more Routemaster handed out at the Gathering, but this one is a little different. It is handed out at every Gathering, but only one example is made, and it is given to only one person. It is the Ambassador Bus, always done in gold, and given to the outgoing Matchbox Ambassador.

If you are unfamiliar with the Matchbox Ambassador, it is a position that was created by Mattel about 10 years ago. The Ambassador is chosen by Mattel from the collector ranks, and for one year that collector serves as a liaison between company and collector. The current Ambass, Nigel Cooper, is finishing up his tenure at the Gathering, and hopefully you have all enjoyed his weekly reports, which we are fortunate to post here every week.

At the Gathering, Nigel will be given the 9th Ambassador Bus made, and his time will be over. Mattel will then announce the name of the 10th Ambassador. Nigel's bus will most likely look a lot like this one pictured below, which belongs to the 8th Ambassador. Only Nigel's will obviously have his name on it, along with No. 9. It is a stunner to say the least:

So that is the Routemaster. A model that never disappoints.

While we wait with bated breath to see what this year's models will be, we will continue to show some other Gathering gems. Stay tuned...

I have had my share of embarrassing moments throughout my life, somehow associated with my lack of knowledge pertaining to a certain way of life. I have always been pegged a city boy. That is what happens when you are born in the Bay Area and the most rural area you have lived is the urban center of Boise, Idaho.

While I am a pretty good hiker, and grew up visiting many beautiful areas in the Western US, I am a complete fish out of water when it comes to certain walks of life like farming, hunting, off-roading, and other activities. One of my most infamous stories comes from my time in Brazil, when I was walking with a friend near a rural farm and noted that I had never seen a horse sleeping, and didn't know they slept on their side with their legs sticking straight out. And come to think of it, that is sure a fat horse! My friend, who grew up on a farm, stopped dead in his tracks and asked if I was serious. The surprised look on his face made me think that it was common sense that horses slept like that. So I asked him that, and he laughed even more. He then pointed out that what I was looking at was a bloated dead horse, and then proceeded to NEVER let me live my city boy moment down.

Why do I bring this up? Because I am very near having another of those moments. I know NOTHING about military life, other than what I hear from friends and watch in movies and documentaries. I think I have a decent appreciation for what our friends in the military deal with, but when it comes to all things pertaining to the military, I am horrifically uneducated.

Which brings me to the brand new Matchbox MXT-MVA. Is it sad that the only association I have with this vehicle is that The Rock drove it in Fast & Furious 6? This is a legit military vehicle, and I can only think of the version driven by a pro wrestler in a movie about cars, glossy muscles, and bikinis. Shame on me, city boy.

But how awesome is that!?! The Rock drove it in FF6!! Matchbox did not create the MXT casting to be part of the Fast and Furious promotional machine that has worked its way through Mattel and Hot Wheels, but I am sure they are not complaining about the timing. Call it a fortunate set of circumstances. Of course that is if consumers realize what they are looking at. That is why I put FF6 in the title of this post. Might as well try and help folks make the connection.

The model is well done. Some will note it has painted-on side windows. My guess is that affords them some flexibility with future versions, but it also appears there is no interior. I guess we will find that out when someone opens one up.

Today we are showing two new models, and the only way to connect them is to mention that Fast & Furious 6 was set in London, and so is the new Matchbox Two Story Bus. Sense a theme?

I don't have much to say about the new Bus, as it is nicely cast, it has a plastic body, which will annoy some collectors, and will obviously take its place in the mainline while the classic Routemaster reserves itself for premiere lines like 60th Anniversary.

It does lack the charm of the Routemaster, but it is a very well done rendering. It will be interesting to see how this model performs once it hits the pegs...

All in all, two models that aren't down the Lamley Alley, but interesting enough to join the collection.

(You can find both models, along with all the latest Matchbox, here on ebay