2010 Matchbox Batches Thread

info borrowed from MCCH :

June Ambassador Report

Introduction.
Most of the news of April and May you could have read on the different message Boards all over the world and the news we have published on our Club Site. News was mainly covering issues of Models found and as announced in the previous Ambassador reports.

I have been concentrating the last month with several collectors on adding the online catalog to the Forum site on Sky Busters. And that wasn’t an easy one.

The first thing of course is the difficulty that on the 2010 range the numbers have disappeared from the front side of the blister. Even worse, in the second wave all information on numbers of the 12 models (normally at the back side), disappeared and that makes it very difficult to identify a model. Also the fact that the text on the front side of the blister describing the models is not referring to the model name, but most of the time some funny text like ‘Stunt man’ or so, doesn't help us. I have discussed this with Mattel and they promised to work with their team regarding the Skybusters numbering. At this moment Mattel is unsure when they decided to take the numbers off of the package, but they will discuss this with the packaging group. The good news is that the backside of the blister has a lot of informative stories and is a big improvement on what it was.

The other problem is the information on the models itself. Sometimes a SB-number (of course our preference!!!) is used and other times the original SIKU number (like M0183). Of course this number is only valid at the first year the models is issued because in later years another number is used, but still the original SIKU numbers can be found on the model.

At last in some years the first letter of the SIKU-Number (like M, N, and R etc) indicating the year of issue is not used consequently. Some numbers are issued in different years then the SIKU numbers expect you to be.

With the help of the Mattel I have now a complete overview of the SB numbers used. Unfortunately that list is not in line with ‘common’ accepted numbers within the die-hard’s of the Sky Busters collectors. That’s why I have used both numbers in my catalog on the Forum Site. Here is the overview Mattel gave me of the Sky Buster numbers:

Military Helicopter SB-51-A 2002

Tranport Plane SB-52-A 2003

Fighter Jet SB-54-A 2004

Airliner SB-55-A 2004

Tilt Wing SB-62-A 2008

Mission Chopper SB-64-A 2004

Cessna Caravan SB-65-A 2005

Boeing B-1B Lancer SB-66-A 2005

BOEING 777-200 Type 2005 SB-67-B 2005

BOEING 747-400 Type 2007 SB-68-A 2007

Hydro Prop SB-69-A 2007

Hypersonic Jet SB-70-A 2007

BOEING 737-800 SB-71-A 2007

Sky Cargo SB-72-A 2007

Stunt Plane SB-73-A 2007

Tilt Wing SB-74-A 2007

Cessna Citation X SB-75-A 2008

Super Hornet F/A-18E SB-76-A 2008

Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner SB-77-A 2008

Northrop Grumman B-2 Stealth Bomber SB-78-A 2008

Robinson R44 SB-79-A 2008

New Stunt Plane SB-80-A 2009

Sikorsky S-92 Helicopter SB-81-A 2009

Pusher Prop SB-82-A 2009

Twin Boom SB-83-A 2009

Boeing 314 Sea Plane SB-84-A 2009

Biplane SB-85-A 2009

Air blade SB-86-A 2010

Twin Engine Blaze Buster SB-87-A 2010

Classic Fighter Plane SB-88-A 2010

Space Shuttle SB-89-A 2010

Lockheed F-35B Lightning II SB-90-A 2010

Cirrus Vision SB-91-A 2010

As you noticed there are some holes in the numbers from SB51 until SB64

In my previous report I explained that information is normally ONLY released to the Ambassador after I raised questions to Mattel. On my last request of questions I did not get ANY question from the USA and received some questions from European collectors on Sky Busters and those questions are in the meantime answered by Mattel.

I have raised the point of this one direction system again with Mattel as you can’t ask questions on things I don’t know they exist. I don’t know whether it helped but this month we did get a lot of information without asking the questions.

This is what Mattel shared with us.

Special running change for this year’s fire 5 pack. The non licensed Ambulance MB697 in this pack is being replaced by the new 2010 Hazard Squad Fire Engine due to tooling issues. The Hazard squad will have new decoration exclusive to this pack. It will be bright yellow with white top. This will be the 5th version of the Hazard squad created for 2010.

Total official Code 1 models of the Hazard Squad:

1. MB1-100 version 1 red with white top

2. MB1-100 version 2 (re-deco) Gunnison Co. All white

3. 10 pack: similar yellow color as 5 pack with different tampo

4. Fire 5 pack : Bright yellow with HMT markings

The code 4 version: Collector’s Line preview Model

Running changes

· Ford Transit MB1-100: There will be about 16.000 models that will have a dark smoke tint window, which is non-standard. Regular version will continue to have a lighter tint.

· VUM (chrome): Due to plant capacity issues there will be 5 models running without the planned VUM finish on the chassis's. This will be in a very small quantity for each. These models will run with parts molded in silver:

o #R499 Austin Mini Van

o #H8437 GMC Teradyne ( in play sets)

o #K7784 Emergency Rescue 4x4 (in play sets)

o #R5154 Karmann Ghia: (classics 5pk, 10pack, 3 packs)

o #R4948 Jaguar XK 120

New Wheels

As announced at the line preview, a new smaller 6 spoke wheel design is now in production. It is making its debut on the Honda Insight and Mazda 3. This new wheel will now be used where applicable on cars with smaller wheel wells and smaller sized bodies.

Collector’s Line Preview.

David Tilley and Shabir Malik have written an extensive report on the Collector’s Line Preview. Because of a difference of opinion on how to handle the visitor’s applications with Dave Weise I decided not to make my trip. Some high-lights from those reports and information released by Mattel are:

· USA blisters now include a small story on the back of each pack, which is thought up in-house by Emer Lalor, the Matchbox copywriter. Although we are not happy with the actual blister front of the MB-100 Miniature range, we should state here that the packaging of the 5 packs, 10 packs and Play Sets have been dramatically improved and is better than ever. There’s also a tendency to put more information on the models on the packaging and also this action we experience as an important improvement.

· Real Working Rigs are doing extremely well for Mattel. To my opinion it’s one of the best ranges Mattel made for years. For 2010 Mattel is including the 9 new castings and issuing a total of 25 vehicles. Some remarks:

o The MB75 Pierce Fire Ladder Truck was dropped from the 2010 new basic range tooling is now going to be done as a Real Working Rig as the larger scale of the RWR would suit it better.

o Meanwhile 4 new castings have been seen

§ Abrams tank

§ Generic Crane

§ DAF Skip Truck

§ Generic Tractor

o The other 4 to comes are still a Pierce Velocity Arial Platform, a Colet K/30 Jaguar Airport Crash Truck and in co-operation with JCB UK a JCB 726 Articulated Dump Truck

· Super Convoys have been released in 2010 with 2 new castings. One is the DAF XF 105 Space Cab (3-axle variety) and the other is a generic Conventional style cab with brush guard. Mattel also told me that they will continue with the Super Convoys in 2011.

· On Skybusters we will see the traditional range of 36 models in 2010. Of the 6 new castings 2 are already out (Air Blade and Twin Engine Blaze Buster). The new Space Shuttle is one of the castings that will appear later in the year, and NASA was quite adamant that it needs to be realistically liveried. Mattel is working on a new Water Drop plane, a new modern Helicopter and classic Dive-bomber style fighter plane for the near future.

· After the first announcement of the 20 planned new tools last July, there have been two changes:

o Rolls Royce was dropped due to difficulties obtaining the license. This allowed for a Cadillac CTS Wagon to be included.

o The Pierce was also dropped as a MB75 miniature (see comments on Real Working Rigs) and it has been replaced by the International Brush Fire Truck. In fact it has actually been named: "International Workstar" Brush Fire Truck on the chassis marking per the licensor. The front half is licensed from International, but the rear section is a generic one designed by Ryu.

Some remarks:

The Holden SSV Ute will arrive in the latter part of the year. Felix Holst mentioned that maybe there should be bikes in the rear.

When it comes to the Fisker, the company was very helpful in allowing Matchbox to actually do a production model. The Fisker designers were adamant that the 5-spokes wheel were to be used, but they were too small, so Matchbox has made larger wheels.

The Express Delivery Truck will see a number of liveries with some outside of the delivery business. There is also hope for some licensed liveries to go on the side, as the licenses for liveries are also going to be seen in a number of upcoming vehicles.

Availability.

I have given Mattel my overview on the availability in Europe and a bit of good news I got from Mattel is that they have a new team overseeing International distribution and they are very passionate about getting Matchbox the exposure it deserves. We will keep you informed on the progress