Project Premiere/World Class, Day 17: An Off-Road Jaaaaag

Take a look again:

Oh no!

The culprit is a combination of the casting and the suspension that these Premiere and World Class models come with. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. It's too bad that one of the most beautiful exotics of all time had to be ruined. This is one of the very few that Matchbox truly messed up on. I somehow doubt it will ever make a comeback, but we'd all like to see it. The Hot Wheels version doesn't have the same issue as this one, but the casting is rather sloppy in contrast.

If you made it this far without hitting Alt+F4, I'll throw you a bone. Here's that other Jaguar XJ6 I hinted at in the last feature. Finally, freed from its cage.

A First: Maisto Design's Tow & Go, featuring Two Cool Cadillacs

We're going to interrupt the Matchbox posts to feature some new product by a different brand. First Maisto feature on this blog. First of each of the respective cars in my collection. This is the Tow & Go pairing featuring the Cadillac Escalade EXT and Cadillac STS-V, from the new Maisto Design series.

Many of you may have checked your local Targets recently and seen the new product by Maisto, labeled Maisto Design. It's Maisto's attempt to revitalize the brand and make it more attractive to collectors, having been hidden in the shadows for the past few years. The packaging refresh is eye-catching, but don't be fooled by what's on the outside. The models, and castings for that matter, are largely similar to what they've released in the past. Still the same cartoon-ish modifications on their models. Still the same, odd, 1/55-ish scale. Bottom line: they might not be for you.

This pair really caught my eye for one reason and one reason only: that STS-V. I don't remember ever seeing this particular car in diecast form. Better yet, this one is actually close to 1/64 scale, which is what I primarily collect. The STS-V is a car that I loved when it came out, and I think the design is still as sharp as ever. I can immediately forgive the exaggerated "DUB" look and the generic tampo treatment put on by Maisto. This is one I had to have in my collection. They've released this casting in the past, but due to spotty distribution, Maisto's 1/55 scale cars never made it to retail.

I know most of you have already tuned out by now just looking at the photos. Who on earth thought those deeply inset wheels were a good idea? For those of you still there, I bet you're already thinking about this model's potential. A simple wheel swap and tampo delete just might do the trick. Maybe some extra work is necessary, such as cutting out the fenders a little more to fit those new shoes, but this STS-V can look spectacular in the hands of a deft customizer.

Let's not forget there's another model in this set. The Cadillac Escalade EXT is arguably just as good, if not better, than the STS-V above. This one actually looks fairly realistic because the truth is, there are Escalades out there that look like this. Minus the graphics of course.

At the end of the day, these are two models that are well-detailed and competitively priced. It just all depends on your tolerance of tacky modifications.

Project Premiere/World Class, Day 16: Oh, It's Good To Be Bad

First thing's first. I'm going to have to make some changes with my features. I initially wanted to do one feature every day for a whole month. Obviously, that hasn't been working out lately due to most, if not all, of my time being sucked up with other things going on right now. However, it is very important to me that I showcase these cars because I want to hammer home the point of how great these models are. I won't be featuring one a day, but I'll do it when I can, and I'll keep doing them until I run out of cars to show. So, instead of showing "only" thirty-one castings, I will be revealing the whole arsenal. I've got a bunch of cars now, a few on the way as we speak, and much more planned in the future.

When it comes to older Matchbox releases, most of the spotlight goes to the golden-era stuff and the Lesney/Superfast models. Those are awesome models in their own rights, and I've even gotten the itch to start collecting some of the Superfast cars recently. If I eventually go down that road (OK, maybe I already have), you'll surely see it here. For now, it's time to shine that light on the Premieres and the World Classes.

With that being said, today's feature is ironically neither Premiere nor World Class. You just heard me go on and on about them and I ended up throwing a curveball.

Oh, it's good to be bad.

Unlike those terrible, overrated, and overhyped Jaguar ads from a couple years back (and I can't believe they still show them today), this Jag fortunately does not possess those traits. As I mentioned, it's not from either of the series that I've been raving about the past few weeks. In fact, I'm not even sure what one should call this. I've heard somewhere it's a European dealer exclusive. Information is scarce, and so are these models, but there are others out there besides this XJ6. I've seen a Ferrari F50, for one, and I have another model which came in a set with this Jaguar. That one will be revealed and profiled at a later date.

Not surprisingly, this one cost a pretty penny. It wasn't cheap, but it's most definitely not unobtanium either. This is yet another one of those old Matchbox castings that we would all love to have today. As I will frequently tell you, I love collecting "normal" cars, and this one fits the bill. Not every diecast piece has to be a sports car to be desirable. Isn't this one quite the looker? That British Racing Green paired with the gold stripe down the side and the tan interior is a deadly combination.

There is a more common version of this model in the World Class series. Actually, it's not common at all, but more so than this one. It's a dark blue variant, and I have it sitting under my desk right now amongst a pile of other cars, all still in their packaging, waiting for their proper DLM treatments. That pretty much sums up my situation right now. Some of the cars down there have been sitting for a couple weeks. There's some really neat Premieres and World Class cars in the mix. There's some new product, across various brands, that I'd like to feature on here as well. All I can say is, stay tuned!

Project Premiere/World Class, Day 15: Jaaaaaaaag

Boy, I'm falling further and further behind on these features. Not only that, I'm running out of things to say about these models. Really, they're all so similar yet so different. Different models, yes, but all done up in more or less the same way. You may have noticed that all the cars are very simplistic, in a good way. They've been represented in stock form, without wild graphics or tacky add-ons. That just might be the best feature of the Premiere and World Class lines. Whereas most other Matchbox from this era have crazy paint schemes and unrealistic designs, these are very golden-era-Matchbox-esque, except that these came first. I'm Christopher Columbus; y'all just the Pilgrims.

Today's feature is from a sub-series of the Premiere series that I haven't yet introduced. Or maybe I did, but only very briefly. This Jaguar XK8 is part of a 2-pack from the Premiere: First Edition line. You might see it called the Inaugural Release or Inaugural Collection if you're browsing around on the web. The bottom line is this: you get two versions of the same cast in the 2-pack, one painted and one raw, zamac, unpainted, whatever you want to call it. This red Jag, obviously, is the former.

I wish I had the raw version for comparison, but I don't. The reason is because I got this one, loose, as part of a large lot of Premieres in which its counterpart wasn't included. Luckily for you, I do have other castings in their raw and painted versions, which you may see at some point later this month. More on that in the future. Let's focus on this Jag for now, because it's perfect.

Project Premiere/World Class, Day 14: Catching Up

Miss me?

You may have noticed that I've been on a hiatus lately. Three days and no features? What's up with that?

Not to worry. Nothing has happened with me; I just needed a little time off from diecast and blogging to focus on my other interests. I'm back now, and it's time to get the ball rolling again. I've got some catching up to do, and you will see me spontaneously post features at various times of the day until I get caught up with the days. Let's begin!

This is the first truly vintage car that I've featured during Premiere/World Class month. There aren't a lot of them across both lines, and perhaps that may be for good reason. Anyways, let's see what you guys think about this Jaguar XK120 convertible.

As you can already tell, the Premiere treatment isn't exactly for cars of this era. Wide wheels definitely don't work here, even though these aren't even wide by Premiere standards. Not even the white wall tires can hide that. The casting itself isn't that bad, but my god, look at those huge gaps between the wheels and the fenders! I'm not fond of the wheel design either. They look downright cheap and don't have that classic vibe. As I'm looking through these photos myself, this model actually looks better here than in person. Compare this to the newer XK120 SE casting by Matchbox and it's a no brainer which one is better.

This also appears in black and has a release in the World Class line. Will I be rushing to get those? Hell no. But if the opportunity comes up, either for a very good price or as part of a lot, I wouldn't mind.

Project Premiere/World Class, Day 13: Double Feature

We have a double feature today, to make up for the later-than-usual post. Not only that, I have a bunch of castings left to show and we're almost at the halfway point of the month. My goal is to cover most, if not all, of them, because they all deserve to be featured. Today, we have a rather excellent pair of models here. Two Porsches of the same era, different styles. Which one will you choose?

As someone who only has very fleeting knowledge of these Porsches, I almost thought they were the same thing, with both of them having very similar profiles. Then, I looked closer and saw that they're completely different altogether. On the one hand, we have the more shapely 928 S. It's the luxury sports car designed to be a GT. On the other hand, we have its edgier brother (both literally and figuratively), the 944 Turbo. These are two underappreciated cars that you don't usually see, read, or hear about. I certainly appreciate them now.

Both of these are done up in Matchbox World Class style. To put it simply, they are just fantastic. None of the quality issues that mar some of the other World Class releases are present here. Only crisp lines, sharp castings, smooth paint, and perfectly printed details to be found with these two. In fact, they're so good that they make an amateur photographer like me look like a professional. Amongst all of the World Class and Premiere models that I have in my collection now, these two are among the best when it comes to their all-around quality, detail, and execution.

From what I know, the 944 Turbo has also appeared in the Premiere line, in white. It's a rare release that often commands high prices on the secondary market. Keep your eyes out.