If You Don't Succeed, Try Again: Matchbox's Best-Of-World Series, Part 1

Matchbox is one of those brands that gets kind of neglected nowadays. It doesn't have the sheer firepower that Hot Wheels has, and distribution and availability has been frustratingly spotty. As of the past few years, the releases have been largely generic castings, the kinds that hang on the pegs for months and only get spontaneously picked up by desperate parents who need a toy for their crying child. As a result, collectors have almost completely forgotten about the orange brand. I, myself, rarely check the Matchbox pegs now, under the assumption that I'll end up finding the same insignificant models that I saw on my last trip to the store. And the trip before that. And the trip before the trip before that.

Well, Matchbox is listening. They are slowly phasing out more generic castings in favor of licensed ones. How many of you have seen Target stores completely rid themselves of Matchbox pegs altogether? Fortunately, they're coming back. Matchbox has announced that singles will be making their way back to Target within the year. That's something I'm definitely looking forward to.

But the biggest buzz regarding Matchbox has been this. The so-called "Best Of World" series. It's essentially a direct heir to the Supreme Heroes line from last year, with a few important changes. By the way, remember the Supreme Heroes line? Maybe you don't, and I wouldn't blame you for it anyway. Talk about short-lived; the series was canceled after just two waves (of four models each). In summary, a complete failure. And when you fail, you go back to the drawing board. You rethink, restrategize, and redesign. This is the end result, and it's a heck of a series.

Ten models, total, in the series, eight of which I've acquired. The other two, a golden fire engine and a BMW motorcycle, can stay on the pegs for all I care. Each of these models comes with extra details and, most importantly, molded wheels with rubber tires. The modern version of the Matchbox Premiere series that I so loved during my childhood. More on that in the coming days, but let's focus on these models first.

The series is a melting pot of castings, from emergency to service vehicles, modern to classic cars, sports cars to sport bikes, spanning numerous countries of origin, hence the "Best Of World" moniker. It's almost a shame that there's only ten models altogether; there's so much potential with all the great castings that Matchbox has in its arsenal. Hopefully we'll see more in the future. I'd like to think that this initial wave is a "test run" or sorts for Matchbox.

The four I'll be showing today are the BMW 1-Series M, '93 Ford Mustang LX SSP, Lamborghini LM002, and '69 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. I'm gonna go ahead and say that the 1-Series M is the best car in the set. Obviously, that's a biased point of view as it's both my favorite BMW and my favorite Matchbox casting, but the rest of these are fantastic in their own rights. See for yourself! Which model is the one for you?