My Want List: 2021 Matchbox Mix 6 - The Unexpected Find

Hello, and welcome to today's edition of My Want List. Diecast hunting is no easy task, and some mixes from Matchbox can take months to find. One of those, is this year's mix five. So I've decided to be just a tad bit more persistent in my search. Now, on a recent hunt, I ended up chancing upon mix six at one of my local Walmart locations. At first, I was happy because I was able to easily get most of what I wanted. But then, I felt a little down because I realized I might not be able to get anything from the previous mix, since mix six is now starting to show up. At the end of the day though, something is better than nothing. So I'm okay with finding mix six instead of five. Of course, I'll still be on the hunt for mix five. And as usual, I'll post about them if I'm able to find them. Alright, that's enough about those. Let's focus on today's topic, which is mix six.

In any given mix from Matchbox, there will be specific releases that are favored by different collectors. So even if a mix is filled with great releases, there will always be that one release that overshadows the rest. And that release among the ones I was able to find, is the new 1953 Buick Skylark. Hot Wheels also has a few vintage castings of their own, and most of the time, they feature some kind of design. Now don't get me wrong, I really like what they do to their castings, but it is nice to have more vintage cars from Mattel without designs. 

Yeah... I definitely had to get one of these to open! By now, I think most of you have realized that I'm the type of collector that like to leave their models closed. But that doesn't mean I won't get extras of releases I love to open, and this was definitely one of those releases. So I'm glad there were multiples on the pegs.

Mix six features two vehicles from Mazda. One is the third release of the CX-5, while the other is the 2019 Mazda 3, which is a new casting. I really like how Matchbox has made some of Mazda's newer vehicles. For obvious reasons, the RX-7 and the MX-5 have a huge fan base. But I feel those aren't the only ones that are nice enough to be turned into 1:64 scale diecast models. So I'm very happy to see these two models in this mix.

Before I get to the next releases, I want to talk about the wheel color. As you can see, the card art shows this car with black wheels. However, the designers chose to give it chrome wheels instead. Of course, there's nothing wrong with their decision, but I feel this red Mazda 3 would have looked just fine with black wheels. That opinion stems from the fact that I think the real car looks nice with the color scheme that's depicted on the card. Okay, let's get to the next releases.

 

Last year's Matchbox mainline featured two four-door vehicles that were among some my favorite releases from that year. And I really couldn't wait to see the next releases of them. Well, the wait is finally over, since both of their second releases are available in this mix.

The Alfa Romeo Giulia, is the first of the two. This second release was finished in white, which is fine, but I hope it doesn't end up being like the Giulia Sprint GTA. If you take a look at it's older releases, you'll notice how most of them were finished in red or white. I don't know about the rest of the diecast community, but I would like to see this casting finished in some of the other colors that are available for the real car. 

I should also mention that I love the wheel color. Most of the time, the next release of a casting will have the same wheel and wheel color as the previous releases of it. Fortunately, that's not the case this time. It might have the same five-spoke wheels, but the designers chose to make them black, which is a perfect wheel color for a white Giulia. 

The Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S, is the second one I was waiting for. It's no lie that luxury cars will always look splendid finished in black. And it doesn't matter if it's gloss, metallic, matte, or satin. I, for one, like how metallic black looks on diecast models. At one angle, it looks glossy. But once you shine a light on it, you're able to see all of the flakes. So I feel that's what makes this second release a cool model to have. 

I like when both of Mattel's diecast brands give us the same vehicle to collect. It's fascinating to see the different design styles of these two brands. And the '20 Jeep Gladiator, which is the next release I got from this mix, is the perfect example of that. The Hot Wheels casting is fine, but I'm really starting to like the Matchbox one more, and it's all thanks to how it was designed. 

Earlier in the year, Hot Wheels released their Jeep Gladiator casting finished in my favorite color. And I still think it's an okay release. But I kind of like the shade of blue that was used for this one a little more. So I feel this is the better of the two.

Although I like this release's color, I do hope the two brands don't continue to do similar colored Jeep Gladiators each year. Although they are designed differently, they are still the same vehicle, which is why I feel Matchbox needs to pick colors that will make their casting stand out more. So for example, if Hot Wheels released an orange one, then Matchbox should release a yellow one. Feel free to let me know your thoughts on that down in the comments. Anyway, let's move on to the next release. 

When you go down the diecast row at any store, you'll usually see the typical fan-favorite vehicles from every brand on the pegs, which is to be expected. After all, they are all businesses that need to make a profit. Anyway, things change when you get to the Matchbox section. Once there, you'll notice many different vehicles that aren't made by the other brands. Now, a lot of them are vehicles I'm not interested in. However, there are some that do make it to my want list. And one of them, is the Polaris Slingshot, which is the next one I was able to check off of my want list.  

I really didn't think I'd like another release as much as the blue one. But I feel the Slingshot looks superb with a black and red color scheme. I only wish they were able to add red accents to the seats.

Besides the cars, this case has two JDM pickup truck releases, and they are the last two I was able to find.

The first one, is the 1995 Nissan Hardbody (D21). All I can say, is that we've finally gotten a true second release. Now yes, this is actually the third release, but the second release was basically a recolor of the debut one. I still don't know why they chose to do that for a special release. I mean, I do like how it was finished in blue, but it has the same design along it's sides. The additional Nissan decal was the only thing thing that made it slightly different. Anyway, this one thankfully features a different design to go along with the cool color that was picked for it. 

Blue might be my all-time favorite color, but this teal color is something else! And I feel it's a great color for this pickup.

The Subaru Sambar, is the last one I was able to get. There's really not a whole lot to say about this release. Basically, I felt the need to add another plain release of it to my collection, and black is not a bad color for it.

Alright, that's all of the releases I was able to get from mix six. Unfortunately, there's still two I need to find. So the hunt for those, as well as mix five continues. 

So, have you been able to find this mix yet? Go ahead and let me know down in the comments section. Alright, that's all for this edition of My Want List. Until next time, thanks for reading, and happy collecting. And remember, these are just toys.