Today On The Boulevard: Random Matchbox Moving Parts Finds

Hi, and welcome to a new edition of Today On The Boulevard. I really haven't had that much luck with this year's Matchbox Moving Parts series. To be truthfully honest, it's almost like they don't exist. But I guess that's how things are in this hobby. Anyway, there's been a few occasions where I've stumbled across some remnants of these while searching for Hot Wheels. And that's exactly what happened on a recent diecast hunt.

Overall, the pegs were pretty much empty that day. So you know what that means right? That's right, I wasn't able to find the entire assortment. In fact, none of the other diecast pegs were full. Ultimately, there were only three of these left, and I was only really interested in two of them. So with that said, let's go over what I got. And I'm going to start things off by talking about the 1982 Datsun 280 ZX first, since it's the release I showed in my social media post. 

Besides being a JDM, there are three other reasons why I wanted to get this release. First, I got it because I have the other three releases of it, so I figured why miss out on this one. Of course, if I couldn't find it, I would have just scratched it off of my list. Anyway, it's exterior color is the second reason why I wanted it. The first three releases are nice, but it's not everyday we see a release finished in a color that I'd best describe as being a burnt orange. In fact, the color looks to be based on Orange Mist, which from what I can gather, is a color that was available for the real car. 

Like I said, there are three reasons why I wanted this release, so the third reason has to do with the color of the wheels. As you all know, gold is one of the colors that was used for the wheels given to the first three releases. So I was truly delighted to see one with all silver wheels.

Now, despite this release making it to my want list, there is one design choice I don't completely care for. Once again, the Matchbox design team decided to create a design for this casting. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad looking design, it's just I don't see why every single release of this casting has to have one. I'm sure many of you love how this release looks with it, but I feel it would have looked just as great without one thanks to it's awesome exterior color. 

All in all, this is still an okay release. And even though I have an issue with it having a design, I'm still glad I was able to find it. Alright, let's get to the second one I found. 

The 2019 Ford Ranger is the second one I got, and like the Datsun, there's specific reasons as to why I wanted it. The first two releases of this casting were given a design, which is fine. Although... I never ended up getting the second one. Basically, I wasn't too fond of the design created for it. Anyway, the folks over at Matchbox have finally given us a plain release, and that's the main reason why I wanted it. Diecast models with designs are fine, but it truly is nice to have plain ones as well. I know there's other diecast brands with plain models, but I grew up mostly collecting Mattel's toys. So that's why I love seeing plain diecast models from their brands.

I think you can guess the next reason why I wanted this release. If not, then it has to do with the exterior being finished in my all-time favorite color. Additionally, the color appears to be based on Ford's Lightning Blue, which I think looks fantastic!

Ultimately, I have nothing bad to say about this release, and I do hope to see a few more plain releases of it going forward. But if they do choose to do another one with a design, I hope it's better than the one created for the second release. I'm sure many of you liked it, but I honestly felt it could have been better.

Well, those are the two I was able to find. I will definitely be on the lookout for the rest of the releases from this year's Moving Parts series, but I'm not really expecting to find any. So they won't be added to my want list. At the end of the day, I'm just glad I was able to find two more releases from the Moving Parts series. After all, two of these are better than none.

So how do you feel about these two? Do you also think it's time for a plain release of the 1982 Datsun 280 ZX? Go ahead and let me know down in the comments section. Okay, that's all for this edition of Today On The Boulevard. Till next time, thanks for reading, and happy collecting. And remember, these are just toys.