Diecast Collector: Recolours and new models - could the future of Matchbox look bright?

I have been the first to slam Mattel for the direction that they have been guiding the Matchbox brand - it has been an utter disaster for 2012. You can see a mile off how the funding for diecast has gone into Hot Wheels rather than Matchbox - and the so-called re-brand has been a f**king joke.

However:

there is evidence to the otherwise - have a look at these pictures from the latest Ambassador report (yes, we finally have some more detail!).

My God, some of these castings look fantastic - and credit must be given to Ray Alder from the MB Design team for pushing through the change - note that MB65 London Taxi was a garish tampoed failure, whereas the re-colour is simply a gem.

I like the Z4 and the Exige stands out as a very good model indeed. I am not that bothered by the Buick police car - one for Americans I think, but the new Oshkosh casting (in green, big 4WD oojamaface) is really exciting.

The Gathering is a couple of weeks away - I await to see what this brings to the collectors table. But for the moment, I am pleasantly surprised.

Maybe there is a future for the brand after all.