Engine 32 below Posted October 14, 2024 Posted October 14, 2024 I picked these up over the weekend at an antique mall. From left to right, Monteverdi Hai, Rover Sterling, and Pit King (first edition). I will probably do another post on the Sterling sometime as it is an amazing casting. 3 Quote
Engine 32 below Posted December 8, 2024 Posted December 8, 2024 On 10/13/2024 at 10:30 PM, Engine 32 below said: I picked these up over the weekend at an antique mall. From left to right, Monteverdi Hai, Rover Sterling, and Pit King (first edition). I will probably do another post on the Sterling sometime as it is an amazing casting. Finally got the chance to take some pictures of the Sterling! This casting surprised me on how cool it was. It was a casting I was interested in acquiring anyways, and when I saw it loose on a shelf for only a dollar, I decided I’d acquire it so I wouldn’t open one a carded collector might want. First, some background. For most of my life, Matchbox has been owned by Mattel. I have some Lesney era cars from my dad, and a few Universal/Tyco from my childhood toy box, but otherwise the bulk of what I have bought for myself once I got back into collecting circa 2018 has been Mattel releases. And these have been good cars, and only getting better. But this Sterling has shown me the light regarding the value of the Universal era releases, which I tended to overlook compared to the Lesney and Mattel era’s. First, let’s start with a side view. The Sterling’s wedgy shape is beautifully represented. Look at the crispness of the side creases, door handles, and gas cap. Note the door lines are lined up perfectly on all 3 pieces making up the body side. Speaking of, look at the awesome color break caused by the gray base, black rub strip (separate from the interior!), and red body. It really makes the car stand out, much more so than if it was tampo printed. Finally, look at the window glass. Look at how the pillars are perfectly tampoed black where it would be on the real car. From the front, you can see some of the chips from previous play. The headlight tampo’s are simple but effective. The front grill on the base is crisply detailed, the classic English leather brown interior is right hand drive, and there’s even a little rear view mirror cast into the windshield. Move around to the back, and you see a separate taillight piece as well as defroster lines on the rear window. The amount of detail on an ostensibly basic level car is astounding! Finally, a base shot. It’s metal, and wonderfully detailed. It also has the scale, which I miss. More play wear can be seen. As I mentioned before, this casting pleasantly surprised me. You get a 6 piece casting (body, base, rub strip, interior, window, and taillight) with both a metal body and metal base AND working suspension! All with an incredible amount of detail. In addition, it’s a British vehicle that is not represented at all otherwise in diecast, which adds to its specialness. For a week after I acquired it, I would just randomly pick it up and admire it, play wear and all, because it was so neat. Anyways, my rambling has gone on long enough, so those are my thoughts on the Sterling. 1 1 Quote
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