The first step, they say, to a cure, is admitting you have a problem. Well, I am fairly certain I’m addicted to Matchboxes. For some reason, more than any other kit company, when I see Matchbox boxes I get very excited and almost can’t help myself. At first, I thought that this only applied to planes. However, I recently found out that it also applies to armour!
There’s just something about that gritty, action-filled box art, the included diorama base and the odd assortment of available vehicles that makes these little guys somehow different from the overly-fiddly, rivet-county armour models I’m used to encountering. There’s a sense of fun and simplicity, and I really wanted in on it.
At a local flea market, I ran across a fellow selling off a bunch of old 1/76 armour kits. Normally, armour does nothing for me. However, after seeing the Matchbox armour kits in their 1976 Catalogue, I was starting to feel like I wanted to try one or two. Well, this fellow certainly gave me the opportunity! Over the course of two visits in a week, I was able to get my hands on 11 of these little old gems. The kicker is that about half or more are STILL SEALED! This won’t stop me from opening them, mind you, but I thought it was neat they’d survived this long.
Talk about visceral! Check out the action-packed box art on these late 70’s Matchbox armour kits!
From the back, the colourful boxing continues. The back of the M16’s box is a weird add for Humbrol stuff. Note, too, that on the front view, it has magenta stickers in French all over it. Huh.
The Sprue Lagoon 