Pop the hood on the Matchbox Opening Parts L Case

Remember when we were kids and every other Matchbox car had either opening doors, hoods with engines underneath, or even a simple opening tailgate? Did anyone else open both the doors on a car and start to make airplane noises as you made them fly around the room? Just me? …Ok. Matchbox is continuing to pour gasoline onto the nostalgia fire with more releases of its latest Opening Parts series. Hopefully you’ve all had a chance to stumble upon this, dare I call it, “premium” series while browsing the pegs. The boys at CastHeads had Mattel send me a L case to review, so let’s get into the seven diecasts in this set!

1963 Chevrolet C10 Pickup

The first car I pulled out of this L case was a glorious gold Chevy C10 pickup. The opening feature on this one is the hood, which reveals an engine cast in grey plastic underneath. Classic Americana does not take up a lot of real estate in my collection, but I’m in love with this truck! The gold paint is perfect and period correct, as are the dog-dish steelies. Not to mention that stamped “Chevrolet” tailgate, which just adds to the premium feel of this casting.

2016 Chevy Camaro SS

The second blister pack that I pulled out contained this pearly white Chevy Camaro SS. Let me tell you, two cars in and I had already found my favorite of the set. Slap some rubber tires on this bad boy and Matchbox would have a serious Auto World or GreenLight competitor. I’m serious; this Camaro punches about its weight class with a silky pearlescent white paint job that reflects rainbow shimmers and has a highly detailed LT1 6.2L V8 under the opening hood. When I say highly detailed, I mean every square-millimetre of the engine bay has been kissed by the tampo printer, more than once.

1982 Datsun 280 ZX

Now here’s one for all you diehard JDM fans: the 1982 Datsun 280 ZX. The third car out of the set introduces us to an opening set of doors; a feature we haven’t seen yet. Again Matchbox did this car the right way with a very early 80’s burnt orange paint job with sport stripes. We also get beautiful taillamp and license plate tampos, but sadly no touches of paint on the headlights. Unfortunately this 280 ZX suffered some sort of paint damage on the hood during transit, but I’m not sure why. You might also be surprised to find the steering wheel on the lefthand side of the interior when you open up those doors, too.

2020 BMW M4 Cabriolet

Thankfully no, the new M4’s pig nostrils aren’t the opening part on this one. 2020 was the final year of the previous generation M4, code named the F82/F83. Much like the real F82/F83 M4, this little blue convertible gets a “meh” rating from me. There just isn’t much here that inspires excitement. The doors open to show off a stark white interior that you can already see pretty well, given that the car doesn’t have a roof. I do love the paint job though, and you can’t miss the contrasting blue, ghostlike “Matchbox” lettering on the lower rear bumper.

1950 Chevy Suburban

Yes, this case does seem to be a little Chevy heavy. This one though, the 1950 Suburban, is a real gem! Featuring an opening hood, this vintage SUV wears that iconic minty green National Parks livery. The Chevy motor under the hood is nicely detailed too, almost as nice as the Camaro’s from before. Sadly, I could not get the hood to stay propped open after I shot this set of pics.

2019 Ford Ranger

The Ford Ranger was almost going to be my top pick from the set, but unfortunately the one I received in my case did not have a hood tight enough to stay open. I was able to snap a pic using a door opening tool from a 1:18 Kyosho, but it’s just blank grey plastic under there any way. This Ranger comes with a bonus opening tailgate though, and I love the off-road wheels that it wears. I’m also impressed by how realistic the fender flares look since Mattel designed them and the front bumper to be a part of the dark grey plastic chassis plate.

2018 Range Rover Vogue

Last but not least, we have a classic white Range Rover Vogue with an opening lift gate. It doesn’t have the same impact as the white paint job on the Camaro, but the black details all around the Rover really give it that upscale look. Also, the entire front end gets a rich tampo treatment from the headlights, to the grille, to the iconic “Range Rover” lettering across the hood. One thing weird about the casting though that I can’t quite put my finger on is that looking at the SUV straight on creates a sort of squished look. Maybe it’s just my photos…