Reviews written by RVREVO

Now that is one awesome find. Nice to see that Matchbox still has the same problems of quality control like they used to, or still have.
Awesome find.

Kind Regards, Richard K

Nice chop-top on the ol'Judge GTO.

With presentation of a Bigfoot Monster Truck I immediately get reminded of this remote control V-can truck YouTube video of a fullsized remote control truck...
But anyway... closer details and better camera angles is what I would suggest. Looking down on the Monster Truck kinda takes the wow-effect away. Its a big truck, play with the angle, make it larger than life.

Although the truck looks awesome and a lot of extra work has gone into the design of the deck, I wished more closeup pictures were made into the construction of these details. It makes all the difference on seeing the model up close.
Apart from that, its awesome to see a model based on a real family truck.

The title says it all. Imagination has been utilized in this creation. Its built into a practical utility vehicle that you'll see on any old farm or hillbilly backyards.

As my art teacher used to say, "You either have the talent, or you don't. No book can teach you what is screaming to come out." She drew portraits of horses in action.

Drawing cars came with years of practice, but mostly doodling on anything. School only helped to put things into focus. I suspect that this book would benefit those that can already draw something realistic - but where's the heart in the art?

I wish I had this book growing up, but I didn't. I'd like to have it to see how I may evolve my own skill. But I feel that the basic principle still applies with all subject matters involving art, or in this case car art.

My medium are two things: to allow yourself making and accepting mistakes, use a ballpoint pen. Secondly, once you decide you want to make a painting - or in my case an oversized drawing - use colored paper. Colored or black paper hides the tracing of the car that most people hurtfully will accuse you of. Take the wind out of their sails and they'll be gobsmacked.

There's something really cool about the customization of a flatbed truck. The realism in the engine bay with the wires finish the inner workings of the car so well. The paint is superb.

I'll never be this good but I'm inspired to try.

This presentation shows an in-depth knowledge of the automobile's culture and history. Its always a pleasure to read so much information in a brief summary.

The cars present are all over the scale to ultra rare to the very most common place. But it is more about the manufacturers of these model cars that make the read interesting, rather than the actual car in question.

They're all European, however, two are French, three German, and five Italians. I'm fairly certain there were other European countries involved in making Sportscars. Holland had the Spijker (Matchbox), Sweden the Volvo P1800S (Corgi), Switzerland had the Monteverdi (Dinky), Spain had the legendary Hispano-Suiza (Rio).
Surely these would've fit in the theme?

Its not quite original to give it a full score. Anyone can do sports cars. They are the easiest to collect as model cars. Everyone loves to see a sportscar and some actually own a real sportscar or two.

"The 1938-46 Delahaye 145 Chapron Coupe was the most elegant the French ever produced as its chassis and V12 engine was based on the 1937 Delahaye 145 Le Mans, which was build for the 1938 Grand Prix. Only a handful of these cars remain in collectors hands."

History of the automobile is one of my greatest interests next to collecting. I observe others who have these magnificent machines and absorb its engineering perfections. Collecting the models is like owning a bit of the world that is too far away from my aspirations.

In the presentation I would've liked to read more in depth knowledge of these cars. Trying to figure out a connection between an ultra-rare supercar like the Delahaye 145 Chapron Coupe is a sharp contrast to the Alfa-Romeo Guilietta.

The theme appears to be Sports and Race cars. There's only one race car and the rest are based on them or have nothing but the badge to honour race cars.

Some of the choices simply don't fit the theme. The 300SL is represented four times. There are five New Ray Models and equally five Matchbox-Dinky models.

Apart from that they're all two-seaters.

Got a couple of the originals so I understand a lot of effort has gone into the minute detailing of this conversion.

It would've scored all fives if it wasn't for the enormous investment one has to make to afford this very limited book. Afterall its only the models up to 1988 and I don't think they were covered in this book.
This book is valuable on a historical venue only. The photo plates are superb. The history full and rich. You would be lucky to get this one well under its current value that by my reckoning will only increase with time.

Great value for money and a good guide for an easy bargain. There were a few cars missing from this huge collection and there were a couple of forgivable mistakes. I've run this book ragged from cover to cover. Good thing I've got two of these.

Overall a good guide to buy if you want to get that toycar and have an edge to purchase your next collectible. With these prices you can opt out early before the other person does. Always a good thing.
I wish there were more pictures.
Funny how there are a couple of cars I have that aren't in the book.

Thanks to this guide I managed to find many unusual regular wheels I normally wouldn't have bought.