They’ve been doing that quite a lot lately in order to keep the cost down. The major downside with it is the fact that is has no interior which explains the completely opaque windows. The Matchbox definitely has more accurate proportions and better attention to detail, particularly in the headlight/taillight tampos. (Find the Majorette Landrover Defender and the Matchbox version on Ebay) Matchbox’s dark years are well and truly gone and forgotten, and Majorette are fighting hard to stand alongside them. I prefer instead to look at these as a prism of just how good the hobby is right now, and these two show some real progress for both brands. And I’ll like the Tarmac version when I bag that too. Trying to pick between the two for me would be pointless. But that’s my only bugbear It’s on par with the Bronco for one of the Matchbox releases of the year for me.
MATCHBOX ROAD TRIPPER WINDOWS
It’s a bit of a pain that Matchbox have chose to black out the windows to the point they’re almost opaque, especially when there’s an interior to look at. The headlights inparticular are nicely done, and the Land Rover badges and “DEFENDER” script are easy to see. The decals are clear and crisp, something Matchbox are getting very good at these days.
MATCHBOX ROAD TRIPPER FULL SIZE
The colour is also rather close to the Pangea Green that buyers of the full size Defender can specify. The proportions are great, and while the Majorette goes for larger wheels with lower profile tyres the Matchbox keeps to a standard look with the 6 spoke wheels and chunky tyres. And I love it just as much as the Majorette. The Matchbox version seems to come in closer to 1/64 scale but I haven’t done any measurements to confirm this. Regardless, this is one you all need to get hold of. The base claims the scale is 1/66 but I’m erring on the side of it being closer to 1/60 or 1/55. The other gripe is scale, which really isn’t an issue for me but I imagine will be for some collectors. A touch of paint would go a long way here. The only gripes I have are the lack of paint on the sills which is something Majorette really need to get on top of.
The spare wheel is a neat touch and the contrasting white of the roof and wheels looks great.
The headlights are molded as part of the window piece in clear plastic, and the tail lights are picked out with decals. The trademark Majorette suspension is present as well as the moving parts, which in this case are the doors which open to reveal a pretty nicely detailed interior. The quality for a mainline is brilliant, with sharp decals and decent paint. It’s testament to just how hard Majorette are working these days to get noticed. I love the looks, the colour, the wheels. The Majorette version is one of the company’s newest toolings and it’s a stunner. In terms of diecast versions there are already a number of 1:64/3 inch versions available, with Tarmac Works and a couple of Chinese manufacturers offering premium 1/64 offerings of the Defender 110 and now Matchbox and Majorette offering their off the peg versions of the short wheelbase Defender 90. There’s no doubt that the Defender is one seriously cool and seriously capable bit of kit. But despite being a bit of a Luddite at times, I wasn’t one of them. Purists recoiled at the lack of ladder chassis and “mechanical purity”, bemoaning the lack of simplicity that had made the original Defenders so famous. Speculation was rife until Land Rover finally pulled the covers off in 2019. Designs, concepts, sketches and computer mock-ups had been flying around for many years in the motoring press, even before the model was confirmed and camouflaged prototypes began road tests. The new Land Rover Defender was one of the most eagerly anticipated and long awaited follow on acts since BMW bought back the Mini name. A look at some superb diecast from the two brands and a bit of a bask in just how good it is to be a collector these days. Now I want to make one thing clear before we get underway: this is not a Matchbox vs Majorette post at all, more a look at both models in the same light.
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