Matchbox SB93

[MichaelB]

This one is new to me, and after getting used to Matchbox coming with new metal every few weeks, I notice that not much has happened with them of late. This is SB93, a "Snow Explorer". Some kind of twin jet on skies. A bit more bogus than usual and I can't really see what real airplane this might have been based on - nor do I want to waste time on seeing if it does!
I think the skies will give it some additional play value, but it's not much of a collectible for the toy airplane collector. The fuselage top, fin and stab are one metal piece. The rest is plastic, again reinforcing a trend in the industry. SB93 and 2010 are cast in under the wing.
In perusing the rack, I noted the lack of many recent issues and no airliners at all...something I had noted over the past several months. Prior to that airline marked airlines had vanished, now airliners in general are gone.
This line had a long series of ups after many years of downs, but right now it seems to be coasting on momentum. Let's hope they continue to produce the quality models they have had in the past few years - as well as the obvious toys.
Michael

[pendulum19]

I recently discovered that MBX Skybusters made in China have better quality than ones made in Thailand...

[MichaelB]

In what respect are they better? What have you noticed?

[pendulum19]

When I like a specific skybuster, I sometimes get 2 or more of it like the 787, the 747, C-17, etc.

What I've noticed is that the Thai version often had misaligned main landing gear. Aside from that, even if it's aligned, when the plane starts rolling, they seem to wobble a bit (wingtips dip and rise - - negligible for most, but I'm particular about this detail).

tampo-printed details are also often misaligned in thai models... specifically the cockpit windows.

And another tidbit that pisses me is that here in the Philippines, the release of the new collections do not come out on time. and since I follow suchoj.com/SkyBusters/home.shtml, I am updated with the new releases. We still dont have the Lufthansa 744 here...

[MichaelB]

When was there a Lufthansa 744 announced?

[pendulum19]

I'm not really sure, but I think I first saw it early last year on the web
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/463 ... e957a3.jpg

[Tone]

SB93 isn't the first toy fantasy jet plane to be equipped with skis. On the other hand, skis were rather common equipment on early aircraft all the way back to the Wright Flyer. Here is the Hot Birds Ski Gull from 1970, which might have been on the Mattel designer's (Felix Holst) clever mind when he dreamt this one up. This thing would melt the snow for sure.

[Tone]

When was there a Lufthansa 744 announced?

2009 issue, right after the Northwest version which was summer 2008 (I got it in October of that year). Christmas Tree Shops (a Massachusetts based firm) had a whole mess of Lufti 747-400s on close-out last year, all with messy tampo overlap where the metal meets the plastic.

I didn't even bother getting one because I have a couple all-metal LH 747s from the 90s.

[MichaelB]

When was there a Lufthansa 744 announced?

I didn't even bother getting one because I have a couple all-metal LH 747s from the 90s.

I assume you mean the 747-200 SB-10 as "metal" Lufthansa?
I found the NWA 747 in January of '09, but the first "plastic" version dates back to June of '07 as MBX by my records.
For those of you shaking your heads at my proclivity for noting things down...I have pretty much ceased doing that with Matchbox...they were undergoing a lot of changes back at the turn of the century and it was interesting to note what got released and how they were released. There were a lot of hard to find issues back then...now they are not hard to find, but I don't like what I find! (Mostly).
Again - an aside to Jim Galloway who used to keep us on our toes about Matchbox releases.

[Tone]

When was there a Lufthansa 744 announced?

I didn't even bother getting one because I have a couple all-metal LH 747s from the 90s.

I assume you mean the 747-200 SB-10 as "metal" Lufthansa?
I found the NWA 747 in January of '09, but the first "plastic" version dates back to June of '07 as MBX by my records.
For those of you shaking your heads at my proclivity for noting things down...I have pretty much ceased doing that with Matchbox...they were undergoing a lot of changes back at the turn of the century and it was interesting to note what got released and how they were released. There were a lot of hard to find issues back then...now they are not hard to find, but I don't like what I find! (Mostly).
Again - an aside to Jim Galloway who used to keep us on our toes about Matchbox releases.

Michael, SB-10 it is, and I have just one. I think it might have been from one of the three packs, as an elderly collector who just wanted the motor vehicles (tour bus and, I think, a Volvo container truck) in the set gave the plane to me.

I saw a new batch of Sky-Busters today up in the Adirondacks. It includes a Sky Devil stunt plane (the swept-wing P-51) in red and dark blue, and a totally new Stealth Launch that resembles the Battlestar Galactica fighters only with forward swept wings à la X-29. I also saw a new color for the Maisto 787: blue upper fuselage.