I hate to write cynical posts, but this has been on my mind recently. Have you ever thought (and probably all of you have), "Oh, why did you bother?" when a diecast car was released and it was done poorly. Even worse is one you really wanted memorialized in 1/64-scale only to have it checked off the list in the 1/64-scale world with a terrible design?

I think part of it is being spoiled by all the gorgeous adult collectibles and dealer-authorized scale models that we are fortunate enough to have these days. Case in point, I recall the Matchbox #31 Lincoln Continental being an all-time favorite of one of my all-time favorite cars, the 1964 Lincoln Continental. As fantastic as that model is, and I would be unrealistic to have complaints against it, I would love to see an adult-collectible of it, perhaps a modification of the similar Greenlight 1965 version.

But one of the worst disappointments, but was rectified later, was the Matchbox Mercedes-Benz 350SL. I had a number of these in the 1970s up to the 1982 convertibles in blue and later maroon, but I hated the Matchbox execution of the design. Even the distinctive taillights were ruined by splitting the design between the baseplate and the body casting. It doesn't look cool and sporty, but like a flying brick.

Bizarrely, I don't recall having the Majorette version despite having plenty of access to Majorette models at local retailers, but I remember being rewarded by Corgi in 1982 when they released that 500SL. OOH YEAH!!!! That was so perfect it made up for the Matchbox disappointment.