Welcome to the Unofficial Matchbox 75 Challenge Car Frequently Asked Questions page!

Q0: How does one distinguish the Challenge cars from the regular issue cars?
A0: All the Challenge cars are colored metallic gold and come with a box that reads "75 CHALLENGE ONE OF 10,000". A comparative picture is available. A montage picture of at least 73 cars, The Virtual Matchbox Gold Challenge Collection, is also available.

Q1: How many Challenge cars are out?
A1: 73 in blisterpacks as of 10/3/98. The latest ones are #65; #1, #11, #20, #25, #54; #3, #4, #40, #48, #51, #58, #60, #64, #66, #69. 3 have been released the Starter Collection 10-Pack Gift Set: #53, #55, and #70 (see Q13). #55 and #70 have yet not appeared in blisterpack. Most of the newer releases prior to the Kay-Bee release (see Q12) have appeared first in boxed-only or Starter Collection set format. A chronological release list is available.

Q2: Which are the 75 models in the Challenge car set?
A2: There is one Challenge car for each car in the Matchbox 75 Collection 1997 U.S. line-up. That means there is no '57 Chevy (1996 #4 of 75) (see Q11) or Dodge Challenger (1996 #1 of 75) Challenge cars since there are new castings in 1997 that use these numbers. (Note: A few preproduction models of a Dodge Challenger Challenge car exist. These were not released to the stores.)

Q3: Why can't I find any Challenge cars in the retail stores?
A3: The Challenge cars were packed 1 to a case of 48, 2-3 to a case of 72, and 4-6 to a case of 144 regular Matchbox cars in late 1996 and throughout 1997. They started coming out around November 1996. Within a month or so, collectors and dealers began grabbing all the Challenge cars they could find, just as what is done with the Hot Wheels Treasure Hunt Cars. So to find Challenge cars, one must be lucky or persistent or both; buy/trade them at toy and toy car shows; or trade on the Internet at sites like this one. Also see Q12.

Q4: Will there be Challenge cars for the 1998 line-up? Perhaps silver?
A4: No. This is a "one-year" event (see Q10) to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Matchbox's original parent company, Lesney.

Q5: Are there any variations (beside shades of gold)?
A5: #28, #34, #22, and #24 come with both the older 6-spoke spiral wheels and the newer 5-spoke wheels. The 5-spokes are more common on #34 than on #28 than on #22 than on #24.

Q6: What's up with the boxed-but-no-blister-card Challenge cars?
A6: Hobby shops who order sufficient boxed regular models may receive 1 boxed Challenge car for each 144 regular models. The Challenge car number will not match the regular car number in the shipping carton. The cars are polybagged inside the box. #22, #28, and #56 were the first to have been spotted this way. This distribution will probably represent less than 5% of the total Challenge cars.

Q7: Challenge cars are sometimes referred to as "gold" cars. What are "gold coin" cars?
A7: "Gold coin" cars are Matchbox Gold Collection Limited Edition 1 of 5,000 vehicles. These are similar to Premiere Collection vehicles except they come in a display box with a gold coin. Participating retailers get 1 to 4 distinct vehicles.

Q8: Why do all the Challenge cars have the same UPC number?
A8: Tyco had to pick a UPC number from the 1-75 line (Nos. 35995-01701 to 35995-01775) so that cash registers could ring up the Challenge cars at the same price as the regular cars without new programming. They could have given each Challenge car the same individual UPC number as the regular car its based off of, but that would have meant printing up 75 different cardboard backs instead of 2 (one for the "Made in Thailand" cars and one for the "Made in China" cars). The UPC number chosen (35995-01741) is normally used for the #41 car, the Cosmic Blues. This car is based loosely off the 1970's Dodge Charger, though there are some would say the Cosmic Blues is a Dodge Challenger (or a Camaro). Wal-Mart stores will ring up Challenge cars as Jaguar XJ6s, since that is what the #41 car was back in 1987 when Wal-Mart last updated its UPC listings. The first Challenge cars released at Kay-Bee/Toy Works had a new UPC sticker with the number 35995-35308 over the original UPC. The latest Challenge cars from KB have this number printed on the card.

Q9: How many times could I enter the contest for the 750-run super limited edition Challenge car?
A9: One could have enter the contest up to 15 times (actually only 11 times since not all cars were released by the entry deadline). Each photo one submits must show a completely different group of at least 5 Challenge cars. Since there are 75 different Challenge cars, and each photo must show at least 5, only 15 (11) groups are possible. (Note: The "Champions Room" should appear as link from the contests page at the Matchbox web site: http://www.matchboxtoys.com/control/contest.html)

Q10: Only about 57 Challenge cars have been released [through the end of 1997]. Is that all or are they going to release a whole lot of them just before the 1997 Holidays?
A10: Most likely it will take until the middle of 1998 for all the cars to be released. Limited quantities of 16 of the remaining 18 have been released through Kay-Bee/Toy Works, with the remaining expected to be released through Toys R Us. See also Q12.

Q11: What is the contest winner car?
A11: It is the '57 Chevy in metallic gold with a silver side stripe, two-tone black and chrome interior, and Premiere series wheels. It comes boxed. The box is not numbered.

Q12: There don't seem to be any Challenge cars in the 1998 assortments. Is it over?
A12: Mattel temporarily suspended distribution of the Challenge cars until they can figure out the best way to distribute these "1997 Edition"s. They ultimately decided to release 30,000 through Kay-Bee/Toy Works for individual sale, and to release the rest through Toys R Us around October 1998.

Q13: Are those gold cars in the Starter Collection 10-Pack Gift Set really Challenge cars?
A13: Yes. This is one way Mattel chose to distribute the Challenge cars during the suspension mention in Q12. #55 and #70 have never appeared in individual blisterpacks.