Matchbox 33e; Honda Police Motorcycle

Matchbox released the Honda Police Motorcycle, 33e, in 1977 and it continued in the range up to the crash in 1983 and beyond. All versions originally had a rider and early releases had cast metal wire wheels, later the wheels were changed to plastic. The difference between the Hondarora, with which it shares some components and castings, and the Police Honda is that the Police version has rear panniers.

There are a bewildering number of versions of this motorbike, none of which is particularly rare, the most commonly found is white with plated engine, wire wheels & blue rider. The variations are: paintwork can be white, cream or black; the forks can be black or white; the engine can be plated silver or unplated black plastic; the wheels can have unpainted wire spokes or black plastic spokes; the rider can be blue or green with or without a white painted helmet or there may be no rider; the seat and panniers can be white or green. I'm sure there are more.