Cool is Cool is Cool: The '93 Ford Mustang SSP LX and the rest of the California Highway Patrol fleet from Matchbox...

One of aspects of the upcoming Matchbox Supreme Heroes line that we are most excited about, even more so than the full deco and rubber tires, is the fact that will all possess real licensed liveries. (The fact that it has been moved from an 18-model line to a 10 is another story. We will vent about that another time.)

A real livery on emergency vehicles with Matchbox is the difference between good and great. The first version of the 2012 Charger Police with a made-up livery? Good. The subsequent two versions, one the mainline with Boone County Sheriff livery, and the other a Gathering exclusive in Albuquerque Police livery? Fantastic. Now we just need that Charger in CHP livery.

You may or may not be from California, but it doesn't matter - you will recognize the white-on-black California Highway Patrol livery. It is simple, iconic, and all over movies and tv. Its simplicity makes it one of the best police liveries as well (right next to Utah Highway Patrol's Beehive on all-white cars). And CHP white-on-black is perfect for budget-conscious Matchbox. Paint the model black, add the side door design, don't worry about the front and back, and done.

So we are glad Mattel has a licensing agreement with CHP. With the release of the SSP Mustang

, we now have four CHP vehicles released in the last few years, with the Supreme Heroes Ford Explorer hitting stores in the next few weeks being the fifth.

(There is also the CHP Camaro released in the Premium line

a few years before that, but we are focusing on the most recent Matchbox era.)

The cool thing about the four CHP cars? They all represent different decades. The Buick Century from the 50's (albeit with an updated CHP door design), Dodge Monaco from the 70's, the Mustang from the 90's, and the Crown Vic from the 00's. We just need something from the 60's, 80's, and the Explorer can represent the teens.

We think the CHP cars merit a Cool is Cool post, so we put them all together, and took some shots. (And how cool do they look in the TLV Transporter?)