I imagine I’m going to review quite a few Matchbox/Harmony Gold/Playmates toy so this quick history that I can refer to rather than repeating in all of them:
1984 (and prior) USA: Revell creates the ROBOTECH banner to import numerous Japanese models to the states in homogenous packaging (Dougram, Macross, among others). They produce a comic book series to try to give the American audience a pairing but the comic flops. They team with Harmony Gold to import some shows that have/will have models.
1984 USA: Voltron, a combination of the Japanese shows GoLion, DaiRugger, and Albegas, hits US airwaves. Matchbox, primarily the Hot Wheels company, is tapped as the distributor for Japanese toys under the Voltron banner.
1984 Japan: Takatoku, the largest Macross toy creator, completes bankruptcy. It’s mold for the 1/55 VF-1 toy becomes the property of Matsuhiro (an affiliated company) before being acquired by Bandai with the majority of Takatoku’s Macross molds. Though it was Bandai that ultimately honored the deal, it was either Takatoku, Matsuhiro, or Bandai that entered an agreement with Hasbro to package the VF-1 as a Transformer for sale internationally.
1985 USA: like the model line, ROBOTECH the TV show takes unrelated anime properties and packages them under one banner. Tweaks are made to the three selected shows so they can seem one larger story. Audience response is strong. Transformers, Gobots, MASK, GI Joe, and He-Man are all going gang-busters by being 30 minute commercials for toys. Harmony Gold needs toys. Matchbox, having enjoyed success with Voltron, agrees to pair with Harmony Gold to see if lightning can strike twice.
1986 USA (early): Matchbox teams with Bandai and Gakken (the toy manufacturer of Mospeada products that also sell the toys generically as “Henshin Robo” products outside Japan) to produce Macross toys under the Robotech banner to be distributed by Matchbox outside Japan. However, Japanese children have not been swept up by the 4” action figure craze that GI Joe has fostered in the US so Matchbox decides to make numerous toys themselves, primarily to compete in the 3.75” figure market (some of the toys don’t accommodate 3.75” figures).
1986-1987 USA: ROBOTECH performs well in the ratings but the Matchbox toy line fails to compete. Matchbox abandons the ROBOTECH license. Harmony Gold is unable to find another sponsor for ROBOTECH, killing the attempt at new animation under the ROBOTECH banner to serve as sequels for the adaptation.
1991 (CHINA): Harmony Gold, somehow in possession of the Matchbox molds, reissues all the Matchbox-created-toys (not the ones by created by Takatoku/Bandai/Gakken and distributed by Matchbox). Did they get the molds through some contract stipulation? Did they purchase them? It’s not clear. They used the opportunity to release some toys that Matchbox had likely created but chose not to ship (like the Minmay action figure). The toys come packaged with Chinese language instructions.
1994 (USA): The show ExoSquad was performing relatively well as were sales for the corresponding toy line by Playmates. Looking to quickly pad the portfolio of products, Playmates came to an agreement with Harmony Gold to reissue and cross-label the Matchbox created toys. At the time, Playmates was being sued by FASA, creators of Battletech, for using an “E-frame” design that looked too much like a Battletech mech. FASA had previously been in litigation with Harmony Gold so that may have helped foster cross-branding arrangement.