They make nice models - and they do models of cars that are infrequently modeled by other toy makers. They also update their models when the automakers bring out a new generation of the car.
The combination makes for a toy maker that is an invaluable part of any diecast collector's collection.
They aren't perfect - the quality has decreased in the last 5-10 years - and they no longer do many opening doors (it used to be that practically every Tomica had an opening part). But I still get more excited about Tomicas than about any other toy line.
The problem is how hard they are to find in the US. For a while I had a local Japanese toy store that stocked Tomicas and sold them to me at 2 for $5 - a great price and a fun destination. But he closed down.
Then I bought them through some dedicated internet sites - toyeast and others - that allowed me to buy many models and pay 1 shipping rate. But again, they seem to have stopped stocking these cars. This time I found a vendor on Amazon, and yesterday I got my package of 10 cars.
I love them!
I've pictured the cars in order of how much I like them - going from least favorite in the top right to favorite in the front row.
I love that Tomica makes ordinary sedans. And while this time my least favorite is the pink Toyota Crown Athlete, I have other Toyota Crowns that are among my favorite Tomica models. But this one is an ugly salmon pink, and it looks much too narrow and a bit small. Just an uninspiring model - particularly when I love so many of the other Crowns.
While the Crown is the easy choice for my least favorite of this purchase - the other cars are all much closer in preference. This set included 3 (three!) Lotus', including 2 different castings of an Exige... The Scion FR-S (Toyota 86) is a great casting, as are the 2 mini SUVs of the Subaru Forester and the Toyota X-Trail (both with opening hatches).
The Mercedes SLS AMG deserves mention for its opening gullwing doors. The Porsche 997 911 is OK - but somehow left me a little bit let-down...
Overall - a great purchase!
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