What are the 12 most favorite Tomica cars in my collection? Which 1 is my most most favorite?

16 years ago, my wife and I were expecting our first child, and I had to convert my hobby room, filled with shelf upon shelf of toy cars, into a baby room.  The cars were largely all packed up into boxes (a few STILL remain in those boxes!), with only the most favorite models getting "garage" space in traditional Matchbox 24 and 48 count carry cases where they could be easily accessed...

Now days I have many more cars, but also many, many more cases, such that the majority of my collection is immediately accessible.  But staring at the cases that hold my Tomica collection last night (estimated at roughly 500 cars), I started to wonder how I would pare that collection down again if I had to pack it up all over again...  What are my most favorite 12 Tomicas that would warrant a garage space if all I could spare was a 12 slot light-blue tray from a traditional Matchbox case?

I started the exercise with a few ground rules... 

1.  Although I picked the 12 number from a Matchbox tray, I wasn't going to force the cars to ACTUALLY fit into the tray, allowing me to choose over-sized/extra-long vehicles as part of the 12. 

2.  The criteria would be my "favorite" cars, not the "most inspired", "most realistic", "rarest", "most valuable", "most collectible", etc. 

3.  There were no other rules...  I wasn't going to require myself to have token representation from any particular categories of cars - if 100% of them were Nissan Skylines, then so be it! 

I started creating my entry list by swiftly stripping potential candidates out of the cases that hold my Tomicas.  I assembled them all on a tabletop for further perusal, inspection and ranking.   Although I intended my first pass to be about 50 cars, instead I ended up culling 109 highly valued cars out of the cases and onto the table.  That's a LONG way from just 12 favorites!







The next cull was fairly easy - pulling out the ones that I liked but knew didn't have a chance of making my top 12...  That meant that I was down to 73 remaining:

Removing a few more that I knew weren't in the same league got me down to 62 cars remaining - and the process was starting to get more daunting.













I decided to change the rules to get down to 48, a full size Matchbox case, so 14 need to come out...  The culling becomes sterner...  what?  3 Evolutions?!?   No, only 1 can survive...   And finally I got down to my top 48! 

Interestingly, my top 48 only includes 1 Tomica Limited Vintage model, very few micro cars, a large number of minivans and larger SUVs, a large number of sedans (especially Toyota Crowns) and 3 different medium duty box-type delivery trucks...!

From there, I separated them into the bottom 24 (#s 25-48)...















...vs. the top 24 (#s 1-24).  From this esteemed group will come my favorite Tomica car in my collection!













And finally sorted those 24 down to my top 12 cars.  As I looked at the contenders for my favorites, I was struck by how many of these had already been featured at various times in this blog (of course - since they are favorites!).











#12:  Older Toyota Dyna Box truck











































# 11:  Mitsubishi Pajero (featured in an earlier blog-post):











































#10:  Pontiac Firebird Trans Am (featured in an earlier blog post):

#9:  Mercedes-Benz G-Class (shown in an earlier blog post):

 #8:  Toyota Century:

 #7:  Cadillac:

#6:  Mazda Bongo Friendee (shown in at least 1, if not 2, prior blog posts): 

 #5:  Datsun 1300 Truck:  (Note that an older (non-premium) version of this exact casting - white with a heavily scraped roof - made it through several of the cullings before getting cut going into the top 48):

 #4:  Toyota Alphard (2008 casting, though all of the 3 castings are favorites along with the white Nissan ElGrand) (shown in several earlier blog posts): 

#3:  Nissan Fairlady 240ZG (shown in an earlier blog post):

 #2:  Nissan Leopard:

 #1:  Toyota Crown:

 Now that I've taken all of these photos, and written up the entire blog post, I wonder about some of my selections...  Were those initial 109 really my 109 favorites?  How about the top 12 - am I sure that none of the next 12, or the next 24 beyond those, deserve a spot in the top 12?  How about the ordering of the 12...  Do I really like the #1 Crown more than the Nissan Leopard?  How did the Toyota Century end up behind the Cadillac?!? 

Regardless of the exact final order, there is no doubt that the above models are some of my favorite and most highly prized models in my collection.  I've loved that #1 Crown since I got it 15 years ago, though the same casting in off-white is arguably equally prized (top left corner of the 25-48 photo).

If I could only have 12 Tomica models, I'd probably keep most of these 12 castings.  And if you are just starting to collect Tomicas, perhaps keep your eyes out for these...  You won't go wrong!

I hope you enjoyed the post...  Now I've got to put 109 contender cars back into their proper cases!

Box of 22 new Tomicas! Which is best, which is worst, and how are they ranked?

A fresh box of new Tomicas just arrived all the way from Hong Kong!  22 new-to-me models, all freshly made and double sealed in plastic!  But not all of the castings are new, some are older castings that I never wanted badly enough to buy before, two or three are just color/police/fire variations of castings I already have.  But some of them ARE new, and some of them are unbelievably cool, while some are nothing more than letdowns...  so how do they rank?   Read on!

The first step is to separate them into broad groupings...  the awesomely cool contenders, the letdowns, and the broad middle ground of ok/reasonable castings.  In truth however, they quickly separate into not 3, but 7 distinct groupings.  From last to first, (and in the below photo from left to right), here are the 22 worst to best of my newest Tomica models:

#22:  London double decker bus in red, #95.  An old casting, never bought due to lack of interest.  Not really bad, just kind of boring and very underscaled.  Roughly comparable to the ubiquitous (and equally uninteresting and equally under-scaled) Matchbox casting.

#21:  Nissan Note in copper, #48. This is one more somewhat boring casting of a somewhat boring economy car.  The lack of any opening features makes it even weaker.  Still better than some of the awful new models from Matchbox and Hot Wheels, so I'm OK with the decision to buy it, it's just not at all, and never will be, a favorite. 

#20:  Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz in pink, Tomica Premium #25.  Overall I'm a HUGE fan of the Tomica Premium line - offering excellent detail (especially wheels!) and great castings for not too much more money than an ordinary Tomica casting (and at far better price points, and more normal scales, than the Tomica Vintage line that I always think I want to love but am unable to...).  So what's the deal with this model?  Well, partly its just too dang small.  A real Eldorado is almost twice the length of a late '80's Celica All-Trac (another Premium casting), not the same length.  And even without comparing it, it just feels a little plasticky.  It seems pretty nice until you pick it up.  The worst example of the Tomica Premium line that I've yet found. 

#19:  Nissan Serena e-Power in white, # 52.  I'm a big fan of Tomica minivans, even the less exciting examples.  This Serena is one of the less exciting ones, and in fact I already have this casting, but not in white, so out of loyalty to Tomica minivans I felt like I had to get it.  On the plus side, it does have an opening tailgate as well as distinct glass (plastic) headlights.  Overall an OK casting, just not one to get overly excited about. 

#18:  Dodge Viper GTS in red, # 11.  This one looked nice as I pulled it out of the box, but then I noticed its a little small, it's rounded shape isn't overly well modeled, and it doesn't have any opening parts.  It kind of reminds me of the boring red (same color) Mazda RX8 from 10-12 years ago, though I like the Viper a little bit more.

#17:  Lotus 3-Eleven in green, # 112:  This casting was one of the harder ones for me to decide where it belonged.  It doesn't help that I'm not familiar with the real car, and that the (supposedly real) car doesn't really look like what I think a car is supposed to look like (I'm not a fan of the Polaris Slingshot either!).  On the other hand, it DOES look kind of cool...   ...and the paint is somehow really cool-looking.... 

#16:  Daihatsu Cast in lime green, #46:  Another casting that I wasn't sure where to place.  I can't decide whether it looks cool or is super ugly.  A model of a real car that I'm not familiar with, though it appears to have a bit of a Mini Countryman vibe.  Not sure if its an economy car, a microvan, or a cute-ute SUV.  Extra points for the opening rear hatch.  The paint is pretty cool too, a lustrous lime green with a white roof.  The overall conclusion is inconclusive, other than that I'm glad I've got it!

#15:  Subaru WRX S4 Unmarked Police Car in grey, #2:  Tomica's done a bunch of uninspiring WRXs, which is sad since a WRX is such an inspiring car!  This WRX casting is better than several of the earlier ones, but still not overly great.  Kind of bland...  It has an opening hood, though I'd rather it have opening doors.  The scale is right on and the paint is not bad, so somehow it got to #15. 

At this point we move into models that were more liked, so I photographed fronts and backs...

#14:  Nissan X-Trail Fire Chief in red, #1.  X-Trails always remind me of the rattle-trap X-Trail that I rented on a vacation on the washed-out dirt roads of Costa Rica, so I always tremble a little bit when I see an X-Trail (they aren't sold in the USA - so I don't get much of a chance to change my opinion of them).  The new Tomica model models the updated X-Trail (which has a Mazda CX3 vibe) very well, with no opening features but a nice size and scale, excellent detail and clear lens headlights.  The red fire-truck paint is a good choice for the model, overall the effect is quite handsome.  If you don't have this model, I'd recommend that you get it!

#13:  Toyota Prius in white, #50:  I hate Priuses in real life.  There is nothing sporty or interesting about them for me.  But how much I like or dis-like a car in real life has VERY little to do with how much I like it in 1/64th scale, and this Prius is an excellent example of this.  This is a very well done model of a Prius.  The new Prius is even more weird looking than the previous versions of the Prius, and the model captures all the weirdness exactly correctly.  The model perfectly captures the Prius' nerdiness.  Plus it has an opening back hatch...  Overall, I probably should have rated it higher than #13 - and if it had been a model of any car OTHER than a Prius, I probably would have!

#12:  Lexus RC F in white, # 13:  Unlike the Prius, RC F's DO look cool in real life, and this model does a pretty good job of capturing it.  It looks fast and powerful.  I particularly like the opening doors, the view from the rear end, and have always been a fan of Tomica's cheap "these look like super fast" wheels (also on the WRX).  I DIDN'T like the contrasting black paint on the top of the car - I'd have prefered if it was all in white.  One of the nicer Lexus' that Tomica has done. 

#11:  Hitachi Wheel Loader in orange, #71:  Another hard one to place.  On the negative side, it is ultra small scale - even small absolutely relative to the other models here, let alone how large it should have been to stay in 1/64 scale.  It is also very plasticky.  But on the other hand, the bucket raises AND tips, and the model has a working hinge in the middle of the chassis.  There have been so many cheapo 2.75 inch wheel loader models made that had only 1, or none , of the above 3 moving parts, that I had to give credit to the functionality in this model! 

#10:  JSDF Armored Vehicle in army green, #114:  This is a bit of a cheater model, in that I ALREADY have this exact model.  I bought a second one since I like it so much, and figured that I needed one to give away to the next little kid that I wanted to give a car to.  The detail is over-the-top, the doors open in a really cool way, it has big tough wheels on it, etc.  Overall a favorite model.  Get it if you don't already have it.

#9:  Toyota FJ Police Car in green, #31:  I've got this casting in orange and was somewhat impressed by it, so when I saw the alternate police version of it, I quickly selected it.  The roof rack adds substantiality to an already substantial casting, such that I like this version more than the civilian version.  Opening doors would have been nice and would have moved it higher in the standings.

#8:  Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV in gray, #70:  Regular readers of my blog know that I'm a sucker for a well-done SUV, even when its a crossover SUV.  I like the size of this one - its big and somewhat squared off (in a rounded way).  The metal detail-work is well done, it's got separate glass/plastic headlights, an opening hatch, and overall it just looks right.  You need this casting if you don't already have it!

#7:  Alsok Cash Truck in white, #34:  Many people will see this casting as just one more standard example of a medium duty commercial chassis with a plastic box on the back, but I've really enjoyed Tomica's medium duty chassis, especially some of the Cantor models, and this Isuzu is a worthy addition to that proud heritage.  If you've liked the other chassis trucks, you'll like this one even more.  If you haven't liked them, then save your money - you won't like this one either.  FYI - the plastic cash box on the back has nothing special about it - the trim is drawn in rather than molded.  All of the appeal of this model is in the chassis...

#6:  Kobelco All Terrain Crain in teal/white/gray, # 133:  In a word...  "Wow!".  Big, long and heavy!  This one feels like quality!  Easily the heftiest Tomica I've ever owned.   It's got a telescoping arm and a working turntable.  On the down side, the arm looks like it should telescope even more.  And even as good as it is, it still gets easily beaten by the KDW truck crane that I bought and reviewed 3 years ago.  But for a Tomica model, its great.  Period. 

#5:  Acura NSX in maroon, # 43:  I'm not a fan of the new NSX, but this one looks GREAT!  I really didn't expect to like it as much as I do.  I like this one for all the reasons that I didn't like the Viper GTS.  Just a great model of a sports car, that makes you want to get out your inner seven year old and get down on the carpet and zoom it around.  It deserves to be in a higher position, except that the next 4 models are even cooler!

#4:  Hitachi Rigid Dump Truck in orange, #102:  Boy, do I love off-road dumps...  I have since I first got my yellow Matchbox Lesney Faun dump truck back in the early 1980's along with my Tomica Hitachi off-road dump in green.  And Tomica's recently done some great other orange heavy construction equipment, but this newest casting is another winner.  Big, tough and heavy, with exquisite detail, a soft-closing dump and big tough wheels.  I love the orange paint and the black and white "Hitachi" lettering.  If you like dumps, then this is YOUR truck!

#3:  Lamborghini Huracan in orange-yellow, #34:  I didn't expect to like this model.  I almost didn't buy it.  On the website it looked flat and boring, similar to the many Hot Wheels Lamborghini models that all feel the same.  But in the metal it just FELT GREAT!  It's got matte-finish orange paint, traditional Tomica "fast-car" wheels - but this time with a gold rather than silver trim ring on them, a see-through engine window, etc.  But none of this is why the casting is so good - instead its just an overall excellent model, done just right. 

#2:  Nissan GT-R in bronze, # 23:  Tomica's done A LOT of GT-Rs over the years.  Some of the Premium GT-Rs are gorgeous models, and this GT-R is just as good.  Like the Lamborghini, I almost didn't buy it, figuring that it would just be another GT-R, but instead this one feels special.  The metallic bronze paint is beautiful, the opening doors reveal a highly detailed and easy to see into interior, the headlights are glass, the metal trim is spot-on, etc.  This car is BEAUTIFUL.  Given some of the lame basic Tomica models over the years (including the afore-mentioned RX-8), this one is an absolute revelation. 

#1:  Mercedes G-Class in silver, #35:  I had no reservations about buying this one.  I knew I wanted it from the time I saw it on the website.  And in real life it doesn't disappoint.  A wonderful square SUV with EXCELLENT heft.  Opening doors.  Unusual new tough-looking wheels.  Ridiculous levels of metal detail in the casting.  I should buy 5 more examples so I can give them away to kids and show them how excellent a model can be.  Destined to be one of my favorite Tomica models of all time...

XK and F-Type Grand Tourers

I really like the Jaguar F-Type fastback...  What a beautiful car...  And the best part of it is that Jaguar actually offers it in a manual transmission with a clutch!  Unfortunately the manual is offered only on the lower horsepower variants - but maybe that keeps me from spending the money on the 550 horsepower versions!

And now Matchbox has done a scale model of the F-Type...  It's a nice model, in black in the group photo to the right, but is a little let down by the clear plastic roof.  It would've looked great if they'd painted in the steel roof panels between the windshield and the moonroof, and between the moonroof and the rear hatchback.  But they didn't, leaving the model looking a little chintzy...   But also really good...  Its a nice model of a ridiculously nice car, just with a small error.  

And the cool thing is that this model replaced another super nice model of the XK hardtop (in maroon to the right).  This was frankly a wonderful model, made during Matchbox' late 2000's renaissance, of another exquisite real life Jaguar coupe.  I chose the maroon version for the photographs, both as a contrasting color and due to the ridiculously handsome wheels.  I have the model in 6 colors (see later photo of all 6), including 2 other red/maroon shades (3 red shades for one model!?!  4 of the six share the same handsome multi-spoke alloys, with only one having even nicer 5-spoke wheels (though I didn't include a photo such that you can see it) and the blue model having a slightly less attractive 5-spoke wheels that came with that premium series.  All in all, a great casting.

And the cool thing is that THAT casting also replaced an earlier very nice XK8 casting (the red convertible in the above photos).  I've got this casting in 3 colors, including the premium version I chose to highlight for the main photo shoot, (unfortunately I was only able to find 2 of the colors - I can't find my blue one).  

So in short, Matchbox has faithfully and excellently done the last 3 generations of Jaguar's beautiful grand touring line!  Time for a comparison of the 3 generations of Matchbox Jaguar XKs!

But once I started the comparison, I decided to include additional versions from other toy companies.  Hot wheels produced an interesting premium XK-8 coupe back around 1998 as part of its Adult Collectible Jaguar set (in blue)  This set cost $40 - a LOT of money back then.  It took a long time for me to decide to spend the money to buy the set!

But then later on they produced a Whips version (in green in the photos) with nicer wheels.  Overall its a nice casting, but there's always been something I didn't really like about it, something that was off about it... It just didn't have the same presence as the Matchbox versions... 

And then as I looked through my car cases I came across a Malibu entry - a silver XK hardtop....   And what a great model this one is!  Size-wise it is right in line (maybe a hair longer) than the equivalent excellent Matchbox XK hardtop.  But it's got actual plastic headlights and rear lights, great body detail, and authentic replicas of Jaguar's own alloy wheels!

Including these 2 additional models from Malibu and Hot Wheels made for a 5 model comparison test.  And while all the models are nice and worthy in their own right, it was easy to pick the winners and losers:

5th Place:  The Hot Wheels XK-8 hardtop.  These were the most expensive models and they felt like quality.  They also were the only model with an opening part (the hood).  However the most important thing about a model is the overall proportions, and the Hot Wheels casting doesn't quite get it right.  It's close, but not as close as the others, and to my eye, its not right.  Maybe its too rounded?  Or not long enough?  I can't tell what's wrong about it, but I can tell that it's not quite right.  Excellent paint, metal chassis, great detail, amazing wheels (green version) and rubber tires are all wonderful aspects, but they can't change the overall shape of the casting.  On a scale of 10, this casting is a nice 7, but it can't win when the other castings were all 7.5s and higher.

4th Place:  Matchbox F-Type (black hardtop in the group photo).  In real life this is the handsomest design, particularly from the back.  But cast in metal as a toy, the back and the rest of the design isn't quite as compelling (though the black paint that hides detail doesn't help...  perhaps in a different color it would score higher).  It's got nice wheels, that are shared with the previous generation XK.  But the real thing that relegated this model to second from last is the roof treatment, and the way that Matchbox cheaped out on painting the "metal" portions.  A 7.5 on a scale of 10.

3rd Place:  Matchbox XK-8 convertible (red in the group photo).  There is nothing wrong with this model to relegate it to a mid pack finish.  Its a nice model, (especially in premium trim with rubber tires).  Its realistic.  Its a pretty design (though not as pretty as the next generation).  Its a good (but lightweight) model that you should have in your collection.  It just lacks an absolute "gotta-have-it" quality or factor to propel it higher in the standings.  An 8 on a scale of 10.

2nd Place:  Matchbox 2nd generation XK coupe.  This is a great model.  Such a nice model that I was thinking about a blog post dedicated just to this model.  Big, handsome, wide, cool-looking, available in multiple colors and wheels.  A model that makes you want to buy the real car, that actually looks BETTER than the already great looking real car.  This model should have won the comparison test, if not for the dark horse Malibu model.  A solid 9 on a scale of 10.  Get it in every color you can find!

1st Place:  Malibu 2nd generation XK coupe.  Those Malibu designs were beautiful designs (aside from the under-scale VW transporter bus).  I have an entire blog post dedicated to the incredible efforts they made on Land Rovers a few years ago (Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, LR3, etc., all beautifully done!).  And this XK is done in the same quality vein.   Its everything that makes the Matchbox one a winner - turned up an extra notch.  The separate glass lights are a great touch, as are the factory correct wheels.  It lost a few points for weight and for the somewhat bland silver paint, but still managed to out-do the car that was a shoo-in to win this test.  A 9.5 on a 10 point scale...  With a metal bottom and in a color besides silver it could have been a 10!

Congrats to Malibu for a winning model, and to Matchbox for making 3 different well-modeled Jaguar Grand Touring cars!

P.S.  One problem that sometimes comes up with comparison tests is determining where to cut off the models included in the comparison tests...  After all, the mid-90's XKs replaced the aged XJ-S - should I have included scale model XJ-Ss? 

But in this case, the XJ-S, designed in the '70's, seemed like a more different car from the XK-8 than any of the models included in the test.  Plus, I don't have very good XJ-S models. 

Hot Wheels did a popular one in the '80s, but to my eyes it looks out of proportion - too long relative to its width, such that it would have easily taken last place in the above test.  And Corgi Jr. had an XJ-S model in the '80's (a bit less well known than the Hot Wheels model - at least here in the USA), that was the exact opposite of the Hot Wheels casting - much shorter and wider (chubbier?) though closer to true proportions.  The Corgi would have won hands down over the Hot Wheels, but probably still would have been beaten by all of the excellent XK-8 and later models.  Finally I have a very unusual Majorette premium model of an XJ-S cabriolet - however my casting is the only example of this model that I've ever seen!  Anyway, aside from the Majorette, the XJ-S castings seem somewhat bland and well known and I just wasn't excited to include them.  So I didn't!