Ranking a new batch of 30 Brand New Tomica cars received in the mail today!

A few years ago I wrote about a similar subject, of opening a new box of Tomica cars that were mailed to me from Asia.  And today, as I unboxed this set, I got so excited that it just felt good to do a similar post.  

Here are 30 (thirty!) brand new Tomica (well, 28 Tomica, 1 Mini GT and 1 Hot Wheels) cars that just arrived in the mail.  Most of them are newly released cars.  All 30 are new to me, though 1 or 2 are color variations (the yellow Skyline coupe, the Hot Wheels M3) of castings that I already had.  And included within the 30 are three sets of 2 color variations (the Toyota Century in black and white, the Tesla Model X in black and white, and the Honda CRX in red and black).  

It's hard to tell how much I'll like a car just from an Internet image.  Sometimes they look great on-line, and I get it only to find that its not as great in the metal, too large, too clunky, boring, etc.   And sometimes the opposite is true, that what seems like a so-so car online ends up just being so "right" and perfect when I have it in my hands.    

So here's how this set of 30 cars actually ranks out...

I'll start with the duds of the shipment, the cars that I almost regret buying:

#30 (last place):  Deicing material spreader NWS60BC5.  Yep, the name alone should give you pause ...  "NWS60BC5?!?".  But actually, what really gives me pause is the 1/120 scale of this piece, making it hard to pair with standard 1/64 cars.  This truck is TINY!  However the amount of cast-in metal detail on it is actually quite impressive, and it comes with TWO snow play attachments.  In fact, if this truck has been made in a true 1/64 scale, it'd probably be in a much higher position!

29:  Yamaha Pup firefighting motorcycle quick attacker.  This was another hard one to decide where to put it, but it has the same (or rather opposite!) problem of the snow plow, in that it's off scale, but in this case, WAY too large.  The included rider TOWERS over the other cars.  All of Tomica's motorcycles are out of scale, but this one is the MOST out of scale.  Aside from the scale issue, it's a nice casting, with plenty of nice detail.  The spokes on the wheels in particular are really nice. 

28.  Daihatsu Hijet JAF road service car.  I've got previous castings of the Hijet, and had the same issue as this one, of just being too big.  It's 1/55 scale.  It has some nice and important points, like the opening hatch, and the separate glass headlights, but still... ... Taken altogether its just not a compelling casting. 







 

I separated the 30 cars into an initial set of multiple groups (Love it, like it, pretty ok, not so ok, etc.).  These first (last?) 3 were the only ones in the last place group.  From here on up are all cars that I at least don't have regrets about...

27.  Hino Poncho bus.  Tomica deserved credit for consistently making buses.  They almost are never my favorite castings, and are always scaled too small, but compared among themselves they've had some nice castings, and a few winners (the recent Toyota Coaster comes to mind).  This one's ok, but won't be a winner among the buses.  The choice of pea green paint is a bit odd, the casting appears plasticky (even the metal parts!) the clear plastic sides don't differentiate windows from metal (what should be metal) structural elements, and the interior seats are too small.  All in all, it's just not very compelling.

The next set of cars are all clearly ahead of the Hino bus, and it's difficult to rank them.  

26.  Hitachi Loading Shovel EX8000-7.  I have LOVED some of Tomicas recent heavy equipment painted in this orange color, and I WANT to love this piece too...   ...but somehow I don't love it.  It has tracks which roll, and a bucket that moves, but...  ... It just isn't very compelling to me.  In fact, it's possible that I ranked it even this high just due to my loyalty to those previous pieces.  

25.  UD trucks Quon:  Tomica's large trucks like this frequently aren't favorites of mine, and I picked this truck up more to fill out my collection than out of intense desire for it.  The back of the truck opens up, and it's not actually a bad casting.  Not much more to say on this one.

24.  UD trucks Quon mixer car cement mixer.  It's a reasonable piece!  The mixer rotates and it looks nice, the boring slate blue paint notwithstanding.  I feel bad that I've ranked all the trucks so low, and I'd like to move this one up higher, but, I can't decide which car to move below it.  Which means that it stays here, at #24, just above the previous Quon truck.  It should be noted that this is actually an OLD casting, that's been out on the market for a LONG time, I just never bought it before.  Please note that the grills of the cabs of the 2 Quon trucks are quite different.  

23.  Honda Accord.   This one was a tough one for me.  I love the shape of the real life Honda Accord, and so was excited to get the Tomica model.  But somehow the model fails to replicate the exciting lines of the real car.  It's proportions are also off, it's a little too long and too narrow to my eyes.  Couple the poor proportions with blacked out wheels, and the result is a car that is solidly "meh"...

22.  Seino Kangaroo Truck Transportation.  How did this truck get the 22 spot, when the UD Quon with the opening back was # 25?  I'm not quite sure, perhaps the yellow paint and the aero roof?

21.  Daihatsu Rocky Police car.  Another one that I wanted to like more than I actually liked.  I generally like the look of a Rocky, and appreciated the glass headlights in the model.  But somehow it just didn't have enough wow factor to get it above 21st place.  With opening doors or an opening hatch (you'll hear that refrain several times in this post!) it might have placed higher.  

20.  Tesla Model 3.  I dislike the model 3 in real life, I think of it as a misproportioned model S.  But the Tomica model is actually more likeable.  I'm quite happy to have it in my collection!

19.  Daihatsu Taft.  I like these small and boxy Tomica SUVs.  I like the painted headlights and the huge sunroof.  20 years ago Tomica would have had opening parts on most of these, and opening doors or an opening hatch would have pushed it higher up the list.  

18.  Honda Freed.   WE NEED MORE OPENING PARTS!  I'm a big fan of Tomica minivans, and this is a handsome example.  I like the paint color, The front of it, and the length/proportions of it.   It's a cool car, just needs an opening hatch or sliding door...

17.  Nissan GtR, Dr. Yellow.  I've got WAY too many castings of Tomica GtRs, but....   ... Something about the yellow color just really does it for me.  I actually debated placing it much higher in the rankings.  

16.  Daihatsu Move Canbus.   The 4th (and highest placing) Daihatsu casting in this mail call, and the nicest Tomica Move that they've done.  The 2 tone paint job is beautiful, and the painted headlights and painted chrome strips are a nice touch.  An opening door or hatch would have pushed it even higher!  

15.  Toyota Corolla Levin.  The best placing car out of this non-top-tier pack.  I was never fan of the real life mid '80s Corolla hatchback, but the premium details on this premium casting forced my hand to give it a top spot.  Particular highlights include the accurate wheels, the opening doors, the glass headlights, the details, more details, and even more details.  Wow!

And that brings us to the top 14 cars, 14 fantastic cars where the rankings got really hard...:

14.  Toyota Towne-Ace Mister Donut Mobile catering truck.   I love canteen and food trucks, and Tomica has obliged me with an amazing assortment.  This is a favorite but in a new (improved!) color scheme.  Cool car, just not as cool as the following cars! 

13.  Nissan Skyline Police car.  Handsome car.  Opening doors, a slightly larger size, and non Police livery would have made it unbeatable, but nice as it as. 

12.  Toyota Century in black.  This is one of 3 castings that arrived in 2 colors.  While  black paint is nice, it still hides detail vs. a lighter color (like white!).  The other version is in fact in a pearl white - and is indeed nicer.  The Toyota Century sedan is one of my all time dream cars in real life, I can't wait to see this new SUV version in real life. 

11.  Honda Ballade sports CR-X in black (premium).  Again, a casting in 2 colors, the black is nice but not as nice as the red.  The CRX was never my favorite car (it was tough to compete in the turbo-charged sports car market of the 1980s without a turbo-charged engine!), but this casting is small like the real one.  The correct wheels are a nice touch, as is the metal base which gives it a nice heft.  Overall a gem of a car.

10.  Toyota Century in pearl White.   Big, imposing, beautiful pearl white paint.  With opening doors this would've been a contender for the top 5.  Maybe even #1...

9.  Mitsubishi Starion (premium).  This was literally a dream car of mine - I almost bought one used once.  So I couldn't wait to get the Tomica Premium model.  It has opening doors and movements pop-up headlights.  The only real downside is that it's a little on the large side (and it's black).  A really nice casting, just not as nice as the ones ahead of it.  

8.  Honda Ballade sports CR-X in red (premium).  With no opening doors and no moveable pop-up headlights, a car that I didn't like as a kid still beats out the Starion that I liked as a kid.  How'd it do that?  It's just a great model!  

7.  Subaru Sambar (premium).  I didn't expect to like this one as much as I did, but the detail on it is just so impressive.  Note the detail on the sides of the bed...  

6.  Tesla Model Y (in black).  Speaking of cars I don't like in real life, the Tesla Model Y is a car I have no interest in...  The best-selling car in America, but yet...  ...Elon...  

But I LOVE this model.  Go figure. 

5.  Toyota Crown.  The Toyota Crowns have been some of my favorite Tomica models ever done, especially in white, and this sleek sedan is a worthy successor to those wonderful models.  It's big and imposing and beautiful...

4.  Hot Wheels E46 BMW M3 premium.  I didn't expect a Hot Wheels to make it into 4th place, let alone of a model I already owned but in a different color.  But it's such a great model that I couldn't put it anywhere lower than 4th.  

3.  Tesla Model Y (in white).   As I mentioned for the black car, I love this hated car.  And when I opened it up in white, I intended to put it into 1st place.  It's that good.  But...   ... There were 2 other cars that I decided I liked even more...

2.  Mini GT Subaru Impreza WRX'98.  Mini GTs are typically great models, but this one is phenomenal.  I love the size (on the smaller end of 1/64).  I love the incredible detail, and how accurate of a model that it is.  There's only 1 car here that I like more...

1.  Nissan Fairlady Z 300zx (Z32) (premium).  Definitely not the car I thought would be in first place, but it's that good.  Opening doors, adjustable pop-up headlights, metal base, correct wheels, quality metal trim, beautiful paint, etc. etc.

In conclusion, at least 27 of the 30 cars I got in this mail call are worthy cars to own - particularly the higher ranked ones (21 and down!).  There are a few real jewels in this set!

Another sharp Yatming copycat of a classic Tomica from their golden era; Lincoln Continental Mark IV

Following on the previous post about a copycat Yatming casting of a Cadillac Brougham, I thought I’d also feature this contemporary Yatming casting of a Lincoln Continental Mark IV, which again happens to be a copycat of the Tomica casting.  

Again, the competition is intense, with Yatming in their golden era taking on Tomica’s golden era casting.  Again, Yatming slightly loses.  

The difference in this case is that neither casting is quite as much of a favorite of mine as the Cadillac.  Also, Yatming loses by a slightly wider margin this time, as their casting comes off a bit more amateur-ish - slightly more clownish (especially with the Cannonball Run graphics!), just a bit more ham-handed than the smooth and elegant Tomica.  Note the shape of the opera window - oval for the Tomica, almost round for the Yatming.  

Regardless of the competition, both castings are winners, beautiful examples of a 1970s luxury car, and both with silky-soft suspensions…

Almost identical classic castings of a Cadillac Brougham - from Tomica and Yatming

These are 2 of my favorite classic castings - a big, fully-size classic luxury car - a 1970s Cadillac Brougham.  Hefty, with a soft, luxurious suspension.  

They are so similar that, for a long time, I conflated them in my mind as the same casting - just in different colors.   But in fact they are unique and individual castings.   The blue one is by Tomica - and its quality is consistent with Tomica’s legendary quality standards.  But the maroon one is by Yatming - it’s a copycat of the Tomica casting - but a really well done copycat - such that it is a contender for the best Yatming of all time…  

Which is better?  Well - it’s hard to beat classic Tomica when they were on their “A” game, and indeed they win this competition - but just barely.  Yatming brought a good fight to this match.  The wheels on the Tomica are better.  The Tomica is slightly better done with slightly better detail (note the unsightly excess metal on the Yatming’s trunk).  Plus, the Tomica’s paint hue is better - the Yatming is a somewhat bland burgundy to the Tomica’s rich blue.  But other than that the Yatming is a glorious contender.  

There is really no big reveal or conclusion here - just a short article featuring 2 nicely done castings - 1 a copycat of the other - by Tomica and Yatming in their prime.  2 of my favorite cars…  

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Who makes the best of the Mercedes 560 SEC / 500 SEC - the coolest, most bad-ass car of the late 1980s - the “I’m a Miami drug kingpin, this is my car - don’t mess with me!!!”?

For 35 years I've thought the Mercedes Benz 560 SEC, especially in modified AMG form, was one of the coolest, most-intimidating looking cars on the road.  The SEC was already the best looking, most expensive, most powerful coupe on the road in the late 1980s (with only the exotic Aston Vantage having any ability to challenge it).  And the AMG version of the SEC doubled the SEC’s already crazy price, adding power, presence and speed in equal measure.  The resulting car made even a Lamborghini Countach look like a bratty pouser, with more presence than almost anything else on the road!

And the Matchbox model (technically of the rest-of-the-world 500 SEC) did a great job of capturing that essence - a big meaty bruiser of a luxury coupe - making it one of my favorite castings of the post-lesney era - and a frequent subject of this blog.  I've got it in many colors - though there still remain a number of variations that I DON'T have it in.  

But recently, Hot Wheels introduced its own basic series casting of the same car - and it’s a phenomenal casting - easily my favorite Hot Wheels basic casting of the last few years.  I've found it in black, red, and grey/silver.  As cool as the vintage Matchbox is, this new Hot Wheels casting had something about it that was different than the Matchbox - with more sculpted rear wheel arches - slightly more streamlined and proportional bodywork, with the gotta-play-with-it essence that makes for a great diecast model.  I couldn’t help feeling like this HAD to result in a throw down comparison test.  

But THEN….  …I found a vintage Road Champs model of the 500SEC, in a rich shade of dark blue, with opening doors and a metal base!  A great car and a great find… ...and as long as I was including THAT one, I felt I had to also include Yatming's version of the 500SEC, particularly since it was one of Yatming’s stronger models, again with opening doors and metal base.  I have 2 of that casting in identical silver paint.  

All of which sets up for a compelling comparison test!

While all 4 castings are undeniably cool on their own, all great models, all faithfully replicating the coolness of the authentic SEC, all with certain advantages…. …still not all of the 4 castings compete at the same level.  In any competition there are winners and non-winners, and that is certainly the case here.

As much as I root for the underdog, and like the early high-quality Yatming castings, the Yatming is unquestionably the laggard of the group - it makes for an easy-to-determine 4th place finish.   It’s still a great casting, with a real metal base, a separate insert for the front grill/bumper/headlights (though that insert looks a little cheaply/plasticky), good detail, a soft suspension, opening doors, cream-colored interior, etc., etc., etc.  On its own, it’s great, but in comparison to the others, it just doesn’t look as tough as the others.  The Matchbox and Hot Wheels are models of the AMG modified SEC, whereas the Yatming and the Road Champs are models of the normal (still very nice!) Mercedes, and the difference is evident.  It just looks less muscular than the Matchbox and Hot Wheels…. …and it relegates the Yatming to a (strong) last place.

The next casting that gets eliminated is the Road Champs, really for the same reason as the Yatming.  It’s essentially a nicer version of the Yatming, a better model of the normal SEC rather than the ultra-tough AMG monster SEC.  …But the regular SEC still oozed class, more class than anything on the road aside from a Bentley Turbo R, and here the Road Champs finds its niche.  It beats the nice Yatming in almost every category (save for perhaps the silkiness of its suspension).  It’s bigger, meatier, with richer classy dark blue paint, a more substantial baseplate, a metal insert for the front clip that drips with detail (down to the headlight windshield wipers!), a cast-in-metal 3-pointed star on the hood, a glass sunroof, etc. etc. etc.  This is a Great model!  …but just not as great as the next 2 models.  I love it - but not enough to move it beyond 3rd place. 

If the voting was hard earlier, it gets even harder at this point…. Both the original Matchbox and the new Hot Wheels are REALLY nice competitors.  The Matchbox has a silky soft suspension, a heavy feel, great metal detail, and opening doors.  But it has its own downfalls - chief of which is that it looks a little fat and tall, especially when viewed against the more accurately proportionately modeled Hot Wheels.  Plus, the Hot Wheels colors are just on fire.  In addition, the detail on the Hot Wheels is over the top, with a vented-open sunroof (a first-ever in a diecast car?), speaker cutouts on the interior rear shelf, the best dual-exhaust of the bunch, modern-era paint detail for the front and especially rear lights, etc.

And so the new Hot Wheels casting wins - even without opening doors - and against one of my all-time favorite Matchbox cars, and against amazing contenders from Yatming and Road Champs.  That being said, (and I know I say this all the time!), all 4 models are phenemonal castings, there’s not a true loser in the bunch.  All 4 competitors are truly worthy adversaries!  

I’ve got to SAY, what a TOY!