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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944 Turbos... The new Hot Wheels casting of one of my favorite cars is awesome. ...But can it compete with the Original Matchbox version???

I've always wanted a 944 Turbo.  It was the hot car when I was in high school - cheaper but faster than a 911 Carrera, and with classic late '80s looks.  So when Hot Wheels released a retro 944 turbo this year - in both red and gold - and maybe more colors to come - I went crazy over it.  The shape is just right, the wheels are cool, etc.  

But the Matchbox version from the Matchbox Toys International era is the OG, and one of my favorite castings from that time.  So is the new How Wheels version it's equal?

Simply put, no.  It's no comparison at all.  Pulling out the Matchbox version - in red, green and amazing yellow - let alone the premium red version - instantly shows that the Matchbox is way better.  The 2 castings are almost identical in size - and both are nicely detailed - but the all-metal construction of the Matchbox gives it much more of a quality heft, the Matchbox has opening doors, and the soft suspension of the Matchbox (vs. the rock-hard ride of the new Hot Wheels) all conspire to eliminate any hope of a close competition.  

It doesn't make me love the Hot Wheels any less.  It's a great model.  And I'm thrilled with Hot Wheels for bringing out these retro cars.  I just love the Matchbox castings more!  

Vintage Rolls Royce Convertible Comparison

If you've just read my prior post, you know that I love the Lesney-era Silver Shadows...  ...and I also love the "Silver Shadow Coupe", as Rolls Royce itself initially called the 2-door coupe that would soon be renamed the "Corniche", a name it would hold for the next 20 years.  Matchbox stuck with the original name even after Rolls Royce renamed it as the Corniche, resulting in a Corniche Convertible called a Silver Shadow Coupe.  Which I find confusing...

Regardless of the confusing name, it's a great model in both thin and thick-wheel transitional versions.  Technically it doesn't QUITE meet the strict definition of a transitional - as it was never available as a regular wheel model - but it was made during the era of the Transitionals, and thus is sometimes considered an honorary transitional.  It typically is seen in an aqua-ish blue, but occasionally can be found in a yellowish-greenish-gold color.  For most diecast enthusiast, it is the only known vintage model of a Rolls Royce convertible.

But the fascinating thing is that it is NOT the only vintage casting of a Rolls Royce Convertible...  Instead there are not one, but TWO other contenders within my collection - and they are both very interesting and worthy contenders...:  1.  Majorette did a lovely and highly detailed casting of the Corniche as part of their premium series (red with the brown interior).  And Impy LoneStar Roadmaster SuperCar (did you get that full name?) did a Silver Cloud convertible (red with the ivory interior). 

So with 3 distinct and beautiful castings, the obvious question is...   ...which is best?

Frankly, it's a hard question.  All 3 castings are great castings in their own right, and each have certain virtues and advantages to them.  But while all 3 are fascinating, picking a least favorite is a quick decision. 

The Majorette is an amazing piece.  The amount of detail is over-the-top crazy.  The lights are real plastic (not just painted - and the other 2 don't even have painted lights).  The wheels are correct replicas of a Corniche's wheels, rather than standard Matchbox or Impy wheels.  The interior appears to have individual seats rather than a 1 piece molded interior.  The are decals on the dashboard for dials.  The list of detail goes on and on and on... 

But while the detail is amazing, the model has 2 primary and over-arching flaws that limit it's ability to compete....  First, its BIG.  And while I like big models of big cars (and the Corniche was a BIG car), this model is TOO BIG.  It is overly large.  It is closer to 1/55 scale rather than 1/64th scale.  In the photos you can clearly see the size difference vs. the other models. 

Secondly, its got no heft.  It feels very light and plasticky.  It looks nice, but as soon as you touch it you feel let down by it's lack of substance.  You find yourself tapping the panels to see if anything is made of metal.  So in the critical "gotta-have-it" factor, the "pick it up and play with it" factor, the Majorette drops in contention compared to it's correctly scaled and HEFTY less detailed competitors, and ends up with a strong, but still third place, finish. 


Which brings us to the next casting - the Impy.  I've always been kind of fascinating by Impy's, with thier castings of atypically modeled cars, and multiple openings.  Impy is the only true vintage toy-maker (at least in 1/64 scale) who regularly offers opening doors AND trunks...  ...and sometimes even hoods. 

And this Silver Cloud is so cool that it might just be my favorite Impy casting.  The opening doors and trunk instantly give it a leg-up over the Lesney casting, but a closer inspection reveals that the hood opens as well - in TWO central hinged pieces!!!  A total of 5 opening parts in an era when you were lucky to get even 1... 

Scale-wise, the model appears slightly narrow (although full-size Clouds always look narrow to my eye - so maybe its actually accurate/correct?).  I've never been particularly sold on the Edsel-ish look of the Cloud's headlights and grills -  and I don't like it anymore in the casting.  But - its a pretty accurate representation  (and very well done!) of an ugly front-end.

The casting is identified as a Silver Cloud MPW, where MPW stands for Mulliner Park Ward - Rolls Royce' in-house coachbuilder. 

With 5 openings in the model, it's hard to argue with the level of detail.  And unlike the Majorette - this one is undoubtably made of metal.  In fact, this rare casting is SO solid, and the detail is so great, that I find myself wondering why Impy's like this one haven't been driven higher in price.  How is a Hot Wheels Redline worth so much more than this car?!?  But while the Impy Silver Cloud MPW is an amazing piece - is it good enough to de-throne the traditional king of diecast Rolls Royce Convertibles? 

As mentioned earlier, the Lesney/Matchbox casting, is a lovely casting, with nice size, nice weight, nice detail, a soft suspension from the glory days of the Transitional SuperFast era, etc.  I particularly like it with the thin rather than the thick wheels (the yellow/gold one shown has the later thicker wheels while the blue has the thin wheels).  In mint condition with an undamaged windshield (they are fragile so poor condition cars frequently have broken or bend windshields) and a tonneau boot cover still in place (again - these seem to get knocked off easily), it's a grand-looking car.  The grill and headlights are a single stuck-on metal piece - similar to the Silver Shadow Sedan's, which looks high quality until you compare it to the Impy - when it suddenly looks "stuck on".  Overall, it's a favorite casting of mine, and (before seeing the Impy) I would have had a hard time believing that anyone else also modeled it - let alone modeled it better...

So the real question is - can the Impy knock off the Lesney Matchbox and take the crown of best Vintage Rolls Royce convertible?

This one is definitely going to come down to personal choice.  The Impy is the more interesting casting.  And is of an older and even more rarely done model.  With 5 opening panels.  Including a SUPER cool center hinged hood.  In contrast, the Matchbox is a traditional Lesney Transitional - big and square and nice, a favorite model of mine for several decades.  How do I choose?

In the end, although I changed my mind a few times, the quircky charm of the rare Impy Cloud overwhelmed my loyalty of the traditional Matchbox Silver Shadow Coupe Convertible... 

Hope you enjoy the photos!

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!  

Renault 5 Turbo... 2 models with identical paint from Tomica and Corgi square off for a fight.. But what about Hot Wheels???

While it is common to find multiple toy companies model the same car, it is UNCOMMON to find them paint them in the same paint scheme.  But that's exactly what happened when both Corgi Juniors and Tomica decided to model the Original Hot Hatch, the Renault 5 Turbo, and paint them in the same rally-car yellow paint....  Sounds like an opportunity for a comparison!!!

Spoiler alert.  There is no comparison.  The Tomica wins hands down.  The Corgi is considerably larger, over-scaled for such a small car, and is very plasticky (particularly the side mirrors - though at least it has them vs. the missing mirrors of the Tomica).  The Tomica is correctly scaled, with a nice soft suspension (vs. the hard suspension of the Corgi) and with opening doors.   In keeping with the times (the early '80s) both cars have nice metal-work and trim detail, but the Tomica's is a little nicer.

Both cars have nice paint.  Its interesting to note that while the color scheme is obviously meant to be the same, it is still very different.  The base yellow paint is almost exactly the same shade for the two models, but everything else about it is different.  I call the paint a tie.

Overall, its an easy win for Tomica....    ...Or is it?

Enter the 30 year later challenger, Hot Wheels.

Hot Wheels doesn't have a Renault 5 turbo in yellow, but they did offer a high quality all metal Renault 5 turbo in blue or green, with rubber tires.  These are seriously handsome models, with amazing satin paint, a high quality feel, and of course, beautiful wheels and the afore-mentioned RUBBER TIRES!

While Tomica wins the award for the best original / vintage casting, and for the best yellow casting, the modern Hot Wheels castings are TOO GOOD not to easily sweep to a win over even the Tomica.  These castings are relatively easy to find on EBay, and for a price up to about $10, are definitely worth it.  The upstart challenger takes on the vintage cars, and wins....

Current Generation Beautiful Camaro Models by Hot Wheels, Matchbox and Tomica

Here are three excellent (but non-premium) models of the newest generation Camaro, from 3 of the biggest names in diecast, Matchbox (convertible in red), Hot Wheels (silver coupe) and Tomica (black coupe).  

The newest Camaro is one of the hottest looking (let alone performing) cars available on the market today, such that there is a chance that a ZL1 could end up in my garage some day...  And the Camaro has always been heavily modeled by the die-cast giants, starting with the original Hot Wheels Redline "Custom Camaro" model of the '67 model (it took Matchbox about 30 years to do their own first generation model, though their model of an '80s Z28 (or was it an IROC-Z) with the opening hood is one of my favorite Matchbox models of the period).  Since then Matchbox has done several additional Camaros, while Hot Wheels has continued to model Camaros as well (though their 2nd generation (1970s) and 3rd generation models (1980s) were not favorites of mine).  Siku did a beautiful 1980s model, although one of the nicest 1980s Camaro models were the rubber wheel lock-up models by Kidco...  

Anyway, fast forward to 2018, and we have 2 very cheap and easy to find (visit any WalMart/Target/ToysRUs and hand over $.99 to $1.29) Camaro models by Matchbox and Hot Wheels, plus one slightly harder to find (visit EBay or other on-line stores, and pay a bit more than $.99...) model by Tomica...  All three models are very nice representations of the current Camaro.  

So which one is best?  Well, between the easy to find Matchbox and Hot Wheels models, I prefer the additional (and magnificant) painted-in trim of the Matchbox, even though I give it a few demerits for being a convertible vs. a coupe (I generally prefer coupes over convertibles).  On the other hand, the convertible gives Matchbox the chance to show off its interior (in easy to see gray, vs. the Hot Wheels practically invisible black).  Both cars have excellent wheels and tires, though Matchbox again squeaks out a win over Hot Wheels excellent rims with Matchbox' clean 5 spoke design.  Then there is the side mirrors of the Matchbox (frequently left off of models) vs. the no mirrors Hot Wheels.  After all is said and done, both models are very nice and well worth the $1 that they cost, but I give the easy lead to Matchbox.

And how do those $1 basic models compare to the basic (but still considerably more expensive once you factor in a higher base price (at least $3 even at the cheapest sites - plus shipping costs) Tomica ZL1 model?  Well, simply said, the Tomica outshines them both.  

In the photos, the black paint of the Tomica doesn't photograph well, but between the opening doors, the painted-in trim (better than Hot Wheels, but easily inferior to that of Matchbox, the considerably better metal trim detail (but without Matchbox' mirrors), equivalent base detail, the far, far, far better suspension (the Tomica's is Tomica-soft, while the other 2 essentially don't have any suspension to speak of), Tomica wins many categories.  That being said, Matchbox does win several categories, including painted in trim, mirrors, interior trim and wheels, but those 4 items are not enough to offset the losing items.  The Tomica ZL1 pulls out an easy victory.  

While there is a winner, there is no loser.  All of the models deserve to be in your collection.  And at these prices, there is no reason for all three not to be in your collection. 

Copied Porsche 910... Did Playart copy Corgi, or vice versa?

It sounds patently obvious to say that diecast cars are models of real cars...  ...Yet it is not actually always true.  In some cases, they are actually models of OTHER model cars.

I've seen it with Maisto flagrantly (and poorly) copying Matchbox' Audi Quattro.  And in this post, I show a fascinating example of Playart copying Corgi's casting (although I suppose that there is a chance that Corgi copied Playart casing).



There are several companies who produced models of this car, the most well known of which is the (red) model by Lesney's Matchbox.  That one actually looks very different (particularly in size, its easily the largest of the five) from the other models.  I also have a Dynawheels model (in brown), a Zylmex model (in blue, #910), a Playart model (in blue) and a Corgi Junior/Husky model (in yellow - a "Rockets" version with extra speedy wheels/axles).  Missing from my photos is a Speedy model that I spent an hour fruitlessly tearing apart my Matchbox collection trying to find.  Regardless, the last four are very similar in appearance and size, particularly the final two.  And upon closer examination, it turns out that the final two are actually copies of each other, with similar casting lines, choice of detail, etc. Examining the base and especially the opening engine compartment shows a very similar choice of detail.



In fact, the only two questions are 1.  Who did the copying...   Was it the second tier Playart copying toy giant Corgi, or was it the greater scandal of Corgi cribbing a design from no-name Playart, and 2.  Why bother?  Could it really have been that much harder to create an "original copy" of the real car?

P.S.  I suppose that as long as I'm showing 5 distinct (or is it 4?) models, I should at least pick a winner...  Who modeled the 910 best? 

Although I'm a big Lesney Matchbox fan, its easy to assign the Matchbox in 5th place.  Its a little too big, and just looks different from the others. 

The next 4 are closer in comparison, all nice and worthwhile models in their own right, even though several come from brands that aren't typically collected. 

In fourth place I assign the Zylmex, while its very nice - it just doesn't have the opening back hatch or the quality wheels of its competitors. 

The final three are in almost a dead heat.  But the Corgi's stance/wheels sets the model a little too high, giving it a 3rd place finish. 

Between the final two, the DynaWheels is missing the opening hatch of the Playart (and the Corgi), but the metal roof gives it an advantage over the all plastic roof of the Corgi and PlayArt.  The wheels also are slightly nicer.  Overall, its enough to put the DynaWheels in first place, ahead of the Playart. 

And of course the biggest irony is that the copy-cat Playart took 2nd place, beating out the copied Corgi...!

Thanks for reading! 

Old school comparison: Redline T-bird vs. Redline T-Bird - Topper Johnny Lightning vs. Mattel Hot Wheels

This is a comparison that's 45 years out of date - comparing 2 OLD-SCHOOL late '60s Ford T-Birds - BOTH with redline wheels....

Yes, we all know that the term "Redlines" means Hot Wheels Redlines - the creme-de-la-crime models of the diecast collecting scene.  And the Custom T-Bird's always been one of my favorite Redline models - a big American '60s muscle car, done with a few custom touches.  A cool car, with the only real downside being the very high price point needed to get into it these days - $30 or more for a fair/good condition model, $100 or more for a C8-C9 condition model, and easily $500 or more for a MIP model or a rare color.  Ouch!!!

But back in the day, Hot Wheels faced competition from the original Johnny Lightnings - made by Topper in those days rather than today's Playing Mantis.  Topper's even had red line wheels and so took on Hot Wheels head to head!  Most of those old Toppers were fantasy models - but they made a FEW realistic castings - and this "Custom Thunderbird" is one of their best.  One of the best things about these old Topper models is that they came with both an opening hood AND opening doors (but also with cast-shut doors - so hunt wisely!).   Unfortunately, the price points for Topper's realistic cars is only slightly better than that for Mattel's Hot Wheels - with reasonable examples in better colors often exceeding $50.  They are so rare that I haven't seen a MIP trade on EBay - so I can't tell you what the high end price points are...

So, which one is better?  Who made the better Custom T-Bird back in 1970?!?  Let's get to the comparison!!!

I only have 1 Topper T-Bird, in gold, while I have several Hot Wheels T-Birds.  But one of those Birds is in gold, so it makes it a gold vs. gold custom T-Bird comparison test...  What could be better!?!

At first blush, it looks like it'll be a tight race.  Size-wise, they are both right on top of each other - built big, sized just the way they should be.  Their dimensions are RIGHT on top of each other.  Definitely a draw in the size category.

Paint:  I'm a fan of Hot Wheels Spectraflame paint, but Topper's color is a bit richer, making Mattel's gold paint look like Fools Gold.  In the paint category, the Topper wins.

Metal Body Detail:  The Topper has more body contour than the Mattel.  The Native American Thunderbird symbol is actually cast in relief on the B pillar, just like on the real car.  The roof has a contour line, the trunk and hood has air body vents on it and there is an actual gas cap.  The Mattel's body is nice, but there aren't even door line markings, while the Topper has handles...  The only place where the Mattel scores points is in the hood scoop - where the Mattel looks more bad-ass...  Easily, this category again goes to Topper.

Grill and Light Detail:  This category is close, but Mattel eakes out a win, with the Thunderbird symbol being cast in relief on the grill, and an actual license plate bracket on the rear.  Everything else about the grill and light detail is nice for both cars - with nice metal relief cross-hatching on the grills, and a cast metal AND painted in backlight.

Base Detail:  Both bases are metal and have a lot of detail for the time, but the Mattel has more.  Winner - Mattel.

Opening Features:  The Topper has to win in this category - with opening doors AND an opening hood, though the engine detail is certainly nicer in the Mattel.

Interior:  Again, the Topper wins - in part since the opening doors allow you to see more of the interior.  But even so, the Topper has more interior detail.  Advantage - Topper.

Ride:  The Hot Wheels has an actual suspension - giving a soft and silky ride.   The Topper feels suspension-less - giving an easy (and important) win to the Hot Wheels...

Overall score:  With Topper taking 4 of the 6 six categories, it's hard to argue that Topper should win overall.  That's the way it should be.  If I hadn't looked at it by category, I would have still given the win to Topper.  But the Mattel model is still a very nice model! 

It's nice that the winner is (slightly) cheaper.  But the Topper Redlines are VERY hard to find.  When you DO find one, make sure that you get the one with opening doors... 

The last couple of photos show the other T-Bird models:

In the one to the right, I show the Playing Mantis re-make of Topper's Custom Thunderbird (in purple).  This model stays pretty true to the original, but loses the opening doors and the vintage appeal.  It's a nice model for $3-5, released in the late '90s, and has nicer paint and a smoother ride than the original.  But I still heavily prefer the   authentic Topper Johnny Lightning!  I also include Hot Wheel's Authentic "Spoiler" version of the T-Bird - now called the "TNT Bird" - in dark red.  This casting is the "Custom T-Bird" casting, but with a blown engine and no hood.  It's a great model - a favorite of mine.  While I like all of the Spoiler cars, this T-Bird is definitely one of my favorites!  Unfortunately, the Spoilers are no cheaper than the regular cars - you'll pay dearly for this model!!!


Finally, I show a few other color variations of Mattel's custom T-Bird and Mattel's TNT Bird! 

Mitsubishi Montero (Pajero) - is the Fast Lane Montero a good Montero - and can it compete with a Tomica?

I recently vacationed in Costa Rica.

Vacations always cause me to evaluate and regard and see ordinary cars differently.  For instance, Beijing China was filled with beautiful Volkswagons, with black early '00s Passats functioning as limousines, and mid '80s generation Passats functioning as funky-cool police cars.  It made me want to have one of my own - which was odd - since I ACTUALLY have a blacked-out early '00s Passat...  But somehow, the Chinese Passats in Beijing just looked cooler than my suburban commuter Passat... 

In Costa Rica, the car that really caught my eye was the Mitsubishi Montero.  These cool looking rugged 4X4s were the high class limousines of Costa Rica.  Never mind that in Chicago these are 150,000 mile $4K used car specials, in Costa Rica they were GOLD.  Never mind that I have a nice '09 Mercedes Benz GL500, I NEEDED to have a Montero.  So guess what I started searching Craigslist for...?

 ...and of course, this got me thinking about Matchbox cars, and whether I had a nice Montero...  ...which I in fact
do - a "Fast Lane" (drugstore brand) Montero in teal...


I normally have no respect or patience for Fast Lane cars, but this one looked nice, and was a casting of a seldomly modeled car.    

There is a lot to pick at about the casting...  The cheap wheels, the overly shiny plastic for the grill, the plasticky roof rack, the plastic baseplate without even a word on it, the teal color, the odd graphics, etc.  A lot of collectors wouldn't even give it a 2nd glance...

But on the other hand, there is a lot to LIKE about the casting...  Its nicely sized - REALLY nicely sized, big in the same way that a real Montero is big.  It's nicely detailed - a pretty reasonable model in its own right.  It looks cool dressed up with the pusher bar and the roof rack.  And of course, its a Montero when I have very few other Monteros...  This is a cool model - even though its from a cheapo-manufacturer!  Overall, a nice and valued part of collection! 


But how does it compare with other Monteros?  My other Monteros are Tomicas, which given the high quality quotient inherent in most Tomicas, is bound to make the comparison a little difficult for this Fast Lane... 

I have 4 Tomicas badged as Pajeros (Monteros), though 1 is a Pajero junior and 2 more are short 2 door vs. full 4 doors.  Only 1 is a real full size 4 door Montero/Pajero, in silver with a green stripe along the side.  It has opening doors, and large wheels (that I'm actually not very crazy about).  But overall, it is a very nice casting, correctly sized, with great detail.  If you don't have it, you should get it.  There is no doubt that its nicer than the Fast Lane, in almost every regard.  (But that doesn't mean that I don't like the Fast Lane casting...).   So no, the Fast Lane Montero CAN'T compete with the Tomica Montero - though both are highly regarded castings in my eyes!

 The other shorter Monteros are also nice pieces.  I have 2 that are non-Pajero-Juniors, one in silver and one in green with a light on the roof.  I don't like the wheels, but I love the classic Montero big front ends...  But I can't help wishing they were full 4 doors vs. 2 doors. 

The Pajero junior is a police truck, though I think I have another (older) Pajero junior casting in green that I wasn't able to find for the photo shoot. 

I like all of the Montero castings.  The 4 door Tomica is easily my favorite, but the Fast Lane is still a nice casting...