Godzilla is Good: Two Expensive GT-R's From Tomica Limited Vintage

Wow. How long has it been since I actually posted something on the blog?

If you're a kid, or an adult with the brain of a kid (like me), you've probably been playing too much Pokemon Go in your free time. Oh, the allure of catching them all. As a result, I haven't had the time to photograph, much less post, about my toy cars. However, the hauling never stops, and I keep on collecting no matter the situation. Over the past few weeks, I've had quite a few packages land on my doorstep, filled with goods ranging from old-school Matchbox to super-overpriced diecast pieces. Like these here.

But Godzilla is good and, as a fanboy, you do what you have to do to get these.

Here are two R35 GT-R's done by Tomytec: a NISMO GT-R dressed up in camo print and a standard GT-R in cop car guise from Abunai Deka, a show which I know nothing about. Tomytec charges more than they normally do for these two models right here. Think $40+ at retail.

No one should have to pay those prices for 1/64. Luckily, I was able to get these for not much more than your regular TLV releases. Heck, no one should have to pay those prices either, but we collectors have become so accustomed to it that it's no big deal anymore. This TLV stuff is addicting. The detail, the quality, the accuracy. Let's see what we have here.

First is the Nissan GT-R NISMO N-Attack Package in a wild camouflage pattern that will surely harm your vision. Long name, but a monster like this deserves to have one. Having this in hand, I can now see what Tomytec charges what it does for this model. The camouflage print is perfectly executed. It's no easy feat to get the patterning continuous throughout the whole car, but they pulled it off - wing and all too.

Another point of notice are the headlights, which are printed over rather than left as clear plastic.

Then, we have the Nissan GT-R Premium Edition from Abunai Deka, in police form. This one stood out to me because of the wheels, which are different from any of the other TLV GT-R releases. These are the wheels I'm familiar with: the kind I see on newer GT-R's on the streets, and the same design that Greenlight uses for its own renditions of Godzilla. It goes without saying that Tomytec does it better.

This one also has a gorgeous orange interior that none of the other TLV models have. Other than that, and a few minor details such as license plates and the cop light, there isn't anything here that's particularly unique. Why the price hike? I don't know, but if you have the chance to grab it for "cheap", it's well worth it. No other company makes Godzilla like Tomica does.

A Hot Hatch: The TLV-N Honda Civic SiR-II

Some things just don't make sense. Like spending $20 on a 2-inch model of a Honda Civic.

I bet you could find me a 1:1 that costs less.

The good thing is I'm not the only one falling for this shenanigans. This is the Honda Civic SiR-II from the much-heralded Tomica Limited Vintage Neo line. Older releases of this model go for insane resale prices. Therefore, it's probably a wise decision to grab these while they're available. I received this in a package from Japan Booster the other day (and I would highly recommend them to anyone searching for Tomica or Kyosho models):

The GT-R's are for another day. You've seen them before here, just in different colors. The Civic is a first for me, so it was more "exciting", so to speak.

There's also a dark green one with gold five-spoke wheels, but I chose the duller grey with the cheap-looking blade wheels. Why?

I wanted to see just how good Tomytec is. Those wheels aren't easy to replicate at this scale. But they pulled it off very, very well, and that's what you expect when you spend too much money on a miniature of a mundane car.

As usual, Tomytec puts all the details of the real car into the model. I'm a fan of the blue interior, which I've heard is 100% accurate based on the trim model of this car. The wheels are a bit grainy, but I'm glad the spaces between the spokes are blacked out to give it that depth that many other TLV models are lacking.

Realistically, was it worth $20 to me? Probably not, but I'm not regretting it either.

Project Premiere/World Class, Day 21: Trestarossa

I just received the red Testarossa in the mail the other day and felt compelled to post about it. So here it is!

Three Ferrari Testarossa's. Two from the Premiere series, one from the World Class series. A classic design that somehow manages to be very difficult to photograph at the same time. I'm still not happy with the way these photos turned out, but it is what it is.

While I have no qualms about the casting, there is one main issue, and that's the width of the front wheels. They stick out like a sore thumb and is a problem that reoccurs throughout these series. The castings were meant to handle mainline-type, thin-styled wheels, not the fatter ones with rubber tires that these cars have. You take the good with the bad.

Happy 4th of July!

Here's a very patriotic Hot Wheels Plymouth Satellite, from the Stars and Stripes series (released questionably early this year), for the occasion!