#122 TOMICA – TOYOTA CELICA LB 2000GT, HONDA CIVIC COUNTRY and MAZDA SAVANNA RX-7 (NR. 33, 34 and 50) (1978 and 1979)

Following the last article, I’d like to introduce three more cars from the same series and characteristics than the two Nissans shown there. This time, the cars are a Honda, a Mazda and a Toyota. Again, only Japanese cars.

left to right: Honda Civic Country, Toyota Celica LB 2000GT and Mazda Savanna RX-7

The feeling of having one of these cars in your hands, is completely different from having a Matchbox or any other die-cast car. Tomica are delicate, beautifully done, and runs smoothly. If you checked the pictures in the last article, you might have discovered that the cars are decorated with lines in other colour than the body, the interiors have different colours, the license plates are all of them casted with some kind of message, and they had practicable doors. The Nissan Skyline also had a chromed front and a sun-roof. These three models also share this characteristics, they are no exception.


Let’s check them again:

Pad prints: decorations in the body are not stickers, they are quality pad prints. Note for example the Honda Civic Country, that has along the sides a band simulating wood.

Chassis: Beautifully decorated, and including many details: Tomica, number, scale, country of origin and car model and year of issue. Note that some chassis are made of plastic and some other are made of metal. This has nothing to do with the year in which it was released, and it doesn’t indicate that the car is a re-edition. The interesting thing is that metal chassis are fixed only with one rivet, while plastic ones are fixed with two rivets. This is made to give more resistance to the toy and to avoid that it could be easily opened, and broken into pieces. Little pieces always represent a danger of suffocation.

Wheels: Very thin, in the style of the Matchbox “Superfast” from the 70s. The pattern that represent the hubcaps are the same for all models.

Chromed parts: Mostly front parts of cars including bumper, make the car looks more realistic.

Interiors: Different for different models, were made in different colours, but the same model was always equipped with the same colour (no variations). Japanese models have the steering wheel on the right side, while Foreign have it on the left side (except maybe English models).

License Plates: All include some numbers or letters that are related to the model name, or Tomica reference number.

Practicable parts: In the 5 models I am presenting, the doors are practicable, although bonnets, trunks, are also common practicable parts. In trucks and other vehicles, practicable parts are also present: cranes, container doors, telescopic ladders, the box of a dump truck....

Windshields: Are also decorated, and different for each car. Many models have also sun-roofs.


Those were the features I wanted to point out. I have many models made by Tomica in the late 70s, and they are all great. I’ll try to bring more pictures of them soon. Tomica models from the 70s and 80s are valuable collectibles, if you have the chance to buy a couple of them, don’t hesitate, get them!

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: TOYOTA CELICA LB 2000GT, HONDA CIVIC COUNTRY and MAZDA SAVANNA RX-7 (NR. 33, 34 and 50)
• Scale: 1:63, 1:59, 1:60
• Year: 1978 and 1979
• Company: Tomica (Japan)
• Size: 6 cm