#829 TOMICA – CITROEM SM, LOTUS ELITE and BMW 320i (F34, F47 and F28) (1977, 1978 and 1993)

Three more Tomica models. In this case, I put them together because there are all three European, a French Citroën, a British Lotus and a German BMW.

The first two are very old, I got them in the 80s as a kid, while the third one was bought in the late 90s and belongs to the late series known as “British line”. The first two are made in Japan, the third is Made in China.

As it is usual for Tomicas, models come in different scales, all of them very close to 1:64.

Citroën SM in green – F34 – 1:66 – 1977
Lotus Elite in white/cream – F47 – 1:63 – 1978
BMW 320i in dark blue – F28 – 1:62 – Around 1993 (original release “Made in Japan” ~1977)

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: CITROEM SM, LOTUS ELITE and BMW 320i (F34, F47 and F28) ()
• Scale: 1:66, 1:63 and 1:62
• Year: 1977, 1978 and 1993
• Company: Tomica (Japan)
• Size: approx. 6 cm

#548 TOMICA – NISSAN FAIRLADY Z 300 ZX, CHEVROLET CORVETTE and CHEVROLET CAMARO Z28 (Nrs. 15, F21 and F34) (1982, 1977 and 1983)

These are three more old Tomicas, two of them belong to the foreign (F) series, while the third one belongs to the normal series.

Nº15 – Nissan Fairlady Z 300ZX – Scale 1:61 – 1982 (original car 1981)

NºF21 – Chevrolet Corvette – Scale 1:64 - 1977
A newer version of this model was shown here, the yellow model is made in Japan, while the white one is made in China, and is part of the so-called "British Line".

NºF34 – Chevrolet Camaro Z28 – Scale 1:66 – 1983 (original car 1982)

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: NISSAN FAIRLADY Z 300 ZX, CHEVROLET CORVETTE and CHEVROLET CAMARO Z28 (Nrs. 15, F21 and F34)
• Scale: 1:61, 1:64, 1:66 (respectively)
• Year: 1982, 1977 and 1983 (respectively)
• Company: Tomica (Japan)
• Size: approx. 6 cm

#423 TOMICA - ROLLS ROYCE PHANTOM VI, MERCEDES-BENZ 300 SL, MORGAN PLUS 8, PACKARD COUPE ROADSTER and OLDSMOBILE TORONADO XSR (1976, 1977 and 1978)

TOMICA FOREIGN SERIES

All Tomica models I keep from the early 80s belong to the foreign series. I think I have already told this before, but most of them were bought by my father in Portugal, I think it was in Faro (Southern Portugal).

I cannot remember the boxes in which they were sold, because these were probably thrown away right after I got the car out of them, but they should actually be a white and blue one with a flag on it.

Picture taken from the great blog: http://toyingwithtomicas.files.wordpress.com

The flag of course indicates the land in which the real car was manufactured, for example, in the Mercedes above, it was Germany, for the Rolls Royce it was the United Kingdom, and so on. Other flags present on Tomica boxes were: USA, Italy and France.

The production of these models started in 1974 and ended in 1988, and there were 70 models made, all numbered with an "F" (Foreign) plus a number between 1 and 70, that's F1 to F70. After 1988, the foreign series was merged into the standard series. The new reference was the old number plus 80, for example, Rolls Royce Phantom VI was number F6, passed to 086. Those standard references (from 81 on) seem to be rare, since they were discontinued very quickly, and therefore only available for a short period of time.

(Information obtained from: http://toyingwithtomicas.files.wordpress.com)

The cars shown in this entry are:

ROLLS ROYCE PHANTOM VI (No. F6) in 1:78 scale from 1976
Colour: dark red
Practicable doors

MERCEDES-BENZ 300 SL (No. F19) in 1:63 scale
Colour: silver metallic
Practicable doors

OLDSMOBILE TORONADO XSR (No. F54) in 1:78 scale from 1978
Colour: white
Practicable doors

MORGAN PLUS 8 (No. F26) in 1:57 scale from 1977
Colour: red
No practicable parts
PACKARD COUPE ROADSTER (No. F52) in 1:72 scale from 1978
Colour: red
Practicable trunk (or is it an extra seat?)

You can see more Tomica from the foreign series in the following entries:

#259 TOMICA – VOLKS WAGEN, BLMC MINI COOPER S (MK-III) and VOLKS WAGEN PUTICA DISNEY (Nrs. F20, F8 and PD6) (1977, 1979 and ~1990) 

#282 TOMICA – MASERATI MERAK SS, LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH LP500S, DETOMASO PANTERA GTS and FERRARI BB 512 (1976, 1978, 1979 and 1993)

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: ROLLS ROYCE PHANTOM VI, MERCEDES-BENZ 300 SL, MORGAN PLUS 8, PACKARD COUPE ROADSTER and OLDSMOBILE TORONADO XSR (Nrs. F6, F19, F26, F52, F54)
• Scale: 1:78, 1:63, 1:78, 1:57 and 1:72 (respectively)
• Year: 1976, -, 1978, 1977 and 1978 (respectively)
• Company: Tomica (Japan)
• Size: approx. 6 cm

#334 TOMICA – CHEVROLET CORVETTE, CITROËN 2CV, BUGATTI COUPÉ DE VILLE, PORSCHE 928 and PORSCHE 936 TURBO (No. T1, T3, T8, T9 and T22) (1993)

Thenext 5 cars are further examples of the “British Line” Tomicas, from which I made an introduction in this entry.

All of them can be seen in the catalogue pictures, because they were sold in the same blister card as those. 

They are all repainted models from the 70s and 80s. It’s easy to identify these releases, because they’re made in China, instead of Japan. Nevertheless, they’re nice collectables and rare to find in Europe. As a reminder, the date casted in the base refers to the year in which the car was manufactured. All these models date from 1993.

 

CHEVROLET CORVETTE “STINGRAY” – No. T1 – 1:64 – 1977 - Unfortunately in very bad shape

CITROËN 2CV – No. T3 – 1:57 – No Date

PORSCHE 936 TURBO – No. T22 – 1:59 – 1978

This next two cars were bought and photographed later:

PORSCHE 928 – No. T8 – 1:63 – 1978

BUGATTI COUPE DE VILLE – No. T9 – 1:80 – 1978  

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: VEGA, FORD MK CHEVROLET CORVETTE, CITROËN 2CV, BUGATTI COUPÉ DE VILLE, PORSCHE 928 and PORSCHE 936 TURBO (No. T1, T3, T8, T9 and T22)
• Scale: 1:64, 1:57, 1:63, 1:80 and 1:59 respectively
• Year: 1993
• Company: Tomica (Japan)
• Size: approx. 6 cm

#303 TOMICA – TOYOTA 2000GT “LAST 2000GT” (No. 5) (1974)

This is a car I got many years ago in a flea market. It is not in its best shape: has a couple of paint chips, and is missing one piece of metal left of the front windshield. However, its decoration is quite intriguing; this can be read on the bonnet of the car:

TOMICA

NO. 5

TOYOTA 2000GT

‘’70 ~ 80’’

3,000,000

LAST 2000GT

I didn’t pay much attention to this until a few months ago, and I started looking for information on the internet. I just found one reference for it: http://miniaturecardays.blog6.fc2.com/blog-date-200711.html

The blog is written in Japanese, and using an online translator I could understand much. Apparently, the guy found the car in a thrift shop, and doesn’t know anything about it. The guy who commented has also never seen it, and they both think it is a rarity. I wanted to leave a comment, but the Japanese captcha was too much for me.

This car could be a (very) limited released from year 1980 when the model was discontinued. The car was sold over 3,000,000 times, so Tomica maybe wanted to pay homage for the good business.

If you know more about this ultra rare Tomica, please let me know. Thanks in advance!

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: TOYOTA 2000GT “LAST 2000GT” (No. 5)
• Scale: 1:60
• Year: 1974
• Company: Tomica (Japan)
• Size: approx. 6 cm

#282 TOMICA – MASERATI MERAK SS, LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH LP500S, DETOMASO PANTERA GTS and FERRARI BB 512 (1976, 1978, 1979 and 1993)

This will be a short entry with a few more Tomicas. The first three are cars I own since the early 80s. My father used to buy them in Portugal during his business trips and brought them to me. He loves cars, so it’s no surprise he chose Tomica over Matchbox or Majorette, when he had the chance.

I have selected these, since they’re Italian supersport cars: Maserati, Ferrari, Lamborghini and DeTomaso. They were even made at the same time, and they’re quite somehow similar, with those flat bonnets.

They’re all played, and some have painted head and rear lights. This is something my father used to do for me. An interesting fact is that the Ferrari and the grey DeTomaso have not the ordinary Tomica wheels. They’re wider and show a ring. Similar models are being used nowadays in many models from the same manufacturer.

Another thing I wanted to remark here is the difference between the 1978 original DeTomaso and it’s reedition from the early 90s (probably 1993). The first one (grey) was made in Japan, while the second one (blue) was already made in China. They’re almost identical, except for the number (F55 and 10) and Made in China instead of Made in Japan. The wheels, as just said, are also different, and the tampographies are much better in the older model.

You can check more Tomicas from the 90s here.

In that entry there’s a (card-)catalogue image in which the model is shown. And it is not surprising that Tomica chose this model and not another one, because the car was in production until 1990. Reference number of the newer DeTomaso Pantera GTS was T10.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MASERATI MERAK SS, LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH LP500S, DETOMASO PANTERA GTS, FERRARI BB 512 and DETOMASO PANTERA GTS (newer release) (Nrs. F45, F50, F55, F57, T10)
• Scale: 1:61 (DeTomaso, Lamborghini) / 1:62 (Maserati, Ferrari)
• Year: 1976, 1978, 1978, 1979 and 1993
• Company: Tomica (Japan)
• Size: approx. 6 cm

#259 TOMICA – VOLKS WAGEN, BLMC MINI COOPER S (MK-III) and VOLKS WAGEN PUTICA DISNEY (Nrs. F20, F8 and PD6) (1977, 1979 and ~1990)

These are the Tomica reproductions of the two most famous and iconic European cars of all times. The German VW 1200 or 1300 (1970s) and the English BLMC Mini Cooper S Mk-III (1969-76).

BLMC comes from British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd.

Some people say Tomica’s Volkswagen is the 1302, because this is the model that Majorette reproduced, and Tomica and Majorette models are very similar.

There is not much to say about these cars, everything has already been said. The toys are specially charming because, even compared with other tomicas, they’re very well detailed. The Mini Cooper because it is made at a slightly bigger scale (1:50) and the Volkswagen because it is the cabrio/convertible version, with a very nice interior, “textile”-roof and visors.

Tomica also released the VW 1200LSE, the “Superbug” and the VW Beetle (all F20), these models are all hardtops. The Superbug has special “custom” wheels.

There are also different colour variations of the Mini Cooper, including one orange version with the British flag on the roof, but they seem to have been released later.

The Cabrio version of the Volkswagen Beetle has also been further released through the years. There are at least two more versions made of this car. In 1983, Tomica released a series of four cars with Jim Henson’s “Muppets” on them: the released models were:

• Kermit the Frog in orange Volks Wagen Convertible 
• Miss Piggy in pink Morgan Super 8 Convertible 
• Animal in red Jeep 
• Fozzie Bear in blue Ford Model T

In that same year, a second series of vehicles with cartoon characters was released. The name of this series is “Disney Putica” and there were 10 different models with Disney characters on them made. I am showing here Minnie Mouse in a pink Volkswagen Convertible, although you can see the rest of the models in the next picture.

Picture taken from: http://www.pockyland.net/viewthread.php?tid=4771

8 of these vehicles are driven by Mickey Mouse, 1 by Donald Duck, and the last one by Minnie Mouse.

It is interesting to note that there have been three versions of these Disney-Tomica models, which can be identified by looking at the chassis only:

• 1^st Release: “Made in Japan” 
• 2^nd Release: “Made in China”  
• 3^rd Release: “Made in China” and “Tomy” logo 

The car in my collection seems to belong to the third (newer) release.

There are more pictures and information (in Chinese) here.

Other die-cast manufacturers also had series with Disney characters riding on their car models, for example, Matchbox or Guisval.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: VOLKS WAGEN, BLMC MINI COOPER S (MK-III) and VOLKS WAGEN PUTICA DISNEY (Nrs. F20, F8 and PD6)
• Scale: 1:60, 1:50 and 1:60
• Year: 1977, 1979 and 1990?
• Company: Tomica (Japan)
• Size: approx. 6 cm