Hauls of May 2012

A friend told me that I am buying too much and I should start selling. I have to admit that I spend too much in May, not to mention the cars I bought in Taiwan. Above loose cars comes from different parts of the world and converge in Singapore. 

Boxed cars but don't ask me to unbox them to show. Too much work to take them out individually. I can show you guys in next gathering. 

Larger scale cars from various brands.

I am keeping the Accord for sure. I have not seen a first generation Accord in sedan guise yet. To the friend who made the request for me to sell, start sending your offer to me if you seen something that sparks your interest. For friends who got my mobile phone, you may text me your offer as well but will only sell if the price is right. Only open for friends who got my contact number, not open to overseas. I try to keep as many as I can, don't want to be view as a trader.

Kombie in Taipei, Taiwan

Kombie as usual follows me round the world and we are in Taiwan this time. First stop will be Tomica Square.

 Kombie in Yeh Liu.

This is the natural formed Princess Head. 

Not forgetting the famous Queen's Head.

We also went to Shangri-la Farm. I did a quick shot on the balcony of my room before the bees and praying mantis charges into my room. 

We also went to JiaoXi which is famous for the spa hotel. View from our spa hotel room.  

This site is not in our itinerary so I am not sure what is the name of this place. Our tour guide is nice enough to bring us here.

The river is full of huge fishes and we brought bread to feed them.

Kombie in Zhongzheng Memorial Hall. 

Kombie also visit my favourite museum, the Gugong Palace Museum. 

This is a rather new site, Miniatures Museum of Taiwan but it look like more a toy museum. This is Alice in Wonderland. 

This photo shows an old street.

We went to "Little Italia" too. 

An old town in Japan.

Kombie parades himself in a fleet of classic cars. We had a really good time in Taiwan and we hope to visit Taiwan again in near future.

Tomica & Toy Car Hunting in Taiwan

It's another exciting Go! Go! Tomica adventure of toy car hunting trip round the world! Maybe I should be a little more precise. This is actually a guided tour in Taiwan rather than the usual free and easy traveling I usually had. I promised my parents last year that I will bring them to visit Taiwan and so, I did it again after 2.5 years since Hong Kong 2009. I would say it's an excellent trip as we had a very good tour guide. We travel in a VW passenger van rather than a coach because there are only 6 of us and eventually become friends with the other family of 3.

Not many people know that there is a Tomica Shop (or maybe 2 or 3 branches already, not sure) outside Japan. Taiwan should be the only Tomica Shop franchise out of Japan and they are known as Tomica Square rather. Ok, I think you might be asking if Tomica Square is a tourist spot in Taiwan since we are joining a guided tour. We reach Taiwan around 1630hrs on Mother's Day, the guided tour started on day 2 so I have the time to go to Tomica Square which is just 2.2km away from our hotel.

Sorry, I couldn't get the right lighting on the above photo especially for those who really enlarge my photo to the fullest scrutinizing all cars in my photo. You might like to know the main difference in Tomica Square of Taipei and Tomica Shop in Tokyo since I been to both. No "Factory Tomica", no "Tomica Shop Tomica", no "Event Tomica" but that is not a loss. There isn't Toy Project series as well, maybe there's a similar Pooh Pig in Taipei vacuum all of them befoe my arrival. I certainly do hope they have those special edition when I visit Taiwan again. I say again because my parents do like Taiwan a lot so we might be thinking to do a revisit. I suggested Bangkok and Korea but they say no. I don't think I will suggest China with the exception of Guangzhou. All toys in the world are made there, that's why.

A rejoice for TLV collectors, they do sell Tomica Limited Vintage in Tomica Square. I bought a few only as they are not low price like the regular ones. It's relieve that TLV did not release any Lamborghini yet as I cannot imagine Tomica stockist or buyers pre-ordering 5 cartons of those, not to mention 50 pieces. I really need to consider even to buy 5 pieces of the same model and colour variant on any TLV. I know some are that crazy to spend his entire monthly wage on the same model variant here in Singapore. It's also a relieve that there isn't a distributor of TLV in Singapore.  

Who says that Honda Showroom is a total sold out? They filled up a portion of the shelve in Tomica Square. The reason why it is rare in our shops due to Tomica stockist bought them as soon as new stocks arrived in our stores. Note that I say "rare in our shop" not that this is a rare item. It's seems that our Singaporean stockist got a very deep pocket. 

This is something I wanted very much but I couldn't afford it. I couldn't afford the space as I am likely to fill up my luggage if I buy one box of each. I started grabbing the largest one but had to give it up after 1 minute. It's a huge item considering it is day 1 and my mum will definitely fill up every possible space with local treats for relatives and friends. I hold on to set in the middle the longest. I unwillingly give it up after 10 minutes. I really wanted 2 sets of the same but did not buy even one eventually. I do not want the smallest set as I didn't even pick it up to check the price. I will snap at my friends if they were to ask me buying similar size objects on their behalf. I couldn't understand why there are still people preparing a shopping list before their friends' trip regardless of business or leisure. One should be more considerate towards others than to put his own convenience as priority.

After paying for the Tomica, I browsed around the toy department in the same complex to check out what they offer. If you think the Siku range is pathetic, wait till you check the Hot Wheels offerings. I took the photo but I forgotten to add it after the Siku photo. There was only 6 or 7 Hot Wheels on the pegs, wow.

The presentation of Real Toy is the best I have seen by far. I was nearly tricked into buying a few but I controlled myself well enough.

We went to Taipei 101 on day 5. I found a huge toy shop there and went in filling with hopes.

 There's Tomica but hardly restock by the shop and I have already bought what I should in Tomica Square on day 1.

There is Hot Wheels but there isn't any Treasure Hunt so I exit the shop immediately.

There are also many small toy shops like the one above in Taiwan. I found a number of these shops mainly at tourist spots. Worth mentioning are a few shops sell candies and toys we had during childhood. I really like these kind of shops and some of them do sell toy cars as well. Most of my Welly are bought there. We went to a total of 3 night markets, there are toy shops and some of them are selling Tomica. I asked if I could buy the Tomica counter display from a lady but she gave me a lead instead. Thank her and left her shop.



MY SMALL HAUL IN TAIWAN

These are some of my purchases as I couldn't put in all the spares in my photo. We usually have a gathering once I am back from my trip. I will bring all spares to check which ones they need and balance will be sold at our flea market. It's always fun to share with friends rather than to keep the hobby to yourself.

 Some of the TLs and TLVs.

This is one interesting buy. I bought these for being able to do custom easily and they are not expensive too. 12 cars in the whole series but I have opt out some cars.

I am really glad with these Welly as we can hardly get them here. A little disappointed that they are not updated. I actually hope to find a i30, Corolla and a Octavia but hell no.

I am surprise to find some Korea cars in Taiwan night market. These are made by Mica rather than Kingstar or Clover. Cheap but crude, oh well, at least I do not have to bid for it in eBay.

This is for my friend's 4 year old son. I gave him an Indian Ambassador taxi 2 years ago. As his ambition is to become a taxi driver, naturally a toy taxi has some place in his heart. I found this Taiwanese Xiao Huang (common name for taxi in Taiwan) in a toy shop with my Korean cars. I also found other Taiwanese taxi in other shops but a Mitsubishi Grandis instead. I couldn't make out what the make of the car in the photo. It looks like a Ford Ka sedan but it could be a Kia Pride sedan as well. I will post more of my trip in the next few days when I am much available. I've been missing in action in office so definitely have stuff to keep me busy.

Porsche 356

A friend was hunting Hot Wheels at his favourite spot and came across this classic car. He couldn't make out the exact model of this car so he send this photo to me. I show the picture among my friends and nobody could give the correct answer. They were surprised when I announce that this is the first road car from Porsche, a 356 to be exact. I know there is 356, 356A, 356B and 356C but I couldn't make out which is this. I am thinking this should be closer to 356A. Jeff, any comments? It's not a surprise that most people in my region do not know this car. The reason why I am able to recognize cars older than I am should credit to the "Top Trumps" pictorial cards I used to had when I was a kid. You can hardly imagine the amount of cards I had then so I am able to tell different make and model of cars since young.

I don't think that this car is road worthy. It had a foreign registered plate which I believed is American. Any cars older than 3 years imported to Singapore are not allowed to be driven on our road. I do hope that this regulation will be abolish as our tiny island can hardly find any classic cars.

These are some Porsche 356 Speedster made by Tomica.

It's not exactly the same car captured by my friend but it's the closest I had. I can only recall Maisto made a 356 Coupe.

The rally version had an extra roll bar comparing to the road car version. Nice presentation of a 356 done by Tomica.

Daewoo Nexia / Cielo / Le Mans

I managed to find the photo of my previous ride, the Daewoo Nexia. It has an Opel engine and the car is based on a defunct Opel Kadett. This car is registered in 1996 January and I bought it in 2002 January as the 3rd owner. A little history on Daewoo in Singapore: Daewoo first reach our shores in 1990 with the Daewoo Racer available in 4 doors saloon and 5 doors hatchback. This is also based on an Opel Kadett (older one) and the Racer (Cielo or Le Mans in some markets) mirrored the Kadett in looks department.  The first batch of Daewoo received good response in terms of sales and they also participated the Singapore Motor Show then. As Singapore was a nation who prefers a booted car in the last century, the 4 doors outsell the hatchback version. The same goes without saying for the Racer II and why mine is badged as "Nexia" because mine is the 5 doors hatch. According to the car sales man, Nexia has less than 10 units registered in Singapore which made my car "exclusive" enough for me to buy it since I preferred something uncommon.

I bought this 1/35 Clover Toys Daewoo Le Mans years back when I toured Japan for the first time. It was found in Gulliver and there are many Korean cars in the discount basket. I love it so I bought it since I drove one.

This might not be exactly the same generation as my Nexia as this toy is manufactured in 1993 which could likely is the predecessor of my car. Who cares since it is hard enough for me to find a Daewoo toy car.

This toy is made in China and offers a pull back motor.

The rear hatch opens showing a generous boot space just like my car.

The base has a seal which I don't really know what that is but I keep it intact. I like this very much and that is why it is still with me all these years. I didn't want to let go since it is hard to find a 20 year old Korean toy car these days.

Tomica Limited Nissan Skyline Spec V Restock

Went to departmental store today and saw a huge restock of TL Skyline Spec V. There are so many that I just took 9 units and stack them up for a photo shoot. My friend told me they are everywhere in different departmental stores since 1st May. Those who have not get these, you may want to grab one soon.

Tomica Limited Nissan Skyline GTR Spec V Resurface

I went out with my usual group of friends yesterday since it's a public holiday. We saw one Tomica Limited model resurface onto the Tomica shelves again after being swept clean by scalpers when it was initially launched. Each of us grab 3 pieces and there are still many pieces left on the shelve. I just wonder why scalpers would do such a silly thing buying Tomica Limited in cartons. First of all, the price of a TL is  higher than a regular Tomica. There is little room for appreciation in terms of value unless TL has a larger pool of worshippers than Tomica Regulars or Hot Wheels (since it is the lowest price, I mean in the United States). I do not favour TL personally unless the car released that month is a car that I really like. Based on my flea market experience, nobody actually asked for a TL. Those who bought the TL are collectors who like the marque of the car rather than wanting it as a Tomica Limited with exception that he is a die hard Tomica fan. Die hard fans will buy all releases even if he doesn't like a certain model and will have ways to deceive and hypnotise themselves that it is a really nice car and it's worth every cents spent. I can get any TL in Japan with lower price than Singapore (even after 20% less when there is a sale). I can hardly seen any sense in buying them in bulk and lock all the money in the store room if you are thinking to cash in for profits after 20 or 30 years. 20 years in the future for TL is a zero guarantee investment unless this series is discontinued. The value of first generation China made Tomica did not appreciate much after 20 years. I choose to free up my cash and save up so that I can visit Japan to buy the cars that I really like. Can you ensure all cars will be able to cash in with good profits after 20 years taking inflation into consideration. You never know what is going to happen tomorrow and worse if you are already taking medication.