2013 Hong Kong Toy Car Shopping Trip

I have to Hong Kong for 20 or more times but this is the first time I took a train from the airport to the city. It save me a whopping HKD200.00 compared to taking a taxi. I am also traveling alone so it doesn't make any sense to take a taxi.

Upon reaching my hotel, dropped my luggage, took a shower and a short rest. I must fully make use of the room since I book a spacious room this time. Since my hotel is just opposite Tai Yuen Street, Hung Hing will be my first stop in this trip.

The shop is packed with customers as usual. The price of regular release Tomica went up quite a fair bit for Hong Kong making it not as competitive comparing to 3 or 5 years ago. The price of vintage is on par or higher than Japan which I think making a trip to Japan is worthwhile right now.

Spot the DX Toy "No Nukes" Porsche 911. There are a few DX Toy in this cabinet. It's strange that there is a price difference although the 2 units of "No Nukes" 911 are identical. I wonder how these self-custom cars from Taiwan get to Hong Kong and still command a high price.

Next stop to Toy Zone since they have shifted to a new location since last year.

A close up on the address. You just have to take a train to Tai Koo, walk towards exit A1. After getting out of exit, you will see a Caltex petrol station opposite of you. The building is just beside the station.

Took a lift to 4th floor and here we are.

If you collect almost anything, this should be the best place to hunt. As for me, just Tomica or any toy cars.

It seems like they have more shelves with more cars although the selection is not as wide as Hung Hing.

 More cars of different genre.

There's a shelf full of Tomica Dandy.

There's more inside but I couldn't afford the price the seller is asking for. I did buy some cars in Toy Zone as usual.

After Toy Zone, I went to Tseung Kwan O Popcorn MTR mall as I heard that there's a store selling Tomica.

A little disappointed as there are only regular release items as shown above. Retail price @ HKD36.00 which is basically the same price as Singapore.

These are the little plastic Tomica which I will never ever spend a single cent on them unless I get them at Taito Station. They are not cheap either at HKD30.00.

 

I used to buy Tomica only in Sogo when I first came to Hong Kong way back in 2005. Sogo is also a departmental store where I bought all my Tomica when I was a student in the 90s.

A little disappointed because it seems like Singapore has better choice on regular release.

Ken's Garage is not in my itinerary this trip because it is totally out of the way from my hotel. Since I have nowhere to go on my 2nd day in Hong Kong, I took a train to Jordan and then a cab to Ken's Garage hoping that I can get some interesting Tomica.

Ken welcomed me with some case loaded with Tomica. Good to kill an afternoon to pick out the Tomica I might need.

Made in Hong Kong Tomica. Wanted this, especially the box as I have a loose HK made Corolla Sprinter SL. I will have to give it a miss or I will have to pack my bags 1 day earlier.

The 3 day trip is a short one and it's time to go home. Next destination, it could be Bangkok, Thailand and Tokyo, Japan.

 

 

 

 

VeeDub Haul

I will be going for a short vacation after a series of long traveling. A short post before my trip. Recently I bought one lot of pure VW. Above are Tomica Dandy by Kado on world police series based on VW Beetle. I already have a Singapore police variant and that is what I need in this series. I guess I will have to let go these Beetles and keep whichever balance from my sales.

What I look forward to the box of VW are the Polistil RJ VW. I always love Polistil as they look very Tomica. The VW cars I received range from Polo to Passat. My favourite of the lot? The Passat of course. My Polistil population just increased by 7 units. These are not cheap cars based on the crazy prices in eBay. I am going to keep all of them as they are so hard to come by these days. I am looking forward to my trip and what I am able to find this time. I will give a update once I am back.

I Love Old Mercedes

I do know some collectors do have weakness for certain marque of cars. The shallow ones will go for the flashy super cars which they can't afford in real life. Some tasteful ones collect what they drive such as the old Mini Cooper or a VeeDub Beetle. I have to admit that my weakness are old Mercedes Benz. I never get to own any Benz due to the high price of cars in Singapore. My 8 year old car had to renew its radiator recently and my heart bled since it had just 2 more years before sending for scrap. I told my mum that I will buy a used car (rather than new) after scrapping my current ride 2 years later. She yelled at me if I am going to buy an old car. I told her it's a used car not really an old one. She continued to probe if I wanted to get a old Mercedes. I ever asked my dad to buy a 1979 W123 since his ride is going to scrap in 2014 so she thought that I wanted to get an old Mercedes. I do love old Benzes but it will be too much for a salaried person to own a car that is too old which spare parts are scarce locally. No, not the W123 this time unless I strike rich to buy it as a second car. I used to hate the W123 when I was a kid because I find it too ugly to be a Mercedes and they are everywhere in the streets of Singapore in the 80s. As I grow older, the number of these W123 becomes rare and close to extinction. The Mercedes today drop the huge grill as I think the old style grill is still the Mercedes trademark.

Besides Tomica, I do collect other brands of toy cars too. Schuco is the best representative in my opinion. I never fail to grab one if the price is right for me.

My collection of Mercedes also expands to bigger scale ones like the 3 examples above. They are made all over the world by different toy manufacturers from Japan, England and Germany.

These are made in Germany by different toy makers. The Siku Mercedes 600 Pullman is one of my favourite. Most of the above car does has opening doors, hood and boot. Toys made in the 70s are really a gem.

I normally do not collect detailed models like these but I just couldn't resist it. It's a classic Ponton and Singapore used this model as a taxi in the 60s too. I wasn't born yet then but I do appreciate the classic cars during that era.

These are German monthly magazine with a model car. The Pullman is from the Mercedes series while the ambulance comes from the James Bond series.

Another Mercedes from the James Bond series. It has no tyres, dents, one missing headlight, bullets shots on the windscreen but it has a lot of character. You don't see any Matchbox or Tomica shown here because I pluck whichever Mercedes that appears in my sight. My boxed Tomica were kept in carton boxes now. Besides Mercedes, I love to buy Rolls Royce (but not many) and VW Microbus as well. What's your passion?