Meeting With Tonegawa, Tokyo 29th November 2013

It's been almost a year since I last met Tony (Tonegawa) and his Kenmeri Skyline is still in the workshop after one year. He told me that she will be ready in 2014. I am looking forward to that.
Immediately after getting off the plane, we rushed to our hotel to check in and to Nakano to meet Tony. Well, I made him waited for me this year again due to miscalculation on the time and distance.

Keong with a startled look at first meal in Tokyo.

We decided to have a simple lunch before hunting down toy cars and Tomica. We do some exchanges of gifts and conversations in English mixed with very little Japanese. Tony even gave me a Japanese name based on my Chinese character. For those who knows Japanese, you might be able to make a guess on my Chinese name. Suzumasa Hayashi. Suzumasa sounds a little weird to be a Japanese name but I find it interesting that my name is able to translate into Japanese.

We went to Mandarake next to sell some of our stuff. Did made some good money there which able to last me for a day I guess.

Bought some Tomica at almost every shop I visit there. There is always one Tomica to buy.

Bought a rare Sky Tomica in one of the shops there for a steal. One of the better buy of the trip.

Surprisingly my friend did not buy any Tomica from Alf. Well, I did buy a few vintage ones. Vintage as in Japanese made vintage, not the TLVs. Takara Tomy making collectors confused at times. Keong said that there is nothing worthy for him to buy there. I think he progressed to another level after last year trip when he bought almost anything that crossed his sight. I am happier to be stagnant in a way. I had been through a stage when I stop buying Tomica for a while but that was 10 years back. I do keep other brands (with exception of Hot Wheels) in order to keep my interest in Tomica burning strong. Collecting solely on Tomica is the same as having the same food everyday, you will get sick of the same old shit. I do not have a lot of vintage Tomica so I guess that is what made me keep going on collecting them.

Do you see anything in the show case you need? I need a couple of cars there but I couldn't afford all. I always love to visit this shop as the display never fail to take my eyes off the Tomica inside. More updates to come.