Toy Cars I Bought in Germany

I bought a big lot of Tomica this trip but you are not seeing them here because I have already put them up for sale in a friend's shop. These are some of the smaller scale cars I am keeping. Just to share with you guys some interesting cars I found.

Penny - Fiat 124
Penny is something I am trying to collect but selectively. I wanted a Alfa Romeo Giulia but the asking price is 2 to 3 times the price of this Fiat so I have to pass. I have a few Penny at the moment but will not hesitate to buy them if the price is reasonable.

Schuco - Mercedes-Benz 200D
Schuco is a brand I have been collecting for some years. To complete it is rather impossible since they are getting scarce now especially mint in box ones. This W123 Mercedes Benz is hard to find among the 1/66 series. I do not buy a Mercedes if its emblem is missing but not for this one. It is too hard for one to come by and for me to pass it. I do encountered member in my group who wanted to buy this car when I post it in my FB group but commented that it is not mint and demanded me to sell him a mint one. I am feeling very annoyed because it is very rude to request the owner of the toy to price the toy for sale when the owner does not even have the intention to do so. I appreciate members to respect the owner of any post when we are sharing the stuff we found or collect. I wonder how much he is willing to offer for a mint in box piece.

Majorette - Toyota Landcruiser
I used to hate Majorette with big fat wheels. Since it is a Japanese car and a Landcruiser, my heart softened and bought 2 units of these examples. Majorette has been a friend during my childhood so I bought quite a number of them this trip. The early Majorette from 70s and 80s are still the best in my opinion. I like to have the 60s Majorette but it is too much for my wallet to bear. I have a few pieces of the 60s model already and I am good at the moment.

Faller Hit Car - BMW 2000CS 
Faller are supposed to be slot cars and the "toy" car version are based on the slot cars without the motor. I am collecting Faller as well at a small scale. The body is plastic but it has a metal base. I have not seen a BMW version but I still proceed to buy it although it is a junk piece. Most models I came across are either a Mercedes, Porsche or a VW.

Rasant - Ford Taunus 17M
This is the first time I heard of a Rasant so I have to buy it. Like the Faller, Rasant origins started as a slot car too and was made into a lesser model without the model at a later stage. It has a metal body and base which slightly differs from the Faller.

Germany 2014

We would fly to Hamburg directly usually but this is the first time we fly direct to Bremen instead. On the second day in Bremen, we went to Hertz to collect our rental vehicle as our transport for the next few days. This should be the largest car I had driven in Germany to date. It's a Ford Mondeo Wagon in its latest incarnation. According to the Hertz guy who served us, it's brand new.

There is a park in Bremen where we need to cross before going to our usual restaurant we patronize frequently. I have seen a nest of rabbits some years back and have been looking for them whenever I walk past this park. They will come out of their hideout at night to hunt for food and years after, I found them again. Although just a few spotted but I am glad that they are still around. I can't get close as I don't want to startle them.

Walking past the park towards our hotel, 3 ducks are walking on the pavement. They walk towards me and stop in front of me. They are so adorable and they are not afraid of people.

We went to Leer from Bremen. Leer is a small town located in North-western Germany and it is at the border of The Netherlands. It is a beautiful town with architectures almost fairy-tale-like looking, although not as fairy tale like houses in Prague but I am delighted to be in Leer.

See what I meant, we don't see these kind of houses in Singapore.

Our final destination was Hamburg, but before we travel to Hamburg, we drove to Buxtehude from Bremen. After visiting the one and only customer in Buxtehude, we stopped by a restaurant for our lunch.

This is the restaurant where we parked our vehicle. I had pork cutlet as usual because in Germany, pork is consumed widely. It is safe for you to know Schnitzer or pommes frites with mayo if you speak no German. Most restaurants in Germany do not have a English menu or speak English unless you are in a populous city like Hamburg.

Weekend arrived and I went to just one floh-markt because I don't want to go through the hassle of travelling far and found that there is nothing for me (but junks) and went back empty handed. I went to the usual one in St. Pauli since I know there is a regular seller with many toy cars. Not this stall above, happens to be another stall manned by father and son.

Went to meet up with a friend, he showed me something "rare" which I agree is rare for the display case. He gave me a ladder to climb as it is hidden somewhere high up. Eidai Grip, I need one car in that display!

Greeted me with trays of cars as usual, this time no Matchboxes, no Siku, mainly Majorettes. Got quite a number of Majorette this time.

Sunday arrived and I skipped all the flea markets because they are simply too far from my hotel. I went to Miniatur Wunderland for the 3rd or 4th time, can't remember though.

Impressive as usual whenever I am there. Bought many HO scale cars there too from their resident shop because it's cheaper by a few fold compared to retail.

This is something new for me, Automuseum Prototyp where you see old prototype cars you never seen before.

This car looks way ahead of its time, a 1939 Porsche Typ 64 "Berlin-Rom-Wagen".

1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS. Most of the cars in the museum are either a Porsche or a VW. Great for enthusiast who are into classic cars. That's all folks, a very simple and short summary of my German trip.

9tro Tomica

A friend came to my place few months ago wanted to feature my collection on an online magazine. I agreed and bring out a few carton of cars for him to pick and choose. I almost forgotten about this special feature on my collection until it was posted on my facebook group. Here is the link:

http://www.9tro.com/features/people-places/tomica-diecast-cars