Childhood Memories - CF Nissan Bluebird

I am always trying to buy back the toys I had during my childhood. No exception for this Nissan Bluebird. The difficulty level finding this toy is high because it's made by an unknown maker and many of these cars in the same series are sold as cheap toys in the 80s. If you find this Nissan familiar, you are right as it is a Tomica copy. There are a number of toy cars which were made in Hong Kong copied from Tomica directly. Some do have a brand name while many are unknown to collectors. Let's call this Bluebird "CF" since there is a "CF" marked on its base. There are total of 6 cars in this series from CF 301 to CF 306 and all 6 were Tomica copies. I personally felt that this should be the best interpretation of a Tomica copy. First of all, all CF cars comes with rubber tyres which are only found in Tomica Limited series today. CF cars comes with pullback motor but I can't remember mine is free wheeling or motorized. The doors opens too just like the authentic Tomica, many copies toys save on the extra process. CF do comes with a few colour variant for each of its model. Above all, CF made their toy cars with some character by having slight differences from a Tomica.

How do I get this toy car when I was a kid? I can't remember the year but it should be around the mid 1980s. I was at my parents work place and I always volunteered to buy newspaper or weekly magazine for my mum. I would go to the same newspaper stall which sells toys, candies and sometimes tikam too. This shop is operated by a uncle. The toys in this little shop are mainly cheap toys from Hong Kong, hardly anything from Japan as the shop was located in a wet market. For the richer who wanted expensive toys will go to shopping centre or departmental stores such as Yaohan or maybe Oriental. On this particular day, I went to his shop as usual. I will usually spend not more than $2.00 because I don't have much money. I saw one lot of loose cars located near the pile of candies. I couldn't help and of course help myself to dig into the lot of loose cars. I couldn't recall the models available in the pile but I picked this Bluebird eventually. How much I did I pay for it then? Just $1.00. I have to confess that I didn't like this Bluebird after buying it. I loathed to play with it among my lot of Tomica and Matchbox. The main reason being the rubber tyres which is a deterrent for the car to run fast across the room. The condition of the car is consider very good because it had very little abuse from me. I don't know how this Bluebird disappear from my toy lot but it should be my mum who threw my old toys regularly. After months of hunting, I finally got it. I don't mind keeping multiples of these CF cars as long the price is reasonable. Priority now will be to get the CF Porsche 930 to complete my 6 cars collection. Anyone selling? I still have a long list of childhood toys to hunt down. Wish me luck.

Not Your Regular Tomica

I got hold of 2 interesting Tomica recently. Coincidentally, both Tomica comes from Hong Kong. It seems like all prototypes, errors or unassembled Tomica comes from this city.

I am not a fan of any die cast in unassembled state. I will never buy this if it is 5 or more years ago. I am more receptive in recent years considering buying all new regular release on regular line of Tomica. I would not consider buying a construction vehicles or an excavator then as I will prefer road cars only. I will not buy unofficial Tomica items such as customs done by Kahla Enterprise. I bought one eventually and I paid a high price for it. I don't buy Tomica Limited but I buy selectively now. I would think twice to buy this "split seconds" March because as a Tomica collector (myself then), this is somehow not complete. How often do you find this kind of "error" in a Tomica? Almost close to zero due to the stringent quality control of the company. It's unlike Hot Wheels which you can find errors here and there so there is a market for these error cars. Tomica collectors will prefer to collect rare variants or Tomica which are mint in mint box if possible. I bought this March because you can't simply get a unassembled Tomica in any shops. The closest which I can think of will be Tomica shop where you can buy a factory Tomica. Then again, unassembled factory Tomica are not allowed to leave the shop even if you just want to buy the parts.

I thought that this is one variant on its own initially but on closer inspection, it has no printing at all. The front grill is not printed, the bumper where the fog lights mounted are not painted, the Suzuki logo was omitted, fog lights not painted as well. The A, B and C pillar around the window frames are not painted black too.

This extends all the way till the rear. Rear light, bumper, windows, logo are totally omitted. It could be more interesting if the silk screen printing leave just 1 layer of printing out which will make it look more error-like and probably more collectible. I have a feeling that the March and the Swift are done intentionally to be error cars. This Swift without detailing somehow does remind me of Tomica made in the 70s and 80s when there are no decal or printing treatment as detailing on cars. The detailing of old Tomica are done on the mould instead. Although this Swift has no details on it but I find it quite attractive in its own way. If you want to find an error Tomica in retail, try the Tomica Limited series (now discontinued). I found a few with error wheels especially those on buses or trucks due to difference rim design on front and rear wheels. If you found a error Tomica, do post it on my facebook group for sharing.

Go! Go! Tomica Local Meet Up 27th July 2013

27th July 2013, Saturday, Lazy afternoon in Han's Café near China Square Central.

We have a small collecting scene for Tomica here so it's consider a "niche" market in Singapore. 4 turn up while we waited for more to come. From left to right, Keong, Yinseng and Michael Chew.

 

Special custom Tomica Civic Type R by Weijie. I would say this is a very Singaporean Tomica to represent Singaporean drivers. This is the type of "mods" Singapore drivers would do to their cars. Blacken roof to signify a fake glass roof, carbon fibre hood to lose some weight and show some sportiness spirit of JDM. Nice work, I don't even know how to custom. Make more please.

After our gathering, we decide to go to the antique shop near by to do some shopping. Toy cars is not their forte but they do have a collection of vintage toy cars.

I bought a loose mint Tomica here to complete my gathering. Any more local boys who are into Tomica? We need you to come forward. I will only inform you of any good deals (such as Ken's Garage on 1st meeting) for people who make effort to meet up.

 

 

Dynamic Gear Mandarin - Ferrari 250LM

I was delighted to find some cars in the antique shop I visit regularly. The shop had some mint loose Tomica on sale recently and while I was picking Tomica, I saw a Cherica sized red car which I had been looking for a long time. I was a little disappointed at the condition but I still bought it anyway.

First of all, I wasn't a fan of Ferrari. I wanted this car because it is a Ferrari or should I say a toy car made in Singapore. I have to be honest that this is the ugliest Ferrari toy I had ever seen but it has character (when you can't use the word "beautiful" to describe it). It had lots of play wear, bent axles, 1 missing hub cap but it's fine for me since you can't find it almost anywhere.

Everyone knows that Tomica is my main stream when comes to collecting but Mandarin actually put me on TV for the first time as a collector instead. This is also one of the Mandarin cars which was marketed as "Dynamic Gear" as a brand name. Mandarin made toy cars from 1966 to around 1972 while the Londoner (based on Matchbox) are made in 1979. Nobody knows much about Mandarin history so it remains a mystery for collectors. I was hoping to speak to anyone who had ever worked for Mandarin. I just like to know more stories of Mandarin and it will be a bonus if he/she has some Mandarins to let go to me, a good home, I would say. Anyone?

The Evolution of Tomica

Tomica collectors has seen a major revamp on its line of toy cars recently. Most companies change for the better in their products and services. I do admire how Tomica can go against the odds by cutting corners and still able to make collectors like us waiting anxiously every month to buy their latest releases. Everyone has been complaining about the down sizing of Tomica cars. Did you know Tomica actually grow their cars as early as the late 1980s? The growth was still acceptable although it was visually noticeable to those which are made in the 70s and early 80s. After the manufacturing plant had shifted to China, the size of cars grew larger. It was so large that they are closing in to Majorette scale. The Fairlady 370 of today is scaled at 1/57 and is a giant when park beside the 1/61 Fairlady 280Z-T. Let's see what has changed on Tomica over the years.

SIZE

From the late 80s to the early 90s when Tomica were still made in Japan, Tomica grew some cars in their range. Models such as Cedric, Crown, Skyline are larger than those predecessors. I guessed nobody made much noise because Internet wasn't available then and who will complain for getting more metal for the same money? The growth was marginal and still within the acceptance range for a collector. The size remain until the millennium, all passenger cars seems overfed by their designers. The current Lancer has grown to a mid size sedan but Tomica still made it at 1/61 which many mid size sedan of the 70s are build around 1/65. I think Tomica might have realised that so they corrected it by making the Lancer and 370Z smaller in the CN series. The scale might be correct for a traditional Tomica but the casting details and quality follows the Chinese tradition instead. The new Lancer is nice but it is just too large to be a Tomica. Fast forward to year 2010 starting from Nissan Juke, there is an outbreak of shrinking Tomica models. The virus is so infectious that a mid size wagon such as Toyoya Avensis wagon was shrunk to 1/75. I do not know what is the company thinking when they have the courage to release such model to the public. I don't know how Toyota can approve of Tomica to make such a ugly model to represent their car. A toy car is a toy representative in the toy car world and it should be respected although it is meant to be a child's toy. I bet a child will not even want to buy it when it is so much smaller than the other cars in the entire Tomica range. Most children will buy a sports car if given a choice and most mothers will buy buses or trucks for their children because mother tends to go for the value (more metal and mass). Who will buy a undersize wagon which does not appeal to either the child or the mother? Most beginner Tomica collectors thought that the correct size for a Tomica should be similar to the Lancer above as they complain hell lot of noise during these 2 years when the shrinking exercise started. I hate the over shrunk cars too because they are way smaller than the 70s models. What surprises me that the new collectors even complain the Lexus IS F to be small when it isn't really true. I would say the Lexus got the right ingredients in a Tomica so I have rank it best in 2012. Try placing the Lancer beside any Japan made Tomica. I just hope that they don't think that the Japanese Tomica are the odd ones out.

GRILL

Tomica of the past uses more chrome on its grill. We don't see much of this in the current Tomica. This is a change due to the change of car designs over the years so I wouldn't say that it is a bad change. I still feel that the chrome grill could still be done in some ways but I don't think Tomica will fabricate an extra part for the grill. Having a plastic head lights is so hard to come by today not to mention about chrome grill. The bumpers could be excused as all new cars have colour coded bumpers today. Not really a big issue on this change but just hope Tomica can stop painting the head lights. They could detailed the head lights by crafting the lines into the mould if they do not want to use a pair of plastic pieces to represent the lights.

HATCH

The rear hatch of new Tomica do not have a through hole like the old ones. I fully understand that the rear styling of new cars change over the years. The rear window of most modern wagon or hatchback are "frameless" unlike older cars. I thought that I could find a reason to excuse Tomica to cut corners painting the rear upper half as the rear screen of the car. When I saw current Siku could do what Tomica did on the rear hatch 40 years ago, I started to ponder what kind of margin Tomica is looking at? (See my Mercedes A Class compare between Siku and Tomica). German and Japanese products are known to be good by international level so if Germans can have a way to do it good, why can't the Japanese? Both Siku and Tomica are priced similarly in retail, both companies made and design their mould in their home country, both companies had their production line mainly in China. What's wrong with Tomica?

This was started ever since Tomica production shifted to China. All new models made in China has rear screen painted over if the hatch opens. If they have a corner to cut on the hatch, why not made the Tomica with opening doors instead? I do not need rear hatch to open, I just want a plastic to represent the rear window. It just looks more proper somehow for a Japanese product or any toy car.

PLATE

Not many new collectors notice this change. Japanese made Tomica comes with a registration number plate even up to the trucks. The registration plate were usually crafted either a registration number (3 or 4 digits usually), Tomica number it represented or the car's nomenclature.

You don't find any registration plates with numbers in today's Tomica. I hope Tomica could revive that one day.
 

PAINTED WINDOWS

Recently, I saw that the cost cutting exercise extended further. Most cars has no opening doors, they have their rear window and rear 3rd quarter window painted. Above shows example of Japanese made Tomica from the 80s. The Civic has even corporate demister on its rear window.

The early Chinese made Tomica still has plastic to represent rear windows.

Recent Tomica painted the rear side windows and rear windows to cut some corners once again.

Foreign cars which they spend money to purchase the licensee to produce are not spared too. The RX-7 has similar rear styling to the Corvette, see what they have done to the Corvette on the rear. All recent foreign cars except Peugeot RCZ painted their rear windows. RMZ City which cost half the price of Tomica but it seems like they made better cars than Tomica now. 

STEERING

All the steering wheels of Tomica today do not have spokes. In the days when Tomica are still made in Japan, steering wheel without spokes are found in certain cars which doors do not open. If the car has opening doors, the steering wheel will be a proper one with spokes.

Not too long ago, all Tomica had only 1 interior colour, black. All Tomica steering wheel has only 1 style. Sad.

WHEELS

Not too long ago, the standard trademark 5 spoke button wheels has changed the size of the spokes. The suspension are also much harder now comparing to Japanese ones making it harder to bounce now.


THE FUTURE OF TOMICA

Does anyone ever think of how Tomica will look like in the near future? Base on the changes Tomy made over the years, this is what I think how they might look like or working towards to.

 1970s Tomica Nissan Cedric Wagon

1980s Tomica Nissan Bluebird Wagon, still looking excellent.

2003 Tomica Subaru Legacy Wagon, this is a nice recent Tomica.

2013 Tomica Toyota Corolla Axio Wagon, notice that the side and rear windows are painted.

2012 Tomica Toyota Avensis Wagon, shrunk to nothingness and most windows painted.

In the year 20xx, this might be the future Tomica. Shrunk further, painted windows all around, no interior. What it might lack will be the mass of the Schuco because this little car is very heavy and plastic little button wheels instead of rubber tyres. I don't hate Tomica, in fact, I love Tomica so much that I hated the designer and the direction of business which change everything from good to bad. 

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.