[REVIEW] Tomica Toyota Century

Tomica time, Land of the Rising Sun-day, it’s here again. Today we examine another fine casting from this beloved maker. This is Tomica 43-1, the Toyota Century. This model entered the range in June, 1972, and had a long run, likely at least a decade. As one can see, it is a nice item:

This is a model I really enjoy, as I like the real car, and the quality of this is huge. The cast-in “Century” badges on the front fenders are a classic Tomica touch. Of course, it has the springy suspension, crisp glazing, and snappy door action we all admire. Glazing only at front and rear seems particular to these earlier releases. The color combo on this model - a pretty metallic red with beige interior, would be striking in the real world (but maybe not often seen). Scale is a claimed 1:66 - likely accurate as usual. It might seem small, but the real car is large, and this is a chunky casting. From all angles, it’s a lovely thing:

Doors open to reveal a detailed interior with accurate steering wheel:

Front and rear are of similarly high quality. The finely detailed grille is a nice touch, and the headlights being distinct lenses is a feature that really pushes my buttons, great attention to detail and realism:

The base is metal, which along with the size of this model gives it heft. There’s ample detail, as one expects:

This example lives in a nice original black box:

This is definitely a model I am happy to have in my collection. It is a wonderful casting, which I have in a few colors. I believe the red is relatively uncommon, and really makes it an eye catcher. I actually have 2 red ones, one of which was a lucky ebay bid that I think slipped through the cracks (I can’t remember if this was the one). A textbook definition of Tomica quality:

And a few 1:1s from japanesenostalgiacar.com, wheelsage.org and blog.goo.ne.jp- I can’t find a pic of a red one and have doubts that many if any were actually made in that color: