[REVIEW] Tomica Nissan Silvia 2000Z SE-X

Tomica time is here again, which always is a nice match for Land of the Rising Sun-day. Today we examine a popular casting that is very much a period piece. This is Tomica 6-3, the Nissan Silvia 2000 SE-X (S110), also known as the Datsun 200-SX in the NA market. This casting entered the range in July 1980, and remained until March 1984. This was a golden age of Tomica, and this model shows it:

Although sold in many markets, this casting no doubt was meant to appeal to the huge NA market, as the real world version of this car was fairly popular, and was badged as a 200-SX, matching the tampo on the model. My reference book lists more than a dozen variants, but I think most sold in NA were just like this one. Scale is a claimed 1:61, as always, likely accurate, and features plenty of fine casting line detail. This casting features the crisp glazing, snappy door action, and springy suspension we all know and love about Tomica. From all angles, it is just a nice little model:

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

Front and rear have similarly good detail. The quad lights being silver are a nice touch (JDM and NA spec models had similar looking lighting, making this an easy one to appeal to both markets) and the rear lights being cast in red clear plastic is a detail that pushes my buttons, very well done indeed:

The base is metal, which adds heft and a quality feel, and features ample detail:

This is a model I am happy to have, and I have it both boxed and loose. In keeping with the recent theme, this example is loose. I remember having one of these in my childhood fleet, and when I was a kid, my uncle had a real world version, but it was the fastback. These cars were once a common sight, but are now pretty rare. If you like it, good news: this was sold as a Pocket Cars, and is not rare, they are relatively affordable today:

A couple of 1:1s: a JDM from allcarmodels.net, and a US spec promo sheet from zonedatsun.fr: