[REVIEW] Tomica Toyota Crown Police Car

Tomica time, Land of the Rising Sun-day, is here again. Today we examine a type of vehicle uncommon in my collection. This is Tomica 4-3, the Toyota Crown police car. This casting entered the range in December 1975, remaining until May 1981. It will be no surprise that this casting is a good example of that golden age of Tomica:

My collection doesn’t contain more than a few police cars - I generally prefer models of kind of “everyday” street cars - I have a few trucks and commercial vehicles, but my main interest is civilian cars one would see on the street. A Crown is a fairly ordinary car, so this can fit. This casting is a nice example of the quality of 70s era Tomica products. Scale is claimed to be 1:65, likely accurate. There is ample fine casting detail, and the proportions are correct. The red light on the roof appeals to be scaled correctly. This one has a simple livery - most variants of this model have Japanese characters on the front doors, but a couple do not (my book lists 20 variants of 4-3). All variants have a hood star sticker or decal which this one lacks, not sure if it was applied at the factory, or an included piece for the buyer. As one expects, this model has the springy suspension, crisp glazing, and snappy door action that has drawn collectors to Tomica for ages. From all angles, the role of this car is obvious:

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

Front and rear have similar quality detail:

The base is metal, which lends a quality feel, and has ample detail. One can see this casting has a few reference numbers, as it also exists as a fire department vehicle, and a civilian version:

This example is lucky enough to live in its original black box (showing a livery that does not exist per my reference book - no black hood paint):

I am pleased to have it in my collection. I suppose I need a few police cars, and this is a good one. This was a local toy show find, one of those purchases I make to not walk away empty handed. It also met the price where I seriously consider any black or blue boxed Tomica - $25, which I think was a fair deal. It’s not something seen every day:

And a few 1:1s from blog.toyota.uk, and wikimedia commons - I couldn’t locate a police car variant, but you get the idea: