[REVIEW] Tomica Shiden 77 BMW

Tomica time, Land of the Rising Sun-day is here once again. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a racing car, no time like the present for another. This is Tomica 71-2, the Shiden 77 BMW. This casting was in the range from April 1978 until July 1981, and is something not seen every day:

The Shiden BMW was apparently a car that ran in a handful of Japanese 2 liter racing series in 1977-78, I didn’t find much data online during a quick search. I assume it was BMW-powered, but I found no confirmation. However, it appears this Tomica casting is up to par, as it appears to have accurate detail and proportion. There is ample fine line casting detail, and the tampos and decals with accurate fonts add realism.  Scale is claimed to be 1:62, I assume this is accurate, knowing Tomica.  Of course this is on racing style wheels, and the model features a detailed interior, crisp glazing and springy (yet sporty-firm) suspension, but no opening parts. From all angles, one can see this is for the track:

Front and rear have similar detail:

The base is plastic, and features ample technical and identifying detail (my camera wanted this to be bright):

This example is lucky enough to live in its nice original black box:

My collection is mainly normal street cars, and I am glad to have this racing car in my collection. I found it at a bargain price, and it is a less common variant, I think. Most of these I see are green, and I think were widely sold as Pocket Cars. This one has livery matching the box and real car both, which always adds appeal:

A 1:1 from supercars.net, and couple despoilered images from mmp.or.jp: