Ooops, I did it again. I bought more Skylines. But this set was such a screaming bargain, there was no way I was going to pass it up. A measly twenty five Aussie Dollarydoos on ebay. Plus actual postage.
This box set was released in 2000 to celebrate 30 years of Tomica. The cars themselves need no introduction, so I will just say a word or two about each of the models.
The Hakosuka is the oldest casting here in the set - though not the first Skyline casting Tomica ever made. It was derived from an earlier Skyline HT casting - with the original tooling being altered to turn it into the GT-R version. So Tomica simply could not re-issue that model.
As you can see, my example is not exactly mint, but they are so flipping rare that this is the only one I ever found at a reasonable price. But back to the box set.
I like the colour on this one, but I have some other versions of this casting as well that I like a bit better - I prefer this one in any period racing trim. Next up is really the reason that I bought this set (other than the bargain price):
The Police Kenmeri. I love the Japanese Police look, I love the Kenmeri design. So what’s not to love?
For me, heaven is somewhere between this and a Polizei Porsche 911. Not that I like them in my rear view mirror, but I love the way they look.
Next up is one of the relatively unloved GT-EX Skylines. Unloved perhaps of the design, or maybe because there was to be no GT-R of that model?
In terms of its design, it is sits perhaps uncomfortably between the 70s and 80s. But it had something to offer which no Skyline did before. One word, two syllables: Turbo! That was one way to bring Power to the People.
Our Skyline loving Police Officer is probably not too happy about that much power being available to just about anyone.
And so we reach the newest Skyline casting in this box - the “Iron Mask” DR30 RS-Turbo. And being a more modern casting, this should be the best casting. Right?
Well, ah, no. Actually, this is one of Tomica’s worst. True, the front of the actual car looked a bit weird.
But Tomica was also going through one of its harder times and needed to cut costs. To that end, they had just moved production to China - and quite a few models introduced after that move showed the evidence of the cost cutting measures all to clearly.
At least we still got opening doors - but not much else to keep the fans happy. Lucky then that Tomica moved with the times and retired this casting as soon as Nissan released the R31. As far as I know, it hasn’t seen the light of day since.
Of course, we’ve since seen history repeat itself with the move to Vietnam and the release of some cheap and nasty looking Tomica castings. But they learned then, and I think they are learning now. Tomica fans expect a bit more than this.