Back in 2004, strange things started to happen. Not only did Tomica launch their Limited Vintage range, giving us models of cars never seen before in 1/64. But - seemingly out of nowhere - Konami also launched a series of model cars in 1/64. They were usually referred to as “Nostalgic Japanese Cars” - but their official title was “Custom Cars” - which made no sense, as they were all bog standard!
The Konami models however were not sold in the usual way - or not the way in which we are used to buying models. These were gashapon - or “blind box” models. The package wouldn’t give away which model was on the inside. And - in true Japanese style, you also got a mint or stick of bubble gum in the package. That’s part of the tradition. All of these sets contained 6 models in 2 colors each - and one was always much harder to get than the others. The first set contained the following models:
Mazda Savanna GT
Nissan Skyline GT-R (KPGC10)
Nissan Sunny 1200GX-5
Toyota Celica 1600GT
Mazda Carol
Toyota 2000GT
Vol 2 followed three months later - and contained even more stuff no one had seen in this scale before:
Isuzu Bellett 1600GTR
Toyota Sports 800
Toyota Corolla Levin
Nissan Fairlady Z432
Hoda Civic 1200S
Mazda Familia Rotary Coupe
And much to the horror of my bank manager - Konami kept them coming every three months or so - and I had no way of resisting.
Vol 3:
Isuzu 117 Coupe
Suzuki Fronte Coupe GS
Nissan Silvia
Nissan Bluebird SSS
Honda S600
Mazda Cosmo Sport
In order to keep some money in my pockets and some sanity, I only kept one in each color that I liked best and traded or sold the others. For there was no end in sight, Konami just kept rolling them out.
Vol 4:
Nissan Skyline GT-R (KPGC110)
Datsun Fairlady 2000
Mitsubishi Lancer 1600GSR
Subaru 360 Deluxe
Mitsubishi Galant GTO MR
Toyota 1600GT
Vol 5:
Nissan Fairlady 240ZG
Prince Skyline GT-B
Honda Z-GS
Toyota Publica
Mazda Savanna RX7
Nissan Laurel 2000SGX
I’m limiting myself to photos of two cars per release - but I bought them all. It was my wildest dreams come true - and while that wasn’t cheap, Konami models were not all that expensive. Certainly at lot less so than the TLVs.
Volume 6 rolled around:
Mazda Cosmo AP
Prince Skyline Sport
Nissan Violet HT SS
Toyota 2000GT
Honda N360
Toyota Celica Coupe
By the time Vol 7 arrived, I was begging for mercy:
Toyota Starlet
Hino Contessa Coupe
Toyota Crown Coupe
Subaru 1000
Mazda Luce Coupe
Nissan Skyline PGC10
And then I finally got a reprieve - Vol 8 was a “Best Of” compilation - new colors of previously released models. I didn’t get that one as I was rather happy to get a break:
Nissan Fairlady 240ZG
Nissan Bluebird SSS
Nissan Silvia
Hino Contessa Coupe
Isuzu Bellett
Mazda Savanna RX7
Nissan Skyline GT-R PGC10
Toyota 2000GT MF10
Mazda Cosmo AP
Subaru 360
Honda Z-GS
Honda N360
And that was that for the “Nostalgic” or “Custom” Car releases - but Konami wasn’t done yet. As for the rest, I’ll cover that another day.