In this series I will showcase DLM cars ranging within the 1/64 and smaller. Here is the 13th one with another Tomica TLV with the classic Toyopet Crown.
This Crown model is the 2nd generation S40 model from 1962 - 1967. According to Wikipedia this Crown became the first Toyota to be exported to Europe, after the head of Denmark’s Erla Auto Import A/S saw it at the Tokyo Motor Show.
When Tomica first launched the TLV (Limited Vintage) back in 2004 one of their models was this Toyopet Crown. At that time I wasn’t collecting TLV as I was not aware of their existence. I don’t exactly remembered how I discovered the TLV series but my first purchase was thru a HongKong online company called Toy East most likely around 2009.
By that time this particular model is no longer available and the prices on other online store were quite pricey. I started thinking why do I care so much for this particular casting. I guess one of the reason is this car was used in the movie ‘You Only Live Twice’ as the villains car going after James Bond.
Another reason is probably I have a huge tin toy of the same model which I have shown on my previous blog but do not have a 1/64 die cast in my collection.
For whatever reason I knew I would like this to be a part of my collection. When Japan Booster had a sale and had this one at a very decent price I quickly put it on my cart as it only has one available.
I don’t know if it’s just me but having taken pictures of this model I notice that the look and make of the front and back is not as refined and the front passenger and driver side has open windows unlike the more recent releases.
Still the TLV was a start of what would become one of the most beloved realistic looking model out there.