Welcome to Hot Sixty 4th where I showcase 1/64 and smaller and sometimes larger die cast models and on my 241st post is a close up look and review of one of the contents on my last shelf starting with the Initial D 4 car set by Kyosho.
Before we get to the cars let’s look at how the set is packaged.
First is the box featuring the artwork of the characters on the Initial D anime. The artwork itself looks nice and sharp.
The box opens up with the pictures of the characters and the cars that were used in the anime series and on the right are the actual models.
Opening the main box reveals individual display cases.
Of course if you are not aware the main car is the AE86 Trueno used by the main character Takumi Fujiwara and the 3 other cars were used by the challengers against Takumi.
Here we have the Mazda RX-7 Infini III FC3S driven by Ryosuke Takahashi, leader of the Akagi RedSuns street race team.
Next we have the Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) driven by Keisuke Takahashi, younger brother of Ryosuke who is the first challenger of Takumi.
Next one is the Nissan Skyline BNR32 driven by Takeshi Nakazato, leader of the Myogi Night Kids street race team.
Hmmm I wonder what the old lady is looking at?
Looks like it is none other than the iconic AE86.
I also have the Tomica mainline of this model and there are some distinct differences between them. Lets look at the Kyosho model first.
This one comes with rubber tires and Watanabe wheels while the Tomica only comes with plastic wheels but what’s good about Tomica is the wheels were almost like the Watanabe wheels instead of their usual generic wheels.
Below are the differences between the Kyosho and Tomica models.
The difference is the Tomica is a larger scale than the Kyosho. Kyosho included the license use in the anime and more detailed at the back including plastic taillights. The Tomica however has opening doors, black fiber carbon hood (painted black) and molded with pop up headlights. Being that Kyosho cost more it is expected that is more refined and realistic like the TLV models. However unlike TLV it has plastic base and no suspension.
Someone once commented on my Tofu ship diorama post that the Mazda I used for Keisuke was used by another character at a later series. That is true as I used a black Mazda RX7 which is the only one in my collection but this time I am able to use the right color and the right Mazda RX 7 for the characters.
Here’s more photoshoots of the other 3 cars going towards the Tofu shop parking lot. Even better if you watch the series go ahead and hum the background music.
Based from what I remember and references online, the other 3 cars looks accurate including the graphics on the side of the vehicles and except for the back of the *Skyline (which is an error on my part) also sports their individual license plates based on the anime. Each also has separate lights but no suspension and unlike TLVs it uses plastic base.
Of course it would be nice if Kyosho included the figurines of each charcter with the set. But other than that this is a good set even if you don’t like all of the cars as the price when I bought it is more reasonable than buying the previously released Kyosho AE86 which probably is about the same price as what I paid for this set. If you are interested there are still online sellers like Amiami.com where I also got this set for slightly lower than retail and it is still available so if you are on the fence don’t wait too long.
*Note: The Skyline going in the parking lot was not the Kyosho but a TLV, therefore the reported missing license number was an error on my part. Below is the actual Kyosho model.
