As a world-car freak, I am curious about vehicles sold in other markets, and as a young child, my likeness of Majorette and Siku products was proof of that; I often would get Majorettes and Sikus whenever I could, but lately, not much of their product has caught my attention.
I have a few Tomicas that were given to me by my aunt and uncle; they got them this past spring on a trip to Japan, and while some cars were replicas of what we got here, this Mazda Axela is the last of those.
Finished in a bright blue metallic with silver lights, this little hatch is painted up in one of the better colors of Mazda's recently redesigned small car, which we get as the "3".
Paint is spectacular, and the color looks far more realistic than any contemporary Hot Wheels or Matchbox, and the car, too, is better proportioned than either of those makes. I wish more companies would do smaller, contemporary cars, but apparently Tomica is the only toy companies that caters to true car aficionados. Shame, really, because the US dealer network is horrible, and I don't see many people aside from diecast collectors wanting to spend internet time scouring the latest releases. Especially when they're not quite that cheap to import.
I love this little replica much more so than the real thing, and the idea that a toy company replicates even the most mundane of cars just makes it that much cooler. Now only if someone would replicate an Axela/3 in 1:18 scale--in this same color, too.
As a world-car freak, I am curious about vehicles sold in other markets, and as a young child, my likeness of Majorette and Siku products was proof of that; I often would get Majorettes and Sikus whenever I could, but lately, not much of their product has caught my attention.
I have a few Tomicas that were given to me by my aunt and uncle; they got them this past spring on a trip to Japan, and while some cars were replicas of what we got here, this Mazda Axela is the last of those.
Finished in a bright blue metallic with silver lights, this little hatch is painted up in one of the better colors of Mazda's recently redesigned small car, which we get as the "3".
Paint is spectacular, and the color looks far more realistic than any contemporary Hot Wheels or Matchbox, and the car, too, is better proportioned than either of those makes. I wish more companies would do smaller, contemporary cars, but apparently Tomica is the only toy companies that caters to true car aficionados. Shame, really, because the US dealer network is horrible, and I don't see many people aside from diecast collectors wanting to spend internet time scouring the latest releases. Especially when they're not quite that cheap to import.
I love this little replica much more so than the real thing, and the idea that a toy company replicates even the most mundane of cars just makes it that much cooler. Now only if someone would replicate an Axela/3 in 1:18 scale--in this same color, too.
1 comment:
Where I think Tomica lets itself down is the lack of wheel variation. Some of these beg for a wheel modification. Matchbox has some really good wheel designs lately, and even Hot Wheels has some decent ones that would look better than the undersized and generic stuff Tomica puts on their cars.
I do like the opening rear hatch detail though. Reminds me of my old Matchbox Sable wagon.
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