toyotageek's Xanga

NOREV

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:00:00 GMT

NEW STUFF
from JAPAN

HACHETTE / NOREV

From the JAPANESE CARS COLLECTION by Hachette Fujingaho Collections, model by NOREV; price is ¥1790.

VOL. 91 - 2001 TOYOTA CROWN

I recently checked the Japanese Cars Collection website to re-confirm their schedule of upcoming cars, and found several changes in the line-up. The 2006 Lexus IS 250 that was scheduled to be No. 99 has been moved to No. 150, which should come out in late 2011. Completely removed from the line-up are: No. 118 Toyota Corolla 1100 Special Issue (1966), No. 128 Toyota Mark II X30 (1976), and No. 142 Lexus GS300 (2006). The new Toyota line-up is as follows... (No. 98, the Serra is already available and I am just waiting to receive mine)...

2009

No. 98 Toyota Serra (1990)
No. 102 Toyota Corolla Runx (2001)

2010
No. 106 Toyota RAV4 5 Door (2001)
No. 109 Toyota Sprinter Trueno (1972)
No. 111 Toyota Century (1967)
No. 114 Toyota Mark II (2001)

No. 120 Toyota Soarer (2003)
No. 124 Toyota Aristo (2001)

2011

No. 130 Toyota Estima (2001)
No. 132 Toyota Crown Royal (2004)
No. 135 Toyota Crown Toyopet RS41 (1962)
No. 137 Toyota Windom (1991)
No. 139 Toyota Land Cruiser (1982)
No. 143 Toyota Alphard (2003)
No. 144 Toyota Publica convertible (1963)
No. 146 Toyota Celsior (2001)
No. 149 Toyota Prius (1997)
No. 150 Lexus IS 250 (2006)

Disclaimer: the cars to be produced are tentatively scheduled and subject to change; the release schedule is my best effort to guess when the given cars are to be expected, but is no guarantee as to what or when a model will be available; the list is only meant as a general guide on what to expect.

As I mentioned, the list on the actual Japanese Cars Collection has changed (more than once), so I'm sure there will still be more changes in the future. I noticed one entry, No. 139 Toyota Land Cruiser (1982) is a duplicate description of No. 89 - I wonder if this is an error or if we will see another 1982 Land Cruiser?

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NOREV

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:00:00 GMT

NEW STUFF
from JAPAN

HACHETTE / NOREV

From the JAPANESE CARS COLLECTION by Hachette Fujingaho Collections, model by NOREV; price is ¥1790.

VOL. 89 - 1982 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER

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SIKU

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:00:07 GMT

NEW STUFF
from GERMANY
continued...

The last two diecast that Harry sent me are both Siku. One is new, the other is old, and it isn't even a Toyota!

SIKU

Siku - not really a name I'd associate with Japanese cars. Siku is a German company that has been making toys since 1950, and has had a dedicated line of car models since 1955. Siku's current range includes a nice selection of German cars, emergency vehicles and farm machinery. At the moment, Siku offers two Toyota models, a RAV4 and a Land Cruiser. The RAV4 comes in several emergency vehicles versions as well as a road car; the Land Cruiser is just offered as a road car so far. I received the RAV4 assortment from Harry a couple of months ago. While trying to do some research on Siku, I found some reference to a Toyota 2000GT which was made in the early 1970's. Unfortunately Siku doesn't label their vehicles with a scale size, however, according to Wikipedia the current range of vehicles, designated as Super Series, is roughly 1:55.

I really like the quality of the Siku cars and hope they will bring out more Toyotas in the future.
For more information on Siku, please visit the following sites:
Remco Natrop's Siku Super Site
Marcel Lenting's SikuModels.com

SIKU
1440 TOYOTA LANDCRUISER

SIKU 3112
MERCEDES BENZ 320PS with AUTO TRANSPORTER TRAILER
(MODEL 2232 AND 3112) Made in Germany

Yes, it's true, this model doesn't really fit into these pages as it is not a Toyota, Lexus or even a Scion. However, it is a very important model to me, and means a lot for several reasons, so please bear with me while I take a short break from being Toyotageek.

This Siku transporter is the result of a Random Act Of Kindness - or what we diecast collectors call a RAOK. Harry sent me this car transporter because he knew I was looking for one to add to my collection... I had seen pictures of a similar model posted on the Tomica Fan Club forums (one of the members that goes by the nickname theArchitect was sharing pictures of his vast collection. The Architect takes nice photos, often as diorama scenes with other cars and assorted background pieces, especially Tomica playsets). I had mentioned I'd like to get a similar transporter one day, and even though that was months ago, Harry must have picked up on that comment and had me in the back of his mind ever since. So, when I received the package of minicars from Harry, I was surprised to find a transporter as part of the treasure. At first I thought Harry just picked up this model at a second-hand shop or something-to-that-order, but then Harry told me this was actually his old toy. The last time Harry saw this model was over 20 years ago. For the past 20 years it was packed away in a big crate in the family attic. It was while Harry was looking for some other things that he found this old friend. Harry had read about my interest in an 'old skool' transporter, and he decided to share his old friend with me. As Harry put it, "...at yours, he was in best hands."

It is the fact that this little metal toy truck, once belonged to my friend, combined with the fact that I am originally from Germany (my family moved to the US many, many years ago when I was only 3 years old), has made this a very meaningful model in my collection.

After I received this neat little truck from Harry I posted about it on another forum, where there was a discussion about car carriers. At that point in time I knew even less about the model (and Siku) than I do now. There were several replies to my posting including one that said "...it must have been a good friend to send me a transporter with the scarce triple siku wheels". I had no idea what he meant by that, and then another member shared some more information regarding this model...

"This is the first color variation of this model, these wheels were only in use from approx. 1976 until 1978. The artic trailer was also used with the previous model (Magirus) in the so called v-series. With the change from the 1/60 scale to the 1/55 in the 70's the cab changes from Magirus to Mercedes NG. The artic trailer is (with a slight modification on the upper deck to allow higher cabs) still in use today as #3112 in combination with a MAN TGA cab. so it is the longest produced siku model ever. It survived a more modern car transporter from siku which was issued in the 80's and is already out of production now. Later versions do not have the two hydraulic cylinders for the upper car deck."

Some more information can be found at the SikuModels.com database

For more history on Siku, check out this three part series by Remco Natrop:

A History of Siku Model Cars - Part I: Plastic Perfection
A History of Siku Cars - Part II: Siku Goes Metal
A History of Siku Model Cars Part III: Metal all the way!

I'd like to once again thank Harry, aka Cruiser72, for all the fine minicars he sent me! Visit Harry's website at Japan-Miniatur-Classics.

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GE FABBRI

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:00:13 GMT

NEW STUFF
from GERMANY
continued...

Next up, on the list of cars that Harry sent me, was this German edition of the James Bond Car Collection. This Toyota 2000GT came out several years ago. It is a neat little car with a cool diorama scene featuring James Bond and Agent Aki behind the wheel.

GE FABBRI
JAMES BOND CAR COLLECTION
TOYOTA 2000GT
©2007 GE Fabbri Ltd - Universal Hobbies - scale 1/43 - Made in China

I now have three language versions - French, English and German!

Visit Harry's website at Japan-Miniatur-Classics.

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Edocar

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:00:45 GMT

NEW STUFF
from GERMANY
continued...

One of the cars Harry sent me was this neat little Coca-Cola Celica by Edocar. Up until this example, I'd never even heard of Edocar. A quick search online revealed little information other than Edocar was a Dutch based company that offered mostly 're-branded' diecast - many of their cars were apparently produced by Maisto and Yat Ming.

EDOCAR
Coca-Cola brand Toy Vehicles
CM-3 Supervisor Toyota Celica
Edocar® ©1998

Visit Harry's website at Japan-Miniatur-Classics.

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Matchbox

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:00:33 GMT

NEW STUFF
from GERMANY
continued...

My friend Harry also sent me several Matchbox cars. I find it interesting that the Matchbox from Germany (maybe all of Europe?), come on 'short-cards'. If you look at the first three cars below (the two Lexus and the Land Cruiser), you'll notice that the package is considerably shorter than the packaging for the Prius in the last 2 photos. I've never seen Matchbox in short-cards here in the US (although Hot Wheels can be found in both short and regular cards).

MATCHBOX
MBX METAL P6391 - READY FOR ACTION No. 37
LEXUS GS430

MBX METAL M7367 - READY FOR ACTION No. 37
LEXUS GS430

MBX METAL P6429 - READY FOR ACTION No. 40
'68 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER

METRO RIDES N5442 - READY FOR ACTION 1/9 No. 25
'08 TOYOTA PRIUS

This particular car is grey colored, however this grey is not one of the official colors released. Apparently this color was an error, but a lot of cars were produced and marketed before Mattel corrected to the green that we now see. This particular car has a batch code of B24 (where 'B' stands for the year 2009 and the '24' stands for week 24). The following week, B25, the factory began painting cars with the correct green.

Visit Harry's website at Japan-Miniatur-Classics.

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Majorette

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:00:02 GMT

NEW STUFF
from GERMANY

Earlier this month I made a short post about a package I received from my friend Harry from Germany. I've finally had a chance to upload some pictures of the minicars he sent me, starting out with a couple of Majorette Toyota 4WD. These two cars represent a Toyota Tercel or Carib (circa 1982-1988). This Majorette has an opening tailgate hatch and an operating trailer hitch. Harry sent me two colors - a gold and a fluorescent orange. I wonder how many more colors exist?

MAJORETTE
TOYOTA 4WD
MADE IN FRANCE - SCALE 1/55 - No. 273

Still to come... some Matchbox, an Edocar Celica, a James Bond Collection Toyota 2000GT, and some Siku!

Visit Harry's website at Japan-Miniatur-Classics.

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Majorette

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:00:09 GMT

NEW STUFF
TRADES, PART 2

As seen in my last post, I recently made a trade with Douglas Breithaupt, author of the Webzine "Tales of Toy Cars"
Along with the Road Champs MR2 that Doug sent me, was this well worn Majorette 4x4 Toyota Pick-up. This little truck looks like it has seen some fun play-time, and except for some well worn paint, the little truck has held up nicely! Neat additions to this model are the functional trailer hitch, fender mounted mirrors, and the opening hood.

MAJORETTE - 4X4 TOYOTA PICK-UP
scale 1/56 - No. 292

I know very little about Majorette, and after I shared news of my trade on the MCCH Forum, several members showed me that there are many versions of this casting...

And I was even more surprised when a few days later a friend from Germany sent me this picture, of a monster truck he got for me. As soon as I receive it, I will post some detailed photos.

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Road Champs

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:00:25 GMT

NEW STUFF
TRADES, PART 1

A couple of weeks ago I made a trade with a collector from the Matchbox Collectors Community Hall (MCCH).
The collector was Douglas Breithaupt, author of the Webzine "Tales of Toy Cars"
The result was the Road Champs MR2 amd Majorette 4x4 Pick-up seen above.
Until this trade, I didn't know much about Road Champs, but Doug pointed me to this article he wrote - "Road Champs Turns 20"
This particular MR2 was actually a more recent release, which Doug purchased and wrote about earlier this year.

ROAD CHAMPS
TOYOTA MR2

A couple of other color variations exist for this casting (and I am looking for both). The one on the left was part of a series of Road Champs soft drink sports racers and the red one on the right is yet another variation from around 1990.

Thanks to Doug Breithaupt for the use of his photos for the black and red MR2.

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Germany

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 04:53:54 GMT

NEW STUFF
from GERMANY

Yesterday I received a package from my friend Harry.

Harry lives in Germany, and we have been working together to exchange diecast cars. I help Harry get some Tomica from Japan and Hot Wheels from the USA, and Harry helps me get some Siku and Majorette from Germany.

So yesterday I was surprised at the package that had finally arrived after a 4 week trip from Germany to California. I just spoke with Harry a few days before, and we talked about the slow German postal system. But I told Harry, I'm a patient guy and can wait as long as it takes. Maybe someone heard us, and hurried the package along...?

So there it was, waiting for me. I didn't open it right away - it was a busy week at work, and running errands, so I would wait until after dinner to open it.

Well, once open I didn't waste any time. I quickly brushed away all the packing material to see what was underneath... ah, behold the treasure!!

A quick survey revealed the following goodies...
a German version of the James Bond Collection Toyota 2000GT magazine with model;
four Matchbox cars (three of them on short cards), including a grey Prius, yellow Land Cruiser, and two color variations of the Lexus GS430;
two Majorette Toyota 4WD (Tercel);
a Coca-Cola Toyota Celica by Edocar;
a Siku Land Cruiser;
and one non-Toyota: a Mercedes car Transporter made by Siku

Along with all the minicars there was a small box full of Toyota pins and pens, as well as a tin of mints and a sticker.
All-in-all a nice haul.

As I mentioned, it's been a busy week and I haven't had time to sit down and take some good pictures - so consider this entry a sneak-peek. Detailed pictures will come as soon as I have a chance, which might not be until early next week... so stay tuned!

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