My favourite Tomica Limited Vintage Compilation from Jan 2018 till present

I just started collecting Tomica Limited Vintage (TLV) in late 2013 and I must say 2018 is actually the best year for TLV. Because their 1/64 line up are exciting such as the long awaited Tomicarama  Accelerator 426 Diorama set, the FD3S RX-7 in Initial D theme, the legendary Mazda 787b as well as Hino heavy vehicle which sent me screaming.

Although TLV retail retail price are on a higher side, it is worth every penny because it is a clone of the 1:1 in a miniature 1/64 scale. Highly detailed with functional parts for the heavy vehicle that stand outs in your collection. One thing to take note as these are in a model car category they are fragile care.

Before TLV released more castings that drive me crazy, here is a compilation of my favourite TLV from Jan till present. I have featured some castings in my Youtube Channel before and some are new features for the purchases I have in a while.

Enjoy the video! Please remember to subscribe to Hot Kustoms YouTube Channel for weekly updates.

Understated Chase. M2 Machines Auto Japan 2 1971 Skyline

After my luck for finding a chase 1969 Nissan Bluebird 1600SSS for Auto Japan 1. I have almost forgotten I order a random M2 Machines Auto Japan series 2 case in hope for getting chase car which we all know the chances are slim. Hence the case arrived which I did an unboxing video in my YouTube channel.

To my surprise i score a regular chase limited at 750 pieces again! Unlike the Datsun Bluebird regular chase with gold wheels, this 1971 Skyline come with a chrome deep green wheels which looks really hidden and can’t really differentiate between the mainline version.

I really like this chase and I’m glad I never score the bluebird instead. It is so understated and I bet many collectors in the USA will have miss this on pegs without referring to the label. I like the finishing of the casting in gunmetalish finish and functional hood.

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Vs a Hot Wheels 1969 Nissan Skyline Wagon

Vs a Match Box 1971 Nissan Skyline Custom

Vs a M2 1971 Nissan Skyline Model-Kit

TLV with Hino HHH transporter & Mazda RX-7

Tomica Limited Vintage (TLV) keep making headlines for 2018 with their awesome releases especially on the Blue Collar Trucks. After the Hino Tractor head they have a wing trailer for May which literally blows me away! That’s not all. In August TLV is coming out with the mind blowing Hino HHH341 Heavy Equipment Transport Trailer!

This is the mother of all trailer for the TLV truck series! The flatbed can even carry the standard Hino tractor head or multiples castings. This is even bigger than the heavyweight Hino transporter and god knows what the packaging size is. Believe me TLV will have the magic to make them quite compact.

Also for August is a pair of Toyota Corolla 1600GT in gray and red which falls into the Nostalgic category with impeccable details and never fail to impress collectors. The highlight of all is the upcoming release of the Subaru 360 and especially the Mazda RX-7 (FD3S). As a RX-7 lover I am super excited about this casting. I know TLV is true to the actual 1/1 cars you see on road but I can’t help but pray that they will release the Initial D Redsuns version or at least the theme in yellow.

Unlike other model car makers who just bet their dollar on the most hyped castings such as Datsun 510 and Skyline to milk our money. Tomica and TLV been in Japan will produce any castings regardless if they are in high demand which earn my respect. TLV is always on the forefront in the mini cars market and never fail to amaze collectors worldwide.

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Hot Kustoms Review: Tomica Limited Vintage X LOG-ON Nissan GT R Nismo HK...

This is probably the 20th Nissan GT-R R35 Tomica Limited Vintage (TLV) has released but so far the second exclusive car. The first was 2017 Nismo GT-R TakaraTomy Mall web exclusive specially for the TLV version. The current one is the LOG-ON store exclusive which was announced by Tomica Hong Kong Fan page last month with pre-sale the LOG-ON page which was suprisingly sold out the day before the actual sales that we have to get from resellers.

It is interesting that TakaraTomy has weighted on much on the Hong Kong market recently. There are a huge fanbase for Tomica products over in Hong Kong which maybe 2nd or on par with Japan domestic market. In recent years we have seen Tomica H.K Aeon exclusive releases and the popular white Lamborghini Veneno Roadster which is a purchase with purchase exclusive in several Asian countries but not in Japan till date.

The TLV LOG-ON comes with a premium packaging with additional silver foil stamp on the standard box and bio card. I personally do not like the cumbersome square box that come with it as it takes up a lot of space. The GT-R that comes along with it is actually also the same as the 2017 Nismo Web exclusive last year with a silver paint on body whereas the latter is gunmetal.

The highlight is actually the metallic card that comes with it. It is a brush metal surface with beautiful grill design printed with silver ink for the GT-R, LOG-ON & TomyTec logo. It comes with the option of engraving your initials on the card as well which mine with “Hot Kustoms” will be arriving soon.

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Hot Kustoms Review: Tomica Limited Vintage TLV '97 Vs '99 Honda Civic T...

I can assume Feb, Mar and May for 2018 are the months I have to survive with cup noodles because it is a heavy month for Tomica Limited Vintage (TLV) releases. Apart from the Nostalgic Datsun series and the blue collar Hino trucks. The long awaited Honda Civic TypeR is on every collector wish list.

I got the Civics in late Feb and I was more than impressed with the finishing and presentation of this castings. So perfect especially the iconic white TypeR which will looks very well with my Tomica Limited FD2 TypeR. However I was also  very impressed with the yellow TypeR released for Mar along with the metallic flake black.

I believe we have all seen the preview photos for this Civics in the past and I’m actually wondering why these color variants have back to back release. In fact the pair released in Feb is the ’97 model and the pair for Mar is the ’99 model.

Hence it is a different model not just a recolor of the same castings. Upon closer inspection, there is actually one obvious difference. That’s the front bumper cover. Otherwise they are basically the same. I must applaud TLV who faithfully replicated cars from a 1:1 to 1:64 in precision to take this opportunity to come out with these variants.

I will not be surprised to see a white ’99 TypeR and a ’97 Yellow in the near future.This means more castings to collect and more money for them. Win. Win. And yes they roll perfectly fine.

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Hot Kustoms Unboxing: Tomica and Hot Wheels March Haul including Honda C...

Here’s my unboxing video for my Hot Wheels and Tomica purchases for this month which I shared it onIG  live with my followers earlier. Notable purchases are the ’99 TLV Honda Civic TypeR and Hong Kong Exclusive LOG-ON store GT-R Nismo.

I also like how the Hot Wheels Bisimoto Type R pair so well with the Tomica Event Model and the TLV Type R and Tomica Evo Pair. Enjoy the video!

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Hot Kustoms Review: Tomica Limited Vintage Honda Civic Type R

Finally the iconic Honda Civic TypeR has finally come to the Tomica Limited Vintage (TLV) Series. I was like a kid in a candy store while unboxing the pair of TypeR and it absolutely looks stunning!

The white is of course the most iconic of the Honda TypeR. In fact the last time we see a TypeR with rubber wheels is the now retired FD2 TypeR for Tomica Limited (TL) series. 

In similar fashion to the TLV EK9 TypeR. They sport the same color and will definitely looks perfect as a pair which will comes to my channel soon!. I urge all TLV collectors or new collectors to get at least a set of these beauties before the price sky rocket!

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Hot Kustoms Walk-Thru: Tomica Limited Vintage Toyota Crown Wagons

Yes we all love the Datsun / Nissan wagons but let’s not forget about Toyota. Tomica Limited Vintage (TLV) has faithfully produced these beautiful crown wagons in 1/64 glory true to its 1/1 counterpart. I’m looking forward to the Osaka Prefectural Crown Van Police which has just released as well.

For now let’s do a short review for the ’73 Crown Van which were released on Jan. As usual they came in a pair with nostalgic lime green similar color to my fridge in the early 80s and light gunmetal gray color in my term. As usual the TLV packaging box is consistent through out with no updates to the packaging design unlike the Tomica Premium series.

For wagons mini cars collectors these pair is a god send. Intricate details, trimmings as well as realistic wheelsets true to the promise by TLV. At a recommended retail price of approx 2500 JPY (23 USD) the price tag is worth every penny. Of course throughout the years TLV has released several of these Toyota Crown wagons castings which I will walk through them in my video except for the latest release. 

The castings featured are:

• Toyota Crown Van Deluxe (1973) Green

• Toyota Crown Van Deluxe (1973) Light Gunmetal Gray

• Toyota Crown Van Deluxe (Taiyo vol. 5) Light Blue.

• Toyota Crown Wagon Pearl Blue

• Toyota Crown Wagon Pearl Blue

• Toyopet Crown Ambulance (5th Year Anniversary Edition)

• Toyopet Crown Osaka Police

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Hot Kustoms Review: Hot Wheels Japan Historics 2 Vs TLV

After stirring lots of sensation and sizzle the Japanese Historics 2 Series is finally release. As I have mentioned this series give me a totally different feel unlike my past Car Culture purchases. 

It is actually more skewed towards a Tomica Limited Vintage (TLV) in a good way and at 1/3 of its price. It is a highly recommended series for all collectors. I really do hope that this series will make its way to retail stores worldwide including Singapore.

The cars featured in this video are:

• Hot Wheels Mazda RX-3

• Hot Wheels Nissan Fairlady Z

• Hot Wheels Datsun Bluebird

• Hot Wheels Nissan Skyline C210

• Hot Wheels Nissan Laurel 2000SGX

• TLV Nissan Laurel 2000GL-6

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Diecast browsing in Bangkok

During the 2017 December school holiday we organise a trip to Bangkok with majority of our family members. Personally it’s considered my first trip given that I have not been to Bangkok for 12 years. I am very happy during my stay in the land of smiles and catch up with my Thai buddy which I finally met in person.

So much changes and development to the beautiful city with tons of attractions and most importantly safe. Unlike Japan I do not come with the intention of hunting diecast as the toys in Thailand are generally scarce and expensive compared to other Asia regions. 

But of course been a diecast collector and hunter I took some opportunity out of my planned schedule with my big group of family members to look for toys with my 10 year old daughter whenever possible.

Central World Toy ‘R’ US

My first stop is at Central World Toy ‘R’ US after our dinner. Majority of the diecast brands such as Hot Wheels, Tomica and Majorette are actually at the same pace with Singapore. Apart from Majorette which are relatively cheaper the rest of the brands are more expensive especially Tomica.

The Hot Wheels are on sale at 15% but clearly the good ones are gone.

Similar Tomica TRU promotion with Singapore with the latest TRU exclusive. Never buy any.

Similar range as Singapore except for the Tuk Tuk exclusive set and Gran Turismo Mitsubishi Concept 

XR-PHEV in special color.

7-11

As shared by my buddy Wantawat Kongmum a.k.a @mangagarage in I.G actually most of the 7-11 stores throughout Bangkok do sell Hot Wheels and Majorette but in small numbers. 

Pick up the Ford Mustang and VW Bus Limited Edition single pack in Chatuchak pets section which 

are otherwise sold as a set of 5 in Singapore.

Siam Paragon

Drop by the toys department after dinner. It is quite a huge section almost similar to our departmental stores in Takashimaya Singapore if not bigger. I actually went back empty-handed as the prices are so much more expensive than online especially Tomica.

For Hot wheels the mainlines are 2018 B Case which is slightly faster pace than Singapore during December but obviously the good ones are gone. Come across some nice Dodge A100 for the pop culture series but got to leave them behind as it cost 395 baht! (Avg 12.10 USD) this is actually the most expensive in  Retro / Pop / Car Culture series in the world given the fact ,most of them are made in Thailand! With such prices even the F&F Skyline R34 are gone! For that I did a poll and price research on IG and FB as well.

Take a look at the price breakdown contributed by fellow collectors worldwide from the most expensive.

Thailand - Average 12 USD

Brunei - Average 11.10 USD

Brazil - Average 10 USD

U.K - Average 10 

Taiwan - Average 9.5 USD

Myanmar - Average 9.2 USD

Sri Lanka - Average 9 USD

Indonesia - Average 9 USD

Philippines - Average 8.80 USD

Australia - Average 7.60 USD

Hong Kong - Average 7.60 USD

Singapore - Average 7.30 USD

Japan - Average 6.20 USD

Vietnam - Average 6 USD

Malaysia - Average 5.80 USD

Canada - Average 4.90 USD

USA - Average 4.5 USD

India - Not available.

China - Not available.

Spain - Not available.

Switzerland - Not available.

In addition 64% will buy the F&F Skyline R34 retail at 12 USD Vs 36% not buying based on my poll in Instagram @hotkustoms

Shocking isn’t it? Comparing the prices between Thailand Vs USA.

Manga Garage

I also have the pleasure to catch up with my pal Wantawat Kongmum a.k.a @mangagarage  for a beer during my stay. I have been following him in I.G for a while. @mangagarage is one of the most talented diecast customizer in Thailand. He has a range of amazing diecast custom in his account to share and inspire collectors worldwide. Clean, sleek as well as creative works. I like to thank him for the time and sharing tips on customising with me. He is also one of the very established DJ in Thailand.

He highly recommend me to Mega Plaza for diecast hunting which is near to his studio. I will definitely pay a visit next time! Thanks for the time buddy!

https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Attraction_Review-g293916-d9861953-Reviews-Mega_Plaza-Bangkok.html

Central Plaza

Similar to the one at Central World. The toys department carries various diecast brands as well. This is also the only store where Greenlight could be found. Prices for Greenlight is almost simlar to Singapore with a broader range except there are no Green Machines chase to be found when I was there. Hence I left empty handed.

No chase 

Tomica in plastic.

Stanley Museum at Gateway Ekamai

Took some time during my last day to visit Stanley claimed as Asia largest 1:87 miniature museum. For Otaku fans there is also a One Piece Flag ship store located with various merchandises.

One Piece Store with various merchandises for the fans.

In my opinion Stanley Museum is ok for a one time visit it is especially great for kids. You can see the kids including my own the temptation to touch those diorama displays lol. Display wise are pretty quite static except for the trains. Of course a couple of interesting mini cars can be found as well.

Limited diecast merchandise.

Nice treatment.

Suvarnabhumi Airport

Left the Hako and CRX behind for others before returning home. I will definitely visit Bangkok with my family again and hope to catch up with the rest of my friends!