The Tomica-Hot Wheels mash-ups of Ricky Silverio…

doomus this is for you.

HWC member doomus shared what I would think are the thoughts of many Hot Wheels collectors about Tomica: the models look cool, but the wheels don’t.

I have said before that there is a certain evolution that US and Hot Wheels collectors go through to appreciate Tomica, and some understandably never get there, nor should they. Tomica shares a lot with classic Matchbox. Both have been around a very long time, both historically had moving parts like opening doors, and both had nice springy suspensions. While Matchbox has moved away from that in recent years, Tomica has stayed consistent. The wheels are essentially the same, there are still moving parts, and they still have the suspension.

So there is a lot for collectors of other brands to appreciate, but I can understand why the never-changing wheels are not one of those.

Queue the entrance of Ricky Silverio. Ricky is a collector I met a couple of months ago, and am astonished at his knowledge of Japanese diecast and diecast in general. He has been a huge source of information for me, and even provided several of the Tomica models I have featured or will feature on the site. He contributes over at Japanese Nostalgic Car, he will soon be a regular contributor here with features on classic Tomica.

Ricky read some of the responses to recent Lamley posts on Tomica, and he too gets why certain collectors don’t like the wheels. He thought of a way to help others appreciate the detail in Tomica castings:

Why not put Hot Wheels’ wheels on them?

So he did, and I have to say the results are fantastic.

From Ricky:

These are all regular tomicas, drilled and tapped with stainless buttonhead screws, ride height adjusted with the proper length axles used. Some minor trimming of the base and wheels depending on the casting, but they all roll perfectly, no axle slop, and the suspension still works if not too low! Just as the QC folks at Tomy would like!