#lamleydaily – December 17, 2017
Model: Tomica Limited Vintage Neo Toyota TownAce Wagon
Where to get it: Japan Booster has it.
Why it’s in the collection: So I have to think there are a lot of people who typically read the blog who aren’t even giving this post one glance. Those of you that are, welcome. And high five for reading this post.
Some of you might be big fans of the Toyota TownAce/Daihatsu Delta, some of you might just like good passenger van. For JDM fans here in the US, this is way past the Skylines and AE86’s. It is deeper, truer Japanese vehicle appreciation. And Tomica Limited Vintage exists to make models like this one.
I can’t say much more about this other than my greatest appreciation for it, other than the fact that it is a TLV, is that it is a passenger car. People haulers are always musts for the collection. If you separated my collection into vehicle types, wagons and other people haulers would be at the top. This one among them.
So congrats on giving this one a moment. You get a smile from me. We can form a club.
I have a soft spot for Japanese cab-over style vans like this. As a kid, my parents first foray into minivan ownership was a new 1987 Mitsubishi van (known simply as the “Wagon” here, but as the Delica elsewhere in the world). Anyone who lives in America who is my age or older knows that they didn’t exactly sell like hotcakes, so it was always a unique choice for family vehicle, even when it was new. Yeah, so I definitely dig the TownAce, because it reminds me of that Mitsu a lot.
As I’ve said numerous times before, Tomica is too rich for my blood, but I do recall having a Majorette LiteAce as a kid, complete with opening trunk and trailer hitch
When I used to live in Japan, we had a station wagon of sorts – it was a Toyota Camry Wagon. Of course I didn’t appreciate it back then as a kid, but it would be cool to see something like that as a HW. Going off the theme of underrated, it would be so cool to also see a mid-90s Nissan Sentra SE-R, at a lower/racing stance.
It would also be fun for Lamley to do a special on some of the favorite non-licensed models. We tend to focus so much on licensed models and I agree, that is where the most fun is had. But there are some really, really cool non-licensed models that have come out – I’m thinking Mad Manga (one of my top faves), The GT Hunter, and especially the 2018 Track Ripper I’ve enjoyed quite a bit and are in the collection while plenty of licensed models are not. I have no illusions that it would not necessarily be a popular post on the blog, but I for sure wouldn’t mind.
I’m one of those who loves the vintage Toyota hi ace but since there’s no TLV of it yet, this van is as close to it as it gets. I got this in blue.
I’ve had my eye on the red one for a while–in part because it’s just cool and also because it reminds me of Transformers G1 Ironhide, a childhood favorite.