Another brand on the “why don’t you feature __________” list that I am compiling.
Lamley has done several Tomica Premium features in the past, thanks to the RTE (Resident Tomica Expert) Jay Kho, so you blog readers have gotten your share. But the YouTube viewers haven’t, and I have been hearing about it.
Jeff Koch aka @the_toy_pimp on IG has led the charge for me to expand from just TLV to Tomica Basic and Tomica Premium, and has sent me some models get my feet wet. Jeff is a Lamley Partner, and if you are interested in purchasing both Tomica brands, I highly recommend following him on Instagram:
And there is my other long term Lamley Partner, Japan Booster, who also sells Tomica Premium and has sent me a few as well, including two in the video below. I have always used for JB for Tomica Limited Vintage, but there is a lot more in their store as well.
Nonetheless, Tomica Premium fits in nicely with what I like, and what I like to cover here, so here is my first video. Enjoy:
Tomica Premium is pretty much the perfect intersection of mainline accessibility and superpremium detail. Worth the price in general for what you’re getting.
Some of these are fantastic, but opening doors and their huge gaps ruin many for me.
Most are pretty good, some leave much to be desired like the RX-7; and the Z32 Nissan and Lotus Europa Special are just stunning.
Some of my thoughts on the Premium line:
These cost 754 yen at TRU in Japan when I was there. That was roughly $7 at the time. I think that price is high for what you get. So what people charge and pay for them over here is shocking.
I buy almost every one because I love the subject, not necessarily the execution. I don’t love the RX7 but I bought both colors of it. I do not like the 86 and have never picked one up.
I’ve never been impressed by the wheels. They are definitely better than the Tomica main line wheels, but they never seem to be done right. I finally broke down and black-washed one of my Subaru 22Bs’ wheels because I couldn’t stand the way they looked. The profile view looks good, but from any other angle they all seem too sunk in to the body.
I do not like that R33 and R34 Skylines, the Supra, and the 300ZX have black painted rear side windows instead of plastic. I ca’t figure out the reason behind it, it’s sort of the opposite of what Hot Wheels does which is to eliminate all the metal they can.
Overall I like them and I will continue collecting them. But they are not without their faults.
I must say that I am not impressed.
The castings are nice but clearly they are not TLV.
Close. Dont get me wrong. But these look like what TOMY Pocket Cars was going to be before they left the American Market 30 years ago..
The Cadillac Barritz (pronounced Barre·its) is definitly from left field but honestly should have stayed there. It is close but the nearness isnt close enough for me to want one. Hot Wheels 100% Coupe Deville or Woodie Wagon makes the Tomica Premium look like a Fast Lane or Maisto attemp. Not something I would expect from Tomica.
Just my opinion.
Biarritz – Bee-ah-ritz
No manufacturer is without their faults, don’t get me started on Hot Wheels ! However these Tomica Premium are nice for what they are, but for the same money you could have a much better executed model like an Auto World, Greenlight, or Johnny Lightning. The Tomicas do have certain charm about them and I collect mainly the Toyota Land Cruisers and most 4x4s, and for about £9-£10 each inc delivery from Hong Kong they are not too expensive for a collector to soon have a decent collection, each to their own I say.
To me the premium is slightly better than mainline but their previous series called Tomica Limited (not to be confused with TLV) which the premium replaced were to me far better as all have openings and realistic rubber tires.
I quite like the Idea of Tomica Premium, They have the nicer detail of a more nicer Premium Hot Wheels car but it doesn’t sacrifice the Toy like quality of a Regular Tomica (Plastic wheels usually means they roll better)
I think a lot of collectors get caught up in the detail and accuracy of their models Instead of caring about the fun aspect of toy cars.
If I want a Highly detailed model I would go and buy a TLV. But if I want a Toy to play with on my desk I would buy a Tomica Premium.
The Nissan Leopard Is my favorite from the set.