2020 is an exciting year for Tomica. It’s their 50th Anniversary and this month Tomica kickstart 2020 with the pair of Red Box BMW Z4 and a riot police bus. For the first batch release the outer box comes with a NEW! for 2020 gold foil decal labelled with 50th Anniversary. It’s interesting to note decals will not be available for subsequent release after the first batch.
These mainlines also come along with many others more than usual new releases this month such as 7-11 Initial D, Apita , Ito-Yokado, Aeon, Light and Sound, Toys R Us, Tokyo Auto Salon and Tomica Premium which I will feature in my next article.
The Tomica No.98 Personnel Transport Vehicle large Type is based on the Isuzu Erga casting. Tomica has several castings based on the Erga such as the Toei, Keihin Express, Tokai, Doraemon buses etc including this riot police.
It’s amazing I come across the actual riot police bus from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department during my trip to Tokyo last November at Shinjuku Gyoen. The whole fleet of riot police were there including this awesome Toyota Land Cruiser much to my delight.
Just like majority of the Tomica buses this 1/136 scale riot bus casting has no special features. No opening parts nor standard factory suspension, however the casting is heavy and the painted siren is integrated with the diecast body to cut cost. What stands out for me is the actual police livery although I wonder why it’s name as a personnel transport instead of police bus. The Japan National Police Agency Crest is also missing on the front as well.
This pair of No.74 BMW Z4 in regular and First Color release is an eye candy based on the current generation with a soft-top roof in the BMW Z Series sports cars range. The actual car is also developed alongside with the Toyota Gazoo Racing Supra which is a collaboration between BMW and Toyota.
Tomica did an awesome job in replicating this Z4 scaled down to 1/61. Although a mainline, this casting looks sleek and stylish just like the previous GR Supra which they will make a great pair. The regular color in “San Francisco Red” has the aesthetics of the actual car with beautiful details on the front. Crystal clear BMW logo together with its signature “kidney” grille although I wish the headlights comes in clear plastic rather than painted.
The casting itself has no opening parts with a standard factory suspension and a removable soft-top roof which makes it looks aerodynamic. For the First Color release in “Alpine White” it shares the same specifications as the regular color in red which both make a great pair. I personally find the white more appealing.
Although both actual Z4 and Supra are tuned and set up differently in the same factory which appeal to different target audience. I’m very delighted to have both castings in my Tomica collection and in my perspective it’s really the best of both worlds. Stay tuned for the next Tomica feature meanwhile you can find Hot Kustoms in IG or you can check out my unboxing video here. 🙂