The mail call is a bit more of a rarity these days in my household. Bills, mortgage, food. Day to day life means the diecast collecting (especially for the more expensive brands) is sporadic at the very best. But sometimes I have a little bit left over to treat myself and given Tomica just released one of my favourite Kei trucks of all time, I decided now was a good time.
The vehicle in question is the new Mazda Porter Cab.
Japan Booster had this one it’s fantastic. I’ll keep this post brief but will say this a subject I’ve been waiting for Tomica to replicate for a while, and it’s definitely been worth the wait. Brilliantly modelled as you’d expect from Tomica and the colour is perfect. I also love the addition of a scale worker and some boxes, perfect for Tomica’s growing line of diorama pieces.
Oh and the thing my Porter Cab is sitting on? A vintage Mazda hubcap I found in a scrapyard in Norway. The old Mazda logo is present on the Porter Cab and the hubcap so I put the two together.
Another Kei sized treat that arrived recently was this Tianjin Huali (a licensed built Daihatsu Hijet hugely popular in China) from Chinese brand X-Cartoys/Democratic Brand.
They’ve been a rising name recently thanks to European customisers snapping up their Volkswagen Jetta Mk2s and have recently added the Huali to their range. The cost of these can be as little as £8 with shipping fees via Ebay and I had to have it. I love the neat packaging and the odd subject matter. It’s a 1/50th scale diecast and nicely finished.
And lastly a polar opposite; a big, wafty Soviet saloon from Grell, the GAZ Volga M21.
This has been on my wish list for a while along with another 3 inch diecast M21, from Russian brand Techno-Park, a brand I’ll hopefully look at in a future Lamley article. But for now enjoy the Grell M21 in all its glory. I’m a big fan of the Grell cars and this is no exception. It arrived around the same time as some friends of mine in the Czech Republic sent me some Soviet letters and memorabilia they found during a recent house move. I added some pieces of my own and it all proved to be a great backdrop.
I hope you’ve all enjoyed this brief update from me, and if you have similarly odd tastes in diecast then pay a visit to me (and Lamley Group!) on Instagram @alex_the_hoarder.