gogotomica

gogotomica

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Best Tomica of 2011

It has been another year and how time flies. There are some obvious changes for Tomica in 2011. Firstly, most Tomica has shrunk. It all started actually in 2010 December with the released of Nissan Juke. Tomica also revived the "First Colour" edition which they introduced this strategy from 2003 to 2006. More foreign cars being made in 2011 as compared in the last 10 years. In December 2011, Tomica introduced full pledge foreign cars as their regular cars of the month. I started to wonder if Takara-Tomy had read my blog because I did mentioned that I wanted a slimmer Tomica (but they shrink it instead!?) like they used to make. I hope to see more foreign cars as I hope that they revive the "Foreign Series". Maybe it's just coincidence, I don't think Takara-Tomy will ever read my worthless blog.

Before I reveal the "Go! Go! Tomica" edition of Best Tomica of the year 2011, I wanted to stress the point that this is just my own opinion. I am doing this for fun and much of my own consumption rather than to entertain. I saw my "Best Tomica 2010" post was posted in one of the forums and gets some negative comments. It's the usual patriotic Tomican who cannot tolerate my negative awards to Tomica. I don't really mind negative feedback as long as they are constructive. I do post negatively in forums too as long as I do not agree but I will give some explanations to support my claim. So, I will repeat this again. This is just my opinion and if you are not happy with what I wrote, move on, do not read my blog.

June Release of 2011
Overall is well made but not the best. I just do not know how to appreciate some of the odd looking utility vehicles.

May Release of 2011

I do not really fancy air craft. If I do, I will go broke buying Matchbox. It is still a good effort for Tomica to introduce a helicopter. There are fans for almost everything.

April Release of 2011

This can be both interesting and boring vehicle. I believe not many people know this is a custom bike or trike that is made in Japan. Not really mainstream but it will be cool to ride on a real one. It's better made than the Yamaha last year.

March Release of 2011

It's just another Elf to me. There will be more variants coming up for sure.

February Release of 2011

Not really a fan of this kind of rescue vehicle unless it is a model which I really like.

August Release of 2011

The Toyota FJ is nice but it could be better if the scale could slightly increase to 1/64 to have more presence felt especially when park beside the H2 or the Pajero it replaced. The wheels to replace with the ones used on the Pajero. I felt that the downsize of Tomica might be due to the small rim size of the button wheels. The wheels will be hidden under those arch if a bigger body is made. I think Takara-Tomy might be adjusting the scale to fit the button wheels. Just a guess.

September Release of 2011

Another "Honey, I shrink the Tomica" vehicle. The rear of the car has no plastic as window. If Siku can do it and they are retail around the same price as Tomica, I believe Tomica can do similar. The plastic used on a Tomica is also using lesser material as compared to the bigger scale Siku.

June Release of 2011

It's probably a forgettable car if you think "Honda Fit". It was made as it is one of the better selling car in Japan.

April Release of 2011

The new Swift looks nice at some angles but I don't know if my eyes are playing tricks on me. The headlights look a little oversize and the A-pillars look a little thick to me.

October Release of 2011

I applauded Tomica for continuing the Vitz generation as they made the previous two. Besides Vitz, I realised that Tomica also made every generation for Odyssey, Estima, Prius, Fit. The previous Tomica Vitz are better made than this one.

November Release of 2011

The Daihatsu Move is the only Kei car made this year. The previous Tomica Daihatsu Move comes in 2 colours as well. Everything is well put together except for the super stiff suspension and I don't really agree with any cars that has a paint over hatch as a window.

February Release of 2011

I like the new Rex to be made but not this way. Maybe Tomica should start designing slightly bigger wheels rather than shrinking the body. They did it for the yellow 370Z and I have to admit that giant button wheels look weird. Tomica needs to return to the drawing board, work something out to strike a balance.

January Release of 2011

The casting is handsome but suffers the same fate as other smaller Tomica.

August Release of 2011

MOST DISAPPOINTING TOMICA

I was actually looking forward to the release of the Civic Type R but it looks more of a Civic iVTEC. Tomica failed to bring out the spirit of a Type R especially when Matchbox has one which is better.

December Release of 2011

MOST PROFITABLE TOMICA

They churn out 3 variants within 3 months and this is a new casting. 2 of the variants are selling like hot cakes.

MOST POTENTIAL TOMICA
This car has a lot of potential for other variants. They just have to pray that Bumblebee continues to be a Camaro. Tomica Limited version, maybe?

January Release of 2011

WACKIEST TOMICA OF THE YEAR

Doing it once is forgivable but please don't do it again.

November Release of 2011

SMALLEST TOMICA OF THE YEAR

They shrunk cars. Now they shrink excavators too.

December Release of 2011

SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT TOMICA OF THE YEAR

The Unimog is consider well made for a current day Tomica and the tipping deck does surprise me. The truck is so light that I thought the box is empty when I pick one up.

March Release of 2011

BEST TOMICA SUSPENSION

It bounces although not really on par with the Japanese suspension. The surprising part is this car is made in Vietnam. All Vietnamese made Tomica are well known to have a super hard suspension that doesn't bounce.

September Release of 2011

BEST FOREIGN TOMICA

The Lotus looks ready to take on any car here even the Reventon. The last Lotus Tomica has made was more than 30 years ago.

May Release of 2011

MOST EXCLUSIVE TOMICA

I couldn't buy one here in Singapore.

July Release of 2011

BEST SELLING TOMICA OF THE YEAR

First colour sold out within days in Japan. Both colours sold out within 3 months in Singapore.

September Release of 2011

BRONZE AWARD

This is one of the better example of a recent Tomica. It is one of my favourite car made for 2011 and the proportion looks precise.

October Release of 2011

SILVER AWARD

I surprise myself by placing this truck second as it never caught my eye. It is well made and it looks much better than the Elf.

July Release of 2011

GOLD AWARD

If Kobelco is not in the list of 2011, I will be in a dilema which Tomica to take the gold award. The Kobelco crane was first released in 2008 for Kobelco which is believed as a promo vehicle for the company. This crane has great mass and I personally felt that this is the most handsome crane made in recent years.

The above is the Kobelco promo variant which is first released. The colour is different from the regular release and it has slightly more details on it.



6 comments:

  1. Wow, great entry. I really like many of the models you show there, these cars are also relatively common in Europe, and it's kind of fun to see them in scale, but as you say, it's a matter of taste.

    The machine in the first picture is very similar to one released by Siku (Ref 1333 in 1:87 scale) a few years ago. I own the one by Siku (in green colour, there's also a red one, I think), and it is really nice, something very different to what we normally see.

    Thanks for this review!

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  2. I've always enjoyed entries like these. I can't agree more about most of the things you said about each model! I was especially disappointed with the FJ Cruiser, Civic Type R Euro, Daihatsu Move, Nissan Leaf, and the WRX STI this year! Also, I can't believe Tomica made some unnecessary moves to introduce some unappealing models like the dinosaur truck and the regular version of Isuzu Elf. They've already made Isuzu Elf as other variants before this one, why the regular version? Great review!

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  3. From Gary: Nice analysis of the 2011 Tomica! I agree on virtually every one of your points. Yes, the Matchbox version of the Civic Type R conveys more excitement and maintaining a reasonable amount of accuracy than any of the other diecast manufacturers' efforts. I think Tomica must have gotten about 20 years ahead on the production of the small, wide wheels racing wheels so now they have to downsize the models to match! Otherwise, they would have to throw away all those wheels...

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  4. Hi Juan, Kent & Gary, thank you for your comments.

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  5. I don't think Takara-Tomy will ever read my worthless blog. Mark R. Smith

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    ReplyDelete