First Look: Tomica Limited Neo Vintage Seibu Keisatsu Nissan Fairlady 260Z 2x2...

(Repost from June 24th, 2015)

Who doesn't want to own a replica of a car that jumped a river?

Once again, we should repeat our Lamley rule that we like entertainment-related cars more for the cars themselves than for the nostalgic kick of the shows or movies they came from.  That rule has applied mainly to Hot Wheels Retro Entertainment, but it goes for Tomica Limited Vintage as well.

TLV has released a series of replicas from the Japanese television series Seibu Keisatsu (loosely translated "Western Police"), a fantastically over-the-top police serial most famous for its car chases and explosions.  For the JDM nut these days, you could spend hours on youtube watching all the retro Skylines and Fairlady Z's zip to and fro, and then cringing as almost all of them meet a fiery death.  It is about as bittersweet as youtube can be to folks like us.

So that means when TLV decides to do 1:64 replicas from the series, the cars are going to be pretty damn cool.  And that applies to this Nissan 260Z 2x2, which famously jumped a river in the series.  The car was destroyed, of course.

As cool as that is, we are in love with this model for its signature Z silver, and tremendous mag wheels.  The car is a complete looker, and another home run from Tomica Limited Vintage.

And remember, it is our goal to create a greater presence of TLV all over the world.  That is why we have teamed with ebay seller Japan Booster, who is offering free shipping anywhere in the world on all orders over $50.  That means just-released models and harder-to-find older models.  We love collecting TLV, and we hope many of you will join us.  Follow the link to the Japan Booster Store:

Japan Booster Tomica Limited Vintage Store


Tomica Limited Vintage Neo Nissan Fairlady 260Z 2x2 (Seibu Keisatsu Special Edition):

Just Announced: Tomica Limited Vintage releasing a 2-door Datsun 510 and another DR30 Skyline in July (oh, and a Tank!? in September)...

Tomica Limited Vintage has just unveiled its July batch, and Datsun 510 and Nissan Skyline fans should be pretty happy.

Included in this batch will be two more of the very popular Datsun 510's, only this time with two doors instead of four.  This should make a lot of 510 nuts very happy.  Many don't like those extra doors and now TLV is obliging.

Also, another Seibu Keihatsu DR30 Skyline is being released as well.  We have no idea where it fits in the TV show, but it does look different.  It does not have the trim of the others, and looks slightly more stock.  Once we have it in hand we will be able to tell what the difference is.

Also coming: three more colors of the Nissan Be-1, two with a rag top and luggage rack, as well as a Toyota Celica police vehicle.

Lastly, TLV have announced another Seibu Keisatsu vehicle for September.  It is a Ladybird Tank.  A Tank!!

Those of you who can read Japanese can let us know if the police cars are included, but one way or the other this thing is crazy cool.

There is a lot to look forward to from TLV in coming months, most notably the Nissan GT-R's that were just released, and the upcoming Toyota Supras.  Keep checking here and at Japan Booster to see when these are all available...

Those wheels though! The Tomica Limited Vintage Neo Seibu Keisatsu Super Z...

Some more TLV to feature while the Cyber Week Sale is going on at Japan Booster:

Unless you grew up in Japan, the Seibu Keisatsu TV Series means nothing to you.  Same here.  But even without ever watching an episode, Tomica Limited Vintage is making sure I am familiar with it now.

The Seibu Keisatsu series from TLV just released Volume 16, which is another version of the Super Z.  The Super Z from the series is modified version of the Fairlady Z, complete with gullwing glass doors and guns strapped to the hood.  There are two versions, Volume 4 and Volume 16.  The Volume 16 version is apparently the bad guy-made "imposter" version that, as is the fate with most of the cars in the series, eventually blew up.  We have no idea what the differences are from the Volume 4 good-guy version, but sometime in the future we will figure that out.

Nonetheless, most of you don't have to care about that.  As we have said with the Hot Wheels Retro Entertainment line, we care less about the movies and TV shows these models came from, and more about the fact that the cars themselves are in small scale.  Same with Seibu Keisatsu.  We can't claim we know of its true significance in Japanese popular culture, but we can say we love the fact that it has inspired TLV to make some tremendous models, like three modified DR30 Skylines, several cop cars and sedans with mag and lace wheels, and many more.  The Lamley TLV collection is littered with Seibu Keisatsu models, and many fall among our favorite TLV's.

Same goes with the Z.  Yeah, the gullwing doors are cool, especially on a Fairlady Z, and guns are goofy.  But those wheels!  Tomica Limited Vintage is committed to stock wheels on the models they produce, whether they be mags, hubcaps, or steelies.  But if the model they are producing is sitting on SSR Star Sharks, by golly they are going to make them.  And for you JDM guys, that may be the thing that makes this model worth getting.

JDMers love the Star Sharks, but getting them in 1:64 scale has been difficult to say the least.  Aoshima has done some, but not to the level the Tomica Limited Vintage can.  Just check them out:

Maybe a little closer:

For 1:64 scale, that is fantastic.  I am sure a few customizers out there could find plenty of uses for these.  Who knows if we have spent a lot of time on TLV wheels, but they are worth looking at.  Just use the 260 and 280 Z's as an example.  Focus on the wheels:

Sure, you can do more in 1:18 scale, but these are smaller than Hot Wheels cars.  Reason #1175 that we love Tomica Limited Vintage.

And go ahead, look at the rest of the model.  This one is a gem.  And it is available at Japan Booster, along with several other Fairlady Z's.


Tomica Limited Vintage Neo Seibu Keisatsu Volume 16 Super Z:

All four TLV 280Z 2x2 (minus Seibu Keisatsu Volume 4):