Sunday, August 8, 2021

Tomica F34 Chevrolet Camaro Police Car


I grew up with Tomica minicars.  In fact, while this post is about Camaro police car, it isn't the first old Tomica I've added to my (adult) minicar collection.  I just remembered I paid around $30 for one of these few years ago:

tomica f4 lincoln continental ford mark iv
*Not my image*


This is the oldest minicar I remember owning.  When I begun collecting Hot Wheels, I wanted to get this particular model, in same yellow color.  I don't know much about vintage Tomicas, but it seems domestic Japanese cars came in "black box" & foreign imports in "blue box".  I'm sure most of my childhood Tomicas came in black boxes.  Two that I ended up buying as adult are both American & blue boxes.  Go figure.

Anywho, I am a late 80's Camaro fanboy.  As a kid in Japan, I was crushing on IROC-Z's.  They may as well have been Lamborghini or Porsches, I knew little about cars.  Few years ago, I discovered these Tomica Camaro police cars & I started shopping for them on eBay.  Problem:  Asking price tended to be around $100.  😭

Earlier this week, I sniped a loose one for $23 & change...... but I really wanted the box.  I'm a sucker for artwork on boxes Japanese toys come in.  Knowing that market exists for "reproduction" Tomica boxes on eBay, I searched for & found a box for $30.  Seller has tons of feedback & he claims that it is authentic Tomica box.  While box is in excellent condition, it certainly has some marks, dents, like they are real.  I sent a offer for $15 & both the car & the box arrived at the same time:

トミカ No. F34 シボレーカマロポリスカー 外国車シリーズ 日本製 青箱


Tomica F34 Chevrolet Camaro Police Car

Tomica F34 Chevrolet Camaro Police Car

Tomica F34 Chevrolet Camaro Police Car iroc-z

Tomica F34 Chevrolet Camaro Police Car z28 iroc-z

Tomica F34 Chevrolet Camaro Police Car

Tomica  Chevrolet Camaro iroc-z z28

Tomica  Camaro

トミカ No. F34 シボレーカマロポリスカー 外国車シリーズ 日本製 青箱

Going by what I've seen on eBay, Tomica seems to have produced this Camaro police casting for years & years.  I saw some that came with newer red and white boxes.  As for the car itself, they seem to be identical, regardless of which box they come in, or when they were manufactured.


Loose car came in clear plastic box that was designed for Tomica boxes.  Perfect amirite:

トミカ   青箱



 

2 comments:

  1. Just now ran across your blog while doing a search for police diecast blogs...Really thrilled to have found your blog...I was introduced to Hot Wheels by my grandmother when I was around 6 or 7 and she would alwaya buy me a few cars every couple weeks...Alot of childhood memories for sure...Only started being serious about collecting around 4 years ago and now I'm at a point where I want to dive deeper into what I want and what I really like...certain favorite castings, police decos,just all in all a more refined hunt...But back to your blog...I can't wait to read past post and comment on future post...keep up the amazing work!!!

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    Replies
    1. My apologies for the late late reply!

      Glad you liked the blog & thank you for the kind words. Very exciting to hear about the police cars. If it hasn't already, it's probably going to shape your overall collection, making it unique. I tend to be all over Japanese & American vehicles. Working trucks, passenger cars, sports cars, vans, new, old, etc. Just all over the place. Many neat models, but not really a unique collection at all.

      I'm not the biggest fan of the brand, but have you had the chance to look at GreenLight police vehicles? I think they have the most impressive line up of American police cruisers. I have only a handful on this blog, but I probably easily have 10 more in my collection. Another brand I noticed who are big on police cars would be Matchbox.

      I wouldn't mind more police cars from Hot Wheels, but they often lack the lights on the roof & I find it frustrating. IMO, unless we are talking undercover, lights make police cars!

      Thanks again for the comments & I hope you enjoyed the pics! :)

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