On a Hunt for Mini Bosozoku.......

I rarely see must-have Hot Wheels anymore, at least retail wise, but Manga Tuner was one of those.  I still think the roof looks bit awkward, but overall, cute little "デフォルメ"(Japanglish for "deformed") of the Mad Manga casting.

This face.  Really hits the spot.

After I found the Manga Tuner, I saw another little guy on the way out.  It's kind of amazing you are starting to see these super JDM vehicles on American hot wheels pegs.  Little kei-car trucks you very rarely see in the States.  I was just admiring how Japanese the デフォルメ Manga Tuner was, too.  That one reminded me little bit of ChoroQ's.

Let us give props to John from Lamley blog.  From cars like these to Hot Wheels Silhouettes series Skyline Silhouette, you can really see Tomica influence in some Mattel cars today.  John being a fan of Tomica Limited Vintage cars, and having huge American audience with his blog, I think these JDM cars & craft of Tomica really caught eyes of not just the 1/64 collectors, but also designers.  In my opinion,  Mattel's better for it.  If anybody from M2 Machines reading this, I have an idea for you guys.  JDM Ground Pounders series.

For those of you not familiar with Ground Pounders, this is what they look like:

Now imagine JDM series with vintage Skylines, RX-3, old Celicas, etc., etc.  I wouldn't over do it with the production numbers.  Limited run, let the secondary market go crazy.  For design, you can look to Tomica in this department also.  Check out the Choro Q's.

This is for my buddy Jarrod.  I saw this while looking for my Manga Tuner & I thought of him.  Unfortunately, it seems to be a peg warmer.  I saw three of these & nothing else from the Japan Historics.  lol

Cool card.

Hot Wheels Car Culture "Door Slammers" Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA/'70 Ford Escort RS1600/BMW 2002

I got weak today.  Swung by Hot Wheels at Target while there to pick up oven mitts.  These weren't new releases, but it was the first time I saw Alfa Giulia on the pegs & I've had a crush on this real life car for long time. 

I also really liked three other (real life)cars like the Alfa Romeo above:  BMW 2002, Mk I Escort & Datsun 510, and imagine that, those four cars are in this set, also Porsche 911.

I didn't buy this 2002 though.  Not a fan of this casting.  Always looked awkward & ugly-ish to me.  Escort casting looks good, Alfa looks good & 510's popular for reason.  Beautiful casting that one.

This Escort is the one I kept on seeing at Target.  While it's done beautifully, I was able to fight it off until today.  It came home with me tonight, along with the Alfa.

I actually put the cars back on the pegs, because they didn't have the Datsun 510(a shocker).... but then, I was like, don't you already have one of those?  AND I like this one lot better anyway.  :p

X4 ignition model Pandem R35 GT-R + HobbyJapan Honda Integra Type-R(Championship White)

I only know their 1/64 line, but ignition model never ceases to amaze.  So much quality in such a tiny scale.  I have four colors to share with you guys today:

Green Metallic

White

Red Metallic

My favorite: Matte Gray

This one tagged along: HobbyJapan Integra Type-R

Hard to see in this pic, but the wheels are all white.  I wish they painted between spokes black considering the price point($20+).

Tarmac Works illest "Super Nine" RWB 993

I saw preorder for this.... Maybe on Twitter, maybe on Instagram.  I want to say from the account of master customizer Joe-san.  Anywho, with shipping, it was $34.90, direct from Tarmac Works.  I got it today, it was preordered on August 30th, so it took little over 4 months.  TOTALLY WORTH IT:

It looks so sweet.  There was something rattling around inside the case & I was fearfully looking for broken part loose inside?  It was the "limited edition" card with serial # printed on it.  #MONEY

Black Friday Monday.....

I used to love Black Fridays.  Take the day off, drive around town from like 5 ~ 6 am, armed with the Black Friday newspaper ads.  So many sweet deals to be had that day.

This tradition died for me when some stores started starting the sale earlier in the week, some stores even making the poor store employees work on the Thanksgiving day!  Such a turnoff.  For me, this used to be a enjoyable occasion, to pack all it in half of one Friday.

Another thing that killed it was online.  I don't shop at Bestbuy very much, but oh man, their website & in-store pickup works so well.  Their sale prices are hard to beat, too.  

Commentary over:

This year, my only Black Friday interest were Playstation 4 & guns.  I only connected on the PS4.  Little late to the game, I know(pun not intended lol).  However, I saw couple of Hot Wheels transporters at Target while picking up Modern Warfare for PS4.

I was drooling over this at pic online, but since I've been trying to quit collecting, I passed.  Serious growth on my part.  Next one, same:

Looking at the pictures, now I'm thinking I should've bought both, but it is what it is.

While I balked at Target, look what I got in the mail!

Still debating if I should open this one or not.  I'm a R34 fan, I'm a Paul Walker fan(very similar to his F&F car), also a big RLC fan.  They did a fantastic job here in my opinion.

 At least thru the blister, window, or whatever it's called, detailing & tampos look as sharp as I've ever seen them.... but wait, that's not all:

I used to be very active in the Hot Wheels thread of GTPlanet, and remembered seeing these Hong Kong exclusives.  My understanding was that they were official TLV, but I only read secondhand information.  They were kinda cool, boxes are really cool, but I wasn't interested in paying any premiums, as I was already pulling back from collecting.  However, speed_70_hk on eBay had them for $35, shipped to the U.S.?  Could not say no.  :p  Fast seller, secure shipping.  I think I preordered Ignition Model R34(1/64) from their site as well?  I'll let you know how that goes.

Very nice, man.  Color me impressed!