So I've brought this up before. How I wished that TLV spent the time & resources toward another vehicle that collectors have yet to see in the realistic 1/64 form. Really love Delta Integrale, but honestly, CM's did such an amazing job with this car that I didn't see TLV surpassing it by much, if any.
Of course, all that's from this one collector's perspective. I don't know if Tomytec saw this casting as a good business decision, or simply one of the cars they've been wanting to do & add to their minicar line up. Probably both.
First the TLV version by Tomytec:
Little blemish on the box from amiami. Rare occurrence, they are usually perfect.
CM's:
When you are familiar with a vehicle in real life, it's easier to say that casting looks good, better, maybe little different, etc. While I've really liked this car from my childhood, I've never seen one in person, so going strictly by pictures from the Google image search, it's little difficult to me which casting looks more correct.
CM's version look little flat to me on the hood to the front end, maybe tad wider too, but sharp straight lines looks accurate to what I saw on the Google search of the real life car. TLV, as expected seems to have the correct detailing covered, but at least for me, the bulges & curves are too pronounced. Too curvy, maybe too rounded. Headlights on the TLV looks really good, but the fog lights on CM's looks like a million bucks where TLV just painted theirs in silver. Back to the accuracy for moment: CM's version I think is pretty much a restyled rally car casting, so TLV likley blows CM's out of water in this department. I'm not gonna lie though, how cool is the spare tire stored inside the CM's version? :D
In the end, with the pros & cons, as I guessed in that previous post(linked at the top), I think TLV wins, but by very little. Personally, I still prefer the CM's version for the sharper lines that seem to depict the boxy styling of the car really well.
The title of this post is "VERSUS" after all. I declared that the TLV casting won by a hair, but my personal taste prefers the CM's design. So who wins?
By my casual observation, it seems likely that most blogs & collectors would declare TLV the winner. Not this one. Winner of this head-to-head is the CM's.
For me, it really came down to the price. MSRP of the TLV is ¥2.400 or roughly $24. CM's is less than $10 at ¥950. Granted, with the CM's, like Kyosho, it's a blind box system. Meaning that entire series is released in boxes with same pictures & design that doesn't reveal if it's the car you want inside, or something else.
Still, the MSRP of the CM's is less than half that of the TLV. Even with the inflation in mind, that's a price difference alright. In a way, they are both winners. TLV did a really good job with the car. It's just that CM's way overachieved at this price point in my view.
I still so wished TLV respected this CM's car more & did something else with their time & effort like the original MR2. Original Supra? How about the BMW 8-Series? List is long. *sigh*
