Term "patrol car" is Japangrish for police car. Japanese police don't necessarily task unmarked vehicles with the patrol duty, obviously. Most police vehicles are commonly referred to as "patocar" in Japan. Short for patrol car.
I bet most of you don't check Amazon for TLVs? I've seen quite a few TLVs on Amazon in the U.S. & Japan. Although I can't get the Japanese Amazon to ship their SWEET TLVs to the U.S., I have purchased quite a few from Amazon.com from here in the States(still shipped from Japan). On Amazon, prices fluctuate & while I've come close to purchasing this one from AmiAmi for something like $29-ish w/shipping, I got this for get this: $11.82, shipped. As I write this, they are listing their TLV Keioh buses in the range of $66, shipped. I paid a hundred for that!
I really thought that I was getting cars with chipped paint, or damaged packaging, but no, the set arrived in perfect condition. More power to me.
Well worth the full price. Beautiful set.
Edit: I NEVER read the liners, insert or articles included with these Tomicas. Maybe I should start.
Inside the front cover of the box, it is explained that both cars have identical license plates. The chase starts with the newer 330 model Cedric, but by the time it came for the car to get shot at & break down, 330 had been replaced with the older 230 with steel rims. lol
This prompted me to do a little research & I actually ended up on the TomyTec TLV product page(in Japanese), and according to the page, it says that this kind of vehicle swapping was common practice in cop shows...... duh. But the surprise here is how TLV decided to include both vehicles; before & after in one set. What a fun loving crew we got here. I approve. :)
