Tomica Premium…. Where do they fit in? – By David Houston

I never really see people posting Tomica Premiums on many forums. Most of the time, these castings give me a similar giddy feeling as to when I was still a kid in the 80s and got the US branded “Pocket Car by TOMY” at the toy store (usually purchased by my Grandparents).

Recently, I had spoken with a friend back home in the US about toys which we used to collect or given to us as kids and now how they are making a full comeback. Many of these toys are totally new castings via some childhood favorite brands like Tomica. When I was a really young and growing up in the US, Tomica was sold as “Pocket Cars” by Tomy in the 80s. Tomy was seriously going up against brands such as Hot Wheels, Matchbox & Corgi, as those were top sellers at that time. Tomica or rather TOMY was smart marketing wise. Tomy made several TV commercials featuring the now late Actor Tom Poston highlighting their castings opening features and huge assortment of diecasts. The main novelty on those commercials was, the fact that their variety of 3-inch vehicles were small enough to easily fit into your pockets to take along just about anywhere for play time on the go. This aligned with the “Pocket Cars” branding. It worked, because other friends and I often had our favorite castings with us ….mine being my Ferrari 512BB or Lotus Esprit. Tomy’s Pocket Cars (Tomica) was my favorite 3-inch brand next to Hot Wheels back in the early 80s. Plus, TOMY Pocket Cars were under a dollar for like $0.75 USD cents compared to the $0.99 USD that Hot Wheels and Matchbox sold for. So you could ask your parents for more of those than Hot Wheels or Matchbox to boot! However, at that time most other diecast brands had far less detailing or the special/accurate paint jobs which TOMY provided. Also, the variety offered by TOMY was superior. For example with Tomy, you could pick from cars like their Lincoln Mark IVs, Jaguar XJ-S Coupes, Lamborghini Countachs, many different Porsches, Nissan Bluebirds or even Toyota Celicas and Nissan 300ZXs(Fairlady Zs), Tomica had us kids covered. In fact, collecting Tomicas helped pique my interest in Japanese cars, because there were all of these vehicles released by them which I had never seen prior. I was so interested that those cars led me into getting my Grandfather into buying me my first Tamiya model kits to match up with my same type of Pocket Cars. For the longest time as a kid, I actually thought that Tomica was a part of Tamiya, due to the fact that Tomica’s castings color schemes often were exactly the same as the model kit box art shown on Tamiya’s outer packaging.

Fast forward to the turn of the century and Tomica started re-releasing their original 70s/80s/90s castings but enhanced with actual OEM style wheels and additional painted details to bring out a higher level of detail represented on already accurately shaped castings (sold in clear view slide out box packaging). This new line was called “Tomica Limited”. Not to be confused with their later exact scale 1/64th & 1/43rd castings called “Tomica Limited Vintage & Tomica Limited Vintage Neo” which came a few years afterwards. I had come across the Tomica Limited line at a shop inside of Pacific Mall in metro Toronto. I wasn’t sure if they were officially distributed in North America or specifically imported in from Japan via Hong Kong? I was just fascinated and happy to see them and buy a few by chance. Then, one of my best friends also picked me up some Tomica Limited additional pieces on one of his vacations to the Philippines. Those were the last ones that I had seen of that line. Basically, they just vanished. Then all of a sudden, 1/64th exact scale Tomica Limited Vintage & Tomica Limited Vintage Neo (TLV & TLVN) started showing up.

This now brings us into the late 2010s, Tomica brought out another new line in between their entry standard main-line 3 inch and exact 1/64th TLV/TLVN lines. This new line basically seemed like a replacement for the short-lived “Tomica Limited” line earlier from the turn of the century. This new line was called “Tomica Premium”. Tomica Premium is basically a totally new range of higher detailed 3-inch castings. Tomica Premium often features a single and, in some cases, dual functioning or opening parts on most of their castings (Although a few are fully sealed/non-opening). Tomica Premium vehicles are scaled to fit into their standard size boxes. To determine which scale, you will be getting inside prior to opening, you need to carefully read the outer packaging.

The point of me asking “where does Tomica Premium line fit in?” Is because there are a mix of totally new vehicles never done by Tomica as mainline or Limited Vintage/Neo and then there are also brand-new remakes of old favorites like my Toyota Celica XX, Ferrari 512BB or Countach for example. So, it’s a lineup that both surprises and literally hits or tugs at my inner child on so many levels.

Tomica Premiums are more “elevated” than main-lines and are totally new castings. Premiums sit somewhere near a collectible, but still a toy but with more details. They are so detailed that some samples could almost pass for something a bit more. To throw in a more collectability factor, Tomica usually releases a very limited amount of “red box” or “Commemoration” versions of brand new castings in special colors. Those releases are basically like “chase” cars by Tomica Premium. They aren’t easy to get. You really have to pre-order and also watch for when pre-orders are first listed in Japan to not miss out. Some companies like HLJ even sellout after you have preordered upon the first minutes of that item being listed, so you really need to have multiple sources and or good friends in Japan on the ready to help you source those. If you can’t manage to get a red box, the regular black box releases are equally as nice, but offer a different paint job. I always try to add both versions for comparisons.

What I really like about Tomica Premium is, that they often focus on Japanese Domestic Manufactured vehicles usually overlooked by most mainstream diecasters. Tomica Premium also does produce some European exotics and have recently introduced a 1977-78 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am to their standard line up this year. I am always surprised by what Tomica announces next for their Premium lineup.

After 2020, Tomica Premium introduced an additional line variation in the series of “Tomica Premium Unlimited”. These castings often focus on the entertainment/pop culture associated products. For example, like Knight Rider, the Fast & The Furious Franchise and many Japanese Manga series such as Initial D. I really like this additional series; it brings in more nostalgic feelings for the brand.

Sometimes I think that Tomica Premium/Tomica Unlimited should be the default mainline. This for me is a natural evolution of where I think Tomica would have evolved if they had lost their standard button and wide wheels plus added even more details over the decades. Internationally, I think that this could help bring more adults into this line up as well as due to being more elevated or accurate looking. while still keeping the play factor. Side note; kids also are aware of what looks good too, at least I was.
Would any of our readers like if Tomica just left their mainline as it is, or would you like to see them incorporate everything mainline wise into their Premium/Unlimited lineups?

Do any of you readers collect Tomica Premium? If so, what drew you to this line, if not, why didn’t these products pull you in? I’d be glad to read some of your opinions on this line from Tomica and what this brand means to you as well.