Cool is Cool is Cool: Tomica Limited Vintage Seibu Keisatsu Nissan Laurel & Gloria Police Cars...

We have been wanting to show these for awhile.

With all the Matchbox and other new models to show, we haven't been able to dive into another Cool is Cool post here on Lamley.  We knew we could return to the series soon, and we knew exactly what models we would show.

We have a soft spot here at Lamley for police cars, especially vintage police cars.  And since no one here has any link to law enforcement outside of the occasional traffic stop and conversations with police collectors, our main connection is through television.

And police shows on television, at least when I was a kid, like to blow shit up.

I have only seen one SWAT raid in my life (while walking home from school, I watched as they raided a mansion down the street that was ground zero for a suspected international prostitution ring. Never knew what came of it, but it was fun to watch) and that is about as exciting as it has gotten for me.  Unfortunately I have never seen a bad guy or a doomed-from-the-start faceless police car hit another parked car so perfectly that it shot in the air and twisted just enough to land on its roof.  It must happen a lot because TV is reality and it happened 5 or 6 times on every episode of the A-Team.

And since that happened a lot back in the 70's and 80's, whether on Knight Rider or Dukes of Hazzard or the aforementioned Team of A's, it was always a bland sedan from that era that met its airborne fate.

But not across the pond in Japan.  The most popular TV show of that era in Japan was Seibu Keisatsu, which loosely translates to "Western Police".  More accurately, it means "One Hour of Nissan-focused Mayhem", as it crashed and blew up a whole load of cars, and by whole load we mean Nissans.

The show was a thrill ride, with fights, guns, chases, crashes, and a ton of explosions.  Just have a gander at this DVD promo ad:



If you watched it you saw a ton of police cars crashing into all kinds of things.  Nissan was a sponsor of the show, and it provided many of those victims for the show to have their way with.  So the Laurel, Cedric, and Gloria became the Dodge Monacos of Japan.

Tomica Limited Vintage has been doing a series of models dedicated to the series, and as we get them we will keep showing them.  We love the 240Z they did, replicating the car that jumped a river, as well as the 3 RS Machines, all based on the RS 2000 Skyline.

But our favorite models in the series are the police cars.  Not only because any police car in the Japanese black-and-white livery looks good, but because TLV sported them up with killer custom wheels, just like the show.  And the results are fantastic.

These two two police cars, one a Laurel and one a Gloria, and as cool as it gets.  The photos will do the models more justice that what I write, and you won't be able to get past the detail.  And keep in mind the weight is solid, and the model has shocks.  These are amazing models, and well worth the price it takes to get one or fifty to you.

We have tried to pinpoint our favorite TLV model, and at gunpoint we would still say the Skyline Van, but these two police cars may actually be our favorite.  It does not get any cooler than these two.  We dare you to take a look at these two and NOT want them in your collection.

And good news.  We emailed Japan Booster last night and they said they would put several TLV models from the Seibu Keisatu series up for sale at their store.  And remember, free shipping on orders over $50.  Follow the link:

Tomica Limited Vintage Seibu Keisatsu at Japan Booster

Enjoy the pics:


Tomica Limited Vintage Nissan Laurel C130 & Nissan Gloria 230 (Seibu Keisatsu Series):

First Look: Matchbox 1993 Ford Mustang LX SSP (Special Service Package)...

Alright, Lamley readers, this will be fun.  We have a massive backup of cool things to showcase here on the blog.  Here is a smattering:

1. Gathering Exclusive Toyota Tacoma & Dodge Charger Police
2. Matchbox 2014 Silverado
3. Matchbox Alfa Romeo 4C FEP
4. Matchbox BMW 1M
5. 2015 Matchbox 3D Prints, including the BMW M5, Porsche Cayman, Lamborghini LM002, and more.
6. Tomica Limited Vintage BMW 325i 4-door
7. Hot Wheels Datsun 510 Wagon standard issue & Super Treasure Hunt

And that isn't all.  There are a ton of TLV's waiting in the wings, some just-released Matchbox, a Hot Wheels US N Case Report, and more and more and more.  Plus Hot Wheels Batch P is just around the corner.  Oh, and two weeks of customs that we want to show.  That is a lot, and we plan to get to it all.  If there are some models you want to see sooner rather than later, let us know.

But with all that, there is one model we have been really excited to show first.  We wanted to wait for Nigel Cooper's final Ambassador Report before showing all the pics we have, and now we can.  We should also mention that these images come courtesy of Mattel, who allowed me to photograph all these upcoming models at the Gathering.

That model is the 1993 Ford Mustang SSP, which should be out in a just a few months.  It has been on the Matchbox Design Team's want list for some time, and when a gap emerged in the 2014 line after another new model had to be dropped, the team pounced.  The Mustang became a late addition to the range, and after seeing it, it might very well be our favorite of the 2014 line.  Funny how that happens.

The foxbody Mustang has gotten its fair share of love elsewhere, particularly Hot Wheels, when Jun Imai introduced the 1992 Mustang in the Modern Classics line.  Since then the casting has been very popular, showing up as a Treasure Hunt, RLC exclusive, HW Racing, and elsewhere.  We have to think the day will come when it appears as a Super Treasure Hunt as well.  We have even seen the '84 SVO in a few premium lines.  Not to mention an earlier version, the Turbo Mustang has been a lot as well.

But that is Hot Wheels.  It is now Matchbox's turn.  And this one definitely has the Matchbox touch.  A notchback, no low profile, no sporty rims.  It is a Mustang cop car, with the made-for-the-force Special Service Package.  It truly is Matchbox at its best.

And the culprit for this one is designer Miguel Lopez, who took Ryu Asada's spot at Matchbox when he crossed the hall to blue.  Miguel has been responsible for quite a few of the models we are seeing in 2014, and most of the 2015 line.  He has that same touch for realism, and it really shows here with the Mustang.  Just look at the clear plastic headlights, which are part of the window piece.

I first met Miguel last year at JCCS, and was able to spend a lot more time with him at the Matchbox Gathering last weekend.  Like Ryu, he is exactly the guy you want designing diecast cars.  He loves cars, knows a ton about them, and it a very talented artist.  Watching him ogle over some customs one of our Lamley friends brought was as good a sign as any what kind of passion Miguel has for little cars.  It will be fun to watch what he comes up with moving forward.

We are also happy to see this model debut in a real police livery, and an iconic livery at that:

CHP has graced a few Matchbox models (do I smell a future post?), and it looks great here, especially knowing the Mustang SSP was a model CHP used.  Of course, there is another SSP we would be interested in seeing, whether or not Greenlight already did it:

Am I too obsessed with the Utah Highway Patrol livery?  Probably, but the plain white with the beehive on the door really can't be beat.  And it has remained the same for years.

Anyway, here we are.  Real livery, on a really good-looking model.  Matchbox wants your love, collectors.  This is quite the love note.

Look for it in stores this fall.

(note: You may see a slight gap between the rear bumper and body.  Just something that this test model has, after a too-tight riveting.  It sits flush on the production model.)

Matchbox 1993 Ford Mustang LX SSP (2014 New Models):

First Look: 2014 Matchbox BMW X5 Police...

There will be a lot of Matchbox to get to, now that we have details on what 2015 will look like.  Nigel Cooper is working on his final Ambassador Report, and we will post it as soon as he releases it.  After that, we will share some more pics that we were able to take of upcoming Matchbox models.

But even with all that, there is still a nice little batch of 2014 Matchbox that is hitting the pegs right at this moment.  We have already featured the '63 Mack B Fire Truck (and we have another to feature very soon), but there are several others in this nice-looking batch.  And we should start with the return of the BMW X5 to the mainline.

It has been awhile.  The X5 was everywhere in the Matchbox lines of the mid-2000's, but slowly vanished.  That makes sense considering the actual 1:1 X5 was updated, plus room was needed for new models in the Matchbox mainline.

But it is back, after showing up in the 60th Anniversary line, we now have it in the mainline.  And there is more good news.  It has been modified, and a pesky little problem with the casting has been fixed.

If you didn't know, there are actually three different versions of the X5 casting.  The first two are obvious: standard street version and police (with a light bar):

But there is one more, a street version with opening doors:

That is the hardest to find of the bunch.  It was only used once, as part of a BMW promotion in Europe.  It remains one of my favorite Matchbox models, and maybe we should profile it as one of the rare Mattel-era Matchbox models one of these days.

Clearly the opening-doors version is long gone, but we don't know about the street version.  The police version makes sense to use these days considering the direction Matchbox has taken.  And frankly, a mid-2000's X5 seems a little odd in the mainline if it didn't have some other purpose, like being a police car.

Alright, back to this model.  Here is why we know it has been modified.  Take a look at the base:

It is hard to see, but at the top, you will see "2001, 2013 Mattel".  2001 was the year the casting was first created, and 2013 the year it was modified.  So what are the changes?  The main change, and we are seeing this with many emergency Matchbox models, is that the light bar is now part of the window piece.  Any other other aesthetic changes we don't see, except for this:

Take a look at the driver-side front wheel on this previous version:

See how it sticks out?  That is pushed in as far as it can go.  What caused this to happen we have no idea, but as the mold aged, this problem got worse.  It really hurt the look of an otherwise nice-looking casting.

Now take a look at the latest version:

It fits!  Hooray!  Yes, it is a minor detail, but those are the kind that can annoy you, and you wish they didn't.  But who cares?  Problem solved.

So welcome back, newly refurbished X5.  We are happy to have you here.  And we welcome your next visit, sitting on real riders as part of the upcoming Supreme Heroes line in 2015.  A nice revival.

(Find the Matchbox BMW X5 on ebay...)


Matchbox BMW X5 Police (2014 Mainline):