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):
