Car Lamley Group: buses

My guess is you won't find too many buses showcased here on Lamley. Along those same lines, you probably won't see many models here that can't fit in a standard Hot Wheels/Matchbox blister, or TLV box, or Kyosho display. Or to make it more clear, the Lamley displays made by Carney.

But today we have some exceptions, and we are more than thrilled to show them off.

In our ongoing efforts to show you how awesome Tomica Limited Vintage is, and to show how far beyond the IDx the line goes, we have gone big. We always tout TLV's commitment to 1:64 scale, and there is where they get serious.

We don't know much about buses, whether in Japan or just down the street. But there is just something about these models that made us curious, so we ponied up a few dollars to get one. Then another. And then another. There are now three in the Lamley collection, and we don't think we are done.

But for now, we will show them off. We can't say much, other than Hino and Isuzu buses are city buses, and the charming Nissan Civilian is a people transporter, with a capacity of about 30.

So we will start by giving you an idea of their size. Here are the Hino and Isuzu side-by-side:

About the same size. Now here is the Hino next to a standard 1:64 TLV street car, in this case the Fairlady 260z, which is just slightly smaller than a standard Hot Wheels car:

Isn't that about what a full-size Z would look like stopped by a bus at a red light? Cool, eh? Here is another comparison, with a Datsun 510 and Toyota Publica:

Next, the Nissan Civilian:

Looks like a bus, talks like a bus, and it is a bus. Just a smaller bus:

Once again, true to scale:

But as great as TLV's commitment to scale is, it is the detail that makes these models amazing. So you know, each bus comes with a few accessories, mainly side mirrors that need to be installed. We haven't opened those yet, as we are waiting to finish the display that will house these mammoths. The Hino also comes with decals that we may or may no apply. It already looks amazing...

So here they are, in all their glory. We are sure we will be adding more to the collection, and we will show them off when we do. In the meantime, head over to Japan Booster to check out their stock of buses

, that we have been told will grow in the next few days...

Tomica Limited Vintage HINO RB10 TYPE BUS TOKYU BUS:

Tomica Limited Vintage ISUZU BU04 TYPE BUS (Tokyo Toei Bus):

Tomica Limited Vintage NISSAN CIVILIAN:

One of the more enjoyable elements of doing this blog is having to jump back into the collection to pick a model to feature. Sometimes you just want to move away from the new models for just a minute and feature a model from a few years earlier.

When you do jump into the collection, you will note that some opinions on models will change over time. Some models you really liked don't impress you as much, others you never appreciated as much as you do now. And even others just look different.

That is the case with the Matchbox VW T2 Bus. I committed awhile back to collecting only the versions of this casting that were without any logo. Just street versions. That means I have four. An orange, a red, an olive, and this Lesney Edition in baby blue.

So after my only exposure to a VW Bus lately being Hot Wheels' super tooned Kool Kombi, the Matchbox T2's realism just looks fantastic. And especially fantastic in two-toned white and blue.

The Lesney Edition lineup didn't perform the way Matchbox and Mattel had hoped, and I think it further pushed Mattel towards making the brand less collector-oriented and more kid-focused, as it always has had to be. We have seen the 60th Anniversary line this year, but unlike the Lesney, it still has more current kid-centric models and decos to keep the brand more consistent throughout all its products.

Looking back at the Lesney Editions, it is clear that while a vocal few clamor for diecast chassis, a full metal body doesn't matter much to the general public. Some of the models were a bit bland, and tended to sit on the pegs. But, thankfully, others were drop-dead gorgeous. Those lookers would go fast, and none went faster than the T2. From the moment it hit the pegs, it was as highly a desired model as I have seen in a retail Matchbox line. I was lucky to find this one, and it is has been in my collection ever since.

They do pop up on ebay, but usually with a $15 to $30 price tag. Probably worth it for those that want one of the best-looking Matchbox models of the last few years, but I am glad I found mine on the pegs.

(Here are the Lesney Edition T2's we found on ebay