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Lotus Exige Three Way Shoot Out; Tomica v Matchbox v Kyosho
Topic Started: Oct 12 2011, 04:27 AM (1,574 Views)
diecastdingo
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Minivan
Hello,

This my first three way comparison - I'm trying to keep as short as possible.

We have here the new Tomica Lotus Exige S vs the two established competitors - the Matchbox and the Kyosho.

First impressions:

Posted Image

Both the MB and the Tomica come in as 1/56 - the Kyosho is the lone contender in 1/64 and is quite a small model because of that.

Up Front, both the Matchbox and the Kyosho score with better headlight tampos and the Lotus logo tampo - the Tomica just has featureless silver highlights in both places. That certainly is less than state of the art.

Posted Image

If you look closely, you will also notice the air scoop on the roof of both the Matchbox and the Kyosho only extend to the middle of the roof, on the Tomica it runs the whole length. Googling for images on the net, I can find pictures of cars with either set up, so no one is right or wrong here. But the Tomica also omits a blacked out opening. The front spoiler on all three looks different too, but again, there seem to be whole bunch of variations on the real cars, so no one earns or loses points there either.

So for the front view, I score the Tomica 7/10, the MB 8/10 and the Kyosho 9/10 - the casting and detailing on the Kyosho is just that bit more complex and convincing.

Around the back then:

Posted Image

And there the order is quite different - the lovely detail on the front of the Matchbox is gone, and we are presented with a rather bland back side, no rear light tampos, no black out engine vents, just a black rear spoiler. The Tomica not only adds the tail lights, but also a "Lotus" tampo on the back, and a better detailed diffuser.

Once again, pictures of actual cars show some without the spoiler, some black ones and some body coloured ones and also various designs. Again, no right or wrong either way.

The Kyosho further adds a third break light and reflectors, and actual engine detail under glass, though that is very hard to see. I'd give it 6/10 for the MB, 8/10 for the Tomica and another 9/10 for the Kyosho.

Other details then. The wheels - well, the chrome wheels on the MB are nice looking, but aren't really correct for this car. Tomica uses their usual "fat" wheels to good effect here, they suit it nicely. And the Kyosho shows off with bespoke wheels exclusive to this casting - nice!

The windscreen wiper is present and correct looking on all three, from what little can be seen on the interiors, all is well there too. Personally, I prefer the "ruffled leather" look on the MB's interior vs the smoother offering on the other two. However, the Tomica misses out on the blacked out side scoop - and that does affect the overall look for me. But just as I write this, I am seeing a picture of an Exige that does have a body-colours side scoop, so I can't really deduct points for that either. So - in "other detailing" it is Tomica 6/10, MB 7/10 and Kyosho 8/10.

Scores
Matchbox 21
Tomica 21
Kyosho 24

So...the Kyosho sort of wins, but it has a price tag to match. But, somehow, it just doesn't warm my heart as much as the other two do. In the level of detail, the MB and Tomica are again about even, both scoring points at the one end and losing at another one. And that makes the MB a bargain price wise, especially in the US.

But - if I could only keep one, I'd keep the Tomica. It comes with a proper picture box, and well, let's face it, I am heavily biased in favour of Tomica. :P





Edited by diecastdingo, Oct 12 2011, 01:54 PM.
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
Sounds like the perfect one for you would be if Tomica does a Limited version of this casting (and I will probably hold off on getting one until they do so). :thumbup: As for me, I will gladly take the scale-correct Kyosho as my favorite. That wins the comparison (for me) right there, before we even get into all the detailing.
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nice comparison!

I think I'm leaning towards the Kyosho too, the more I see the more I am impressed.

But the MBX is a decent bang for the buck!
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JustDavid
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SUV
Nice comp...thanks for the great pics.
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Dean-o-mite
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Muscle Car
I don't enjoy being the bearer of bad news, but the Kyosho Exige did originally come with a spoiler attached to the engine cover, in similar fashion to the Matchbox, but the yellow one shown has the spoiler broken off. The mounting holes are just below the rear window.

I only have the black Kyosho Exige (some quick cell phone pics...my photo set-up is still dismantled):
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Fantastic comparison, and I agree that Kyosho is the superior casting, especially for being done in a nicer scale, but the Matchbox is pretty rockin' for a dollar car! I feel the Tomica comes in last here, but then, I don't have a copy in hand yet, so perhaps I should hold off on judging it.
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diecastdingo
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Minivan
Well, I bought it lose. I need new glasses... :D
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