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Tomica at Tokyo Central; New Tomica found at retail store in CA
Topic Started: Sep 26 2015, 11:18 PM (903 Views)
toyotageek
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Japanese Minicar Maniac
Every now and then you can find one of the Japanese specialty stores around here that might have a few Tomica for sale.

Slightly better chances are at a place called Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle, but their selection is sporadic, small and the cars run about $12 each. They have several locations and inventory varies from store to store.

Recently another store called Marukai (a supermarket chain) has been remodeling some of it's stores and changing the name.
The one nearest us is now called Tokyo Central and they are primarily still a supermarket.
Another location in Gardena, CA, just re-opened under the name Tokyo Central and Main - they are more of a supermarket/lifestyle store.
They have a fairly large section devoted to toys, figures, Tamiya kits and.... an endcap with Tomica (there is another TC&M in San Diego and I'm curious if they have a similar layout - anyone here in San Diego?).
The Tomica are not the boxed variety - they are on blister cards (common at TRU in Japan). Price is $6.59. There were also a few Long Tomica (boxes) and I think the price was under $10.

I'm very curious to see how they do in general, and if we might see more Tomica in the future (or if things go the other way and disappear due to poor sales).

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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
:toy: Neat to see Tomica on the pegs of a store in the US - looks like a pretty good selection - one would hope that they would sell so that this store/chain would keep them in stock.
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toyotageek
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Japanese Minicar Maniac
pjedsel
Sep 26 2015, 11:45 PM
:toy: Neat to see Tomica on the pegs of a store in the US - looks like a pretty good selection - one would hope that they would sell so that this store/chain would keep them in stock.
Yes, I agree. That's one reason why I'm spreading the word. The more local people that know, and buy, the better chances are they will continue to carry and maybe expand.

I will admit however I am guilty of not buying anything. :blush:
Reason being, 1) I have a thing for Tomica with boxes, and 2) if there were any vehicles I'm interested in, I already have them.
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Douglas
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SUV
Hopefully between the locals and collectors visiting the area who may have seen your posts, they will sell enough to continue to stock them, and what a stock they have! way more than I would have expected in a store like you describe, although I'm not spotting any emergency vehicles, I thought Tomica was big on them in their line....that would hinder me from buying many, but it is neat to see them in a store here in the US.

I'd love to see Tomica hanging on a strip in the cereal aisle or toy area at my local grocery store. :D
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toyotageek
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Japanese Minicar Maniac
I'm even more curious to see what happens now. Just visited their website and it seems there may be changes for the store nearest us (Costa Mesa), as they are advertising a re-opening in October (and they just had a grand re-opening a few months ago). They state that there will be a Japanese Pop Culture section, which is where the Tomica were located that I saw yesterday (Gardena). Company website - http://www.tokyocentral.com/
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Stampede
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Team Canada
Looks to be great news! While I'm with Michael that I prefer my Tomica boxed, I'll take what I can get!

There's a store in my area that sells boxed Tomica, albeit for $20 a model...thanks, but no thanks. They do have some models I want though...
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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
I, too, am curious, were there any emergency models among the mix on the pegs you saw? Of course I don't live anyplace close to CA so not a store I would ever get to but still nice to know, at least for now, that there are some stores in the US that have Tomica on the pegs.
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toyotageek
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Japanese Minicar Maniac
No, there weren't any emergency vehicles that I recall seeing. What you see in the photo was pretty much it. Looked like two pegs per model, and they weren't mixed on the peg. We don't get out to that store very often, so if Tomica make it to our more local store, I will check it out and keep everyone posted.
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clem24
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Station Wagon
Sweet selection and looks like older castings (like last year) to boot! Too bad USD > CAD rate sucks big time.
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jurcpa
Fullsize
I want this store in Austria !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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