Category Archives: minicars

MINICARS: Tomica Limited Vintage Neo Honda CR-X

In the last installment our series on nostalgic collectibles, we looked at the Tomica Limited Vintage Toyota Crown. The TLV line pumped out casting after casting of stupendously detailed models of 60s and 70s cars for two years, and its … Continue reading

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MINICARS: 2013 Hot Wheels Boulevard Subaru BRAT leaked

Looks like the J-tin is coming on early and often for Hot Wheels‘ 2013 lineup. Hot on the heels of the hakosuka and Jun Imai‘s 510 wagon comes this just-leaked image of the Boulevard series Subaru BRAT. This is the … Continue reading

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MINICARS: Hot Wheels Boulevard hakosuka Nissan Skyline & 510 released

We’re less than a week into 2013 and already it’s turning in to a great year for Hot Wheels collectors. First we had news of the Treasure Hunt Toyota 2000GT that’s coming out March-ish, but before that even hits the … Continue reading

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MINICARS: 2013 Hot Wheels Toyota 2000GT Treasure Hunt

Boom. Ever since we began reporting on Hot Wheels‘ Renaissance of classic Japanese cars, there’s been one that collectors clamored for more than any other — the Toyota 2000GT. Well, your offerings to the diecast gods have paid off. We … Continue reading

Posted in minicars, toyota | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments

MINICARS: 2013 Hot Wheels Mad Manga now in Blue, Yellow and Pink

Hot Wheels just revealed a new color and paint scheme for everyone’s favorite bosozoku diecast, the Mad Manga.

Posted in bosozoku, minicars | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

MINICARS: 2013 Hot Wheels Boulevard series to include Datsun 510 Wagon and Hakosuka Skyline

It has been confirmed by Brazilian collector’s site T-Hunted that Hot Wheels‘ 2013 Boulevard series will contain at least two of our favorite nostalgics. We’ve shown you one of them already during a sneak preview at this year’s Japanese Classic … Continue reading

Posted in minicars, nissan, wagons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

MINICARS: 2013 Hot Wheels Flying Customs to include Datsun 510, Nissan Skyline GT-R and A60 Supra

Some more exciting news from our friends at Mattel. For 2013 there will be a new line of premium 1970s-inspired cars called the Flying Customs, which will include some of our favorite castings, including the ’82 Toyota Supra, Datsun Bluebird … Continue reading

Posted in minicars, nissan, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

QotW: What are you most thankful for, car-wise?

It’s Thanksgiving week for us Yanks and it’s a tradition to reflect on what we’re most grateful for. That’s why this week’s question is: What are you most thankful for, car-wise? For us it’s simple. We’re thankful that classic Japanese … Continue reading

Posted in minicars, Question of the Week, suzuki, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

MINICARS: Tomica Limited Vintage Toyota Crown

You could be forgiven if you thought the Toyota Crown above was a real car. In fact, it’s a highly detailed 1:64 scale diecast model measuring only about three inches long in total. In a new series on JNC, we’ll be … Continue reading

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QotW: What car would you drive across Japan?

From Hokkaido to Kagoshima, Japan has some of the coolest highways and mountain passes known to man. We live vicariously through Skorj’s Grand Touring stories, in which he travels across Japan looking for nostalgic cars “in the wild.” Though he owns a Honda … Continue reading

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MINICARS: How to make custom decals for your Hot Wheels hakosuka Skyline

Many readers have asked JNC contributor Mark “ScaleMaster” Jones exactly how he adds his amazing detail to the custom Hot Wheels he’s shown you how to build. In Today’s article he’ll explain exactly how to do just that by turning the … Continue reading

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QotW: What’s the greatest Japanese racing livery?

Graphics. Livery. Warpaint. Originally meant to identify the country of origin and visually distinguish fast-moving cars on the track, they are now the domain of corporate sponsors. Either way, there have been some darn cool ones. Therefore we ask: What’s … Continue reading

Posted in honda, minicars, nissan, Question of the Week, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

MINICARS: Custom Hot Wheels 1972 Nissan Skyline GT-R show car

At the 1972 Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan unveiled what would become the next generation of the famed Skyline GT-R racers. The KPGC110 in racing livery and gold RS-Watanabes was intended to carry on the winning tradition of the previous generation’s famed touring cars. … Continue reading

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QotW: What’s the best sequel?

Rarely is the follow-up better than the original, but when it is, it’s not just slightly better — it blows the original away. That is why we ask: What’s the best sequel? We just spent a weekend at 86Fest, so … Continue reading

Posted in minicars, Question of the Week | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

QotW: What’s the best Japanese car emblem?

Japanese automakers love emblems, and we’re not just talking about those for the various marques. In Japan, each model often has its own as well, and these badges are highly desirable to those of us who want to JDM-ize our … Continue reading

Posted in mazda, minicars, Question of the Week | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

MINICARS: Hot Wheels X JNC Toyota AE86 Corolla

The beans have been spilled. Those of you who came by the Japanese Nostalgic Car booth at JCCS on Saturday were treated to a very special surprise — the Hot Wheels Toyota Corolla AE86 new for 2013. We are very proud to once … Continue reading

Posted in minicars, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

QotW: What made you fall in love with Japanese nostalgic cars?

This past weekend one of my oldest friends, whom I’ve known since the eighth grade, came to his first JCCS (more on that later). After his baptism by fire into the world of nostalgics, he immediately went home and began scouring … Continue reading

Posted in minicars, mitsubishi, nissan, Question of the Week, toyota, wagons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 50 Comments

JCCS Preview: Meet Hot Wheels’ Jun Imai at the JNC Booth

As regular JNCers know we’re huge, giddy fans of Jun Imai, Hot Wheels designer extraordinaire. This weekend at JCCS, we will be positively honored to have at our booth the man who created such diecast cars as the Datsun 510, Toyota AE86, hakosuka and kenmeri Skylines, Mazda RX-7, Mad Manga, … Continue reading

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MINICARS: 2013 Hot Wheels 1970 Toyota Celica revealed

Toyotaku, your offerings to the diecast gods have paid off. This is the first official photo of the Hot Wheels 1970 Toyota Celica. We saw a prototype of this car a few months ago, but had been sworn to secrecy … Continue reading

Posted in minicars, toyota | Tagged , , , , , | 28 Comments

MINICARS: 2012 Hot Wheels “Hot Ones” Subaru BRAT and 1982 Toyota Supra

Back in April we reported some news about some upcoming Hot Wheels cars — a Subaru BRAT and 1982 Toyota Supra. Well, Subarites and Toyotaku rejoice, cause photos have now been released by Mattel! 

Posted in minicars, subaru, toyota | 7 Comments