Category Archives: minicars
Speed Racer celebrates 55th anniversary with 24-karat gold Mach 5
The seminal Japanese racing cartoon Speed Racer debuted in 1967 and became a bona fide worldwide hit. It didn’t just influence a generation of gearheads, but it was one of the earliest examples of anime introduced outside of Japan. This … Continue reading
This Toyota 2000GT model in 1/8 scale will cost $1,700 and take two years to complete
The latest classic from Japan to get the 1:8 treatment is the Toyota 2000GT. Issued by Hachette Collections Japan, the subscription kit will consist of 100 installments received weekly by mail with a retail price of ¥1999 ($17.25 USD) each. … Continue reading
My wife’s Hakosuka Skyline races for JNC glory in the world of diecast motorsports
When we started racing with YouTube’s premiere diecast motorsports league, we had no idea it would come to this. My wife Carrie took the JNC team trophy, after ruthlessly decimating every writer on the staff and also our own two-year-old … Continue reading
Amazingly detailed Mazda 787B rotary engine model released for 30th anniversary of Le Mans win
This year marked the 30th anniversary of Mazda’s historic win at the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans. To commemorate the 787B race car’s victory, Mazda aftermarket parts company MZ Racing has developed a highly detailed 1:6 scale model of … Continue reading
MINICARS: Here’s the cars from the upcoming Hot Wheels Toyota series
We got an extraordinarily positive response about the Hot Wheels FJ60 Toyota Land Cruiser yesterday. As you can see from the packaging, it’s part of an all-Toyota premium series. We promised there would be some new castings in it, and … Continue reading
Posted in minicars
Tagged 2000gt, A80, fj60, hilux, hot wheels, kp61, land cruiser, starlet, supra, toyota
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MINICARS: Hot Wheels x JNC Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60
We are stoked to show you the latest Hot Wheels to wear the JNC inkan. In fact, it’s got quite a few more similarities than just the sticker with our own real-life shop truck, a 1986 Toyota Land Cruiser The … Continue reading
The Toyota Celica Supra and Mazda RX-7 make amazing transforming robots
You will soon be able to get highly detailed toys of two iconic Japanese sports coupes that transform into robots. Incredibly faithful to the 1980s Transformers they’re paying homage to, these recreations have super realistic automobile likenesses. However, due to … Continue reading
Posted in minicars
Tagged a60, ferrari, Leonardo Fioravanti, Matasaburo Maeda, mazda, Pininfarina, rx-7, sa22c, supra, toyota, transformers, XTransbots, Yukihiko Yaguchi
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3DBotMaker’s JNC Tournament Final Round
Well, here it is the final round of 3DBotMaker‘s Japanese Nostalgic Car tournament. Who’s going to win? It’s the moment you (or at least we at the JNC water cooler) have all been waiting for. The two top finishers from … Continue reading
3DBotMaker’s JNC Tournament Round 2
Round Two of 3DBotMaker’s JNC tournament has aired and, man, I am disappointed in myself. By all accounts my Toyota 2000GT should have been fast — it was painted like the Yatabe record breaker after all — but I didn’t … Continue reading
3DBotMaker’s JNC Tournament Round 1
Round One of 3DBotMaker’s JNC tournament is here, and it’s a nail-biter. We have a beautiful lineup of, by coincidence, color matched classics with a heavy white, blue and red theme. The race is run four times, with cach of … Continue reading
3DBotMaker’s JNC tournament qualifying round
Here it is, the qualifying round for 3DBotMaker’s Japanese Nostalgic Car tournament. This race will set up the brackets and provide an idea of how fast the cars are. We had no influence on the tournament other than selecting the … Continue reading
3DBotMaker’s JNC diecast racing tournament begins this weekend
We at JNC are excited to announce a partnership with 3DBotMaker, the premier diecast racing league. For the next four weekends, every Saturday the 3DBotMaker YouTube channel will be broadcasting the Japanese Nostalgic Car tournament, in which all the Hot … Continue reading
MINICARS: The Kaido House Datsun 510 begins Jun Imai’s next chapter
Jun Imai is a pivotal figure in the diecast world, having transformed the most “hot rod” of diecast brands into a leader in Japanese minicars. For that he became a star in the collectible car world, and ever since he … Continue reading
Inside the world of Kimono My House, one of the oldest Japanese hobby shops in the US
Before anime and Japanese sci-fi became mainstream on US shores, a small hobby shop in Emeryville, California filled that niche for those in the know. Kimono My House is probably the oldest Japanese toy store in the United States, its … Continue reading
Posted in minicar, minicars
Tagged diapet, Initial D, Mazinger Z, minicars, tomica, Ultraman, wangan midnight
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Transformers to release an updated, more realistic Honda City robot
The character named Skids was not a very memorable one from the original Transformers lineup. We honestly can’t remember anything he did in the cartoon series. But, he was a Honda City hatchback in car mode, something we didn’t really … Continue reading
RIP Ryu Asada, Hot Wheels designer, 1978—2021
Ryu Asada, beloved designer of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, has passed away after a hard-fought battle with cancer. He was 42 years old. Ryu was immensely talented and instrumental in bringing a multitude of well-loved cars to the Hot … Continue reading
MINICARS: There’s a very good reason why this Toyoda AA model from the Toyota Automobile Museum costs ¥3,350
If you’ve been to the Toyota Automobile Museum’s gift shop, perhaps you’ve seen a 1:43 scale model of the company’s first production car, the 1936 Toyoda AA. It’s available in two colors and you can buy it for ¥3,350 (approx. … Continue reading
MINICARS: Help us identify this grotesque Datsun 240Z toy car
Recently we received a bizarre toy that has us puzzled. It looks like a Datsun 240Z or S30 Nissan Fairlady Z that, instead of rolling on four wheels (which it has), walks on human feet. There are a few markings … Continue reading
This is the most detailed Seibu Keisatsu DR30 Skyline model ever released
The DR30 Skyline from the television series Seibu Keisatsu is the latest car to undergo transformation into a super-detailed 1:8-scale subscription model. When all is said and done, it’ll take almost two years and ¥200,000 (about $1,930) to complete the … Continue reading
MINICARS: The Nissan R390 GT1 Road Car joins the 2021 Hot Wheels lineup
The Nissan R390 GT1 Road Car has been a dream machine for so many. Nissan made only one to homologate for Le Mans in 1997, and never put it up for sale. However, come 2021, you can buy it for … Continue reading
