Sorry I dont have much to hot rod-related report this time, but I’m back in Japan for work and looking at old toys and car stuff whenever I can. If you want to buy cheap electronics, anime, and “otaku goods”, the  Akihabara district is the place to go in Tokyo. Sometimes sharing shelf space with old Japanese sci-fi items there are also a some very expensive, premium vintage car toys, often made in Japan for the US market in the 1950s and 60s. Here’s some die cast I found interesting to share with you, including “Futuristic Roadster 1956” which looks like a single bubbletop version of the Lincoln Futura. Check out that blade front bumper! Next up we have a really cool 30s era Mercedes Silver Arrow racer with an enclosed canopy, perhaps for land speed racing? I’m not sure I’ve seen any pictures of the real car it’s supposed to be based on, but I just love the way this thing looks. The last image is for Ryan, and you’ve got to look to the back of the cabinet to see it- The “Riviera ” gift set by Corgi, featuring a ’63 or ’64 Buick Riviera, with a boat and trailer. I have no idea what the toys look like, but what a cool playset idea, and the swinging 60s box illustration is killer.

sayonara for now…