Just Unveiled: Hot Wheels Datsun 510 Wagon Super Treasure Hunt and Mainline...

Thanks to our friends at Speedhunters and Mattel Designer Jun Imai, the biggest news for Hot Wheels JDM fans is finally out of the bag.

Rumors have been swirling about a Datsun 510 Wagon Super Treasure Hunt, and now we can finally confirm it is coming.  Speedhunters asked Jun to give a retrospective of his first 10 years at Mattel, and he delivered a doozy.  No need for us to rehash.  Just read the article and drool over the pics:

A Decade of Design: Jun Imai's Hot Wheels Favorites

The Datsun as a mainline will already be a very hot model, so we here at Lamley figure the Super TH will be white hot.  The model is based on Jun's own 510 Wagon, only in red.  (The Boulevard is closer to the green he used.)

And on top of that, Jun gives a shoutout to some of his (and our) favorite Japanese car enthusiasts, namely Japanese Nostalgic Car, Speedhunters, JCCS, and our Utah compatriots JDM Legends.  This, friends, is an epic model.

Anyone excited?

The Cars of Kmart, Part 3: The ever-popular Datsun 620 in blue...

The reports from California were all the same:

Good luck finding the blue 620.  Frenzied collectors gobbled them up quickly at Saturday's event, and there is not a one left at any Kmarts.

Reports from elsewhere were a little more tame, but there is no doubt the blue Japanese pickup with the JNC inkan on the rear has been a very popular model.

And it should be.  We have already spoken to the fantastic casting it is.  Not too high, not too low, relatively stock with a snazzy chin spoiler, with that pleasing embossed tailgate.  One of Jun Imai's best.  On top of that, the blue trumps the previous version in orange.  The silver over black tampos are more defined, and the white lettering on the tailgate stands out a bit more than the black on the orange.

So do the math.  Popular casting + good looking design + limited release, multiplied by the fact that JNC warned its readers to hit the event if they wanted any chance to get it = a very popular model.

So if you passed on a couple at your local event, you may want to go back and get them.  You don't want to miss out on this one, and it's not coming back.

Of course, there is always ebay.  The best time to get one is now, while the listings are saturated with the 620.  Once the supply dries up, the price will surely rise...


Hot Wheels Datsun 620 (2014 Kmart Exclusive):

Model of the Day: Kyosho Beads Nissan Skyline GT-R (KPGC110) Racing...

Maybe this is the ultimate JDM fantasy car.  The C110 Skyline GT-R that really never was.

This car's history is well known.  The GT-R version of the Kenmeri Skyline was introduced in 1973, with plans for it to follow the C10 Skyline GT-R as one of Japan's great racers.  But due to new emissions regulations it never happened.  Only 197 were made, and the car never raced.

So there exists no C110 GT-R in any official racing livery.  So the closest you get is this:

This is the 1972 Tokyo Motor Show display model.  Never raced, hardly driven, and now part of the Nissan Heritage Collection.  It is a gorgeous car.  Green, gold, sitting on gold Watanabes.  And even though it is a never-raced show car, you see variations of it everywhere, at least when the Skyline is in the conversation.  For example, the winning entry by Lamley friend Lance Pan in the Japanese Nostalgic Car Kenmeri art contest:

So what we need is a perfect diecast replica.  And we have one.  There may be a day we will see the Hot Wheels Kenmeri sport this livery (we suggest a Super so Hot Wheels can put their Watanabe-like real riders on it), but that is not it.

Tomica did one:

It is green.  It does have a "73" racing livery.  The rims are Wat-like.  This would be a nice replica to at least remind you of the GT-R.  Nice, but then you put it next to this:

Say hello to what I could argue is the center of the Lamley diecast collection: The Kyosho Beads C110 Skyline GT-R.  Kyosho, after already making some of the best 1:64 models around, felt they needed a premium line, so they made the Beads line.  And this is the gem.  It is f*#%ing perfect.  PERFECT!

And it took a bit to get one.  While we easily could have missed one, we have never seen the Beads GT-R on ebay (although there are some great Beads models).  I had to get one via Japan.  A very good friend was able to acquire it and send to me.  Now it sits next to the Matchbox Ambassador Bus on the very special shelf.

I will be honest.  I just want to show this off.  Enjoy...


Kyosho Beads Nissan Skyline GT-R (KPGC110) Racing: