Often considered a toy as its size is that of a classic old Hotwheels or Matchbox car. Those of us that collect 1:64th do so for a good reason : space! I collect 1:18th scale model cars but when you approach a collection size of a few dozen cars, these always require a lot space. 1:64th models have a huge range of choice of cars and model manufacturers, lets go over just a few:
Hot Wheels
Hotwheels are considered very collectable and have some franchises that they use, like fast & furious, Marvel, Star Wars to name a few. Hot Wheels also do their own series like Japan Historics, Street Sliders, Team Transport, Hollywood Boulevard.. the list goes on. they have a massive choice and do a few levels of diecast in terms of price, you should expect to pay a few quid to 10 pounds and upwards and always shop around as some eBay prices can be a little rich and these cars could be in your local toy shop or supermarket for a lot less. shop around that’s my advice. They do some decent castings.
Tarmac Works
Tarmac works are a company that do both 1:18th scale resin and 1:64th diecast cars, presented in either a hard plastic display case with a carboard outer or a quirky container, they are well presented models with a good range of choice. For me they do some nice Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution models, many more available than just those so choice isn’t a really problem. Price wise I’ve paid between £14-£18 per model and for that you do get a very nice model which can be displayed and stacked in its display case packaging.
Inno64
Much like Tarmac works , Inno64 have a huge range and very interesting cars available, they do repeat the casting in multiple liveries and colours but that does add to the choice available. They are packaged in a solid display case style which seems to be uniform across the range which makes them stackable and easy to display without taking them out the box. Sometimes Inno64 will include little extras in the models, which can be a set of wheels to change out and decals to customise your model.
They cover Drift cars, road cars, Pandem cars, Need for Speed cars and much more, mostly Japanese but I have seen other makes. These Tarmac Works models are very nice models and some times some come up with some surprising and interesting ideas!
Tomica / Tomytec / Vintage Neo
Tomica is a established Japanese toy maker. These models come in cardboard boxes, which gives the impression that they might be bought in vending machines. Tomica Do 3 distinct types, the basic toy car which will vary in scale from 1:55 to 1:64 scale and further down, then the Premium version which is I believe still a toy but has a better finish and cast with some models having opening features, sometimes a little hit and miss in terms of end quality but the better ones being the models without opening doors (in my opinion).
The last version is the Vintage Neo Range, these are exceptional models always sealed diecast which come in a carboard box with nicely drawn artwork style, pricing varies from £20 upwards. You will experience very fine attention to detail and they do only normally depict a certain age of car , which is maybe why it bears Vintage in the title, so when a car reaches ‘vintage age’ they release it as a model. Expect to see some cult cars in this series, skyline, RX7, 180SX, Mitsubishi Evo 3-6, NSX, Galant, Crowns and many more historic cars from the Japanese Era. They also do large trucks, buses and trailered vehicles, some of them as much as £160 upwards in price, however they still are in 1:64th scale which means they are a larger item than the cars, sometimes a lot larger.
Mini GT
Mini GT have a nice line of entry level diecast, wrapped in a long rectangular box with MiniGT branding quite visible on the box, these models typically cost around £15 and are good value for money with an ever expanding range of makes coming out.
There is certainly something there for most model collectors. Your typical race and road cars (a lot of LBWK cars) are well covered by MiniGT, European and Japanese cars mostly dominating their range. Good models at a great price.
Honourable mentions
These are the makes I have yet to see in my hands, but they are all worth a mention and I would like to see at least one of each make so I can see for myself how they fit in with the rest on the makes out there.
Matchbox, Kyosho, Ignition Models, Hobby Japan, BM Creations, Greenlight, Mijo and probably many more I haven’t heard of. AutoArt and Kyosho used to make 1:64th they are also worth tracking down.
I hope you find this small guide useful when deciding on which makes you are interested in buying. Remember you should always make a solid plan for collecting as with any habit it can get out of control easily and budget is very important too. See me upcoming post on why it is important to make a plan and why you should try and stick to it.
Did you like this post? if so leave a comment. Thanks for your time and I look forward to writing my next post