Land of the Rising Sun-day, Tomica Time, returns again. Today we take a look at Tomica 23-3, the Toyota Sprinter Carib. This casting entered the range in June 1983, remaining in a long run until October 1990, and is something of its era:
The Sprinter Carib of this style was sold in the NA market as the Tercel in model years 1983-87, and those of us in snowy or outdoorsy areas remember them well - I recall these cars were a common sight back in the day in the PNW, and I recall a grade school teacher who had one. The 4WD feature was something of a novelty, and some had a real use for it, as other options were limited and few could approach period Toyota reliability. The paint scheme on this was never offered in this market, our variants were often in various single and two tones that Tomica also offered on this casting. This model contains the crisp glazing and springy suspension we enjoy in vintage Tomica - along with a detailed interior, but instead of snappy door action, we get an opening rear hatch. Scale is claimed to be 1:61, likely accurate, and effectively the standard of small scale. From all angles, one can imagine this boxy little wagon out on the ski slopes or on a country road:
Front and rear have ample detail, the headlight lenses being a touch I have always appreciated:
The base is metal, which adds heft and contains technical and identifying detail:
The opening rear (does not stay fully open on its own):
This model is lucky enough to live in its nice original box:
I'm more than happy to have this model in my collection and I also have it in a couple two tone variants:
Images of a similar 1:1s in period literature from tumblr and en.japanclassic.ru :
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