Three key traits of rare Tomica models and the shocking price of the pure-gold edition

The Tomica cars sleeping in your parents’ house or in your closet might actually be treasures — ?

Tomica, the beloved national mini-car brand, is celebrating its 55th anniversary in 2025. Since its launch in 1970, its overwhelming variety and long history have made it highly popular today as a collectible item for adults.

Yoshio Ichinose, editor of the Tomica 55th Anniversary Book Tomica: The Ultimate Collection 1970–2025, explains — with plenty of photographs — how to identify valuable Tomica models, uncover collector-coveted rare items, and even find the legendary pure gold Tomica.

Classic Tomica models come with a rich lineup of treasure-worthy items

The year 2025 marks the 55th anniversary of Tomica, the mini-car brand that has established a firm position in the toy world. Beloved for more than half a century as a classic children’s toy, Tomica began in 1970 with just six models.

Tomica was born at a time when motorization in Japan was beginning to take hold—when privately owned cars were no longer special luxuries but were becoming part of everyday life. Its convenient size and affordable price quickly won widespread popularity.

Before Tomica, most mini-cars in Japan were made of tin and were relatively large. The first domestically produced die-cast mini-cars—made by pouring molten metal into molds for mass production—had just begun to appear, and they were built at larger scales of 1/30 or 1/40, perhaps with the idea that children would play with them by rolling them around individually.

Then, in 1970, Tomica was released in a compact 1/60 scale—a groundbreaking and ambitious move for Japanese mini-cars at the time. This bold innovation became a major success, and over the 55 years since, Tomica has grown into a product line of roughly 1,200 models with total sales exceeding 700 million units.

A must-see! How to identify highly rare Tomica models

Tomica is still being sold today, but with 55 years having passed since its debut, certain models have become especially rare and highly sought after. Just like other collectible items, older Tomica models, those produced in small quantities, and special-order Tomica — non-retail or limited-edition models made at the request of companies for promotional purposes — can be extremely valuable.

Here are just a few examples of popular and rare Tomica models. You might even find that you once played with some of these as novelty items when you were a child.

1) Identify old Tomica by the package!

Let’s start with how to spot older Tomica models.

Tomica packaging has changed from the time of its release to the present day. From the initial release until around 1983, the packages featured vehicle illustrations on a black background (commonly called the “black box”). In addition, from the beginning until around 1986, a foreign-car series was sold featuring national flags of the manufacturing countries printed on the box (known as the “blue box”). After that, the packaging transitioned to the still-current style with vehicle illustrations on a white background (called the “red box”).

Even within the red-box Tomica line that continues today, there is a chronological progression. In the earliest versions, the word “Tomica” appeared in white letters, with “Made in Japan” printed underneath, and the “TOMY” logo was rounded-corner and red. Later, the design remained similar but the “Made in Japan” text was removed. After that, the “TOMY” logo changed to blue, which is the style still used today. During each packaging update, old and new designs were often sold together.

Among collectors, the general order of popularity—based on the sequence in which they were produced—is: Black box > Blue box > Red box with “Made in Japan” > Red-box TOMY (red logo) > Red-box TOMY (blue logo). Of course, production quantity also affects popularity, so this ranking is only an approximate guideline.

2) The extremely rare Hong Kong–made Tomica, produced in small quantities

Next is how to identify models produced in very limited numbers—those with especially high rarity.

A well-known example (among regular retail Tomica models) is what collectors call the “Hong Kong Tomica.”

In the early years of Tomica, domestic production could not keep up with demand, and beginning in 1971, about six models were manufactured in Hong Kong. Production there soon ended, making these Hong Kong-made Tomica models extremely rare and highly valued.

The most famous among them is Tomica No. 30, “Colt Galant GTO,” released in 1972.

In addition, there are small-lot color-variant models among standard releases, such as the white version of Tomica No. 32 “Toyota New Crown.”

3) The world of special-order / not-for-sale Tomica

Finally, let’s look at non-retail (special-order) and limited-edition Tomica models.

From the early years of Tomica’s history, companies placed orders for novelty Tomica models. Customers included taxi companies, department stores, TV stations, and many others. Some were distributed as promotional giveaways, while others were sold only at specific events—resulting in a wide variety of special editions.

One highly sought-after special-order Tomica that is now difficult to obtain is the “Toyota New Crown Taxi” (Japan Taxi Co. special-order Tomica).

Other examples include the “Skyline 2000GT” (Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance special-order Tomica) and the “Nissan Gloria Van” (Tokyo Gas Ebara Service Office special-order Tomica).

A shocking price of 1,000,000 yen! The pure gold Tomica

Among limited-edition Tomica models, one of the most famous is the “Pure Gold Tomica,” released in 2000.

The price of gold now (October 2025) exceeds 20,000 yen per gram, but when the “Pure Gold Tomica” was released, gold cost only about 1,000 yen per gram.

The special presentation box contained the Tomica model and its stand, with a total of roughly 300 grams of pure gold. It was sold for 1,000,000 yen. Only 100 units were produced. Of the 1,000,000 yen price tag, about 300,000 yen reflected the value of the gold itself, while the remaining 700,000 yen was the premium price attributed to its status as a Tomica collector’s item, including the special box. If it were produced today, the gold alone would be worth more than 6,000,000 yen, making it an extremely high-value item.

Platinum, lacquer unbelievably rare non-retail Tomica

Finally, here are some extremely rare Tomica models that cannot be purchased but are worth introducing.

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Tomica in 2010, Takara Tomy produced a platinum Tomica model, the “Nissan Fairlady Z 432,” as well as lacquer-finished Tomica models: “Nissan Fairlady Z (Z34)” and “Nissan Fairlady Z (Z432).”

The platinum Tomica even had a platinum package, weighing about 35 times more than a standard Tomica box. These extraordinarily rare platinum and lacquer Tomica models are sometimes displayed at Tomica events, so it may be possible to see them in person.

If you were a child who loved cars, you probably have memories of playing with Tomica at least once. Amid the rapidly changing world of children’s toys, Tomica has continued to be loved, and its 55 years—long yet fleeting—have passed.

From here on, Tomica will no doubt continue to evolve both as a beloved toy for children and as a collectible item cherished by adults.

The content of this article is based on original reporting by Yoshio Ichinose.

“Tomica: The Ultimate Collection 1970–2025”
Released in 1970, Tomica celebrates its 55th anniversary in 2025. This volume features over 1,200 Tomica models released to date. In addition to the classic front-three-quarter photographs, it includes exclusive rear-three-quarter images, as well as images of each model’s package (box). A definitive collection you can fully immerse yourself in.