Handbuilt Kawabatakikaku J43 Toyota Crown

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I've always been a fan of these hand built J43 models from Japan.  I looking at them because of its beauty knowing that these diecast are works of art.  This model was hand built in Japan and it does carry a premium price for a 1:43 model.  I do have some BBRs and the detail of these cars are awesome but the sparse detailing of this Kawabatakikaku makes it more special.  Sometimes less is more.  One more thing I love about this model is the weight, for me it seems to weigh as much as a small 1:18 cars with the weight packed in such a small scale.  The only plastic component in the construction is the windshield.  The rubber too is the other non metal component of the car.


My cyber friends, check out my J-43 Kawabatakikaku Toyota Crown.

Thanks for checking out my blog, I hope you can share my link to your site too.


Comments and feedbacks are always appreciated.


Brian

Kawabatakikaku and Diapet Yonezawa and a GAMA Merc

This is the end of my 5 day trip around Asia and CNMI islands and before I fly home tonight, I decided to get the vintage toys I saw in Nagoya 4 days ago. I bought the Kawabatakikaku Toyopet Masterline( handcrafted ANTIMONY diecast, made in Japan) and a Diapet Yonezawa Japan 240Z in an unusual 1:30 scale.

My car will be whisking me to the airport in 45 mins so further stories regarding these cars will be on a new post in the coming days.

However these are hasty pics i took and I hope you guys like it!

1962 TOYOPET MASTERLINE KAWABATAKIKAKU, Made in Japan

A few days ago in Manila, I showed this very beautiful made in Japan Toyopet Masterline in 1:43 to Manila's resident diecast expert, Atty. Frank Kho. He got wowed by the craftsmanship of this particular model and he also hinted that the model might be a WHITE METAL model. Upon further inspection, he noticed that everything was made out of metal including the seats and interior.

I love this model so much and I have to bring this car back to Japan, where it was made and stage a photoshoot in Narita. This is the story of the heavyweight Toyopet Masterline of KAWABATAKIKAKU.

Kawabatakikaku J-43, Toyota Crown 1974, Made in Japan

This is one of my latest Kawabatakikaku in very beautiful deep shine black. Still the same heavyweight 1:43 die-cast. I bought this car a month ago and I brought this car to Japan twice for a nice photoshoot but for some reason, the rains won't go away. TSA (xray airport guys) has been unkind to this die-cast because everytime my bag passes through the X-ray machine, my bags need a special screening due to the very solid metal mass in my bag. They find it amusing when they find out that it is a "toy". I just ask them to be very careful when handling my J-43 and they just stare at me like saying "it's just a toy". The guys think am nuts but hey, this baby is getting hard to find.

Here are some pics I took a few hours ago before I leave for Tokyo again later at 8 am. More hauls later.

Thanks for visiting! comments are well appreciated.

Vintage Volkswagen Karmann Ghia 1300 by Century/AMR/Danhausen

I love collecting Volkswagens but the casting of the VW Beetle is dime a dozen, all diecast manufacturers are sure to have their own rendition of the very lovable VW.  I have a good collection of vintage and classic VW Beetles but I have always wanted to get a Karmann Ghia casting.  I always try to get the rare items and I try to build my collection little by little by getting only the diecast that I really like.  The things I like are the rare, vintage and a bit hard to find.   I told myself before that if I concentrate on the vintage ones, i will only buy something like one or two diecast a month because of the rarity and the premium price these diecast commands.   I was wrong.  Here I am concentrating on vintage items and still buying something like 6 to 8 pieces a month.  I do not do ebay and I buy all my toys in Japan.  Sometimes the toys in EBAY are cheaper but I still prefer to hold, caress and bring home the item right away.  I cannot stand the wait of a package to arrive from another part of the world, the suspense would kill me!


Now, back to my recent treasure find, a very desirable, hard to find CENTURY VOLKSWAGEN KARMANN GHIA 1300.    I saw this box in one of my favorite hobby shop in Japan and I was curious on what was inside.  I asked the salesperson and he told me that the item is a very heavy 1:43 diecast, the same league as KAWABATAKIKAKU  models that I also love.  The Century model I got was quite unique, The casting was made in France by AMR Paris and then was shipped to Germany for assembly and detailing.   Hand made and hand assembled diecast is very special to me.  Most toys are made by machines but this beautifully crafted Karmann Ghia started as a block of metal in Paris and ended up as a beautiful handmade item finished in Germany.    This beautiful piece of work ended in Japan and probably stayed in a Japanese home for a while and now, this car is in Manila, where it will stay  with me for a long time( or with a very serious VW collector).


Enough with my story, here is the real deal.  My CENTURY VOLKSWAGEN KARMANN GHIA 1300 in 43 scale.  (PS:  the wipers are not yet attached to the model)

Andre-Marie Ruf (AMR)  in action

Coming soon in Diecast Japan!

Comments are always welcome!   Thank you to all my friends all over the world!

Brian Vespa

VESPA and family touring Japan!

I haven't updated my blog yet because I am a bit busy lately. I am still here in Tokyo and I brought my family for a 4 day visit here. I have a 4 day trip in tokyo and I decided to bring my girls with me since my trip is not really a busy one.

Any new rare model cars? of course! When we went to Disneyland, that triggered a detour to some fancy vintage diecast store and I bagged a very rare 1:28 Eidai Grip Mitsubishi Galant Lambda 2 door version. The car is mint in near mint box. One Kawabatakikaku and an Iado Nissan. Both are 1:43 in the very beautiful white metal.

Pictures of the car in a while and i'll just post my vacation with my family first. Work with a mini vacation and my girls flying with me completed this memorable trip. Tomorrow night we fly home to Manila.

This are some pictures I took this noon with my girls.

Enjoy!