My 3-year-old son loves cars. Period. And I've been a fan of Tomica ever since I stumbled across them on Ebay months ago because they are durable diecast Matchbox sized cars, and most of them have an interactive feature of some kind. As with almost all of the Tomica vehicles sold on Amazon, this shipped from Japan, so it will take a while to arrive, but when it came, all four cars were well packaged in package wrapping paper in their original box with no damage. Like I said, each car is about the size of my son's biggest Matchbox car, and like many of the other Tomica vehicles, one of trucks--the sambar truck--has an action feature while the other three are stationary. To begin with, the fruit cart is colorful and adorable. Each side displays three different fruits under a canopy; very cute, and my son, who owns over 100 Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars, owns nothing else like it already. The hamburger car is just plain adorable, brightly colored and very detailed. The fish car is another unique addition to his collection, and it's fun to line up these three cars to pretend to play "market". Of course, the best car of the bunch is the sambar car, which pops open on one side to reveal a food truck, completely with menu inside (all Japanese of course) and hanging lanterns and pennants. Super cute! To put the canopy away, you have to pull down the little gray flap at the bottom of the open area to allow the lantern to tuck back in. The truck cabins are all diecast while the truck beds are all plastic. It's a good combination that feels sturdy and well-crafted to allow infinite hours of imaginative play. No squeaky wheels or broken parts. Sure, these cars are more expensive than the US brands, but that price difference also comes with a difference in detail and interactivity. To me and my son, they are more than worth it. The free shipping is the best incentive of all. Overall, I will continue to buy from Tomica because even though it's a higher price and an import, their products are high quality, durable, and way more interactive that the popular US brands.
