At Tokyo Disneyland, I Found a New Collecting Obsession
Tomica makes mini versions of Disney ride vehicles, and they are incredibly awesome.
We have too much Disney stuff. In our home, one entire room is specifically dedicated to Disney posters and memorabilia. In other rooms, we have shelves dedicated to Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, Robin Hood, Toy Story, and more. It's too much. And so, when finally making that bucket list trip to Japan to visit Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea we knew we had to take it easy with the buying.
But then I saw it.
Leaving DisneySea's Indiana Jones ride (which is just like the Disneyland ride, except Crystal Skull themed), I noticed they were selling a tiny, Matchbox-sized replica of the ride vehicle. I had to have it. It was small, themed to something I love, and hyper-specific. That was the key. This wasn't just some Indiana Jones-themed shirt, it was the ride vehicle from this ride. I scooped it up.
A few rides later, I realized the amazing Frozen ride I just exited also had a mini-ride vehicle. And the Peter Pan ride. And at the end of the day, I was carrying eight new ride vehicles in my backpack. The next day, at Tokyo Disneyland, the buying continued, and by the end of our trip, I'd purchased 12 vehicles, at a cost of about $15 apiece.
(On the top level, you've got, from left to right, Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones and Beauty and the Beast, Frozen and Peter Pan, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Jungle Cruise. On the bottom, you've got Soarin', the resort Monorail and Aquatopia, Happy Ride with Baymax, and Toy Story Mania.)
The vehicles are made by a company called Tomica and they've been teaming up with Disney since, according to Wiki, 2001. So it's not like I'm the first person to discover these. They've been around for literal decades. But the size, exclusively, and specificity just spoke to me. Plus, because of their size, I knew that I could pretty easily find places for them to display in our very, very Disney-filled home.
But I had to set limits. An important part of my buying was being selective. I wasn't buying everything. I was buying vehicles for rides I actually rode and really liked. And while I certainly bought a lot, in one of the stores at Tokyo Disneyland, there was a display with what appeared to be every vehicle currently available. There were way more than 12.
You may notice one famous ride vehicle that's not in there: the Starcruiser from Star Tours. When I started buying these, one of my first thoughts was, 'Is there one for Star Tours?' I then checked all around the ride and park but no, there wasn't. At least not now. I later found out there were out-of-print vehicles for Star Tours that, maybe, I'd purchase at a later date.
But, that later date almost happened much sooner. Later on our Japan trip, I found myself in a geek mecca called Nakano Broadway. A few minutes outside of Tokyo, this four-story mall is filled with all manner of geek merchandise and you could spend days getting lost in its stores. At one point, I walked into a store and saw what I believed was the Star Tours ride vehicle I was after. This one looked a little different, though, and had a sign next to it that said something about '330.' I asked the employee for more information.
Turns out, this particular piece wasn't 330 yen, nor was it 3300 yen. It was 330,000 yen, the U.S. equivalent to about $2,300. According to a translation of the sign, it was some discontinued version of the vehicle and, clearly, very rare and valuable. 'Do you still want it?' she asked. The answer, of course, was yes, but I couldn't afford it, so I said 'No, thank you.' She then took the sign and wrote on it, making it clearer what the piece cost.
That was the moment, though. In the two minutes before realizing how expensive that piece was, but also knowing it was going to be more expensive than the ones in the park, I was ready. If it had been $200 or something, I would've pulled the trigger. I was on vacation! I wanted Star Tours for my collection! Of course, I didn't buy it, but I did realize I had officially added mini ride vehicles to my long list of collecting obsessions.
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