Source for bulk vehicles?

[velotrain]

Are there any sources to get a lot of reasonable quality vehicles at a reasonable price?

The only option I see at the major dealers is Tomytec Car Collections at $3-4 per vehicle.

 

I'm not interested in a bag from China of 50 identical cars crudely painted in horrid colors - based on offerings I've seen for figures in larger scales.

 

I'm hoping (perhaps against hope) that there might be some middle ground?

I don't necessarily insist on proto Japanese cars - anything small and vaguely Asian will work for me.

Are any of the other Asian countries, such as India, producing anything in the model railroad field?

 

I have one of the Aoshima garages, but plan to present it as newly constructed (which also explains the lack of weathering), and not yet open for business.  This gives me the large and interesting structure, without needing to spend a fortune on Japanese cars.

[katoftw]

I cannot help you in your search.  But I have found the same thing.  Cheapies from China that look like my 1yo painted them or Tomytec $4 per car options.  For 2 years I've searched and haven't found middle ground.

 

To my surprize, Tomytec aren't even the most expensive option.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

The only thing I can think of is trawling places like Ebay...you can pick up some bargains - especially people selling bulk. I picked up about 20 vehicles (mainly Tomytec minibuses) for £35.00 - $53.00 - so there are some decent prices out there, especially if they are not in A1 condition; glued wheels, minor damage...all of which can be disguised or easily remedied.

[cteno4]

Velotrain,

 

If you get the full collections of 24 cars from the usual sources it down to about $2.50 per car, but usually only one or two of the latest collections available. Check to see if Nariichi or Dave can find any older collections at reasonable prices for you. The 4 packs work out to more like $3-4 ea unfortunately and the selection is thin...

 

The Chinese architectural cars started out pretty good years ago, but it looks like they have pushed the moulds wayyyy past thier lifespans now and lots of flashing that gets painted and then can really mess up the detail painting. Over the years I've picked up new batches and it's been a steady decline. Still decent for plus 2' or so scenes or to fill out a parking structure where the views are very obscured, but current quality is not up to anywhere you see them closely. They are easy to pop apart and repaint. I tried a few and is was pretty quick to do.

 

Ddf was importing these for a while and I had hopes they would get new moulds and spend a bit more on detailing, but they were not around long and I suspect they were sub par and upset Japanese customers expecting something cleaner. I'll check with one of our members who actually got 50 of them, but I think they were only comparable to the early generation ones from China.

 

Tomy tec are the best bang for the buck in quality, detailing, and selection compared to us and euro car makers. Like Claud mentioned I've picked up some batches of tomytec vehicles at times for like half price in excellent shape, but that's with long lurking times...

 

Cheers

 

Jeff