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Posted
Oct 07 2008, 03:32 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 3 comment(s)
I don't think it's much of a stretch to say the Japan has the best convince stores in the world. Whether it's freshly made onigiri rice balls, bento lunches, or the latest issue of your favorite magazine, the conbini have everything you could want. They also have a nice selection of toys that come packaged randomly in small boxes that include everything from WWII fighter planes and motorcycles to alien monsters. I always have to take a look at these things when i drop by the neighborhood Seven Eleven, and the other day I came across something I couldn't live without, the 1/64 scale "Granchan Collection" from Aoshima....
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Posted
Sep 17 2008, 11:50 AM
by
Andy Blackmore
with 21 comment(s)
The Racing Poster dates back to the early 1900's when race organisers publicized their forthcoming events on large billboards. This was very popular in mainland Europe. The posters were often graphical masterpieces showing a stylized sense of speed in the form of an illustration. German designer Erich Strenger was approached by Porsche at the beginning of 1950's to assist with producing brochures and posters. Porsche Marketing department commissioned Strenger to produce a number of race posters...
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Posted
Aug 13 2008, 03:00 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 10 comment(s)
Some of our long term readers will know that I'm a big fan of late '70s/early '80s Group 5 and IMSA GTX cars. These are some of the most extreme production based cars that ever raced and for me their crazy bodywork and massive power really sparks the imagination. They are one of the main reasons I'm such a car nut these days. A few months ago, we ran a feature on Group 5 cars at Le Mans and some Speedhunters readers pointed out that the famous Japanese tuning house, Jun ran an RX7...
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Posted
Aug 11 2008, 06:23 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 10 comment(s)
While family duties unfortunately kept me from joining Rod and Antonio at Ebisu Circuit for the Summer Drift Festival this weekend, I did find a little bit of time to slip away and check out the latest round of the Yokomo Drift Meeting at Yatabe Arena here in Tsukuba. Besides the actual RC drifting at the Yokomo Drift Meeting, the number of real cars on display always makes the event worth seeing. Although this was not my first time attending one of these events, I am still amazed and just how big they are. Some of the entrants came to Yatabe from as far away as Niigata and Osaka just to compete in the competition....
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Posted
Jul 14 2008, 03:26 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 10 comment(s)
Due to the fact that it's expensive or not sold where you live, chances are you probably aren't in a position to own the Mugen Civic RR which is based on the popular FD2 Civic Type R. However, you might be able to afford this handsome new wall print that Mugen has released though. Not only does it have detailed cut-away artwork of the car, it even includes a special aluminum picture frame. Like most Mugen products, it isn't cheap at roughly $380USD. You can bet the quality is there though. It's also quite large at about 33" wide.Hey If you don't feel like buying the real painting at least you can enjoy the JPEG right?...
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Posted
Jun 27 2008, 08:12 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 11 comment(s)
I already did a post about Toyota's Megaweb in Tokyo, but I had to save the best part of Megaweb for last. While Megaweb itself has a lot of cool stuff to see, the History Garage is even better. Megaweb has all the new cars and high tech things, but the History Garage is where you will find all the cool classic cars and vintage racing machines. It's the car geek's section of Megaweb, if you will......
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Posted
Jun 24 2008, 05:00 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 12 comment(s)
I guess I live in a pretty good part of Japan. Rent is cheap, Tokyo is less than an hour away, and there are plenty of car-related things to see and do. Besides the nearby Tsukuba Circuit and Mt. Tsukuba's mountain roads, Tsukuba city is also home to the Yatabe Arena AKA the capital of radio control drifting. Now I am far from knowledgeable about RC cars and my only exposure to RC drifting has been demos at real drift events, but I wanted to know a little more about this growing hobby......
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Posted
Jun 13 2008, 09:45 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 5 comment(s)
Kyosho has really been stepping up their Mini-Z line recently. I remember when I bought an AE86 Mini-Z like six years ago and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Now Kyosho has released a pair of of Mini-Z AE86 bodies that are very accurate representations of AE86's that appear stateside in Formula D competition, and one of them Taka Aono's car painted in the classic Falken livery......
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Posted
Jun 03 2008, 10:42 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with no comments
With all the hype surrounding the new Dodge Challenger, it's the perfect time to enjoy some retro Mopar coolness. I saw this new '69 Dodge Superbee resin model from Bent Rod Garage on Jae Bueno's blog and I thought it was one of the coolest collectables I have seen in a long time. The models are inspired by the famous Dodge "Scat Pack" advertising from the '60s and '70s. I would love to have one of these sitting in my desk. No matter what sort of cars you are into, there's...
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Posted
Jun 03 2008, 10:26 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 1 comment(s)
Besides being home to several different racing courses and the Honda Collection Hall, Honda's Twin Ring Motegi also offers a number of attractions that appeal to car freaks of all ages. The great thing is that they are open not just during big events, but all year round and on weekdays too. This makes Twin Ring Motegi a great place to visit, even if there are no events happening on the actual circuit. We will be doing another feature on the track itself in the future, but for now I wanted to show some of the other things that make a trip to Motegi so interesting. When you think about it, Twin Ring Motegi is actually more like an automotive theme park than a racing circuit alone....
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Posted
May 29 2008, 12:01 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 4 comment(s)
A few months ago, I got something in the mail about a new shopping and entertainment center that was opening in Tokyo's famous Akihabara district. At first I dismissed it as another typical Japanese fashion mall (they are all over the place in Tokyo). But after a closer look, I saw that the new place would include a branch of the Kyosho company's "RC circuit bar" and diecast collectable showroom. Last week, I finally got a chance to go check out the new place for myself and I must...
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Posted
May 29 2008, 10:00 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 4 comment(s)
We just found these great examples of old school Japanese model kits built my member Ajay of the Japanese Nostalgic Car Forums. Maybe it's because I have never been able to build a plastic model without getting my fingers stuck together with glue, but whenever I see well built kits like these, I am overcome with feelings of envy. I always admire the attention to detail that is put into building these kits, and the finished products have a unique style that cannot be found in store-bought die cast vehicles....
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Posted
May 25 2008, 11:50 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 1 comment(s)
Recently, I was browsing a forum when I saw a thread where someone posted a photo of a drift car and asked what kind of front bumper the car had. The funny thing is that the car in question was not a real car, but an RC car. He thought it was a real car until another member pointed out the difference. I guess that goes to show just how detailed RC drift cars are getting these days. Just like real drifting, the appearance of the car plays an important role in the overall impact of the drift, and it...
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Posted
May 23 2008, 01:00 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 3 comment(s)
I was thinking that I had a pretty busy weekend last week, but after hearing Antonio's tales of waking up in three different countries on three consecutive mornings, I guess it wasn't THAT busy. Nonetheless, I did end up packing quite a bit of action into just two days. Friday I spent the day checking out the Tokyo SIS, which you probably just read about here on Speedhunters. After spending the night in a not so large hotel room and a eating a traditional Japanese breakfast of Egg McMuffins...
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Posted
May 22 2008, 01:47 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 5 comment(s)
Isn't this how 99% of us get started into this obsession? From the Speedhunters forum. Tx to SaNTi for the pics.
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Posted
May 22 2008, 05:47 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 1 comment(s)
I remember going to the 2004 LA Auto Show and seeing the Jada toys booth, and being surprised to see that they had an AE86 in full Initial D livery sitting in the middle of their booth. The car was being used to promote Jada'a new line of diecast drift cars. EKhatch, a member of our Speedhunters forums, posted some fantastic photos of some of the original 1:55 scale Jada AE86's. Looking at these brings back a lot of memories for me. At the time, it was pretty rare to see any sort of AE86...
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Posted
May 21 2008, 06:20 AM
by
Jeroen Willemsen
with 1 comment(s)
During the biggest model car show in Japan, the Shizuoka Hobby Show, Tamiya debuted their 1/24 scale model kit Nissan R35. The kit consists of a engine bay and full interior details. You will need to assemble the complete kit, I tried building Tamiya cars before but I just don't have the patience and I always end up with something that doesn't even comes close to what you see in the instructions. I will be waiting for a fully assembled car. Tamiya
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