The Tomica Brand Store in Suria KLCC that was first launched six months ago has been expanded somewhat. Now, it is also a permanent Tomica Factory location. As the store itself was the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, so is the Factory part of it. In fact, it is the first permanent Tomica Factory outside in Japan, never mind in Southeast Asia.
So what is a Tomica Factory anyway? The easy answer is that it’s where you go to assemble your custom die-cast car. Though unfortunately, it sounds a lot fancier than it actually is. This is because all you really get to pick is the colour of your car body and the interior. Colour aside, all three look virtually identical, so you can’t, say, make a custom Nissan GTR with a red body and a blue interior. That may change with future special events, but otherwise all you get is a pretty generic nondescript model.
The process begins with you picking out the colours for the aforementioned body and interior. Then a staffer rivets them, alongside its windows and the chassis, into one. You can’t pick the colour for those, but then again, there’s little reason to, since they won’t be visible at a glance anyway. Once the custom car has been put together, the staffer rolls it down a small slope to ensure it works properly before packing it up and passing it to you.
A rep said during the launch of the Tomica Factory that you don’t have to purchase anything else from the Brand Store to be able to experience the putting together of your custom vehicle. Though chances are, if you know of the brand, you’re probably here to pick something up, and the Factory experience is a bonus. As an added bonus, you won’t have to go all the way to Tokyo or Osaka for it either.
Photography by Ian Chee, Heirul Kamel.
