fall inside a hole
B/O Tomica Vehicles
First written May 2024Expanded September 2024, February 2025, September 2026
Reformatted September 2026
In the mid 1990s Tomy developed battery-powered die-cast and plastic Tomica-style motorized cars that ran on a plastic road system. This series was first called B/O Tomica (B/Oトミカ) from its introduction around 1993 until the end of 1996 when the name was changed to Motor Tomica (モータートミカ), perhaps because Tomy introduced other battery-powered Tomica cars that did not have motors but rather lights, sounds, or similar features and the naming may have been confusing. The B/O Tomica boxes were fully enclosed and fairly similar to the regular Tomica lineup and most production of vehicles and accessories was done in Japan.
B/O Tomica cars were typically powered from the somewhat odd N size battery. Tomy included N size batteries with most sets and individual cars including overseas Tomica World releases. Thomas-series vehicles use AAA batteries, as do the Action Motor Tomica and some later Plaroad vehicles.
B-01 Nissan Fairlady Z (B/O Tomica) (1993)
A red Nissan Fairlady Z was released as B-01 ニッサン フェアレディZ in 1993. Earlier examples from 1993-1994 do not have the black details around the front grill or taillights, and the sides of the doors are also marked 300ZX on the updated version seen here.
The chassis for this car is marked NO.01 as well as Nissan Fairlady Z, B/O Tomica, and made in Japan. This example was produced in January 1996.
A yellow version of the Nissan Fairlady Z was included in the B/O Tomica Drive Set. This one is rather beaten up.
Actually, I've come across two of this yellow car with heavy playwear... I'd like a better condition one, I do like this car. Perhaps I will repaint the worse condition of the two...
Both of these cars were made in September 1993, so they are probably from the same production run of the set. A police car version was also released individually and in a set, with both a standard and patrol car version of the Fairlady Z also appearing in the later Motor Tomica and Tomica World ranges.
In 1998 a red Nissan Fairlady Z that was very similar to the later B/O Tomica Fairlady Z with 300ZX text was sold in a few sets as well as individually as 7475 Sports Car in the export Tomica World range.
B-02 Nissan Fairlady Z Patrol Car (B/O Tomica) (1993)
The Nissan Fairlady Z released in a police patrol car livery as B-02 フェアレディZ パトロールカー. Originally had stickers, often missing them with age as seen here. These earlier B/O Tomica releases have more rectangular lights with a protruding rim while the later Motor Tomica A-13 Fairlady Z Patrol Car has rounded, cylindrical-style red "light" sections. Like the red Fairlady and several other B/O Tomicas, additional painted detail was added around the rear lights around 1995.
This release uses the same chassis as the B-01 Fairlady Z and is thus marked NO.01 like the red Fairlady. B/O Tomica based on the same car tooling often shared a chassis that was marked with the number of their earliest appearance in the range. One of these cars was included in the B/O Tomica Patrol Car Set and both European and America police cars based on the tooling appeared in different Tomica World export sets.
B-03 Toyota Estima (B/O Tomica) (1993)
A blue Toyota Estima was released individually as B-03 トヨタ エスティマ in 1993.
Also in 1993, a red Toyota Estima was released in the B/O Tomica Intersections Set (B/Oトミカ 交差点セット). The B/O Tomica Highway City Set (B/Oトミカ ハイウェイシティセット) included a turquoise Estima.
These releases, like the ambulance version below, all use the same NO.03 Toyota Estima chassis.
B-04 Toyota Estima Ambulance (B/O Tomica) (1993)
Ambulance based on the Estima released as B-04 トヨタ エスティマ救急車. This example has had some battery leakage that has eaten away part of the white paint and stripped the chrome finish off of the headlight insert piece. The front windscreen also has a chip in it.
Like the Fairlady patrol car, earlier B/O Tomica examples have more squared-off lights than the later Motor Tomica versions which had horizontal cylindrical ones. Differently-decorated versions of these (later Motor Tomica style) ambulances were released for Tomica World as 7471 TW-07 Ambulance.
B-05 Toyota Crown Majesta (B/O Tomica) (1993)
Pearly-white Crown Majesta released in 1993 as B-05 トヨタ クラウン マジェスタ.
Earlier examples produced in 1993 and into 1994 do not have red painted details on the front or rear of the car, but later in 1994 (probably when the black variation shown below entered production with these updated details) production of the standard Crown Majesta changed to include them.
In addition to the individual taxi-style release below, the later B-15 Crown Patrol Car also used the Crown Majesta tooling and this rather nice black and silver one was included in the 1995 Plarail crossover Railway Crossing Set.
B-06 Toyota Crown Majesta Taxi (B/O Tomica) (1993)
Yellow taxi-marked Crown Majesta released in 1993 as B-06 トヨタ クラウン マジェスタ タクシー. I quite like the graphics on the side, and the taxi sign on top is a nice touch too.
This being a 1993 example it does not have the red details on the front or taillights, although later production B/O taxis do.
One of the initial Tomica World vehicles was a version of this taxi with TAXI on the side but without the red stripes was released as 7470 Taxi.
B-09 One Man Bus (B/O Tomica) (January 1994)
A white commuter bus with green stripe and nice big translucent windows showing the tooled seats inside was released as B-09 One Man Operated Bus (B-09 ワンマンバス) in January 1994. Later in the year a zoo animal decorated version of the bus was released individually as B-14 Amusement Park Bus.
The chassis tooling includes the front headlights.
This bus tooling was also used in several set variants including different amusement park or commuter busses for the B/O Tomica New Town Station Set and its variations, both the later Japanese and export Tomica World sets. A variation of the zoo animal bus also appeared as TW-03 in the Tomica World 7421 Large Set.
B-10 Ice Cream Freezer Truck (January 1994)
Another new vehicle released towards the start of 1994 was the B-20 Ice Cream Freezer Truck (アイスクリーム冷凍車), with a few different variations also released generally under the same number.
In 1995 a McDonald's licensed van was released still using the B-10 designation as McDonald's Panel Van, with Ronald McDonald and golden arches stickers adorning the container section.
This truck is on a mismatched later Motor Tomica chassis that is marked A-04 Atlas Panel Van, the later Motor Tomica iteration of the box truck. There was also a later motorized McDonald's van in the Motor Tomica range with different stickers.
B-11 Mitsubishi Pajero (B/O Tomica) (January 1994)
In early 1994 Tomy released a silver striped Pajero as B-11 Mitsubishi Pajero (三菱パジェロ).
This neat red and silver set variant from the 1994 B/O Tomica Basic Set (B/Oトミカベーシックセット) has unfortunately been eaten away inside by a leaking battery.
Although the top of the chassis is the standard black, the bottom of the chassis is actually dark blue.
B-13 Mitsubishi Pajero Highway Public Co. Patrol Car (B/O Tomica) (1994)
The original B/O Tomica Pajero was released in early 1994, with this Highway Public Co. Patrol Car (B-13 三菱 パジェロ 道路公団パトロールカー) appearing alongside the Pajero Fire Chief, both sharing the B-13 designation, in later 1994.
The bottom of the chassis is dark blue. A version with different side details was released as 7573 TW-15 Breakdown Van for the Tomica World range.
B-14 Amusement Park Bus (B/O Tomica) (1994)
A white commuter bus with circus animal graphics based on the B-09 One Man Bus was released as B-14 Amusement Park Bus (B-14 遊園地バス) in 1994. This one has a sun-baked gradient on the roof, revealing it as plastic.
A variation of the zoo animal bus also appeared as TW-03 Zoo Bus in the Tomica World 7421 Large Set, with different graphics.
B-17 Nissan Skyline GTR (B/O Tomica) (August 1995)
In August 1995 a silver Nissan Skyline was released individually as B-17 ニッサン スカイライン GTR.
B-18 Crane Truck (B/O Tomica) (August 1995)
In August 1995 the B-18 Crane Truck (B-18 クレーン車) was released. This neat yellow truck has an extending boom arm and a small hook.
The chassis is based on the B-07 Ladder Fire Engine tooling, and is still marked No. 07. The name portion of the tooling has been blanked out - this is also present on ladder fire engines from this point onwards. It was exported as the 7479 Crane Truck and was also included in the 7423 Super Deluxe Set.
Because of the shared chassis, the later production ladder trucks also have the original text marked out. This one is missing its ladder...
B-20 Honda CR-V (B/O Tomica) (1996)
Fairly late in the original Battery/Operated Tomica run a blue Honda CR-V was introduced as B-20 ホンダ CR-V. It has a neat slanted CR-V graphic on the side and even has the CR-V tire cover. I must admit that I really like this B/O Tomica, but I am somewhat biased because my first car was a fairly similar looking Honda CR-V - mine didn't have red rims or the CR-V graphics on the sides.
These were some of the later Japanese-production Battery Operated Tomica cars. The power switch color on Motor Tomica cars matches the wheels - presumably they were part of the same injection molding and were produced at the same time on the same machines. A silver CR-V was included in the rereleased Motor Tomica line as A-02 Honda CR-V.
One of the last new individual releases in the B/O Tomica period was the Thomas-series Bertie, who was first introduced in a set in 1995.
In 1997 production of the system was moved to China and the system was renamed to Motor Tomica. New color and variations of cars were released under the new range, some of which can be seen on the Motor Tomica vehicles page.