Here's some pics of my Z car collection I started in late 2000. Some of these aren't technically 'diecast' but I doubt anyone is going to get technical on me :) You'll also find links to shops I've dealt with, some I haven't but ran across, and links to other Z car collectors across the world. If you're planning to start, be prepared. A lot of Z cars are becoming expensive due to their rarity and finding mint condition packed cars is near impossible. If you don't want to start a massive collection, but want a Z or two... then I suggest a Kyosho model be at the top of your list followed by Kato or Corgi. When you see 1/18, 1/87 etc, I'm referring to the scale of that particular model (for those that don't know). Smaller the second number, larger the model (and vice versa of course).

• Superfast Series: 2 Variations. 5 total in series
• Superfast Series: 2 more Variations. 5 total in series
• Superfast Series: Last Variation. 5 total in series
• Shot of the complete domestic Matchbox Superfast 300zx series

• Lighting series. 2 carded variations. Seen 2 other schemes, but never on cards?
• D.A.R.E. Collection, Silver Z on Intl. card, Challenge Series - 10,000 made, Premiere Collection - 25,000 made
  
• World Class Series (#20). I believe the red one was the original release, and the white Z was part of a limited edition re-release of some of the cars they featured in their World Class lineup. Note the mirror-like windows.
• Standard release. Variations exist in the 300zx lettering.

• Custom Zs - Purple/Maroon/Dark Blue/Light Blue. Purple was the most common.The dark blue Z has metallic paint versus a flat color on the other blue Z. Many rim variations are available.
• Revealers: #10 - All 3 variations shown. Dissolve rice paper in water to 'reveal' car

• 1/59: Various designs - Opening doors. Red/White/Blue Z has an audible siren.
• Motorized Tomica Models. Meant to run on the Tomica city track.Notice they are 2 seater Zs whereas all other Tomicas are 2+2s
• 1/59: Limited Edition "[Zi:] House" black/silver Tomica. 3000 made.

• 1/18: Red & Yellow models - Opening doors/hood/trunk. 94+ wing style
  
• 1/18: 'Black Box' Blue model - out of Production. Very Rare. 90-93 wing style. RHD. '92 release.
  
  Black box Red models with the 90-93 wing style exist as well. Hard to find.
  
  There's also a pretty rare silver model although I believe it was never released under Kyosho, but rather by 'Jouef' using Kyosho cars as their cast. There's less paint detail on Jouef models.

• 1/24: All 4 variations. 99+ Z specs. Note the fascia and wing. Rear lenses are clear.
  Originally released in boxes of 4 by Redbox, MotorMax has since started releasing the models individually in single window boxes. Nice detail. Paint is a little shoddy tho.
  
• 1/63: The 2 (known) variations on Matchbox sized cars released under MotorMax

• 1/43: Red & White models - Opening doors & hood. Nice detail.
• 1/87: Red model - Import version - different and much nicer casing.
  1/87: Black/Blue/Yellow/White models
  
  This is the complete Kato 300zx Lineup.

• 1/40: Red, Black and Yellow variations - Opening doors & hood. Ok detail.
  
  There are a few more variations I've seen including a silver model, red Fed-Ex model and same color variations with and without the '300zx' lettering on the side. Supposedly there were two Diapet makers- Yonezawa and Sega-Yonezawa. As I've heard it, Yonezawa was bought by Sega as they weren't doing to hot. The Yonezawa models tend to be more valued among collectors. The car boxes with a model number of "SG-xx" (where xx is a number) are Sega-Yonezawa models. If you can read Katakana, look on the back of the red car box (typically); you'll see a blue name on the bottom which reads "Sega-Yonezawa". It looks like the white boxed, SV-xx models are true Yonezawa models. My red model is Sega, the other 2 Yonezawa.

• 1/43: Various designs - Opening Doors
  
  Shown are all 6 standard C.D.C. 300zx variations. Sometimes these are sold under the Revell label. There's also a Limited Edition hand painted Red coupe that comes in a nice display case and includes a numbered certificate. 5000 made

• Various solid color designs - Pull back cars. Also known as penny racers.
• Various detailed designs - Pull back cars.
  The Burgundy (first pic) and Police models are from the 'I Love Z Car' set. Some of the cars have unique license plates with Z related themes.
• 'Internet Homepage Special Issue' - frosted shell & colored windows. 5 in the series. Missing green.

• 1/43: Several solid color variations. These are also motorized pull back Zs.
• 1/43: Several solid color variations. These are also motorized pull back Zs.
• 1/43: Several solid color variations. These are also motorized pull back Zs.
  
  Identical variations to these cars featuring very small rear wheels exist as well. There's no other visible difference, not even color, other than the wheel size. Perhaps they don't pull back? Other known variations are a Police model and perhaps a few other colors. The above 12 form Maruka's standard "@car.110" box set. "@car.80" is their box set containing the small-wheeled versions.

• 1/42(?): Remote controlled. Haven't run it yet, but it appears to have all movement directions. Note that the bottom of the case is actually the remote. According to their box, this is the only variant.

• 1/36: Various colors. All Zs released by Phoenix Toys are convertibles. These are also motorized pull back Zs. Quality is pretty low.

• 1/144: Various colored convertibles.
  
  I haven't seen a hard top model version. Is there one? I think these are the 5 standard Micro Machine variations. There are 2 "Snap-Back" models available which are a little larger and have hard-tops.

Here's just how bad this hobby is getting. I felt the urge to buy a display cabinet just for toy cars :) Looks good and certainly adds a bit of fun to our living room! If the cabinet appeals to you (it's solid pine with a max of 4 glass shelves), you can buy one at Ikea for a very nice price of $99. It's very sturdy and well made and can be stained to look more expensive than it is! The gray book at the bottom is a 1992 dealer brochure ('92 being the year of my Z).

Here's a few pics of each of the shelves up close. NOTE: These pics are now OLD!

Business Links

ToyEast - Was HobbyJapan2000. A great place to buy from overseas. More than just cars now.
Haley Motorsports - Very fast and very polite service. Get the 1:43 Kato models here.
Ebay - Sometimes the only way to get rarer models. Expect to pay a bit more.
Toy Herb - Never dealt with him, but talked with him. Very nice. Based in Japan. Accepts Paypal!

Collector Links

Arnel NJOYNMYZ - TT.net regular and owner of a sizable collection of motorized and diecast Zs.
ArturoC. - One VERY large collection of all sorts of Z things! Another TT.net regular.
Natural Aspiration - She (yes, she) has everyone trumped! A fantastic collection! Japanese site.
Naminami`s Modelcar Garage - Another Japanese site. Scroll down, find the 'Z32' links, and click them!
Toy Z32 - Quite sizable collection. Another great Japanese site.
AMeanZ - A new collection that already contains some great Zs! Also check out the rest of his site!