In 2005, to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the renowned Thomas and Friends, Tomy started a Thomas the Tank Engine series. In recent years, Tomy has greatly expanded their specialized character Tomica series. Offerings include "Tomica Hyper Series", the Cars (Disney/Pixar animation) series, Pokémon, Ridge Racer, the Disney Motors series, Fast & Furious, and racing anime and manga, such as Initial D and Circuit no Ōkami. While production in Japan ceased in 1997 for the regular models, Tomy kept producing special models in Japan until 2003, using old castings not used for mass production of the British line, regular models, or gift sets. Because these older castings had remained in Japan, special releases and promotional issues using these older castings were still made in Japan. New castings for special models were also made in Japan. The Subaru Legacy from 2003 was the last Tomica ever produced in Japan. [ citation needed]

No. 9 Komatsu Power Shovel PC200, issued in 1995, was made in Japan because the model was already planned in 1994 and also because it shared components with the older no. 9. Production was moved to China when the model was produced for a gift set later in 1995. Johnson, Dana (1998). Collector's Guide to Diecast Toys and Scale Models (2nded.). Padukah KY: Collector Books. Chan, Danny C.Y., and Vic Davey. 1997. The Complete World of Tomy Diecast. Hong Kong: Northcord Limited. May.A totally new casting. All of these had been produced under the contract of another model company or another business. Their common fate is that Tomy eventually issues them as regular models. Examples include: In 1988, Tomy combined its foreign models into the domestic series. Most of the first 40 models from the foreign series were added to the 80 domestic models. Those foreign models that got transferred were assigned a number that was its F series number plus 80. A handful of these foreign models were discontinued after a few months' appearance under the new line. Overall about half of them had been discontinued after two years. The earliest Tomica cars had one-piece chrome-plated wheels. Starting in 1971, models were produced with two-piece wheels of various styles, with the one-piece chrome-plated wheels being phased out in 1972 (except that all the models made in Hong Kong had the one-piece wheel design). The two-piece wheels were used until 1977, while newer one-piece wheels of various styles have been adopted since 1976, and are still used today. I don’t think either sets are suitable for children below age 3. Many toys are labelled ages 3 and up as it is normally the minimum age where toys are rated due to choking hazards, but with these train sets it’s also about the interactivity; children under the age of 3 are unlikely to be satisfied in watching a train go round and are likely to want to push the trains (see comparison with Thomas Take-N-Play below). Some of the Tomica features/accessories may also be better for children over 4 years old. Comparison with other Thomas Take-N-Play

Tomica has produced a number of special models over the years. These are unique models that are not found in the regular line or the Limited Series. There are four types of special model:Hong Kong was the first place outside of Japan where Tomica cars were produced. The production in Hong Kong only lasted a few years. Six models issued in 1971 and 1972 were made in Hong Kong: Mitsubishi Pajero Rally Type was modified from no. 30 Mitsubishi Pajero Metal Top. This model was produced for the Ralliart Team Set. In 2010, when Technology Tomica was introduced, they were initially made in Thailand. In 2012, production moved to Vietnam. No. 30 Mitsubishi Pajero, issued in 1999, was made in Japan because the model was concurrently issued as a special promotional model for Mitsubishi Motors in Japan. Production moved to China after two months, when the promotion stopped.

Rixon, Peter (2005). Miller's Collecting Diecast Vehicles. London: Mitchell Beazley. ISBN 9781845330309. Production of Tomicas started to move to Vietnam in early 2009. This was also done in phases and took several years. Unlike the move from Japan to China during which no new regular models were made in Japan (besides the few exceptions), during this time new releases came from both Vietnam and China until 2013.In the early years, Tomy produced cars with famous characters sitting on them, using the same castings from the regular Tomica line. The first of such was the Snoopy character cars from the 1970s. Tomy did not market and distribute these cars. Rather, they produced these for Aviva, who sold the toy under the Aviva brand name. In the early 1980s Tomy produced models with Muppet characters. Also in the 1980s, Tomy started producing vehicles with Disney characters under the Putica Disney series name. This popular series was made until the late 1990s and was also re-issued in the original style boxes sometime during the 2000s. The Tomica Limited Vintage Neo line focuses mostly on Japanese street cars manufactured in the late 1970s and onwards, but movie and TV drama vehicles and special race cars have also been introduced. Examples are cars from 80s police dramas such as Seibu Keisatsu and Abunai Deka or the JGTC Super Silhouette Skyline. Export versions of cars are also included, such as an American Datsun 510 instead of a Japanese Nissan Bluebird. More recently, as formerly late model vehicles progress into classic status and Japanese vehicles from the 1990s and 2000s become globally desirable, there has been an increase of 1990s cars released, such as the EF/EG/EK Honda Civic, the R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R and the Honda NSX.