MANILA, Philippines — Popular 1990s toy Tamiya is making a comeback with lots of Generation Z (Gen Z) enthusiasts assembling their toy cars for races.
Ferdie Kahn, owner of The Brickyard and the brand’s official distributor, was among those that hosted his own build-and-race-your-car indoor event in his store in Ayala Malls Manila Bay.
Cars on display during the event were Tamiya Jr. Neo-Vqs, Mini 4wd, Geo Glider, and Festa Jaune, as well as Brocken Gigant, Manta Ray Mk II, Mach Frame and Cross Spear 02.
Khan said his hobby began when he was a kid.
“My dad used to buy it for me. Not necessarily the Tamiya that you're talking about, which is a small car. When I started the business, we realized that it has a lot of following,” Kahn said.
“(The car's) popularity began in the early 1990s and then faded until the early 2000s, when it resurged. As a fan of the kits myself, I wanted a place where builders and racers could hang out and play. More than that though, I wanted The Brickyard to be a place where we can introduce the hobby to more people, whether they be kids or kids-at-heart,” he added.
Khan said that Filipino racers who won in their race represent the country in international competitions.
"Locally, the passion is incredible. You can see when we have races — we have 500 to about 700 racers and you can see them, if you come to one of our big races — you can see them really, very focused on their car. Makikita mo talaga ‘yung so much passion," he said.
“We compete very well internationally... We won actually when we hosted it in 2009... Then there was the pandemic, and we made it to the semis in 2022 and 2023. In 2026, we will host it again."
Every November, one of the big Tamiya RC competitions takes place in Japan, known as the World Challenge.
"We are going there on November 14 with two racers from the Philippines to compete. Those two racers must have won the regional, which we hosted only about a month ago in Circuit, Makati, with approximately 100 racers, 50 from the Philippines and 50 from overseas. That is the biggest one that is specifically Tamiya. Throughout the year, several of our Filipino racers attend other events in the United States or Thailand, but they are not specific to Tamiya.”