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The Black Porsche 934

Written by Lars Butveit

Monday, 26 December 2011 19:29

Things to know about the very rare Black Porsche 934 from 1977.

History

The Black version of the Porsche Turbo RSR Type 934 was made by Tamiya to celebrate 100.000 units sold of the regular Porsche 934 (model number 58001).

The 58001 Porsche 934 was a huge success for Tamiya when it started selling early December 1976 and only one year later the kit had sold 100.000 units, and Tamiya decided to celebrate it by making their first ever Limited Edition RC model, the Black Porsche 934.

The Black version kit did not receive any kit number (like RA-1201 aka. 58001) and the general consensus is that the Black version was not distributed through normal channels, but only used as a give-away and for special promotion towards special customers, racers and other Tamiya affiliates.

Rarity

As usual with Tamiya, the production numbers for the Black Porsche 934 is not known to the public. Tamiya never release production numbers, I assume for keeping the competitoin in the dark.

The Black Porsche 934 is by collectors and Tamiya enthousiasts deemed the rarest kit ever from Tamiya. Some will claim there are other just as rare kits around, but I dare say that the combination of age and restricted numbers available make this kit the definite Tamiya collector's item.

There is not much discussion on the net about this model. This is probably because very few actually own one, and those that own one will not necessarliy go public about it. Some of the big Toy/Tamiya collectors have such huge collections (1000 + kits...) that they prefer to stay as anonymous as possible. It's perfectly understandable as the publicity around owning toys for huge amounts of money is maybe not what most are looking for.

I have been looking around, and the estimates for remaining NIB kits of this Black 934 is typically around 20 kits. (!) Some say there are more, some say there are less. There are also a number of built models in varying condition. I have seen models ranging from New Built to near wrecks. There is possibly somewhere around 20-30 such built models around.

One reason for the very few surviving models still is that Tamiya did not produce spare parts for the Black version. As described further down, the Black version differs in almost all parts from the normal 934, so damaged Black 934 parts could not be replaced with correct parts. Many models must have been binned because of the missing spare parts, while others might have parts replaced with "normal" 934 parts.

Price

It is hard to put a price/value on the Black Porsche 934. Usually these kits or models are sold between collectors without the price being public. I have, however, gathered the following information:

In April 2003 an Ebay auction for a NIB kit ended at USD 3650,- but the reserve was not met and the kit not sold.

April 9th 2005, a NIB kit was sold on Yahoo Japan for 318.000 Yen (about USD 4300 in todays exchange rates)
In September 2007 a NIB kit located in US was listed and received 23 bids with the highest being USD 5000,-. Again the reserve was not met.
One NIB kit changed hands between collectors in 2011 for USD 5000,-. The box was not perfect and the kit eventually proved to be missing some parts.
Also, a NIB kit is known to have changed hands between collectors for USD 4500, only a few years back.

So, can we make any conclusions for price based on this? It seems like the price range for NIB kits has for some time been 4500 to 5000 USD. My example falls nicely into this range also. But, it is very important to remember that it is a relative small market for these kits, and prices may vary a lot based on the interrest of the buyer.

I have not been able to find any price information for built Black 934's. I would assume they are from USD 2000 and up maybe touching USD 400 for new built models with box and paperwork (if there are any..)

If you are looking to buy a NIB Black Porsche, this is what you get for your money:

First, a quite small Black cardboard box. (much smaller than the later 84057 GT-01 Tamtech Black Porsche's box) The box has top opening and contains a few layers of content.

First, inside the box, you will notice the two cardboard pieces where there is room to write the date (of purchase?). Then below these you will usually find the special carrying bag. This bag fits the outside of the carbdoard box and was ment to be used as for carrying the built model, inside the box. The bag is made of canvas material where the long sides are black with printed "Black Porsche 934" on two sides, and the short sides are white with the Tamiya logo.

Below the bag, you will usually find the manual, decals and other paperwork. Note that the manual is a bit wider than the internal of the box, so the manual is likely to have a bend. Or, the manual has been wedged between the outer carboard and the internals, giving enough room to not bend it.

The next level, drilling down into the box, consists of the "blister box" and the "parts box". The blisters form the lid of the "blister box" and contain the motor, gearbox, switch plate, the gears, axles and a few chassis parts. Inside the "blister box" are the A, D, W and Q-parts together with the front bumper (packed with the A-parts) and glass fiber cloth for reinforcing the body.

The "parts box" is greenisch and has "Black Porsche 943" printed in white on top. Inside are the screw bags, tyres, rims and other bits and bobs.

Furthest down in the box is the black, red and yellow "body box". This contains the front and main body, along with three plastic bags of sprues and the battery boxes, and finally the main chassis plate suck to the bottom of the "body box" alongside the plastic tube antenna holder. You will also notice that the "body box", for some reason, does not fill up the lenght of the kit box. Tthere is 4-5 cm spare in one end. This is probably due to the "body box" being taken directly from the standard 58001 kit.

Decals

The decals are usually tucked inside the manual for protection. The Black Porsche decals actually seem to have a typographical error on them. My NIB came with the original "gold" decal sheet, and then a small sheet with two more decals.

The two extra ones are entirely in gold (background) and reads "Lockhead". The main sheet has two, similar sized, decals (yellow print on black) reading "Lockeed" (missing the "h"). I am guessing, but I believe the main sheet must have misspelled "Lockeed" decals, which was corrected with the additional gold "Lockheed" decals.The manual shows the "Lockheed" decals as the ones to put on.

Manual

The manual is in Japanese and unique for the Black version. The Japanese text indicates that the Black Porsche was only intended for the Japanese market. The manual is printed in color (blue and black) like most of the early Tamiya manuals.

Compared to the 58001

Basically, the Black 934 is the same model as the 58001 934. The difference is of course the colour and some other details.

Chassis

All the aluminium plates for the chassis are all anodized black. The parts them selves are the same as for the 58001. Also wheels and tyres are the same as for the 58001. The Black Porsche comes with both the D-cell battery boxes (with blue ribbon), and the adapter to mount the Tamiya 6V rechargeable battery.

The motor included in the Black kit is the RS380, with white endbell. The normal 58001 934 came with the weaker and slightly shorter RS360 motor. Also the MSC for the Black 934 is different from the original. The Black has the part no. 50010 MSC which was fist used in the 58002 Porsche 935.

The front bumper of the Black 934 is from the 58002 Porsche 935 kit and has "Porsche 935 - Made in Japan" marked on it.

Body

The body set is, well, black... The only parts not black are the windows together with the E-, T- and U-parts (red/yellow glass and chrome). As for the 58001 943, the body parts are taken from the 1/12 scale model kit, which means there are parts on the sprues that are not needed for the RC model.

The main body part has no markings on it, like the green 58001. The front main part is marked with "Made in Japan" inside the front bumper, also like the 58001.

Conclusion

In my perspective a very collectable Tamiya Kit, both for the Tamiya enthousiast and for the general Toy collector.

The kit itself is of very high standard, just like Tamiya kits are. the moulding, the parts and the box/manual are all right upt there showing Tamiya quality. One might think that a Limidet Edition production would get less attention than normal kits, but in this case not.

A Black 934 registry ?

I am thinking of making a "Black Porsche 934 Registry" for the vintage models. I am curious to how many of these are possible to track down, and then keep track of. One challenge is that there are no serial numbers on the kits/models, another challenge is probably getting collectors to give the details about their collection...

If interrested in such a Registry, please send me an email!

The original Black Porsche 934 kit box.

Opening the box, this is what you see. Notice the special opening of the box and the available fields for adding a date.

After removing the canvas bag, this is the first layer in the box. The "blister box" and "parts box" side by side.

Below the two boxes is the body box. Tucked under the body are various parts and sprues.

This is the bottom of the body box, where the antenna and main chassis plate is located.

This is the content (apart from manual and decal), view from bottom (closest) to top in the box.

The two main body set parts.

The parts tucked under the two main body parts, in the bottom of the box.

This is the "parts box" where all the smaller parts are located together with the wheels and tires.

This is the contents of the "parts box"

This is the "blister box". Notice that this box is the same as in the 58001 kit box. Even the blister shapes are the same, even when the content is not. The black version has a smaller MSC.

The "bilster box" from an angle.

This is the canvas bag with the "Black Porsche 934" printed in white, with white canvas sides with the Tamiya logo.

Tha decals for the Black 934 are unique and were not available as spares (as with the rest of tha parts) Notice the small "lockheed" decals on the separate sheet.

The manual for the Black 934 is also unique.

The box also included the typical for Tamiya small pamphlet with presentation of the current RC models.

The following are pictures of a restored original Black Porsche, restored and owned by TC member Rad22Rad

Pictures are also by Radek, thank you for letting me use them!

<h1><img style="float: left;" alt="L21udC9saW51eHdlYjAxL1QvdGFtaXlhYmFzZWNvbS93d3cvaW1hZ2VzL3N0b3JpZXMvYmxhY2s5MzRfMS5qcGc=" src="/images/stories/thumbs/L21udC9saW51eHdlYjAxL1QvdGFtaXlhYmFzZWNvbS93d3cvaW1hZ2VzL3N0b3JpZXMvYmxhY2s5MzRfMS5qcGc%3D.jpg" height="75" width="100" />Things to know about the very rare Black Porsche 934 from 1977.</h1>
<hr id="system-readmore" />
<table border="0">
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <td rowspan="8">
                <h2>History</h2>
                <p>The Black version of the Porsche Turbo RSR Type 934 was made by Tamiya to celebrate 100.000 units sold of the regular Porsche 934 (model number 58001). The 58001 Porsche 934 was a huge success for Tamiya when it started selling early December 1976, only one year later the kit had sold 100.000 units, and Tamiya decided to celebrate it by making this limited edition Black Porsche 934. The Black version Kit did not receive any kit number (like RA-1201 aka. 58001) and the general consensus is that the Black version was not distributed through normal channels, but only used as give-aways and for special promotion towards special customers, racers and other Tamiya affiliates.</p>
                <h2>Rarity</h2>
                <p>As typical with Tamiya the production number for the Black Porsche 934 is not known to the public. Tamiya never release production numbers, I assume for keeping the competitoin in the dark.</p>
                <p>The Black Porsche 934 is commonly deemed the rarest kit ever from Tamiya. Some will claim there are other rare kits around, but I dare say that the combination of age and restricted numbers available make this kit the definate Tamiya collector's item.</p>
                <p>There is not much discussion on the net about this model. This is probably very few actually own one, and the ones that own them not necessarliy go public about it. Some of the big toy/Tamiya collectors have so huge collections (1000 + kits...) that they prefer to stay as anonymous as possible. It's perfectly understandable as the publicity around owning toys for huge amounts of money is maybe not what most are looking for.</p>
                <p>I have been looking around, and the estimates for remaining NIB kits of this Black 934 is typically around 20 kits. (!) Some say there are more, some say there are less. There are also a number of built models in varying condition. There is possibly somewhere around 20-30 such models around as well.</p>
                <p>One reason for the very few surviving models still left is that Tamiya did not produce spare parts for the Black version. As described further down, the Black version differs in almost all parts from the normal 934, so damaged Black 934 parts could not be replaced with correct parts. Many models are bound to have been binned because of this, while others might have parts replaced by "normal" 934 parts.</p>
                <br />
                <p> </p>
                <p> </p>
                <br />
                <p> </p>
                <p> </p>
                <p> </p>
                <p> </p>
                <br />
                <p> </p>
            </td>
            <td><img class="joomslide" title="The original Black Porsche 934 kit box." alt="black934_1" src="/images/stories/black934_1.jpg" /></td>
            <td><img class="joomslide" title="Opening the box, this is what you see. Notice the special opening of the box and the available fields for adding a date." alt="black934_1" src="/images/stories/black934_2.jpg" /></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td><img class="joomslide" title="After removing the canvas bag, this is the first layer in the box. The "blister box" and "parts box" side by side." alt="black934_1" src="/images/stories/black934_3.jpg" /></td>
            <td><img class="joomslide" title="Below the two boxes is the body box. Tucked under the body are various parts and sprues." alt="black934_1" src="/images/stories/black934_4.jpg" /></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td><img class="joomslide" title="This is the bottom of the body box, where the antenna and main chassis plate is located." alt="black934_1" src="/images/stories/black934_7.jpg" /></td>
            <td><img class="joomslide" title="This is the content (apart from manual and decal), view from bottom (closest) to top in the box." alt="black934_1" src="/images/stories/black934_6.jpg" /></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td><img class="joomslide" title="The two main body set parts." alt="black934_8" src="/images/stories/black934_8.jpg" /></td>
            <td><img class="joomslide" title="The parts tucked under the two main body parts, in the bottom of the box." alt="black934_9" src="/images/stories/black934_9.jpg" /></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td><img class="joomslide" title="This is the "parts box" where all the smaller parts are located together with the wheels and tires." alt="black934_10" src="/images/stories/black934_10.jpg" /></td>
            <td><img class="joomslide" title="This is the contents of the "parts box"" alt="black934_11" src="/images/stories/black934_11.jpg" /></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td><img class="joomslide" title="This is the "blister box". Notice that this box is the same as in the 58001 kit box. Even the blister shapes are the same, even when the content is not. The black version has a smaller MSC." alt="black934_12" src="/images/stories/black934_12.jpg" /></td>
            <td><img class="joomslide" title="The "bilster box" from an angle." alt="black934_13" src="/images/stories/black934_13.jpg" /></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td><img class="joomslide" title="This is the canvas bag with the "Black Porsche 934" printed in white, with white canvas sides with the Tamiya logo." alt="black934_14" src="/images/stories/black934_14.jpg" /></td>
            <td><img class="joomslide" title="The manual for the Black 934 is also unique." alt="black934_15" src="/images/stories/black934_15.jpg" /></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td><img class="joomslide" title="Tha decals for the Black 934 are unique and were not available as spares (as with the rest of tha parts) Notice the small "lockheed" decals on the separate sheet." alt="black934_16" src="/images/stories/black934_16.jpg" /></td>
            <td>
                <p><img class="joomslide" title="The box also included the typical for Tamiya small pamphlet with presentation of the current RC models." alt="black934_17" src="/images/stories/black934_17.jpg" /></p>
                <p> </p>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td colspan="3">
                <ul>
                </ul>
                <h2>Prices</h2>
                <p>It is hard to put a price on the Black Porsche 934. Usually these   kits or models are sold between collectors without the public knowing. I   have however gathered the following information:</p>
                <ul>
                    <li>In April 2003 a Ebay auction for a NIB kit ended at USD 3650,- but the reserve was not met and the kit not sold.</li>
                </ul>
                <ul>
                    <li>In April 9th 2005, a NIB kit was sold on Yahoo Japan for 318.000 Yen (about USD 4300)</li>
                    <li>In September 2007 a NIB kit located in US was listed and received 23   bids with the highest being USD 5000,-. Again the reserve was not met.</li>
                    <li>One kit changed hands between collectors in 2011 for USD 5000,-. The   box was not perfect and the kit eventually proved to be missing some   parts.</li>
                    <li>Also, a kit is known to have changed hands between collectors for USD 4500, only a few years back.</li>
                </ul>
                <p>So, can we make any conclusions based on this? It seems like the price range has for some time been 4500 to 5000 USD. My example falls nicely into this range also. But, it is very important to remember that it is a relative small market for these kits, and prices may vary a lot based on the interrest of the buyer. I have heard of one person being offered a NIB kit for USD 10.000,-, but letting it go, because of the high price.</p>
                <h2>Contents</h2>
                <p>If you are looking at a NIB Black Porsche, this is what you get for your money:</p>
                <p>First, a quite small Black carboard box, much smaller than the later   84057 GT-01 Tamtech BLack Porsche's box. The box is top opening and   contains a few layers of content.</p>
                <p>First, inside the box, you will notice the two carboard pieces where   there is room to write the date (of purchase?). Then below these you   will usually find the special carrying bag. This bag fits the outside of   the carboard box and was ment to be used as for carrying the built   model, inside the box. The bag is made of wowen black material with   printed "Black Porsche 934" on two sides.</p>
                <p>Below the bag, you will usually find the manual and decals. Note that   the manual is a bit wider than the internal of the box, so the manual   is likely to have a bend.Or, the manual has been stuck between the outer   carboard and the internals, giving enough room to not bend it.</p>
                <p>The next level, drilling down into the box, consists of the "blister   box" and the "parts box". The blisters form the lid of the "blister box"   and contain the motor, gearbox, swithc plate, the gears, axles and a   few chassis parts. Inside the "blister box" are the A, D, W and Q parts   together with the front bumper (packed with the A-parts) and glass fiber cloth for reinforcing the body. The "parts box" has "Black Porsche 943" printed in white on top. Inside are the screw bags, tyres, rims and other bits and bobs.</p>
                <p>Furthest down in the box is the black, red and yellow "body box". This contains the front and main body, along with three plastic bags of   sprues and the battery boxes, and finally the main chassis plate suck to   the bottom of the "body box" alongside the plastic tube antenna holder. You will also notice that the "body box" for some reason does not fill up the lenght of the kit box.there is 4-5 cm spare in one end.</p>
                <h2>Decals</h2>
                <p>The decals are usually tucked inside the manual for protection. The Black Porsche decals actually seem to have a "typo" on them. My NIB came with the original "gold" decal sheet, and then a small sheet with two more decals. The two extra ones are entirely in gold (background) and reads</p>
                "Lockhead". The main sheet has two, similar sized, decals (yellow   print on black) reading "Lockeed". I am guessing, but I believe the main   sheet must have misspelled "Lockeed" decals (missing "h"), which was   corrected with the additional gold "Lockheed" decals.The manual showns   the additional "Lockheed" decals as the ones to put on.
                <h2>Manual</h2>
                <p>The manual is in all Japanese, indicating that the Black Porsche was only intended for the Japanese market. It is printed in color (blue and black) like most of the early Tamiya manuals.</p>
                <h2>Compared to the 58001</h2>
                <p>Basically, the Black 934 is the same model as the 58001 934. The difference is of course the colour and some other details.</p>
                <h3>Chassis</h3>
                <p>All aluminium plates afor the chasis are all anodized black.The parts them selves are the same as the 58001. Also wheels and tyres are the same as the 58001. The Black Porsche comes with both the D-cell battery boxes (with blue ribbon), and the adapter to mount a 6V rechargeable battery. All the screw bags are the same as the 58001.</p>
                <p>The motor included in the Black kit is the RS380 with white endbell.   The normal 58001 934 came with the weaker and slightly shorter RS360   motor. Also the MSC for the Blask 934 is different from the original.   The Black has the 50010 MSC which first was used in the 58002 Porsche   935.</p>
                <p>The front bumper of the Black 934 is from the 58002 Porsche 935 kit and has "Porsche 935 Made in Japan" marked on it.</p>
                <h3>Body</h3>
                <p>The body set is, well, black... The only parts not black are the windws together with the E, T and U parts. As for the 58001 943, the body parts are taken from the 1/12 scale model kit, which means there are parts on the sprues that are not needed for the RC model.</p>
                <p>The main body part has no markings on it, just like the green 58001. The front main part is marked with "Made in Japan", also like the 58001.</p>
            </td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

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