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1] The Spark suggestion for Yaris models came from a few labelled as such on ebay example, another - or if they don't show, search for "toyota yaris spark" in the toys and games category and see what pops up among all the rally liveries.
2] I haven't really been showroom model hunting for a couple of years, so things may have changed more recently, but occasional forays before that showed wide range of scenarios, very varied strategies etc, so no consistency. As you say, some showrooms just not interested so don't have them, even when the brand offers a big selection. Others do, but they're regarded as parts and accessories, so salesmen are blank and only the parts/servicing desk tucked in the corner knows about them. If they're openly displayed, it's often in a cabinet with all the other branded merchandise products (jackets, umbrellas, T-shirts, flasks or whatever). Very occasionally a salesman is a model enthusiast, so curates a proper display as a specific showroom feature.
3] The mindset of simply being merchandise is a useful context to understand the logic. Many firms revamp their merch ranges every 1-2 years, and drop things off the list fairly abruptly. So obsolete stuff is no longer on the system, and they clear orphans quickly. Add in the factor that full-size cars are often tweaked on similar time scales (even if only trivial things like new lights, wheels, colours, trim names etc), and showrooms dislike having miniatures which don't exactly match the gleaming full-sizes. So models can get relegated quickly.
4] There is another route through online/ebay in UK at least which is to find motor factors with bulk parts warehouses across several brands (which may be related or completely diverse). Example - Rimmer Brothers for JLR stuff (nothing very spectacular at the moment, but a few years ago they cleared out some brilliant Century Dragon models, including E-Type Jags and 1st Land Rover HUE 166 for £20 each). Another is Partsworld UK. A few of these advertise on ebay if you can navigate through the categories to car parts/merchandise.
5] Some anecdotes to illustrate randomness of the system.
[i] Some years back I had time to kill near a hospital after taking someone in for appointments, and it had a Merc showroom nearby, so I went in. Reasonable bunch of models (Minichamps, Spark etc) but £50-60, so I didn't indulge. 3 months later same errand, went back to showroom and those models were now off-catalogue, so offered to me at £15 each, including heritage collection (230 SL Pagoda, AMG 300SEL 6.9 racer)
[ii] A Volvo dealer with a few models on display, so chatting to an interested salesman who suddenly piped up that they had a Nissan franchise until giving it up a couple of months earlier and had some models left over in a cupboard. So I ended up with 5 Kyosho Nissan for £30 and he discounted a couple of Volvos way below the parts list price because it was near end-of-year stock-taking.
[iii] A Nissan dealer where I was looking for Z models, had just had a batch in of models including a revised Note, which wasn't yet announced in full-size. So I got one of them a month before launch.
[iv] Cheap showroom ranges (before any clearance discounting): Fiat, Abarth, Alfa, MINI, Vauxhall. Sometimes cheap: Ford, Peugeot, Citroen, Renault, Nissan, Jeep. The Fiats and Alfas are more toys than collectables, but still fun to have.
So it can be an adventure with unexpected nuggets in the dust. Trading estates with clusters of showrooms near major roundabouts/junctions are often worth targetting for an hour or so to see what they offer.
2] I haven't really been showroom model hunting for a couple of years, so things may have changed more recently, but occasional forays before that showed wide range of scenarios, very varied strategies etc, so no consistency. As you say, some showrooms just not interested so don't have them, even when the brand offers a big selection. Others do, but they're regarded as parts and accessories, so salesmen are blank and only the parts/servicing desk tucked in the corner knows about them. If they're openly displayed, it's often in a cabinet with all the other branded merchandise products (jackets, umbrellas, T-shirts, flasks or whatever). Very occasionally a salesman is a model enthusiast, so curates a proper display as a specific showroom feature.
3] The mindset of simply being merchandise is a useful context to understand the logic. Many firms revamp their merch ranges every 1-2 years, and drop things off the list fairly abruptly. So obsolete stuff is no longer on the system, and they clear orphans quickly. Add in the factor that full-size cars are often tweaked on similar time scales (even if only trivial things like new lights, wheels, colours, trim names etc), and showrooms dislike having miniatures which don't exactly match the gleaming full-sizes. So models can get relegated quickly.
4] There is another route through online/ebay in UK at least which is to find motor factors with bulk parts warehouses across several brands (which may be related or completely diverse). Example - Rimmer Brothers for JLR stuff (nothing very spectacular at the moment, but a few years ago they cleared out some brilliant Century Dragon models, including E-Type Jags and 1st Land Rover HUE 166 for £20 each). Another is Partsworld UK. A few of these advertise on ebay if you can navigate through the categories to car parts/merchandise.
5] Some anecdotes to illustrate randomness of the system.
[i] Some years back I had time to kill near a hospital after taking someone in for appointments, and it had a Merc showroom nearby, so I went in. Reasonable bunch of models (Minichamps, Spark etc) but £50-60, so I didn't indulge. 3 months later same errand, went back to showroom and those models were now off-catalogue, so offered to me at £15 each, including heritage collection (230 SL Pagoda, AMG 300SEL 6.9 racer)
[ii] A Volvo dealer with a few models on display, so chatting to an interested salesman who suddenly piped up that they had a Nissan franchise until giving it up a couple of months earlier and had some models left over in a cupboard. So I ended up with 5 Kyosho Nissan for £30 and he discounted a couple of Volvos way below the parts list price because it was near end-of-year stock-taking.
[iii] A Nissan dealer where I was looking for Z models, had just had a batch in of models including a revised Note, which wasn't yet announced in full-size. So I got one of them a month before launch.
[iv] Cheap showroom ranges (before any clearance discounting): Fiat, Abarth, Alfa, MINI, Vauxhall. Sometimes cheap: Ford, Peugeot, Citroen, Renault, Nissan, Jeep. The Fiats and Alfas are more toys than collectables, but still fun to have.
So it can be an adventure with unexpected nuggets in the dust. Trading estates with clusters of showrooms near major roundabouts/junctions are often worth targetting for an hour or so to see what they offer.