Kato E5 Shinkansen Pantograph

[gavino200]

I found this part on Hobbysearch. 

 

http://58x5x155x204.ap58.ftth.ucom.ne.jp/eng/10291804

 

I've never used Hobbysearch before. The side says theat the item is backordered. What exactly is Hobbysearch? Is it a store? Or a kind of metastore, where you order something, then they try to find it and then sell on to you for a markup? I've had bad experiences with bookstores using this setup. I've "ordered" books only to be told a long time later that it's not available. Sort of frustrating. Is this similar.

 

Anyone know anywhere else that I can get this?

 

Edit: I also found it here:

http://hokutosei2014.shop-pro.jp/?pid=86086760

 

But the site is all Japanese. anyone know this store? Reliable for shipping to US?

[katoftw]

Hobby Search is just like any regular online store.  They are not a "look and find" type of business model.

 

If you have a look in the retailers section of this community, you will find some very safe options for buying Japanese trains from Japanese stores.  Hobby search, Ami Ami, Loco Hobby One and Model Train Plus are what most of us use.

[cteno4]

gavino, 

 

katos spot on, take a looks at the resellers forum and you will find a lot of useful info on resellers.

 

many of the japanese shops that have no english will not ship outside japan and the few that do can be challenging in communication.

 

there are a number that have english sites like the ones Kato listed that are the best bet for export from japan. 

 

backordered stuff at hobbysearch can sometimes work, if they can get it. Also Modeltrainplus and loco1hobby are great at looking for special order parts as well.

 

jeff