First impressions of 20 year old trains

[ronin]

Not sure if this is of use at all, but hopefully it is.  I wanted to give my first impressions of all the trains I recently purchased from the listing by nah00 in the classified section.  Here's the list again of what I got with comments added:

92051 Series 253 Limited Express 'Narita Express': This is a beautiful set (if you like the original N'EX trains of course).  Fit, finish and details are all nice.  I was surprised this one comes with whatever Tomix calls their small couplers.  They are similar to the small Kato couplers (but I assume they do not mate up).  I have a Kato Cassiopeia set with the Kato versions and find that they line up and click together more consistently than the Tomix version.  Still, once connected, they worked well and looked good with normal looking spacing.  The motor did make some not normal noises so I will look into that, but these are old trains so I wasn't shocked.  One note, I love the packaging for this set.  Even though it is only a 3 car set, Tomix gave it a full sized case with N'EX specific imagery and details.  Even the cover insert is N'EX specific with illustrations of the train.  I don't normally see this on Tomix sets.

92714 Series 113-1500 Yokosuka Line Set B: As mentioned elsewhere this was the train I used the most as I commuted from Ichikawa to Funabashi for work when I lived in Japan so this set holds special appeal to me.  As a set it is pretty standard.  Even though it is a B set, it does have a motor car.  I actually had 2 individual MOHA 112-1500 cars, Tomix and thus matching this set.  I noticed that the set included the small grey door frames on the ends whereas the individual cars I had bought many years ago (although probably contemporary with this set) did not have that nice detail.  I also noticed a small box on the roof was a separate piece in the set, but molded in on the individuals.  Otherwise they looked very similar.

92702 0-7000 Series Shinkansen West Hikari Standard Set: What can I say, it's the original, iconic shinkansen shape and is awesome!  This set is nicely detailed with extras to add to the roof when I get motivated.  I really like the Tomix versions of shinkansen as I generally find the details very similar to the Kato versions with the added detail of the swiveling pieces on the ends where the cars connect.  I love this detail.  Regarding this set in particular, I noticed the pantagraphs don't retract downward, they are fixed.  I was a little surprised at this, but didn't find that it took away from the set in any way.

92624 100 Series Shinkansen Tokaido/Sanyo Basic Set: Similar comments to the 0 series above.  Oh I do want to add (and this goes for the 0 and 100 series), while I love the swivel pieces at the ends of the cars, I really don't like the connectors for these two sets.  It's just a basic hook into a slot.  Once connected they work well and have good spacing, but hooking them up is a bit fiddly.  My son and I got some new shinkansen (Tomix of course), E5 Hayabusa and E6 Super Komachi and those have newer connectors which I find very easy to connect so these were a bit of a surprise initially.

92082 500 Series Shinkansen 'Nozomi' Basic Set: I quickly figured out Tomix had made some improvements by the time the 500 series had come along.  The connectors were still hooks in slots, but the design had been updated with smaller hooks and a ramp before the slot so that the hook was pushed up and in as you brought the cars together.  This was much nicer!  As for the rest of the set, It was of a quality you'd expect from Tomix or Kato.

92084 500 Series Shinkansen 'Nozomi' Add-on Set B: Was able to put these two sets together to create a 7 car set.

92604 Odakyu Electric Railway Type 10000 'HiSE Romance Car': Nothing out of the ordinary here.  A nice, complete set of the Romance Car.  This set did appear to be used, but not abused.  I really like how this train has the trucks in between cars and the model has the rounded pieces above the trucks so that no matter the radius of a turn there are no gaps between the cars.  I just find it a nice detail.  I already had the 7000 series Romance Car and this set is very similar, just of the newer body style.

92708 Series 183, Series 485 Limited Express 'Kitakinki': This is another really nice set with a lot of great detailing on some of the roofs of the cars.

92717 Series E26 Cassiopeia Basic Set: As mentioned above, I have the Kato version of the Cassiopeia and wanted to see this one as I generally like Tomix products.  After getting it and comparing the 2, my Kato version is nicer.  It has extra, small details all over like the hoses on the ends of the cars to show more realism that the Tomix version does not.  Plus the TOmix version has the large Rapido connectors whereas the Kato version has the small, more realistic looking connectors.  The car bodies themselves look pretty similar so it's not like the Tomix version is bad, just that the Kato version is nicer in my view.

92719 B Series E26 Cassiopeia Add-on Set B: A 3 car add on set for the above.

10-387 Series 285-3000 ‘Sunrise Express’ (JR Central Ver.): This is an awesome set of an awesome train.  Lots of details abound.  The interior is detailed and looks like the real thing (in shape anyway, it's still molded plastic of course).

If you have any specific questions or would like to see any specific images, feel free to ask and I will try and help where I can.

Thanks,

Eric

[JR 500系]

Thanks Eric for the wonderful review and sharing of you thoughts! That's nice of you!

 

20 minutes ago, ronin said:

 

92051 Series 253 Limited Express 'Narita Express': This is a beautiful set (if you like the original N'EX trains of course).  Fit, finish and details are all nice.  I was surprised this one comes with whatever Tomix calls their small couplers.  They are similar to the small Kato couplers (but I assume they do not mate up).  I have a Kato Cassiopeia set with the Kato versions and find that they line up and click together more consistently than the Tomix version.  Still, once connected, they worked well and looked good with normal looking spacing.  The motor did make some not normal noises so I will look into that, but these are old trains so I wasn't shocked.  One note, I love the packaging for this set.  Even though it is only a 3 car set, Tomix gave it a full sized case with N'EX specific imagery and details.  Even the cover insert is N'EX specific with illustrations of the train.  I don't normally see this on Tomix sets.

 

That set is what Tomix calls a HG set, or High Grade sets. usually these HG sets come with a special box cover and insert, and also TN couplers (the term Tomix uses for tight couplers) as standard equipment on the models. They also often have more details like printed car numbers etc. than the normal Tomix models.

For the 253 series former N'EX, the set is meant to hold all 6 cars in the book case, which you can get the 92052 3-car add-on set (which comes in a smaller cardboard type of box) and fit all 6 cars in the book case like you would with usual models. The special thing here is usually the book case comes with the add-on set, but this one comes with the basic set which is quite unique and of course very much welcomed!

What I do dislike about this set however, is that the big N'EX is a decal and not printed... and the destination sign boards on the sides of the cars need to be placed on with decals...

The Kato 253 former N'EX however, is in a perfect 6-car bookcase, with only 2 end cars. http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10011986  but fully printed with the N'EX logo...

 

Congratz again on your early Christmas presents!  :)

Edited August 26, 2017 by JR 500系

[nah00]

For the Narita Express it probably just needs a bit of lite oil or a bit of running in. My Series 400 Tsubasa had the same issue, once I gave it a drop of oil on each power truck it improved greatly. 

I think the fixed patographs sometimes look better, my Tohoku Shinkansen has the new Tomix plastic ones that don't stay up right. Half of my Hikari is the older Kato version with all metal pantographs and the other half has the half plastic half metal ones which don't look quite right. 

The couplers do take a bit of getting used to but aside from their fickleness I find them to work pretty well. Glad you enjoyed everything, I also tested out the other Sunrise Express at the shop last night and I have to say that I was never really a fan of the design until I took it out and looked at it. Definitely a sharp looking design but out of area for me (I say that as I just got a 800 Series Tsubame....).

[SubwayHypes]

The trains of the mid to late 90s hold so much Nostalgic value for me.   I really really do not like many of the new trains being released.  

 

For example, The Tokyu Toyoko Line used to run several series from 2000, 8000, 8590, and 9000.  Very attractive trains.   The new 5050 series are butt ugly IMO, I'm sick of all these new robot trains.

 

The new Ginza Line is hideous, the new Yamanote line is even more ugly.

 

The JR series 201 and 205 are also some of my favorites with their classic look. 

 

The only newish liveries I like are the JR e219 and e233 series, kinda of bland front end but it doesn't look like a transformer machine lol. 

 

The Narita 253 is also one of my favorites, as well as the old Odorikos, and the 200 series Shinkansens. 

[Densha]

I personally wouldn't say all modern trains are ugly, but in general I'm also a big fan of older designs. Older trains tend to have either more elegant or industrial appearances, which I like better than the soft-ish design that is often used for modern trains.