Kato 2021 Catalogue

[Mutley]

Hi all,

 

I recently placed an order with Amazon Japan and thought I'd include a catalogue in the hope it would give me a clue on might be coming later in the year.  I keep a close eye on the new releases section of the forum and the Kato website, so I'm 'up to speed' until mid-year.

 

Looking at the catalogue, there are a number of things that I'd like, Twilight Express coach sets, Sunrise Express, 683 in latest Thunderbird livery and so on.

 

Some of these items seem to have come and gone a year or two back but can still be found in some places at fairly high prices.

 

My question: does the Kato catalogue represent what they are planning to release, or is it what's still in stock at some retailers, plus what they are planning to release?

 

On the Twilight Express coach sets for example, I can get them through Amazon (haven't been brave enough to import through any other supplier yet!) but they are quite pricey and wouldn't want to go for them if they might be along later in the year at a more normalised price.

 

Any insights would be very welcome.

 

Thanks

Mike

[katoftw]

The catalog has some new releases. But generally dont rely on it. There is stuff in the 2018 that has never been released.

 

Last years newer rural station was first suggested in the 17 or 18 catalog.

 

Twilight Express for example wont get many re-releases as it is a discontinued train in real life. Being that it was re-release 18 months ago. I'd expect another 3.5 year wait.

[railsquid]

The catalogue is effectively a historical representation of items which have been released during the past couple of years, together with some hints about models which may be released at some point in the future. It's quite possible but in no way guaranteed that a selection of the items depicted will be available in the timespan indicated by the year or years in the catalogue title.

 

So nice to browse through, but not really a reliable representation of availability. Apparently Tomix renamed their offering from "catalogue" to "guide" a few years back because of complaints it wasn't really a catalogue of available products.

Edited February 11, 2021 by railsquid

[disturbman]

41 minutes ago, katoftw said:

Twilight Express for example wont get many re-releases as it is a discontinued train in real life. Being that it was re-release 18 months ago. I'd expect another 3.5 year wait.

Kato's Twilight Express was released in 2011. Tomix did a re-release about a year ago. Kato's Twilight Express Mizukaze was released about 18 months ago. Tomix is still available in shops and online, and also an easy score on the second hand market.

As the other's said, nobody knows when a set might be released or re-released by a specific manufacturer. If you really want something, better to bite the bullet rather to wait indefinitely.

Edited February 11, 2021 by disturbman

[Mutley]

Thanks for your replies - much appreciated.

 

I might take a look at the Tomix Twilight Express sets, as the matching EF81 seems to be readily available as well. 

[katoftw]

13 hours ago, disturbman said:

Kato's Twilight Express was released in 2011. Tomix did a re-release about a year ago. Kato's Twilight Express Mizukaze was released about 18 months ago. Tomix is still available in shops and online, and also an easy score on the second hand market.

As the other's said, nobody knows when a set might be released or re-released by a specific manufacturer. If you really want something, better to bite the bullet rather to wait indefinitely.

11/2018 for Twilight express, was 6 month off.  I vaguely remember it being pushed back a month or two cos is came with the same order as my Seven Stars of Kyushu train.

https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/kato-model/poster/pdf/201811221811485bf672d4b7a0b/2018_11.pdf

 

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Last 285-0/285-3000 Sunruse Seto/Izumi was 05/2019

 

Put yourself down on Hobbysearch's mailing lists.  I have gotten a few long out of production model that way.

Edited February 12, 2021 by katoftw

[disturbman]

Thanks, I see. I couldn't find this release because it was released under the same number as the 2011 release.