Missing the boat on releases

[Peter Osborne]

1 hour ago, Das Steinkopf said:

 

I think it's a case of where patience is a virtue, I am after the A2792 model of the 311 Series as well as it is one of the very few trains missing from my Tokaido Honsen roster, to be honest I think you are best off waiting for a new release as I don't think it should be too much longer before they do a rerelease of them, a classic example is the Tomix KoKi 105's, I have been after a set of them for years as they last came out in 2015 and they are going to be rereleased in June. The last time the 311's were available was back in 2008 so it has been a while and hopefully due for a rerelase, an important point regarding purchasing of old models is that you would be buying a train that is 13 years old so you don't know how much usage the model has, also of concern is around that era MicoAce had a number of issues with Mazak Rot, even though the 311 Series hasn't shown up on any of the lists that our community is aware of it's not to say that the 311 Series models could have also been affected by this problem. 

I’m agreeing with you the one one on auction that finished today is already 20000JPY and a few hours to go,,,I can have 2 KATO 211 4 car sets from RG ROKKO and delivery to the UK for that money so will monitor and watch. 

[Das Steinkopf]

1 hour ago, disturbman said:

Not at all, the bad zinc issues where limited to a batch of releases from June 2010 (not MAs fault) with a couple of models affected in May and one in July. I had crosschecked all release dates of affected sets 🙂 It would be good to add this info to the list we have to avoid spreading misinformation. I don’t know if @Yavianiceever came around to it.

 

Other years are safe, though my cut off date is around 2007, as before that you have chance of getting older non LED designs.

 

Pictures and descriptions are good indications. YJA is not eBay. Second hands sets are often in pristine conditions. I think most people are just collectors who rarely run their sets. I never had a bad surprise.

 

 If you have a look at Yavianice list there is a number of trains from 2002, 2005 and 2006 that were also affected by Mazak Rot, I definitley know that the A8907 DD50-4/5 from 2006 had the issue, Doug Coster told me in October last year how he got a second hand example and it wouldn't run, when he went to take the body off to check it out the chassis disintergrated.

Edited March 13, 2021 by Das Steinkopf

[Das Steinkopf]

34 minutes ago, Peter Osborne said:

I’m agreeing with you the one one on auction that finished today is already 20000JPY and a few hours to go,,,I can have 2 KATO 211 4 car sets from RG ROKKO and delivery to the UK for that money so will monitor and watch. 

 

I got two Greenmax 211-6000 Series GG Set 2 car car sets for that price, they might be pricey but they are very nice models.

[disturbman]

28 minutes ago, Das Steinkopf said:

 

 If you have a look at Yavianice list there is a number of trains from 2002, 2005 and 2006 that were also affected by Mazak Rot, I definitley know that the A8907 DD50-4/5 from 2006 had the issue, Doug Coster told me in October last year how he got a second hand example and it wouldn't run, when he went to take the body off to check it out the chassis disintergrated.

Yes, sorry for not having been extremely precise. They are a few other reported isolated cases. What I meant is that the risk is so so so low for any other releases that it can basically be ignored.

 

Beside the few reported models that have a risk of being affected, the main issue is May/June 2010. You also have to remember that only few models of specific batch develop issues. Issues have not been reported as systematic. I had models with possible zinc rot that never had any issues and ran like a charm (I sold them last year as they didn’t fit my modeling interest).

 

That said, I would stay clear of reported items, but I have no qualm buying other, older sets if they look in good shape and the pictures look correct.

Edited March 13, 2021 by disturbman

[Peter Osborne]

6 hours ago, Peter Osborne said:

I’m agreeing with you the one one on auction that finished today is already 20000JPY and a few hours to go,,,I can have 2 KATO 211 4 car sets from RG ROKKO and delivery to the UK for that money so will monitor and watch. 

The set I was watching sold for 20,555JPY more than what I would be prepared to pay, there have been some about the 15.000JPY mark that’s not so bad, will monitor and also hope we get a rerelease or maybe one for KATO or TOMIX to introduce.

I do also have some reservations about the metal problem that seems to plague many models in many scales from the same time frame, die cast vehicles too.

[cteno4]

Yes in a situation like this you can’t name your price and have it now, you have to lurk if you hope to get a non premium price. I’ve lurked up to 2 years for a particular train and been rewarded! 
 

as disturbman noted the rot issue is pretty rare, not prevalent. I’ve got like 60+ Smattering of microace trains and no rot.

 

collecting model trains eventually you will end up with a few lemons, broken, etc trains, it’s to be expected and figure it as part of the overall budget. Luckily with Japanese trains it’s pretty rare overall.

 

jeff