Arden Hall Model Railway Exhibition 2021

[The Birmingham train spotter]

As a member of the Birmingham Model Railway Club I've been invited to attend and help out at the Arden Hall Model Railway Exhibition ( Saturday 30 October 2021). Being a club member I've packed my OO Gauge items for the show tomorrow and I'm bringing a Bachmann OO Gauge BR Class 43 Warship,A Hornby Class A1 " Tornado " and many pieces of rolling stock! I'm going to be taking many pictures as I can when I'm not helping out and I'm hoping to find some Japanese Items (Either HO or N Gauge)

 

So I went today and I had a blast! Now on the topic of Japanese N Gauge stuff I only found one item A Tomix JR 92010 Electric inspection cars for £125 and to be honest they where some heavy units out of the box but the price was disappointing at £125 as the box was ripped and the seller wouldn't bargain it down so unfortunately I had to pass on it.But the event was amazing and I enjoyed myself!

[Rod.H]

In other words the issue before the re-release as 92139, which when it was in stock at Hobby Search you could've picked up for £50 before shipping

[cteno4]

Generally at train shows here in the US you either find Japanese trains at decent prices (and sometimes a real bargain) or pretty inflated prices with sellers that will not budge as they think Japanese n scale is rare and expensive. the nice cases also make them think it’s some sort of collectors “special” set and won’t listen that just about every Japanese train set (except for the cheapest stuff) comes in cases like this. They always reference Kato US prices and packaging and won’t hear that the Japanese market dwarfs the US market and things tend to be a much better bang for the buck than US trains. They end up very funny conversations and minds can not be changed…

 

jeff

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Second-hand Japanese stuff is usually really overpriced at shows and you often see the same stuff doing the rounds for months or even years on end. As Jeff says, I think dealers believe it commands a premium due to it being less common, but usually you find often tatty stuff which is pricier than the brand new version. It is mainly down to the dealers not knowing what they have, and not doing some basic research.

 

Me poking around a few ratty Tomix boxes

Dealer: 'It's top quality Japanese stuff mate'...

Me: 'Yes, I agree it's Japanese; but it's also over 20 years old...and I'm sure EF81s are Bo-Bo-Bo locos' as I put down the obligatory EF81 missing its middle bogie marked up at £80.00

 

A lot of Japanese stuff bought in the UK 20-30 years ago was purely for the chassis and motor, due to them being cheap, very reliable and perfect for remotoring the rubbish that Farish and early Bachmann were pushing on us at the time. Then the British stuff got better (less rubbish in many cases) and the unused donors found their way onto the second-hand market.

 

You can find some decent bargains, but they are few and far between...and I have yet to see any Japanese H0 on a stall at a show.   

[Kamome]

Tomix 92010 sells for between ¥2000-5000 on used Japanese sites. So £35 is the top going rate here. 

 

Reading @Claude_Dreyfus post made me chuckle as I’ve had a few similar conversations in my time. I’ve seen a few blue train sets being sold as “EMU with missing pantographs, no motor” Why they didn’t assume DMU with the generator car, but must have concluded all Japan was electric. An EF210 painted in intercity swallow livery, by hand, asking £65 was a particular highlight. 

 

The only bargains I ever found at UK shows were Kato US locomotives. As mentioned, a lot of the Japanese stock is put on sale once butchered. 

 

[railsquid]

1 hour ago, Claude_Dreyfus said:

Me poking around a few ratty Tomix boxes

Dealer: 'It's top quality Japanese stuff mate'...

Me: 'Yes, I agree it's Japanese; but it's also over 20 years old...and I'm sure EF81s are Bo-Bo-Bo locos' as I put down the obligatory EF81 missing its middle bogie marked up at £80.00

 

A lot of Japanese stuff bought in the UK 20-30 years ago was purely for the chassis and motor, due to them being cheap, very reliable and perfect for remotoring the rubbish that Farish and early Bachmann were pushing on us at the time. Then the British stuff got better (less rubbish in many cases) and the unused donors found their way onto the second-hand market.

 

Aha, that finally explains the slow but constant stream of derelict Bo-__-Bo locos with missing pantographs which Hattons keeps trying to shift for the bargain price of about 50 quid.

[cteno4]

I generally just keep my mouth shut when poking around Japanese stuff at shows but I’m always wearing our club t-shirt so most of the time the dealer will get excited with a fish on the line for stuff that’s been sitting there for a long time not selling and start pushing the Japanese trains on me.

 

Dealer: Ahh I you’re into Japanese trains!great Take a look at my special edition Japanese trains, very hard to get stuff.

me: well, err, it’s actually really easy to get most all Japanese trains directly from japan.
Dealer: but that costs a fortune and a long time to ship and then there’s customs.

me: well really for 2 week shipping its the same cost as regular priority mail within the US and for $20 or so I can have a set air express in 1-3 days. Also the US doesn’t have any customs duty on stuff like this.
Dealer: well these are special collector sets, look at the custom cases!

me: Ahhh, well, these are all pretty common sets. you know most all Japanese train sets come in these nice book case sleeves.

Dealer: Well this stuff is rare, Japan is a small market

me: well, the Japanese market dwarfs the US market, probably by at least 5-10 times as big as US if not more.

Dealer: well just tell all your clubmembers to come over and look, I’ve got some good prices here!

me: well err, hate to tell you but you are asking about twice the Japanese retail price and these sets are pretty old sets and newer better releases now available. Also Japanese trains are generally more inexpensive than US trains…

 

had this conversation in a variety of permutations many times over the years at shows. Some dealers just keep at it and I get torn between just walking away, jus smiling and nodding, or giving correct answers/informarion. Now I try to look at Japanese stuff very surptisiouly when the dealer is focused on someone else as the club t-shirt is kind of like a bulls eye on me…

 

jeff

[Rod.H]

You don't see much Japanese trains on dealer stands at Australian shows, you may see the odd starter pack but expect to find more Unitrack packs than trains and the Starter packs are typically are AUD$100 above what they cost at Hobby Search, but they will come with a Australian compliant wall wart that the Australian wholesaler replaces the JDM-spec one with. Sometimes you'll even see the Australian Kato wholesaler with a stand at a show, but they'll have only brought along US & UK items

[The Birmingham train spotter]

To be honest the guy selling the stuff has horrible products,he had broken engine shells for £8 to £10, broken or painted wagons that looked cheap and damaged products,he said he wasn't gonna bargain down any products and was watching me when I was operating one of the layouts,strange bloke