bill937ca Posted September 27 Share Posted September 27 None. Long story, but I am largely out of model trains. Still some model trams but nowhere for a layout in the future. Link to comment
inobu Posted September 27 Share Posted September 27 That's not good.....The tram stuff is hard to get. No one else seems to have them. Wonder how many Hobby Search had. Link to comment
brill27mcb Posted September 27 Author Share Posted September 27 That's why I did a rare (for me) reservation for the Unitram points. Hobby Search seems to generally order too few on popular items, and by the time I get the notification that they are in stock, they are already gone! It's really annoying. Your best hope is that HS often receives an initial "feeding frenzy" shipment that sells out, but later receives a supplemental shipment "restock." Watch for a supplemental restock and act quickly. I don't know if it's possible to reserve or pre-order now on a possible restock, but if so, do that. Another possibility is to send an email to RG-Rokko and see if they can locate some for you. Rich K. 1 Link to comment
Greg Posted September 28 Share Posted September 28 Received notification that the order has entered the shipping process. I preordered two of each. Will see how long they take to arrive. Previous shipments have taken about 14 days to Canada. Link to comment
bill937ca Posted October 7 Share Posted October 7 These are available this morning, but almost sold out!!! https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/11067891 https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/11067892 Link to comment
bill937ca Posted October 7 Share Posted October 7 Gone by noon, actually. My original post was 6am. Link to comment
brill27mcb Posted October 8 Author Share Posted October 8 (edited) Blink and you miss them! I thought to call Kato USA a few days ago, to ask if they would be putting the Unitram turnouts out on the U.S. market. The person I spoke to put me on hold to find out the answer, then came back with "maybe in a year or so." I take that to mean "no immediate plans." She did mention that Kato is still getting up to speed in their new factory in Japan. Rich K. Edited October 8 by brill27mcb 2 Link to comment
Kamome Posted October 9 Share Posted October 9 Kato Online are showing stock of both the left and right points, as are Yodobashi camera. Neither useful to ship overseas but seems stock is out there, in Japan anyway. Can outlets like RGR procure any? Link to comment
inobu Posted October 9 Share Posted October 9 Being that the switches were releases at the end of Sept. One can reason that the U.S. allocation is in transit. We are looking at 1 month for the container to arrive and another for distribution.... So November we should see them. Inobu Link to comment
brill27mcb Posted October 9 Author Share Posted October 9 You are presuming that there is a U.S. distribution. I'm not as convinced. A search on the katousa website for "Unitram" results only in a non-updated product listing that still shows the old V51-V54 sets and so on. A similar search for "Unitram" on the katousa's "store" website only brings up the 4 colors of My Tram Classic trams. I sure hope they prove me wrong... Rich K. 1 Link to comment
bill937ca Posted October 9 Share Posted October 9 Kato Japan releases new items every month. I don't think we can automatically assume a shipment is enroute. Who is taking reservations? Link to comment
inobu Posted October 9 Share Posted October 9 There is the V60 (40-810) the American version of the tram set. They were released (I think) the same time as the TV1's were (this time around). Each major distributor in the U.S. has the V60 Tram set in stock (Just checked) as well as Model Train Stuff (retail). When you look at a product release on Hobby Search you will see the same product show up a few months later in the US. If you think about it U.S. shipments have to lag by a month or so as the containers come by sea. You can verify it by looking at a product on Hobby Search and compare it with Kato USA's announcement on Facebook. Inobu Link to comment
cteno4 Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 from Rich's call to Kato USA it doesnt sound like the points are on the ship headed to the us for release. jeff 1 Link to comment
inobu Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 When you talk to them you have to talk in part numbers. 40-212 , 40-213. Inobu Link to comment
cteno4 Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 Inobu, Perhaps give Kato USA a call and use the part numbers and see what answer they give you. It would be interesting to see what answer a second request results in. jeff Link to comment
inobu Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 1 hour ago, cteno4 said: Inobu, Perhaps give Kato USA a call and use the part numbers and see what answer they give you. It would be interesting to see what answer a second request results in. jeff You should know me by now....I rarely speculate ....I called them last week. The person I talked to said that containers can come on a monthly basis. The reason why I can tell you that there is a month or so delay between the release date is I checked an order from last year. From the time that HobbySearch posted their release date to when Kato USA made their Facebook post was a month or so. If anyone really wants one have your hobbyshop put a backorder request to their distributor for you. Inobu Link to comment
Burtos Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 On 7/3/2024 at 3:28 AM, bill937ca said: Anyone else notice the numbers of the Kato Unitram turnouts have been changed? They are now 40-212 and 40-213. Old numbers were 40-210 and 40-211 Also HS now shows the release date as "Not fixed". Recieved them yesterday, got 3 right and 2 left Link to comment
inobu Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 Really strange how they sell more Right than Lefts....... Inobu 1 Link to comment
Kamome Posted October 11 Share Posted October 11 4 hours ago, inobu said: Really strange how they sell more Right than Lefts..... I was thinking the same. You’d think they’d sell an even number of both based on the track geometry. Must be a wealth of layouts with either a terminus station or a tram shed always off of a right point. Link to comment
bill937ca Posted October 11 Share Posted October 11 Or the poster may have obtained one somewhere else. Link to comment
inobu Posted October 11 Share Posted October 11 No, they were 5 hours ago, bill937ca said: Or the poster may have obtained one somewhere else. No, they were listed as 3 Right and 2 Left. Link to comment
brill27mcb Posted October 11 Author Share Posted October 11 As I predicted, they are now back in stock at Hobby Search, with an apparent restocking. We'll see for how long... Rich K. Link to comment
Robsr Posted October 12 Share Posted October 12 Train Trax in the UK have some but they’re nearly double the HS price. Link to comment
Burtos Posted October 12 Share Posted October 12 31 minutes ago, Robsr said: Train Trax in the UK have some but they’re nearly double the HS price. Seems to got more expensive buying from them, I got the new d51 loco and coal wagon set with delivery from amazon.jp cheaper then what they were selling the d51 on its own Link to comment
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