Buildings up for pre-order

[MeTheSwede]

I just noticed 10 Kato buildings that have been out of production for years showed up for pre-order today with one of our favorite resellers. The re-release date is in December. I was supposed to not order any more stuff from Japan this year, but now I'll have to buy myself some Christmas presents. 😁

 

With all the Tomytec buildings released this year or currently on pre-order and the new types of Kato large buildings at the start of the year, I must say this has been a very good year for structures. My first couple of years in the hobby was very sparse, so this is a most welcome development.

 

 

(I gave this thread a generic title, so it could possibly be reused by someone in the future.)

 

 

[James-SNMB]

@MeTheSwede, yes I noticed that too. Was this re-release formally announced by Kato, or did Hobbysearch just find a warehouse full of new old stock? I didn't see the usual Kato poster. Most Kato announcements seem to happen six months before release. Just wondering if other retailers will have them also, but I guess I could just message RG-Rokko and ask...

 

(For what it's worth, I had similar thoughts: "I thought I was done for the year! ... ah screw it, gotta get 'em.")

Edited October 9, 2023 by James-SNMB

[bill937ca]

There was a release poster with the release scheduled for February and March 2024. The buildings are in  strip along the bottom of the poster.

https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/kato-model/poster/images/2023092711363365139531d72ad/2024_2_3.jpg

 

https://www.katomodels.com/product/n/diotown_office_bldg

https://www.katomodels.com/product/n/diotown_shopping_bldg

https://www.katomodels.com/product/n/diotown_business_bldg

https://www.katomodels.com/product/n/kanban_bldg

 

Warehouses as we know them in North America don't exist in Japan with rare exceptions because of the scarcity and cost of land. Instead there are short production runs and retailers with abundant stock.

 

Edited October 9, 2023 by bill937ca

[James-SNMB]

Thanks @bill937ca! Considering how much I feel like I pay attention to buildings and the Hobby Search release emails, I'm embarrassed I missed that! Good to see these buildings coming back!

 

(Maybe individual unitram pieces will be next? I can dream...)

[Burtos]

On 10/9/2023 at 2:18 PM, James-SNMB said:

Thanks @bill937ca! Considering how much I feel like I pay attention to buildings and the Hobby Search release emails, I'm embarrassed I missed that! Good to see these buildings coming back!

 

(Maybe individual unitram pieces will be next? I can dream...)

 

I did email a shop in the USA about stock for the 40-210 and 211 points. They hadn't got any but said they would be available in the next 3-4 months. So fingers crossed. But I haven't seen anything yet from kato about these realeases.