Looking to buy a Kato e6

[kiwiinoz]

Whats the difference between Kato N Scale Series E6 Shinkansen 'komachi' Standard 3 Car Set Basic 3-car Set 10-1136 and 10-1566Kato N Scale Series E6 Shinkansen 'komachi' Standard 3 Car Set Basic 3-car Set. Both appear to be the same and are dcc friendly but there's about $125 price difference

[disturbman]

10-1136 is an older set than 10-1566. Difference is likely the motor and perhaps the boards, but nothing to justify such a massive price difference. If sold by a good importer, I'm not sure 10-1566 should cost much more than 200/220 NZD new. At least based on what I think would be a good EUR price.

[Kamome]

Indeed. Both of these sets should originally be priced around ¥12,000, some retailers will be cheaper.  There is also a newer release 10-1973 (Feb 2025) with subtle changes to the model like the blanked out window where increased luggage space was added on the real train. This newest version is about ¥9000 at retailers who stock a lot of railway items and usually offer 30% off SRP. 

 

Any large price differences between models from Japanese manufacturers are generally going to be down to the retailer praying on lack of knowledge or possibly playing the “it’s a rare train from overseas” card. 1136 hasn’t been reproduced due to design choice mistakes that have been rectified on later versions. Does this make it more exclusive? Not really. 

 

These models are mass produced and still a very reasonable price point in Japan. There will be some models that had a single run or haven’t been reissued in a long time, which may command a high used price due to their actual rarity and collectibility . (Kato Evangelion 500) Models of the E6 have been produced every few years from 2013 onwards. I have the first Kato version 10-1136/10-1137 released in 2013 and the subsequent 10-1566 version changed the diaphragm couplers from light grey to dark grey/black to reflect a closer resemblance to the real train. The availability of E6 models has been pretty consistent so used market items don’t fetch very much. Both the older 3 car sets (1136/1566) can be found for around ¥7000 on the Japanese used market in like new condition. 

 

Very generally, the higher Kato product number (10-???) would indicate which set is newer in the case of multiple releases like the E6 but feature wise the models will often be the same, with the addition of some minor changes to the internal components or external details. If you come across Kato models with a product number lower than around 10-300, you may find these were manufactured around the 1990s/early 2000s and may have things like bulb lights instead of LED or weren’t “DCC friendly.”  Kato have also reissued older, product number models with some updates like LED lights or a new motor so this is a guide rather than a rule. 

 

[kiwiinoz]

23 hours ago, disturbman said:

10-1136 is an older set than 10-1566. Difference is likely the motor and perhaps the boards, but nothing to justify such a massive price difference. If sold by a good importer, I'm not sure 10-1566 should cost much more than 200/220 NZD new. At least based on what I think would be a good EUR price.

Ah ok. Both prices i looked at were from the same Japanese retailer. The $125 is Australian dollars. Thanks for the reply im kinda new to model trains so was a bit confused

[kiwiinoz]

9 hours ago, Kamome said:

Indeed. Both of these sets should originally be priced around ¥12,000, some retailers will be cheaper.  There is also a newer release 10-1973 (Feb 2025) with subtle changes to the model like the blanked out window where increased luggage space was added on the real train. This newest version is about ¥9000 at retailers who stock a lot of railway items and usually offer 30% off SRP. 

 

Any large price differences between models from Japanese manufacturers are generally going to be down to the retailer praying on lack of knowledge or possibly playing the “it’s a rare train from overseas” card. 1136 hasn’t been reproduced due to design choice mistakes that have been rectified on later versions. Does this make it more exclusive? Not really. 

 

These models are mass produced and still a very reasonable price point in Japan. There will be some models that had a single run or haven’t been reissued in a long time, which may command a high used price due to their actual rarity and collectibility . (Kato Evangelion 500) Models of the E6 have been produced every few years from 2013 onwards. I have the first Kato version 10-1136/10-1137 released in 2013 and the subsequent 10-1566 version changed the diaphragm couplers from light grey to dark grey/black to reflect a closer resemblance to the real train. The availability of E6 models has been pretty consistent so used market items don’t fetch very much. Both the older 3 car sets (1136/1566) can be found for around ¥7000 on the Japanese used market in like new condition. 

 

Very generally, the higher Kato product number (10-???) would indicate which set is newer in the case of multiple releases like the E6 but feature wise the models will often be the same, with the addition of some minor changes to the internal components or external details. If you come across Kato models with a product number lower than around 10-300, you may find these were manufactured around the 1990s/early 2000s and may have things like bulb lights instead of LED or weren’t “DCC friendly.”  Kato have also reissued older, product number models with some updates like LED lights or a new motor so this is a guide rather than a rule. 

 

Ah ok thanks for the response. It's  all starting to make sence now with the product numbers etc

[disturbman]

18 minutes ago, kiwiinoz said:

Ah ok. Both prices i looked at were from the same Japanese retailer. The $125 is Australian dollars. Thanks for the reply im kinda new to model trains so was a bit confused

I assume an eBay Japanese seller?

[kiwiinoz]

On 3/20/2025 at 9:38 PM, disturbman said:

I assume an eBay Japanese seller?

Yes japan figures is the retailer

[SwallowAngel]

Japanese sellers on Ebay are usually one of the worst places to buy from. Their prices are astronomical compared to other options and simply not worth it.

If you wanna see retailer recommendations there are a bunch in the "Supplier" section of the forum. Assuming you only want the 3-car basic set E6 you'll probably need to refer to either Plaza Japan or Hobbysearch. Both of them offer prices much closer to MSRP compared to most Ebay sellers

[disturbman]

Since Plaza Japan stopped selling on eBay, there aren't good Japanese sellers there. Most of them are scalpers that try to profit from the higher price of model trains in Western countries.

If you are willing to import from Japan, but are still a bit shy, visit the big retailers, like Plaza Japan or AmiAmi. I'm not putting Hobby Search there as their pricing has become horrendous and they are still trying to pass the removal of Japanese sales tax as a discount. There are also smaller shops that a lot (most?) of us prefer to use.