Tomix - New Releases

[Shinjinkun]

7 hours ago, katoftw said:

That's clearly a loco hauled train. The motor is in the loco.

 

Most people buying older retired model set known a few details about train. Hence no need for heavy beginner style details.

 

But I think the diagrams provided are self explanatory, even if in Japanese.

 

That makes sense, thanks for the clarification. Well, in my case, I am mostly a beginner, and don't know the details for these trains. Actually, is a bit sad that I am finding about some trains that have been out of order for quite some time... I wish I could have ridden them 😛 

 

3 hours ago, disturbman said:

@Shinjinkun I invite you to look closely at the twitter announcement Katem posted a few posts above yours. Tomix announced two Hokkutosei locomotives alongside the coach sets.

 

If you google the name of the train, you will also see that it was pulled by a wide variety of locomotives, EF65, EF510, as well non-Hokkutosei EF81 and DD51.

 

Thanks. Yes, I checked the Hokkutosei formations too, but I am not sure if it is worth to get them. I find confusing that for the Yumekukan you have to buy three carriages separately... why not sell the whole formation together, instead of including one that shouldn't even be in there?

In other order, I saw that in Hokutosei city in Hokkaido they put three of the Hokutosei train carriages as a hostel. It is quite interesting. 🙂

 

[Kamome]

9 hours ago, Shinjinkun said:

But doesn't it look like there is no motor car in the whole formation? I mean, I have been researching, and looks that you need to buy the motor car separately. I found there was a Tomix 92950 set with a red EF81 included with the Hokutosei logo, but seems to be already sold out... why couldn't they explain this a bit better? :S

Without going over what others have said, for your information, the loco hauled sleeper train sets don’t normally come with the loco, normally due to a variety of different locomotives pulling the train between its origin and destination. This is also true of the majority of other manufacturer’s sleeper trains too. 

 

The exceptions to this has been when:

 

Tomix have produced full formation sets as a special farewell, some of which containing 3 or 4 locomotives. The farewell to Hokutosei is one example.

 

https://www.tomytec.co.jp/tomix/products/n/98953.html

 

Or the base set of the Kato model of the Cassiopeia has come with an appropriately painted EF510 or the EF81 in Rainbow Express Livery. 

 

https://www.katomodels.com/product/n/e26kei_cassiopeia_cruise

 

As further information, at least on the special 3 coaches, Kato’s upcoming HO version page has further information on alternative formations although this would make some of the blue coaches in the Tomix set obsolete. 

 

If you have considered the EF81 in Hokutosei livery from Tomix, this will be released in September to compliment  the Yume Kūkan. 

https://www.tomytec.co.jp/tomix/products/n/7174.html

 

[disturbman]

58 minutes ago, Shinjinkun said:

I checked the Hokkutosei formations too, but I am not sure if it is worth to get them.

I specifically meant the locomotives, they also headed the Yume Kukan, alongside many  others locomotives. The choice of locomotive is more or less a question of taste and/or region.

Edited March 27, 2023 by disturbman

[roadstar_na6]

After all the Yume Kukan was a Hokutosei that had it's final three coaches replaced 😄

I'm waiting for Kato to make it and sell it as a set without having to buy 100 individual coaches and bother with transfer numberings 😄

[Shinjinkun]

1 hour ago, Kamome said:

Without going over what others have said, for your information, the loco hauled sleeper train sets don’t normally come with the loco, normally due to a variety of different locomotives pulling the train between its origin and destination. This is also true of the majority of other manufacturer’s sleeper trains too. 

 

The exceptions to this has been when:

 

Tomix have produced full formation sets as a special farewell, some of which containing 3 or 4 locomotives. The farewell to Hokutosei is one example.

 

https://www.tomytec.co.jp/tomix/products/n/98953.html

 

Or the base set of the Kato model of the Cassiopeia has come with an appropriately painted EF510 or the EF81 in Rainbow Express Livery. 

 

https://www.katomodels.com/product/n/e26kei_cassiopeia_cruise

 

As further information, at least on the special 3 coaches, Kato’s upcoming HO version page has further information on alternative formations although this would make some of the blue coaches in the Tomix set obsolete. 

 

If you have considered the EF81 in Hokutosei livery from Tomix, this will be released in September to compliment  the Yume Kūkan. 

https://www.tomytec.co.jp/tomix/products/n/7174.html

 

 

@Kamome Wow, that tomix set with the 4 locomotives is amazing... and also expensive, 66K yen. However, I am sure that nowadays it is almost impossible to get at that price. Yes, I was thinking about the EF81, but it bothers me a bit the red color instead of being blue. Maybe the dd51 would make more sense? Because the EF510 (9108) looks to be sold out.

 

40 minutes ago, disturbman said:

I specifically meant the locomotives, they also headed the Yume Kukan, alongside many  others locomotives. The choice of locomotive is more or less a question of taste and/or region.

Yes, that is true. I think I now know about the choice of locos for the formations. Cheers 🙂

 

38 minutes ago, roadstar_na6 said:

After all the Yume Kukan was a Hokutosei that had it's final three coaches replaced 😄

I'm waiting for Kato to make it and sell it as a set without having to buy 100 individual coaches and bother with transfer numberings 😄

Absolutely, in the end, the difference were those three coaches, of course. Do you recon that Kato will make that set in the near future? I mean, if they announced it or something?

[disturbman]

Nobody knows, some people are hoping since Kato is releasing it in HO. I wouldn't count on it though, at least not immediately, Tomix is taking the current market.

Maybe it's time for you to discover Yahoo Japan Auctions, all these "impossible to get" locomotives and stocks are available there. Zenmarket does pre-clearance iirc. These commemorative sets by Tomix are often available there, not for cheap, but also not for 66k.

If you want a blue loco, you can get the DD51. The north of Tokyo is unfortunately normally the realm of red electrics. Though I did find a picture showing the Yuke Kukan being towed by a EF65-1000 in blue and cream livery.

Edited March 27, 2023 by disturbman

[lighthouse]

@disturbman

 

EF65-1000 with "Yuke Kukan"

 

https://1st-train.net/article/922

https://1st-train.net/article/921

https://1st-train.net/article/924

https://www.kei-zu.com/railroad/yume_kukan/yume_kukan.html

 

 

 

[disturbman]

Thanks @lighthouse, my phone had changed my “did” into a “didn’t and thus totally changing the meaning of my sentence.

[Shinjinkun]

So, to summarize the whole Yume Kukan matter:

Let's say I reserve the Tomix 92792 set (https://www.tomytec.co.jp/tomix/products/n/92792.html).

Then, I put all the carriages included together, and add a loco like:

EF65-1000 non hokutosei livery - blue (https://www.tomytec.co.jp/tomix/products/n/7165.html)

EF81 Hokutosei livery - red (https://www.tomytec.co.jp/tomix/products/n/7174.html)

DD51-1000 Hokkaido livery - blue (https://www.tomytec.co.jp/tomix/products/n/2251.html)

This way I should have a 7 carriages + 1 loco usable formation (even if the 92792 image refers to 2 extra Ohane 25-100 for carriages 6-7,  and 1 Ohanefu25-200 for carriage 8 ).

Am I wrong?

 

 

[disturbman]

You are right.

 

And if you ever add the additional carriages, you can change the foam inside the box for a popondetta 10 or 12-car urethane.

[Shinjinkun]

13 minutes ago, disturbman said:

You are right.

 

And if you ever add the additional carriages, you can change the foam inside the box for a popondetta 10 or 12-car urethane.

Awesome! Thanks for confirming it.

Regarding the second part, I find it interesting... those popondetta foams are compatible with the Tomix boxes then? Or some DIY needs to be done to fit? I only have the standard boxes that came with the sets I have, so never thought that they were ways to customize the boxes, like, for example, for the E5 that could be put together in one box instead of two 😛 

[disturbman]

They are made so that they can fit different sizes of bookcases. But they can’t accommodate all length of cars. The 10 or 12-car urethanes can take cars with lengths up to 21m (JR DMU length).

 

The Shinkansen cars are 25m long. The 10-car 200, E2 and E5 fit into a specific Casco case. Iirc, they are not stand-alone urethane available for them.

Edited March 27, 2023 by disturbman

[Kamome]

Thanks to @lighthouse for the photos of the EF65.

I personally favour the EF81 Hokutosei livery but the Cassiopeia liveried EF81 also pulled the train.

 

http://tokihakutaka.fc2web.com/saijiki/0708/070923b.html

 

As well as the Twilight Express EF81

 

https://www.rail.ac/jr/train/special/dream.html

 

One final option is the Rainbow Express livery EF81

 

https://www.google.co.jp/amp/s/railf.jp/news/2008/amp/03/31/170400.html

[drt7uk]

It arrives in 3 days from Japan to the UK. Great service. What a beauty

[disturbman]

@drt7ukbeautiful train. That said, we have a specific topic to post pictures of our new toys. It's probably the biggest topic in the entire forum 🙂

 

https://jnsforum.com/community/topic/998-what-did-you-order-or-the-post-deliver-japanese-n-gauge

 

[Aleks]

I am wondering why Kato did not put out West Kyushu Shinkansen... can it be that Tomix paid for an exclusive license from JR Kyushu?

[bill937ca]

Might be announced in May at the Shizouka Hobby Show.

Edited April 4, 2023 by bill937ca

[katoftw]

44 minutes ago, Aleks said:

I am wondering why Kato did not put out West Kyushu Shinkansen... can it be that Tomix paid for an exclusive license from JR Kyushu?

Kato is always slow to release newer models.

 

Thoufh Kato may never do it. Kato's efforts towards shinkansen models has always been low.

[Aleks]

3 hours ago, katoftw said:

Kato is always slow to release newer models.

 

Thoufh Kato may never do it. Kato's efforts towards shinkansen models has always been low.

 

Re the low efforts, I don't know if this is consistent with my observations. A couple of months ago I did an inventory of Kato produced shinkansen models (to figure out which I want to buy and which I can live without), and I don't know if I saw any other recent models they have not produced. Among the very recent, they released retro colored E2-1000, N700S, and N700S-3000.

 

On the slow side, have not been in the hobby long enough to know though...

Edited April 4, 2023 by Aleks

[bill937ca]

Kato is a family business. They have a plan and stick to the plan no matter what the demand. If there is  enough demand there will be reruns.

 

Takara Tomy which owns Tomix and Tomytec is a multi-national with the resources created by the Transformers multi media franchise (#2 Japanese multi media franchise behind Pokemon).

[Wolf]

6 hours ago, Aleks said:

E2-1000, N700S, and N700S-3000.

 

And thr 500 series re-run just now

[disturbman]

I thought that @katoftwmeant that Kato doesn’t always update their old release when re-releasing trains. I believe their 0s and 100s have quite ancient moulds. Their recent release also had no short or Shinkansen couplers, just Rapidos.

[katoftw]

Yes and no.

 

Kato's laziness towards shinkansen models involves:-

 

1. Not updating models to today's standards. @disturbman explanation suits.

 

2. 8 car model incorrect as using 16 car molds. Eva and helly kitty were prime examples.

 

3. Never even doing some shinkansens from 15-20 year old services.  Railstar, JRW Kodama etc.

[Kamome]

On 4/5/2023 at 4:12 AM, Aleks said:

I am wondering why Kato did not put out West Kyushu Shinkansen... can it be that Tomix paid for an exclusive license from JR Kyushu?

Profitability?  Ridership of the Kamome service is still relatively low and perhaps Kato don't think there is enough interest to warrant the competition of 2 Kamome models at this time. My local hobby shop has a big stack of Kato shooting star 800s still sitting there. 

 

Takara Tomy (Tomix) produce numerous other products so a license can be used to create pura-rail as well as other toys relating to the design and livery.  Kato on the other hand, only make railway models so I would assume their current demand is not enough to warrant the machining costs.

 

I would like to think that Kato make some pretty good choices when it comes to releases. Perhaps their shinkansen sales are not huge compared to other models. When I visit rental layouts, not many people are running Shinkansen even though, from an outside perspective, this is what we associate most with Japanese railways. 

 

There are far more JRF container trains, blue trains or steam era consists. I think the EF55 is a very good shout. Microace did one last in 2009 or you can possibly find a brass World Kogei kit. I get far more excited by this announcements of this nature than my namesake n scale release. I'm sure its a very nice model.

Edited April 6, 2023 by Kamome

[jappomania]

On 4/4/2023 at 9:58 PM, katoftw said:

Kato is always slow to release newer models.

 

Thoufh Kato may never do it. Kato's efforts towards shinkansen models has always been low.

 

3 hours ago, katoftw said:

Yes and no.

 

Kato's laziness towards shinkansen models involves:-

 

1. Not updating models to today's standards. @disturbman explanation suits.

 

2. 8 car model incorrect as using 16 car molds. Eva and helly kitty were prime examples.

 

3. Never even doing some shinkansens from 15-20 year old services.  Railstar, JRW Kodama etc.

 

mmmhh.... not really, depend of many thing, just a couple of example, 700 C series, E5 released month or years before Tomix, E3...yes, I'm not drunk, if you considering that the first release of E3 0-1000 from Tomix was a bunch of errors, infact the renewed release, a couple of years after Kato, has been done correctly 

all the rest has been released more or less in 6 month - 1 year delay (500, E2, E4, E6, E/W7 etc.., you can find all these infos on speedsphere) and for those that has not been released maybe Kato think that they can't sell enough to cover the investiment, the special paint like 500 EVA and E3-700 are another thing, the mold is wrong (based on 16 cars or whit too many windows) but it was cleary declared on sales poster that it was was a simply repaint not 100% matching the real prototype, considering they require a new mold and the license cost, maybe it was a better choice for Kato

(I agree with what @Kamome write above, have you see how many E4 tank you MAX are on sale in the last weeks on Yahoo? and the Hello Kitty still available on Tomix stocklist...sold out on pre-order is not so easy and models still on storage are freezed money)

 

what do you mean about "today's standards"? the re-release of Kato 100-3000 has been done without modify simply  because the train has been done correctly at the first shot, or is better the Tomix policy with the "renew" motor and sell it at 20-30% more?

BTW, Tomix released the "correct" 100 series (Sayonara and X/G) years after some re-release and is still wrong in some parts (slanting light like the original 100 X0, 123 car lower shell without LCX antenna)

the same for the 300 series, the last one use the same molds like the first - and just for fun, the first batch of 325-700 was with 12 windows instead of 13 - the lower chassis of 323 head car is still whitout LCX antenna and the rest of the cars is a mix of incorrect lower chassis, a comparison with MA or the last Kato make somebody cry...

I don't know if this can be considered an update to today's standard, I dont' see miracles from the new M-13 motor

 

again, the Zero series, Kato mold is still from 1982 but for TOMIX 0-2000 is the same, just small improvement for both (LED light, motor, pantos)  and the fake consistency don't change, just the Tomix Zero and 0-1000 are "new", but the Zero original with large windows is again not 100% ok (see the rooftop of 25-200 car)

again, it was my first "sayonara" set, but maybe not everybody know that the cars used for this set aren't 100% correct, and the list can continue...

 

what I wanna tell is that when the models is "built from scratch", normally both Kato and Tomix doing a good job today, but with things based on old molds everybody try to do the less possible (and sometime not enough, bearable for the smallest Kato, not so much for the bigger Takara-Tomy), for me now is not so important how fast you are to do a new release, but if it is or not right, just a bunch of similar cars was the rule 30-40 year ago, acceptable until 10-15 year ago, out of brain today with a risk to having to sell it like bargain  for empty the storage

 

p.s. there is one thing where Tomix is "the best", use a shitting ABS quality for some parts
the day when the mobile frame and nose cone of 0-100-200-300 etc.. and the panto shield and cover (eg.Rail Star), stop turning yellow is far
(or just sell them like spare parts is so bad? or put the "Expiration date" like tomato cann)

 

Ciao!

Massimo