Tomix - New Releases

[JR 500系]

5 hours ago, Kiha66 said:

I like that truss bridge!  All those detail parts make for a very interesting structure.  

 

Yes i like it too! But the truss below the bridge is putting me off a little... since the space below the bridge is usually required to be utilised, hence the bridge, isn't it?  😛

 

Why am i marking myself safe more and more... is there... something wrong with me? Am i losing interest? Shall i see my family doc on this? 

[railsquid]

5 hours ago, JR 500系 said:

 

Yes i like it too! But the truss below the bridge is putting me off a little... since the space below the bridge is usually required to be utilised, hence the bridge, isn't it?  😛

 

 

Dunno if you've ever noticed how many train lines in Japan pop out of the side of a mountain, pass over a deep river valley and into a tunnel on the other side? One day when I win the lottery and have some space for my "Chuo Line in the Mountains" layout section, I'll need a few of those.

 

See e.g. here: http://kokutetsushoku.main.jp/1shashinkan/2015/C1nagasnosha115/C1nagasnosha115.html

or here: https://blackotter9.sakura.ne.jp/fujimi.html

 

 

[Sheffie]

Yeah, the bridge is ideal for a prototypical mountain railway, but that makes it a lot less suitable for the usual hobbyist layout where the raised lines may only be 50-75mm above the base — and where they often cross other lines. 

[railsquid]

Well umm yeah, but isn't it great the option is available? It's not like Tomix is forcing the "usual hobbyists" to buy this in place of other bridge types...

[Cat]

Bring on a Japanese translation of the original Gorre & Daphetid trackplan!
: 3

Edited March 12, 2021 by Cat

[roadstar_na6]

I guess I'll get one just for the sake of having it for a future layout, I love this tunnel-bridge-tunnel thing and it's one of the things that made me fall down the japanese railway rabbit hole I feel like 😄

Plus for ~10€ it's quite a lot of stuff you're getting ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Edited March 12, 2021 by roadstar_na6

[MeTheSwede]

Beautiful bridge. Too bad I don't have any use for it.

[railsquid]

9 hours ago, railsquid said:

Well umm yeah, but isn't it great the option is available? It's not like Tomix is forcing the "usual hobbyists" to buy this in place of other bridge types...

 

Also while it might be tricky to find a practical use for one on a vanilla up-and-over layout on a flat baseboard, plenty of potential for use on T-Trak/modules and the like, and I've seen a fair few slightly more ambitious fixed layouts with deep-ish valleys (often made by cutting away sections from the baseboard and having the valley go down, rather than elevating everything else).

[gavino200]

I've actually thought about doing that. Though, I think I may be ripping off the idea from 'Tokyo in n-scale'. The memory is faint, though. So I think that makes it ok. 

[Kamome]

I’m with Squid. That bridge is very nice and great to have the option available. I’m trying to think of ways of including it in my track planning.

Looks a bit like one near Aoidake in southern Kyushu. Great for those who want to make an interesting rural layout but yes, less of use to the urban modellers. 

[Kiha66]

A nice option with the new bridge is the inclusion a part to allow you to match it up to the girder bridge and through truss bridges.  Here in LA we have a few lines that use a similar under truss over a river, and then when it crosses a road on the riverbank it switches to the higher option.  This could work for some modelers and allow more variation in their bridge construction.  

[JR 500系]

 

Let's give some love to Tomix... that WEST EXPRESS GINGA!! 

 

March is gonna be expensive....

[Yavianice]

That bridge in the end looks really great!

[roadstar_na6]

I'm absolutely gonna get one of those bridges, even tho I won't have any use for it right now except for displaying a loco on it in a showcase 😄

Edited March 20, 2021 by roadstar_na6

[JR 500系]

Just got the news the West Express Ginga is out!

 

 

Yeah gonna be an expensive month with this and the Saphir Odoriko..... Wallet is screaming...

[gavino200]

Is it just me or does 38,000 yen seem a bit expensive for the "Ambitious Japan" 700 Series? Is this a premium for the "Ambitious Japan" decal? 

 

https://www.tomytec.co.jp/tomix/products/img/20210311-3.pdf

 

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10766316

[katoftw]

25 minutes ago, gavino200 said:

Is it just me or does 38,000 yen seem a bit expensive for the "Ambitious Japan" 700 Series? Is this a premium for the "Ambitious Japan" decal? 

 

https://www.tomytec.co.jp/tomix/products/img/20210311-3.pdf

 

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10766316

Seems like the going rate judging by the last few 700-0 releases.

[disturbman]

No, the price is correct for a 16-car set. 2,300 JPY per car is comparable to the other releases. The freshly re-released 0 Series was slightly more expensive. It just seems expensive because you are paying for the full 16 cars at once.

[JR 500系]

4 hours ago, disturbman said:

No, the price is correct for a 16-car set. 2,300 JPY per car is comparable to the other releases. The freshly re-released 0 Series was slightly more expensive. It just seems expensive because you are paying for the full 16 cars at once.

 

Yeah i guess that's right ~ Well, at least Kato has a much better price point for all 16-cars for the 100 series Grand Hikari, going at 15.400 + 9900 + 8470 = 33,700yen vs the Tomix 38,000yen, but of course with the Tomix, one can get power couplers and an additional motor car....

[disturbman]

Kato can. iirc Kato is simply reusing its old molds which were not fully prototypical.

Edited March 28, 2021 by disturbman

[gavino200]

3 hours ago, JR 500系 said:

 

Yeah i guess that's right ~ Well, at least Kato has a much better price point for all 16-cars for the 100 series Grand Hikari, going at 15.400 + 9900 + 8470 = 33,700yen vs the Tomix 38,000yen, but of course with the Tomix, one can get power couplers and an additional motor car....

 

That's exactly it. I ordered the "Ambitious Japan" 700 as a late night impulse buy. Comparing it with the Grand Hikari in my account it seemed very pricy.

[gavino200]

1 hour ago, disturbman said:

Kato can. iirc Kato is simply reusing its old molds which were not fully prototypical.

 

Surely, Tomix is just re-using a 700 Series mold and adding a decal that says "Ambitious Japan". No? Just sayin'. 😜

Edited March 28, 2021 by gavino200

[200系]

1 hour ago, disturbman said:

Kato is simply reusing its old molds which were not fully prototypical.

 

Aren't you confusing the Kato 100 series with their 0 series model? The Kato 100 series V formation has always been prototypical, ever since it was first released in 1997. The only thing with the older sets was that you had to use the 2 car extension set twice, for car positions 3/4 and 12/13, which meant you either had to use the Kato supplied transfers, or accept that you had duplicate numbers, but in a prototypical sense there were no issue as the 125 types for car positions 3 and 13, and the 126 types for car positions 4 and 12, were exactly the same in the V formations (they were numbered consecutively as well).

 

The Kato 0 series is indeed not entirely prototypical. The formation itself, in terms of the type of cars used and their position, is accurate for a Nh formation in the broadest sense of the word, but in terms of the actual composition (sub-types used) confirms to none of the Nh formations during their operational career, and would have been unable to exist because of the inclusion of a 27 type 1000 sub-type, 36 type 1000 sub-type and 37 type 1000 sub-type cars (only 3 of each were actually constructed, and they were all part of formations N97~N99, which were the only full 1000 sub-type formations ever built).

 

I'd even argue, that, in my opinion, the Kato model is still the most accurate (16 car) 100 series formation produced, with a number of details down to the specific batch of the prototype formation they chose to represent (formation V9, the final V formation built in December 1991, part of batch 6).

 

The latest Tomix 0 series releases (H and K formations) were slightly cheaper than the mentioned 700 series by the way, I got them for 36,380 yen (H formation) and 36,040 yen respectively. The key is to factor in the pre-order bonus 😉. For comparison, the 'arigatō 700 series shinkansen' set me back 38,760 yen, so that's only slightly more expensive than the set mention here (if you thought the 700 series is expensive, the latest 100 series X formation (X1) released by MicroAce set me back 58,650 yen... and that amount included the usual 10% off and the pre-order bonus...).

 

4 hours ago, JR 500系 said:

Yeah i guess that's right ~ Well, at least Kato has a much better price point for all 16-cars for the 100 series Grand Hikari, going at 15.400 + 9900 + 8470 = 33,700yen vs the Tomix 38,000yen...

 

With regards to the shinkansen Kato in general is usually cheaper on a per car basis, and the same is true for their commuter/suburban sets (which include body mounted Shibata couplers and printed details, vs Rapidos and transfers (with exception of the 3 car basic sets)) for a similar (or in a few cases superior, imho) level of detail.

 

This is even more pronounced with the more 'modern' shinkansen, with the Kato 16 car sets usually selling for around 30,000 yen when pre-ordering.

 

4 hours ago, JR 500系 said:

but of course with the Tomix, one can get power couplers and an additional motor car....

 

I know this is a big positive for a number of people, especially at this forum, but I've personally never been that big of a fan of the power couplers (heretic, I know).

I own 40 shinkansen, 22 Tomix, 12 Kato and 6 MicroAce sets, all of them full length formations, and I've never noticed any perceptible difference between the power coupler equiped dual motor Tomix sets, and the Kato single motor sets. I'd actually go as far to say, that in my opinion, my Kato 16 car formations run on average a bit smoother, especially in the lower speed ranges (I never go beyond the 50% power range when I run my trains). And while it's true that the all wheel pickup system reduces flickering, all the additional pickups also increases rolling resistance by a margin, which to me is quite noticeable.

 

Another disadvantage of the Tomix coupler system is that the coupling interval is quite large, especially in comparison to the Kato diaphragm couplers (both generations). This also means that the formation is a tad longer than a similar Kato formation, though to be fair Kato shinkansen are slightly shorter and narrower than they should be to be 100% to scale (On a per car basis it's only a very minor difference, but it does become somewhat noticeable when there you run them together,  a Kato 16 car formation is exactly to scale though (as a whole) while a Tomix/MicroAce formation is slightly too long).

The out of scale coupling interval is further exacerbated by the big plastic pieces Tomix uses as a moveable hood. Because of this any type of end car detailing is omitted, and it has always looked quite toy like and unrealistic to me, which is a shame as it feels out of place with some of their newer model (their latest 0 series release would've been almost flawless if it weren't for little things like this).  In contrast the Kato coupler system has always felt much more realistic to me.

 

I can understand the advantages when running on a club layout, or with a lot of dirty track, but it has always seemed more like a gimmick than a real game changer to me.

Nothing against Tomix though, their models are still excellent, this is just something that has always bugged me I guess.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[disturbman]

11 hours ago, 200系 said:

Aren't you confusing the Kato 100 series with their 0 series model?

Probably, Shinkansens and their models are your domain of expertise. I must have mixed them up. Thanks for the correction.

[200系]

@disturbman, Rather than a correction, it was actually a genuine question. I'm much more familiar with the real world stuff (as that's where my main interest lies), so I was worried I might have missed something less obvious with regards to the Kato model (which I'm glad wasn't the case,). I have my strong suits and my weak suits, so I don't expect to know everything there is to know about a certain subject, which means I always keep the possibility of overlooking something, or remembering wrong as a possibility 😉.

 

Anyway, it wasn't my intention to put you on the spot, so my apologies if it came across as such.