MB Klein getting into Japanese prototypes?

[bill937ca]

There's 8 Kato N 10428 Blue General 7-Car Basic Set, Tsubame.  Which would make a nice traditional passenger train.

[chadbag]

They are having a President's Day sale -- 10% off (almost) everything.  (There are a few exclusions)

 

From the email:

 

Presidents Day Sale!

Take 10% off your entire order with promo code 10PRESIDENT

*10% Off Promotion valid February 15th, 2021 through February 17th, 2021. Discount excludes select new release Athearn and all Soundtraxx, Diecast Masters, Lionel and Showcase Miniatures products.

[roadstar_na6]

If you leave stuff in your cart for a few hours or a day they'll also send you a 10% discount code 😄

It was still cheaper for me to order from Kato directly.

[chadbag]

19 minutes ago, roadstar_na6 said:

If you leave stuff in your cart for a few hours or a day they'll also send you a 10% discount code 😄

It was still cheaper for me to order from Kato directly.

 

Maybe with shipping nach Deutschland.   I've gotten a few things when they've run 10% before and they were much cheaper with that discount than any other place I saw -- both KATO stuff [not Japanese] and things like TCS decoders etc.

 

But they don't seem to send me 10% discount coupons when I leave stuff in their cart 🙂  

[roadstar_na6]

6 minutes ago, chadbag said:

Maybe with shipping nach Deutschland.

 

I shipped it to my girlfriend's pen pal in Texas 😄 I'm absolutely not paying USPS international shipping..

 

Weird that you didn't get any discounts, I left stuff in my cart and got two mails about it still being in there.

[cteno4]

How are you going to ship it from texas? I just had to send a small package to the Netherlands and Usps was the cheapest even with global priority over cheapest DHL, FedEx or ups.

 

jeff

[roadstar_na6]

2 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

How are you going to ship it from texas?

USPS will ship it but as I said the pen pal of my gf wanted to ship out a parcel anyway so she just acted as my proxy service 😄
 

The sentence regarding international shipping was meant towards Kato USA's $20 flat rate price.

Edited February 16, 2021 by roadstar_na6

[chadbag]

For US people:

 

ModelTrainStuff.com has a 10% off all steam locomotives right now with the code "10PACIFIC"  (remove the "" ).

 

They show 2 Japanese steam locomotives but only have one in stock -- KATO 2018-1   D51 "Tohoku 1st" [as they label it].  With the discount it comes to about $104.39 in my shopping cart and their shipping to me (US address) for their standard shipping is a little over $10.

 

Checking on Amazon.co.jp the same item is about the same price 11213 ¥ (no VAT or sales tax) plus 1502 ¥ shipping by DHL, which is about the same delivered price as MB Klein ModelTrainStuff.com so if you need a D51 this may be a good deal.  Maybe a little cheaper for the ModelTrainStuff.com

 

 

Edited March 9, 2021 by chadbag
fat fingers -- fix model number

[Yavianice]

Sure, except that on RG-R the KATO 2018-1 loco is 9375 Yen. Which even including shipping is unbeatable.

Edited March 9, 2021 by Yavianice
wrote the tax included price first by mistake

[Kiha66]

1 hour ago, Yavianice said:

Sure, except that on RG-R the KATO 2018-1 loco is 9375 Yen. Which even including shipping is unbeatable.

 

The issue is RG-R shipping to the US is starts at 20 to 30 USD, so unless you combine shipping MTS actually can be the cheapest option.  I picked up the new kato rural station and one platform set from them last week.  Even if it was slightly more than the JP price the shipping costs made it very competitive.  Sadly they only had a few left in stock so I wasn't able to get the end ramps and lighting set.

[roadstar_na6]

I doubt shipping JP-US is a lot more expensive than JP-GER and I've paid less than $10 for shipping of a single loco from RG-R via ePacket.

[gavino200]

5 minutes ago, roadstar_na6 said:

I doubt shipping JP-US is a lot more expensive than JP-GER and I've paid less than $10 for shipping of a single loco from RG-R via ePacket.

 

Not that it's an important question to solve, but I'm a bit curious. Let's put it to the test! Pick an item from RG-R and post the link. We can both add it to our cart and see what the shipping is! 

[Yavianice]

34 minutes ago, Kiha66 said:

The issue is RG-R shipping to the US is starts at 20 to 30 USD, so unless you combine shipping MTS actually can be the cheapest option.  

 

Air Small Packet up to 2 kg (or about 2 cases + extras) to the U.S., available right now in COVID times, is around 2450 yen, + 9375 yen, is 11825 yen total, or approx 108 USD. 

 

MTS for the loco including U.S. domestic shipping and the 10% discount is 114 USD.

 

And of course you can stuff a lot more goodies in the 2 kg Air Small Packet.

 

RG-R is still cheaper.

 

Edited March 9, 2021 by Yavianice
forgot to calculate the 10% discount for MTS

[gavino200]

One thing about MTS that's always irritated me is that it can take a really long time for them to fulfill their order. If speed is needed, it's usually quicker to get the item from Japan. Just sayin'.

[gavino200]

10 minutes ago, Yavianice said:

 

Air Small Packet up to 2 kg (or about 2 cases + extras) to the U.S., available right now in COVID times, is around 2450 yen, + 9375 yen, is 11825 yen total, or approx 108 USD. 

 

MTS for the loco including U.S. domestic shipping and the 10% discount is 114 USD.

 

And of course you can stuff a lot more goodies in the 2 kg Air Small Packet.

 

RG-R is still cheaper.

 

 

Wow! You're very efficient with this stuff, Ya! I'm impressed. 

 

[cteno4]

But when close like this it’s nice to support one of the few shops in the us that does carry some Japanese trains now and then. I order from them if it’s reasonably close in price and order most all my Unitrak from them. They did carry some tomytec buildings but even with their good discounts they couldn’t overcome Walthers pretty good markup.

 

mb kliens is also a good shop that’s been around a long time and nice to support in general. They finally had to close the storefront as it was just not paying anymore, but luckily they have a good online business grown over the last decade. I was the last big train shop in this area to go so and even though almost all US stuff, but still fun to just spend an hour on a few times a year.

 

jeff

[chadbag]

In the past my MTS orders have taken up to 1 week to ship (only have made a few over the last 3 years when they run some killer sales).  Once they ship they get to Utah relatively quickly.   DHL from Japan is probably a bit quicker. 

 

However, I am on the rg-rokko.com site right now as a Guest (don't know if it matters if I create an account -- wouldn't think that it would).

 

I added the locomotive KATO 2018-1, D51 "1st"  for  ¥ 9,375.   Extra Charge ¥0.  Shipping Fee ¥3,000.  It does not matter what form of shipping I choose the fee is always ¥ 3,000.  I can add DHL insurance for another ¥ 2,500.

 

So, at least to the US, it would be about a wash as Rokko  would be ¥12,375 ==  $113.94 at the current commercial rate and you normally don't quite get that rate from your CC company (even without the "foreign transaction fees" your rate is usually not quite the best reported commercial rate) so you are probably in the $114-$115 range which is basically the same.   Foreign shipments don't get charged the state sales tax in the US (you are supposed to file with your state as a "use tax" when you file your income tax for the year).  For MTS to Utah, they did not charge me sales tax either (their shipments to Utah are probably under the laws limit of where they have to bother with other state's taxes so unless you are in MD or maybe another state that they collect tax on there would be no sales tax collected by MTS either, at least in my experience, so the same "use tax" filing would apply -- again a wash).

 

So the MTS price is about the best price from Japan's equal.  Other places in Japan would cost more.  In both cases you can tack other stuff on to the order which will affect shipping.  In my experience, MTS shipping once you get passed the initial charge, ie $10 in this case, is incremental based on weight or other issues that make it not a lot more to add stuff in).

 

[Kiha66]

3 hours ago, Yavianice said:

 

Air Small Packet up to 2 kg (or about 2 cases + extras) to the U.S., available right now in COVID times, is around 2450 yen, + 9375 yen, is 11825 yen total, or approx 108 USD. 

 

 

 

I'm not sure where you're seeing Air Small packet.  Their webpage only gives DHL as a shipping option.  I wish there were cheaper options but they don't give any.  
https://rg-rokko.com/shippingfee2

[chadbag]

3 minutes ago, Kiha66 said:

 

 

I'm not sure where you're seeing Air Small packet.  Their webpage only gives DHL as a shipping option.  I wish there were cheaper options but they don't give any.  
https://rg-rokko.com/shippingfee2

 

For me they listed

 

DHL

DHL w/Insurance

EMS

ePacket

 

 

All except the Insurance were ¥ 3000 and I am not saying they would actually ship using ePacket or EMS to the US right now.  But they were all listed and at the same price.  (I expect that they would all go DHL regardless of what you choose -- my sister in law recently tried to send us a package from Japan and the PO there told her the only option right now is surface and she didn't want to do Fedex or UPS).

 

ETA:  I am speaking of the actual checkout cart page.  Which only said "ePacketLight" was suspended.

 

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by chadbag

[Yavianice]

8 minutes ago, Kiha66 said:

I'm not sure where you're seeing Air Small packet.  Their webpage only gives DHL as a shipping option.  I wish there were cheaper options but they don't give any.  
https://rg-rokko.com/shippingfee2

Please stand by as I have asked RG-R if he plans to offer Air Small Packet to other people besides me.

[Kiha66]

Interesting!  My last order was a few weeks ago and then it only gave DHL as an option.  EMS still shows unavailable to the US on their shipping fee page but it also appears to be more costly than DHL as well.  Buyee recently started offering fedex as an option which has made me start considering the used market again, its about $20 base shipping price vs DHL's $30.

[serotta1972]

Japanese Trains are under the category: Trolleys, Streetcars and Light Rail.  Does anyone else find this offensive? Can I request members of JRM in DC contact the folks at Klein and educate them on Japanese Trains and that they are full fledge trains and not light rail.  It's like calling a Vespa a scooter, it's a motorcycle. 😂

[cteno4]

I’m guessing it’s just not all that easy for them to create new categories and used the one they already had under trams section.

 

jeff

[chadbag]

21 minutes ago, serotta1972 said:

Japanese Trains are under the category: Trolleys, Streetcars and Light Rail.  Does anyone else find this offensive? Can I request members of JRM in DC contact the folks at Klein and educate them on Japanese Trains and that they are full fledge trains and not light rail.  It's like calling a Vespa a scooter, it's a motorcycle. 😂

Really?  interesting. 
 

I looked under major heading Trains, N-Scale, Locomotives, Steam and found the D51.  I didn’t even realize there was a trolleys, street cars, and light rail category.  

[chadbag]

2 hours ago, Yavianice said:

Please stand by as I have asked RG-R if he plans to offer Air Small Packet to other people besides me.

i think it matters where the recipient is. They are not offering postal based offerings to the US now. Europe may be different.