Kato - New Releases

[Melandir]

The Kato 300 series will be mine, as soon as Narichi will open the preorder

[AbaZ33a]

14 hours ago, 1954G said:

I feel that this model brings enough improvements to the table (more prototypical lights and chassis) that even Tomix 300 owners will find it worthwhile.  Usually I favor Tomix shinkansen, especially for 16-car formations, because Tomix gives you 2 motor cars and powered couplers. But Tomix has been using almost the same molds for the 300 series since the mid 1990s...they aren't bad but they aren't ideal either. 

 

Kato's 300 might reach Micro Ace levels of detail for 10-14k JPY less. 

Also depends highly on the specification the buyer wants for a certain period. 300 series went through many changes which makes modeling it in multiple eras very annoying. Not even TOMIX has recreated all the variants and evolutionary changes. I think KATO went with the 300 0 plug door with single arm pan’s because it can compliment the 500, 700, and N700 products they’ve made. If you want an earlier version currently the recently released MA and TOMIX are the only options. 

[chadbag]

On 5/12/2022 at 7:21 AM, 200系 said:

Not a big fan of bullets either, I do love shinkansen though.😉

 

Both are fine for me.  I can converse either way (though not in a technical fashion on the Shinkansen)

 

Speaking of E7.  I have a full W7 set and the partial E7...  Nice to run two similar together. 

 

[KyushuRailFan]

SL Hitoyoshi has finally been announced!

 

 

Edited July 1, 2022 by disturbman

[Kiha66]

Neat!  That'll be a fun one.  

[katoftw]

Already up on HS website for pre order.

[SL58654号]

2 hours ago, KyushuRailFan said:

SL Hitoyoshi has finally been announced!

 

https://twitter.com/kato_team/status/1542689453709430787

What joy! I can hardly wait! My Kumamoto hobby shop told me they may make the SL Aso Boy as well. Different variants of livery would be welcomed.

I can't ride the Hisatsu Line for now, but this'll help make up for that!

[disturbman]

Adding the two other posters directly, for tose that might be into something that is not a SL.
 

 

 

[lighthouse]

Nice, SL Hitoyoshi is coming 😍

 

But why Kato make a re-release of the ED79? New numbers and/or equipment like between 1988 and 2005 would have made more sense... Could this also cover the late 80s/90s? So sad about this.... And a cargo (JRF) DD51 for Hokkaido would be nice... 🤫

[Kamome]

Happy about the Hitoyoshi finally getting a release.  The Cassiopeia is a nice train for those who don't already have it. And good they've seen to it to release all of it's relevant locomotives for the latter part of its service life but not exciting for me personally as I already own it.  As there are so many safe releases I wonder if we can expect something else more interesting for December. 

 

I will definitely be pre-ordering the Hitoyoshi and I would imagine it will get similar treatment that the SL Yamaguchi got.

 

 

 

 

[SL58654号]

1 hour ago, Kamome said:

Happy about the Hitoyoshi finally getting a release.  The Cassiopeia is a nice train for those who don't already have it. And good they've seen to it to release all of it's relevant locomotives for the latter part of its service life but not exciting for me personally as I already own it.  As there are so many safe releases I wonder if we can expect something else more interesting for December. 

 

I will definitely be pre-ordering the Hitoyoshi and I would imagine it will get similar treatment that the SL Yamaguchi got.

 

 

 

 

Yes, the SL Hitoyoshi will be available in a special slipcase, apparently. I'm very temtped to get that. So superb how Japanese model railway makers offer sets in slipcases that stow away like books on a shelf. Also, considering this is the 100th year of 58654, now's as good a time as ever to release it. I'll bet they knew this'll be a popular seller!

[ED75-775]

4 hours ago, SL58654Gō said:

Yes, the SL Hitoyoshi will be available in a special slipcase, apparently. I'm very tempted to get that. So superb how Japanese model railway makers offer sets in slipcases that stow away like books on a shelf. Also, considering this is the 100th year of 58654, now's as good a time as ever to release it. I'll bet they knew this'll be a popular seller!

Uh oh, you might have spoken too soon. Hobbysearch has already closed their reservations for the 10-1727 SL Hitoyoshi limited edition set. You can still reserve the locomotive and car set though, but only as individual items. I got lucky (hopefully) and ordered mine through PlazaJapan. It worked out (very slightly) cheaper by about $5.00NZD.

 

I guess the question now is, how long before Kato announces a release of a JNR-era, Kyushu-based 8620? They now have most of the tooling needed for that particular version from doing the 58654.

 

Alastair

[SL58654号]

13 hours ago, ED75-775 said:

Uh oh, you might have spoken too soon. Hobbysearch has already closed their reservations for the 10-1727 SL Hitoyoshi limited edition set. You can still reserve the locomotive and car set though, but only as individual items. I got lucky (hopefully) and ordered mine through PlazaJapan. It worked out (very slightly) cheaper by about $5.00NZD.

 

I guess the question now is, how long before Kato announces a release of a JNR-era, Kyushu-based 8620? They now have most of the tooling needed for that particular version from doing the 58654.

 

Alastair

Drat, well I wonder if the limited edition set was worth much more anyhow. At any rate the 58654 and the handsome three carriages will be mine.

I wonder if parts such as the smoke ventilator on the chimney are removable parts, like how the chimneys on the 8620 (2028-1) are interchangeble. The handsome cast chimney worn by the class were fine by themselves.

Edited July 2, 2022 by SL58654Gō

[katoftw]

AmiAmi just listed it for 3300 yen cheaper than HobbySearch.

[disturbman]

AmAmi is always cheaper than HS by a large and consequential margin. There is also RGR and MTP if the big retailers are sold out.

[cteno4]

Interesting that amiami states

 

Due to distribution restrictions this item cannot be shipped to the following places: USA, Canada

 

Don’t see katousa being a released of this. Not stated on hs. Nariichi has been good about getting this waved as usually it was can’t be sold for distribution in the us but ok for single direct sales.

 

jeff

[katoftw]

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10899519

 

Can someone help me with this a little please?  Google translate seems to come up with detactable lights so you can make the light board not work one a selected direction.  cannot find any more info on this Kato versio.

 

Other third party makers of on/off switches etc etc.

 

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10782673

 

Trying to decide which version I should get 1100 vs 2600 yen.

[Kamome]

I placed my Hitoyoshi order with Ami Ami as I can use my previous points for postage, which is still a bit annoying considering other retailers will ship for free.  The price for the limited set, I assume a slightly different card sleeve, is ¥19,480. Nice that they are including the DE10 head-mark in the limited and coach set.

 

The price is still cheaper in most cases at Ami Ami but I have found some HO items cheaper elsewhere on occasion. 

[SL58654号]

17 hours ago, katoftw said:

AmiAmi just listed it for 3300 yen cheaper than HobbySearch.

I pre-ordered my special edition 4 car set SL Hitoyoshi (10-2717) through Ami Ami! Yes! This'll be my first special edition slipcase SL set! Couldn't be a better Japanese train to be my first!

Great thing I live in Japan, so I can pay with cash on delivery! 

[katoftw]

I also ordered it from AmiAmi.  The savings pretty much covers the expensive DHL shipping.  Also ordered the EF510 and 6 car basic of the Cassiopeia.

[Wolf]

4 hours ago, katoftw said:

Can someone help me with this a little please?  Google translate seems to come up with detactable lights so you can make the light board not work one a selected direction.  cannot find any more info on this Kato version.

 

Sounds to me like two replacement boards with just one side LED on them, so you just face the "non led" side to the coupling point of both Units. But my japanese is worse than google translate, might want to wait for someone with better skills to confirm.

[railsquid]

36 minutes ago, Wolf said:

 

Sounds to me like two replacement boards with just one side LED on them, so you just face the "non led" side to the coupling point of both Units. But my japanese is worse than google translate, might want to wait for someone with better skills to confirm.

 

Yup, that's basically what it says; intended for DE10s but apparently can be used "in other locos" .

[Wolf]

9 hours ago, railsquid said:

Yup, that's basically what it says; intended for DE10s but apparently can be used "in other locos" .

 

Seeing as Kato reuses the same Board in many locos, only makes sense.

[katoftw]

The link I provided of the product has the list of locos that a compatible.

[Kamome]

New Kato releases for December are now up.

A lot of filler for the main range and nothing that really screams NEW!

 

The Kumoha 52 set is of slight interest as I have a number of Iida line sets, but not that much different to the previously released 10-1288. This new version has a Kumoha 52 on each end whereas the previous release came with a Kumoha 54 on one end. As the 52 was such an iconic part of the Iida line fleet, it will most likely be added to the collection.

 

The Koki 106, 107s without JRF markings will also be released. I know Tomix started doing these a while ago in HO so makes sense as the simpler looking grey Kokis are becoming more common.

 

https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/kato-model/poster/pdf/2022072616552962df9df1e5c50/2022_12a.pdf

 

Also some more modern US Charger locomotives and Superliner coach sets.

https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/kato-model/poster/pdf/2022072617001662df9f105bbf8/2022_12b.pdf

Edited July 29, 2022 by Kamome