Question about Tomix 2008-2009 catalogue

[ChrisV]

Excuse me if this has been asked before but I am new to this forum and N scale in general.... :-\

Have a simple question ( I hope ) regarding the latest Tomix 2008-2009 catalogue.

 

Because a item is listed in the catalogue does that mean that it is generally available ?

For eg, there are a few Shinkansens that I want to get but they do not seem to be available thru any retailer that I can find :

Such as the E1, 300 series , 200 series ( green ) etc.

 

Are these models limited editions or do they continue production for the period specified in the catalogue. I noticed the Kato catalogue deletes old lines from its catalogues to avoid this confusion.

 

If someone can explain the culture of how this all works that would be great.... ;)

 

Thanks for your time!

 

Chris

[alpineaustralia]

My understanding is that the 300 at least is not (and has not been for some time) in production.

[Martijn Meerts]

Everything in the Tomix catalogue are items that Tomix will manufacture at one point or another. They don't have the capacity to keep stock of and manufacture all items that they've ever made.

 

Items in the catalogue should be possible to pre-order at any time, but it's never really sure when a new production run of a specific train will be done.

 

Of the big 3, both Tomix and Kato use this system, with Kato (having less items in total) doing production runs more regularly (for example, the M250, Super Azusa, E4 Max are seeing new production runs soon.) The exception here is MicroAce, which seldomly runs additional production runs.

 

 

In the end though, neither Tomix, Kato or MicroAce have released a 300 series for a while, and the current Tomix 300 series is an older design looking at the couplings and such. I do believe Tomix (and probably Kato as well) will announce a renewed 300 series soon-ish, or at the very least do another production run of the current one.

[bill937ca]

I've heard bout 50% of  the items in Tomix catalog are generally available.  Production runs in Japan are usually based on dealer pre-orders, plus any stock held by wholesalers.  Warehousing is prohibitively expensive in Japan and so items sell out quickly  Items like track and buildings are generally in stock most of the time, although even those sell out at times (usually in the spring). 

 

The fiscal year in Japan ends on March 31 and as we get further towards March the new arrivals at the dealers seem to slow down.  Once the new fiscal year starts there are a series of trade shows and new releases or re-releases seem to appear mainly from July through the end of the calendar year.

 

My understanding is that a lower percentage of Kato items are available.  Kato did thin out it's catalog about a year ago and issued a separate book showing past models.

[ChrisV]

Thanks for the feedback - at least it gives me a start!