Martijn Meerts Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I received MicroAce's Series 922-10 "Dr. Yellow T2" (JR version) last weekend, and while I have test it at all yet (haven't checked how the motor runs or how the directional lighting looks) I have to say build quality wise, it has to be the best shinkansen I have so far. Not only have they used a good quality plastic, but they managed to add weight to all cars to make them nice and heavy. Painting is also done really well. I have to say I'm really starting to like MicroAce, I have quite a few of their models, and they just keep getting better. Pictures of the Dr. Yellow are coming one of these days =) Link to comment
Bernard Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 This is good news because the MircroAce that I have is lighter that the Tomix & Kato and the plastic isn't up to the standards of the other two manufactures but the price was on par with them. I look forward to the photos. Link to comment
CaptOblivious Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 A shame they can't seem to make a good KOKI model. They've released a lot of good-looking container car sets, some very large, but reading reviews, they all suffer from the same problem: grossly out of scale details, very little details in places where it matters, and they all came from pretty much the same mold. I have a release that contains a KOKI 50000 and a KOKI 106. The under-carriage details are identical (should not be), and the deck height on the 106 is just as high as the 50000 (should be lower, to carry taller loads like the JRF 20B 12 domestic and hi-cube 40' maritime containers). (These are details I missed on my first review, but that other reviewers in Japan have pointed out). Now, that said, the Japanese reviewers seem pretty universally startled, as apparently these models run counter to the trend. Still, having been burned (well, singed, really), until I have seen good reason otherwise, my preference is for Tomix or Kato first. Link to comment
Martijn Meerts Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 This is good news because the MircroAce that I have is lighter that the Tomix & Kato and the plastic isn't up to the standards of the other two manufactures but the price was on par with them. I look forward to the photos. I have that with my Tomix 0 and 100 series. They're both somewhat older models, and their quality isn't what I would've expected. However, the new Tomix N700 is an excellent model. Link to comment
Bernard Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I find the quality of the Tomix trains to be very good, the new 800 Shinkansen is excellent you can't tell the difference between it and the Kato and of all my Tomix trains, that was the easiest to install a decoder but it is still harder than a MicroAce or Kato. I have the E751 made by MicroAce and it is very light and the plastic used isn't up to par with Tomix & Kato, but as you posted it looks like they've improved their quality which is great since they offer models that other manufactures done make. Link to comment
cteno4 Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 On the whole i have found the microace models to be some of the most detailed and well made visually i have. a few have been a tad loud when first run, but usually found that was due to just some needed lubing. i maybe have 50 microace trains and all have worked well. for the most part i have found that all three brands on average all run about the same and not huge differences in the level of details. there are a few exceptions for each brand being better or worse, but with the 120 or so trains i have found no reason to think overall one brand superior to the others IMHO. A few things i tend to favor are things like shinkansens that i want to have full trains of i am now preferring the Tomix as they are easier to set up with two power cars. the Kato 16 car trains will work with one power car, but i really worry it puts way too much strain on one power car for that large of train and fear that it ups the risk of stripping a drive shaft if something derails or even if there is some pickup problems and the train stutters some as all those cars really has some momentum. Also if tomix continues to do the all wheel pickup that would really make it the pick for any with that feature. in my book thats the greatest feature to hit japanese train in a long while! really works like a charm and the coupling system is great. The hope is that Tomix will just make new trucks that you could retrofit old tomix shinkansens (or others) with the all wheel pickup coupling and really make all their shinkansens very superior runners! I love the micro ace as they tend to do the more odd/obscure trains that i tend to like, especially the painted trains which are some of my favorites. only down side is no spare parts at all, only hope of repair is doing your own repair using other manufacturers parts or getting a japanese dealer to send it back to micro ace for them to repair (almost impossible). but so far no micro ace deaths, but i have looked and many of their chassises could probably be swapped out with a tomix or green max chassis you can buy with a little fiddling. i think i may have just stripped a drive shaft in my original 922 dr yellow set though! have to open it up to see. it has gotten a huge amount of use over the years though at the shows as its been one of the most loved trains by us and the public. it was like the 4th japanese train i bought. the detailing on the original run of the 922 was superb! best i think i have seen in N scale. have not looked at the re-release to see if they are keeping the quality up to that level. cheers, jeff Link to comment
stevenh Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Martjin, I have to agree with you... in totality... Every MicroAce product I have is absolute quality: My second bullet train happens to be exactly the same model (was brand new as well!): :) I think my only disturbance was the smell of fresh plastic once I'd opened the case... it was like a new car :) The lights to illuminate the pantos/catenary are the best little feature. Link to comment
cteno4 Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Love that new train smell! they should can that polyproylene smell! I actually got the collectors addition (only one around at the time) in the wooden box and its wonderful to pop that wooden box ope with that detailed model inside! i should have gotten the rap:t in the collectors box, one came by a year or so ago for $130 on ebay and im still kicking myself for not grabbing it! Those two models are worth having the beautiful box for! cheers, jeff Link to comment
Bernard Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Jeff - I wonder if Channel would make that smell (or new car interior) into a perfume, that would really attract the opposite sex. ;D That is the first I've heard of a wooden box for a Japanese train set. I know Minitrix did it for their sets in the 80's I have a few. StevenH - After seeing your photo of the Dr. Yellow, that is a nice train. Is the weight on the MicroAce cars the about the same as the Kato or Tomix? Link to comment
cteno4 Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 you can buy new car smell in a can! pretty much the same volatile polypropylene mix in the new train boxes! ever time i get a train that you get that hit of hydrocarbons it really is nice! ok maybe ive damaged a few too many brain cells with all the years in the lab and shop... Micro ace does it for some of the more special trains like the dr yellow 922 and the rap:t. same train just fancier box and usually $30 or 40 more. its a very substantial train, not light feeling at all. its about the nicest train i have and an excellent runner before it started to have the drive shaft trouble. its waiting for a tear down. it did get a lot of use over the years at shows. jeff Link to comment
Martijn Meerts Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 A few things i tend to favor are things like shinkansens that i want to have full trains of i am now preferring the Tomix as they are easier to set up with two power cars. the Kato 16 car trains will work with one power car, but i really worry it puts way too much strain on one power car for that large of train and fear that it ups the risk of stripping a drive shaft if something derails or even if there is some pickup problems and the train stutters some as all those cars really has some momentum. Also if tomix continues to do the all wheel pickup that would really make it the pick for any with that feature. in my book thats the greatest feature to hit japanese train in a long while! really works like a charm and the coupling system is great. The hope is that Tomix will just make new trucks that you could retrofit old tomix shinkansens (or others) with the all wheel pickup coupling and really make all their shinkansens very superior runners! cheers, jeff The flip side of 2 power cars (apart from it being more expensive to go digital), is that if 1 power car locks up, the other one has a lot higher possibility if stripping the drive gears ;) Overall, each of the brands has advantages and disadvantages. Like already mentioned, MicroAce makes some of the more special models, and their steam locomotives are top notch detailing wise (I've seen some pretty bad runners though). Tomix is always trying to come up with new things to make trains run better, and they just have an insanely large collection. Kato as well has a really large collection, and they tend to make some trains no one else would consider (like the Orient Express for example) All in all, I have some great trains from all the brands. The new Dr. Yellow from MicroAce (as well as all the newer steamers), 800 series and M250 from Kato, and the N700 series and DD51's from Tomix are some of my favorites. Link to comment
C62 Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I prefer to buy Micro Ace lokomotives when possible. I have 8 Micro Ace steam locos and all of them run beautifully. They can run incredibly slow, pull very long trains and are completely silent. Not even the much more expensive Fleischmann and Minitrix steam locos run as well. My 4 diesel locos are from Micro Ace, too. All of them run fine again. I like the fact that Micro Ace are ready detailed out of the box. That the locos are not DCC ready is not importent for me. I use DCC for HO but have no need to do the same in N. I think with Tomix it is necessary to stick with the newer models as these have better chassis. For example nobody seems to like the DE10 but the newer DD51 is highly regarded as an excellent performer as are the latest electric locos. I think that I will try a Kato 9600 when its released as the scale is similar to Micro Ace but the Kato C57 and D51 are to big. The new Kato DE10 looks interesting and if I need a second DF50 I would buy this from Kato too as it often takes very long until Micro Ace does a rerelease. When I look at my statistics its interesting to note that Micro Ace is the only company I never had to return/fix a new loco. Thomas Link to comment
Bernard Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Thomas - Knowing your interest is in steam engines, a lot of models who do N. American steam, do a lot of kitbashing on MicroAce steamers. They are very popular with that group Link to comment
cteno4 Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 The flip side of 2 power cars (apart from it being more expensive to go digital), is that if 1 power car locks up, the other one has a lot higher possibility if stripping the drive gears ;) Well never had this problem yet, but i guess you could get a double seizure like this, but never have. the double powered shinkansen trains i have have never had this problem. have had one power car start to have some troubles, but the whole train trooped on fine and the good power car did not suffer. I worry that the situations where a lot of torque could get put on a drive shaft would be the harshest in a single motor car 16 car train and thats what i want to avoid if possible. going dcc for me would be a huge cost in both time and money. something i keep thinking will be a retirement thing when dcc is also cheap and even tinyier! All in all, I have some great trains from all the brands. The new Dr. Yellow from MicroAce (as well as all the newer steamers), 800 series and M250 from Kato, and the N700 series and DD51's from Tomix are some of my favorites. Totally agree, each manufacturer has made some of my favorites and some of my less favorites! cheers, jeff Link to comment
clem24 Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Anyone crazy enough to own the original Dr. Yellow release AND the new re-release? It's supposedly an "improvement" product. Just wondering what they've done to make it better. For those that don't know, all Microace Shinkansen since the beginning of time uses fly wheels, so they generally run smoother than non-fly wheel equipped Tomix and Kato models. Can't say I am a huge fan of their couplers though. I also notice car gaps are very inconsistent too. Not sure if it's adjustable at all. Also, I notice the Microace has finer details, but also tend to be more fragile as a result. I've had my Tomix 300 series take a tumble off my train table after a derailment, without any ill effects. ;D Link to comment
cteno4 Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I have the 4 car and 2 car sets which i think came out about the same time as the new release of the full 922 and dont notice anything much different. the old 922 has the flywheels and a very nice universal joint system drive chain. very beefie. great except one of the trucks seems to have sucked some grit into it and i have not been able to figure out how to remove the truck or dismantle it in place! i just got my new ultrasonic cleaning bath system so im going to try to clean the whole truck in situ in the bath and see if that helps. overall most of the micro ace have been great runners and keep on running well. only a few have shown up a tad dry, but some light lubing has made them purr... cheers, jeff Link to comment
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