What did you order or the post deliver? (Japanese N Gauge)

[Martijn Meerts]

so it begins...

 

 

 

my order from amiami just arrived.

 

Now you are doomed! There's no turning back ;)

[Densha]

so it begins...

 

 

 

my order from amiami just arrived.

Japanese trains... anime... you're doomed indeed!

P.S. Kirito-kun!! I took photos of SAO cosplay last weekend at a local con! I gotta sort out my blog and flickr page and the pictures, it's a big mess now.

[lurkingknight]

if you only knew the extent of my nerdiness...

 

cars

 

airsoft

 

video games

 

anime

 

vocaloid

 

good god I hope not into trains... but like I said, I have a habit of going overboard when I do something.

 

I even have a nerd career in animation and video game art.

 

The only thing that's missing is a nerdy trophy wife that is into any/some/all of the above.

Edited June 3, 2013 by lurkingknight

[Densha]

Lol. I also often have the tendency to go overboard with my hobbies, wait I think I already did actually. I'm glad I can limit myself to Japanese trains, anime/manga/J-pop music. The great thing is that you can combine those two, but do I do any good in giving examples to you? ;)

[lurkingknight]

probably been there.. done it all.. lol... and now that I have the track setup, in addition of adding 8 more straight track pieces to the layout... it's JUST long enough for my full length yamanote to sit on the straight... the switch off is still too short... but it's giving me a general idea of what I'll need to order next.... and how much space it's going to take >_<

[macdon]

7 boxes arrived today - 6 from HS and 1 from David of Loco1

 

Mardon

 

 

 

[Keikyu]

 

Won an auction with those 2. I'm not sure if I get both, as the translated English was a bit mangled, but I was able to make out they are in very good condition.

[JR 500系]

Nice hauls guys!

 

@ Darklighter: Wow you cetainly took advantage of the free shipping! Can i ask why most of them are the add-on sets, like the NEX E259, E251 Super View Odoriko, E657 Super Hitachi and the E6 Super Komachi? Your Tsubmae kinda reminded me of my sold Tusbame.. Oh well...

 

@ lurkingknight - Yes once you start that's no turning back! The M2 is a nice starter kit to begin with, as it provided all the necessary stuff to start and a little extra kick in with that sliding for that platform stop... Any targets on any train sets yet?

 

@ Mardon: Admire your spending power bro! Salute! 7 large boxes! Bet you're gonna have so much fun in your layout!

 

@ Keikyu: Nice win with the E231-500. The Yamanote is almost or if not already an icon for Japanese commuter trains... I have the 5-car basic set too, but couldn't bear having the 6-car add-on as my layout cannot handle an 11-car train...  

[Densha]

probably been there.. done it all.. lol... and now that I have the track setup, in addition of adding 8 more straight track pieces to the layout... it's JUST long enough for my full length yamanote to sit on the straight... the switch off is still too short... but it's giving me a general idea of what I'll need to order next.... and how much space it's going to take >_<

You can always choose for something modular, either just make a temporary layout with your Unitrack or the more difficult option making modules.

 

@macdon

Holy cow! Did you spend your year's worth of train money now?

[lurkingknight]

 

@ lurkingknight - Yes once you start that's no turning back! The M2 is a nice starter kit to begin with, as it provided all the necessary stuff to start and a little extra kick in with that sliding for that platform stop... Any targets on any train sets yet?

 

so far, just the full 11 car e231-550 yamanote train. I probably won't get another train till I decide what's going on with the layout.

[Darklighter]

@ Darklighter: Wow you cetainly took advantage of the free shipping! Can i ask why most of them are the add-on sets, like the NEX E259, E251 Super View Odoriko, E657 Super Hitachi and the E6 Super Komachi? Your Tsubmae kinda reminded me of my sold Tusbame.. Oh well...

 

Still waiting for three other packages to arrive.  :rolleyes:

The basic sets weren't in stock and besides, I already have the basic set of the Super View Odoriko. The basic set of the E6 is still in customs.

The Tsubame looks fantastic, I love the printed details.

[sedril]

@macdon  I'm jealous... so much track...

[cteno4]

macdon,

 

uhoh its really started now!

 

jeff

[macdon]

Yeah, I think im in the poor house now!  :icon_scratch:  LOL!

 

I guess all these talks about Shinkansens got the best of me hehehehe!

 

Not that much really, and some of those boxes only had 2-3pcs inside. I basically under estimated the weight of the concrete slab viaduct tracks and apparently HS could only place 4 sets in one SAL box. As an example, in one of the SAL boxes there were only 2 widening tracks inside as I've always elected 'multiple SAL boxes' than 1 ems box.

I guess HS had a field day when they full filled my order - any small excess of 1 SAL box was placed into a similar sized box as well - but basically contained just 2-3 small items. 2 boxes among those 6 HS boxes shipped with just a total of US$40 which already included the shipping cost. Box and paper were basically heavier than the actual items inside. 

 

Mardon

[JR 500系]

Hi Mardon!

 

Actually i think for multiple items, it might be better to place them in a single box and send them through EMS. I'm guessing it might be cheaper than using multiple SAL boxes, as i'm advised whenever i make bulk orders like this. The more we save on shipping, the more we can spend on trains~ 

 

Now we will be expecting to see some shinkansens for all those overhead viaduct tracks soon, right? Great haul and thanks for sharing!

[macdon]

Hi Mardon!

 

Actually i think for multiple items, it might be better to place them in a single box and send them through EMS. I'm guessing it might be cheaper than using multiple SAL boxes, as i'm advised whenever i make bulk orders like this. The more we save on shipping, the more we can spend on trains~ 

 

Now we will be expecting to see some shinkansens for all those overhead viaduct tracks soon, right? Great haul and thanks for sharing!

 

Hey JR,

 

Thanks bud! 

The above 6 boxes are actually 3 separate orders - about a week apart when they were ordered. I guess I just didnt expect them to arrive all at the same time or maybe those instances when some packages takes long and some were fast.

 

I got a busted Kato double crossover that I got from HS about 2 months ago which they happily replaced and I took the opportunity of adding some small parts so it will not have to ship alone. But yeah, it seems my last 3 orders were above 1 SAL limitation thus the extra weight went to an additional box as well. Thus, some boxes only contained 2-3 items.

 

I always input "ship only SAL or multiple SAL" in the comments section of every order and HS always emails me if an order is over 1 SAL limit. They also tell me that the 2 SAL boxes is still cheaper than 1 EMS box, so I take SAL all the time.

EMS is really bad over here - years ago, I always have stuff sent to me via EMS. But for the past decade, EMS here became a haven for nightmares, so I stop using those and just elect the regular airmail.

 

The kato concrete slab tracks seems to have actual concrete poured into them.......LOL!! They always tip my box beyond the SAL weight limit!

 

 

Mardon

[Keikyu]

I have always had amazing experience with EMS. Arrives in a few days, never any trouble with it at all and it's pretty cheap.

[Densha]

Meh, in EU your EMS package usually sits weeks in customs and you have to pay tons of taxes and whatnot. With unregistered SAL you already pay much less for the shipping, and for some reason the customs don't see the package so you get it much faster and cheaper. At least that's what happens with my packages every time and what I read about it here on the forum.

[Martijn Meerts]

SAL or EMS makes little difference here, both get handled by local mail the moment in arrives in the country, and are equally slow (although SAL can take longer before it's shipped out of Japan)

 

These days I go with SAL for small/cheap orders, and EMS when I'm ordering train sets and the more expensive stuff which I really want insurance on.

 

I've preordered a Tomix C61 with loco1hobby, and they'll ship insured SAL (at least, I think I picked that option :)), so we'll see how that goes.

 

 

Meh, in EU your EMS package usually sits weeks in customs and you have to pay tons of taxes and whatnot. With unregistered SAL you already pay much less for the shipping, and for some reason the customs don't see the package so you get it much faster and cheaper. At least that's what happens with my packages every time and what I read about it here on the forum.

 

It's not in the entire EU that EMS is slow, just in countries where EMS doesn't have their own offices/service (hello The Netherlands ;)). In Norway for example (I know, it's not EU, but still) EMS packages took 4-5 days from Japan to my doorstep.

 

Oddly enough, I pay import tax even on SAL packages every single time. I have yet to receive anything from HS that I hadn't have to pay import tax on, even if the customs slip says it's a gift or sample product. Plaza Japan on the other hand I've never had to pay import on, and packages usually arrive within a week after being shipped...

 

The Dutch mail service works in mysterious ways ;)

[lurkingknight]

to my understanding, SAL is an airmail but packages go into a queue to wait for free cargo space on an airline headed to the destination... EMS goes in on the first available flight. Both when entering your country are always handled by your mail provider, EMS is supposed to have priority as it's supposed to be an equivalent service to fedex/ups/dhl etc. Being stuck in customs unfortunately is not up the the carrier, it's up to your country's custom policies. Courier services like fedex have their own customs brokerage officials, that's why they charge more (ups most of all) to inspect/clear your package. This is how it goes down in canada at least. but EMS is just an extension of express mail/parcel provided by japan post (and it's called the same in most of asia) 

 

The fastest I've gotten a package is 3 business days from japan bridging a weekend. My last packages have shipped on a wednesday and arrived on monday via EMS. The longest I've had to wait I think is 5-6 business days, I think the average is 4 for EMS. SAL has arrived to me in 9-20 business days. 

 

For customs duties and taxes, I think it depends on your inspecting official... sometimes they just clear the package without checking, other times they'll tag it for collection... I average probably 1 in 10 that I have to pay. my previous order seemed to be an even up call... hadn't paid in a while... but more often than not I think I get lucky.

[linkey]

Been busy and totally forgot to post that last Wednesday Week I had a double shipment come in, the 1st box was the MicroACE E926 East-i Inspection train (6 car set) and the 2nd box had KATO "Kounotori" (7 car set) these were shown to the other members of the AJMRG at our recent meeting and I have now got the JR East Inspection Shinkansen as well as the JR West/Central Inspection Shinkansens (T4 and T5)

 

So my Shinkansen fleet has now been extended to 1 more and the rollingstock fleet has been updated again! I now have a major rotation list of trains happening for the model train shows, just to make the running not the same as previous events that I have been at.

 

cheers and I will start posting photos soon! 

[macdon]

My first ever shinkansen arrived today - Kato 500 Nozomi! 

 

Accompanied by a Kato 'archives' book, some Kato tracks, Kato Koki rolling stock and a Tomix large building!

 

Mardon

 

 

[Martijn Meerts]

Really boring order, but an order nevertheless ;)

 

Ordered a set of 6 Kato interior lights and another ESU LokPilot.. 3 of the lights will go to the Kato 500 series which I've got in pieces. I took apart the end cars to install a function decoder for the head/tail lights, but they came apart with so much problems, I figured I'd add some internal lights while I'm at it. The LokPilot is for the motor car of the same train ..

 

Also almost ordered the broadway limited car sets, but managed to remove them from the shopping cart again (really need to spend money on decoders and layout stuff :)), then I almost ordered an SD90/43MAC, but managed to remove that one again as well .. I'm starting to get good at ordering only things I actually need =)

 

I also really want to get me one of those World Kougei turntable kits, but they seem to have been sold out since about the middle ages (give or take a few years ...)

[Densha]

The Kato KiHa 111+112 sets from Loco1hoby came in a few days back. Good packaging, fast SAL delivery (about a week) and the train itself is cool and technical fine just like the KiHa 110's I already own. Now my collection is complete!

 

[Keikyu]

 

Not anything interesting