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

[quinntopia]

Just arrived from HS.

 

Tomytec Narrow House B

Tomytec Narrow House B2

Bill....I'm wracking my brain trying to remember what the TomyTec "Narrow Houses" are!  Arghh!!

 

• Anyway, like a couple of others, I just got 3 of the 4 new high rises from Kato.  As mentioned previously, they are huge, cool, and worth every penny.  I posted a bit more on this on my bloghttp://quinntopia.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-kato-buildings-review.html.
  I also got the Tomix Diorama World book.  An awesome book full of tons of beautiful color photos of all sorts of Tomix inspired layouts/Dioramas.
  Some IMU/Marks N Scale vehicles from Europe (a Bugatti!  A 'buckel' Volvo, Porsche 911, etc..).  Found some older versions from these manufacturers that were die-cast and are almost up to TomyTec standards for N Gauge vehicles.
  Tomix cantenary poles...decided to finally go all the way and at least attempt to look like theres wires somewhere for all my E-loks!
  More Tomix cant track...decided I like the first use of these so much, I'm expanding my layout to add more of these great curves!
  
• 
  

[bill937ca]

Just arrived from HS.

 

Tomytec Narrow House B

Tomytec Narrow House B2

Bill....I'm wracking my brain trying to remember what the TomyTec "Narrow Houses" are!  Arghh!!

 

Tomytec Narrow House B

 

 

Tomytec Narrow House B2

 

 

I can stash some cars and other details in the carports.  There also is a plan for a similar garage the I can scratch build.

 

http://rail.hobidas.com/blog/rmm/archives/2006/09/post_109.html

 

I have a N Claremont Kato house to blend in with these and I want a N Sheffield Kato house that is out-of-stock currently.

[bill937ca]

Another HS parcel arrived today.  Its a type of billboard often found on tram lines like the Hankai Tramway and Nagasaki Electric Tramway at stops on private right of way.  These signs are found across from the stops and where these signs are found there are usually staggered platforms typically on either side of a cross road. I've also seen pictures of signs like these across from an island platform at at station on the Kintetsu (Kinki Nippon Railway).

 

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10111348

[Eliphaz]

Speaking of brass, reservations are open for a World Craft brass Deki 3 for about $50. I'm wondering if the motor unit is included.

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10121866

http://www.hwjapan.com/sh/WAR2010071201.aspx

 

 

that is quite charming. 

I sent the question to HS -  yes, the kit includes the motor unit as shown.

[Martijn Meerts]

I caved in and ordered the 300 series shinkansen, base set and both add-ons =)

 

 

Edit: Also ordered a Tomix N-1001-CL TCS power unit (which should work much better than my old Minitrix piece of junk, and which should also allow me to finally use my turntable ;))

 

And also ordered some Peco code 55 flex track as well as 1 of each of the 3 straight turnouts. Need to see them up close to be able to figure out which ones to eventually use.

[SubwayHypes]

arrived in 5 packages over two-three days....this is all new stuff none of it is from old stash...the trains are additions to my other 531 and 217

 

[marknewton]

Did you win the lottery, or rob a bank? 

[inobu]

Looks more like robbed the bank, then bought the winning lottery ticket with the money and then placed the online order. That's the only way I could get that much stuff in one haul. 

 

Life is good in general but when you get a lot of stuff its better.

 

Inobu

[westfalen]

I've been to hobby shops that didn't have that much stuff.

[grumbeast]

Wow!

 

I'd have to complete a honey-do list the size of Nebraska to get a haul like that!  Its awesome!  enjoy!

 

Graham

[cteno4]

I think i would be living in the shed out back if that much showed up at once here! small bits at a time are safer!

 

that being said two packages came this week. one with the new narita express and the other with a few new containers, couple of sankei models, and a couple of casco cases for kokis.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[KenS]

I've had a Micro Ace Chuo-Sobu E231 and expansion on reserve at HS since February. This is the post-2006 version with a six-door car and stickers designating the lead car "women only".  That's one I've really been looking forward to, as it and the Kato Chuo E233 I got last year will look good together in my "its not quite Ochanomziu" Riverside Station I'm building for the 2010 Project Party. But I hadn't really thought about it much in months.

 

This week, just before the paypal sale ended, I broke down and ordered the Black Ships Train, and a bunch of small Tomytec buildings and other scenic details.  Of course, about six hours after placing that order, the E231 became available. Ouch. I wasn't expecting that this week.

 

The "pay us" email showed up just before the start of the long weekend in Japan, so now I get an extra three days of waiting impatiently before they can ship, plus the actual shipping time.  It's not like I can run them anywhere other than my coffee table at the moment, but somehow that doesn't make me less impatient.

[SubwayHypes]

haha guys, heres how i did it.  first i saved up money for this trip...i stopped making hobbysearch purchases since early this year.

 

then during my two weeks in tokyo, i hit a bunch of shops, but most of my purchases were at TAM TAM because i have their member card and get that nice discount.  

 

sometimes i was so surprised by the prices, like i would have 200+ dollars worth of stuff (hobbysearch rate)..and the total would come out to like 14,700 yen.   DEAAAL!!

 

my grandma was a stamp collecter, and literally has 10k in brand new stamps.  so i fished out free cardboard boxes from the recycling areas on the street, and packed up and sent all 5 boxes EMS directly to my house.   when i got off the plane the boxes started showing up.  

 

all in all, the whole haul i spent around 1800-2000 dollars.  but i estimate that if i had purchased it all online, i would have spent at least 2500 bucks.

 

btw...got that 6 car Narita  express set at AsoBitCity for only 11,000 YEN!!!    On hobbysearch, retail is 17,000 yen and even at sale price is 139,000.

[SubwayHypes]

ken your building an Ochanomizu station?  thats awesome!  that station scene also inspired my layout to have subway running with JR trains.    when i was in Japan i was traveling alot from Yotsuya station so i was always passing through Ochanomizu.

[KenS]

Not quite Ochanomizu, but I used that as the inspration for the station where my commuter and subway lines join (and the subway runs under the commuter line).

[SubwayHypes]

niiice.  i see you got the Fukudoshi line too...those new style liverys are pretty rare.  like only 1 out of every 5 is that new style, the rest are all old Chiyoda line style with new brown colors.

[nik_n_dad]

These just came available to n-scale collectors club members.  They should be a good Christmas preent for Nik, assuming, I can actually keep them stashed til then (I think I want to run these).  Not Japanese, but cool.....

 

 

[grumbeast]

Well despite hating eBay (apart from using it for ordering from PlazaJapan) I seem to have won myself something :)

 

I was about to give up on the whole ebay shabang (I save for months, then some jerk comes along and ends up waay outbidding me and paying more than the new cost for in production j-trains!! just to win?  are people that stupid??? .. anyhow.. that aside  I saw a neat joyful train that appealed from a German seller so thought "what the heck" put in a sensible bid and voila!  I'm now the proud owner of a MicroAce Kiha65-700 "Adel Tottori"  now if someone could give me any background on this I'd be very grateful :)

[cteno4]

Thats an auction though, basically its what someone is willing to pay at that point in time. some folks get excited and spend too much, others just dont know how to easily get the item in another way (buying from japan is scary to many folks actually--more scary than ebay and paypal to them). You just have to approach ebay with a lot of patience and diligence (ie looking at your search emails and such to keep a good look out) and you will be rewarded like you were! Ive gotten amazing deals on ebay over the year and also found some totally obscure things at great prices, but also lost many to folks willing to pay a lot more for it than i was--cant get mad at them as they were willing to pay more for it and thats what an auction was all about.

 

hang in there and lurk and you will be rewarded now and then very nicely! took me 6 months to get our big inflatable goji for jrm for $50, they go for $100-250 normally on most of the ebay auctions. i finally hit an auction at a time when others willing to pay a lot more just werent around bidding! happens to me every month or two that i get a big ding ding ding. all the others i just let pass and wish the new owners happiness with their new toys!

 

others get upset by sniping (putting in bids at the last second), but again if you put in the max you wanted to pay and someone else was willing to pay more it doesnt matter if they did that earlier or at the last second, bottom line is they were willing to pay more than you.

 

i guess its just part the auction thing that it gets folks worked up a lot more than a straight sale. the temptation of getting a great deal or a really unusual find whips us up i guess.

 

happy you were rewarded with your fun new purchase! enjoy!

 

jeff

 

Well despite hating eBay (apart from using it for ordering from PlazaJapan) I seem to have won myself something :)

 

I was about to give up on the whole ebay shabang (I save for months, then some jerk comes along and ends up waay outbidding me and paying more than the new cost for in production j-trains!! just to win?  are people that stupid??? .. anyhow.. that aside  I saw a neat joyful train that appealed from a German seller so thought "what the heck" put in a sensible bid and voila!  I'm now the proud owner of a MicroAce Kiha65-700 "Adel Tottori"  now if someone could give me any background on this I'd be very grateful :)

[Eliphaz]

that is very good advice concerning E-by auction bidding.

 

I bid  what I think would be a great price on many, many items, and almost never win anything because fools are legion. -  but when I do win, it is a great price, because I never increase my bid above a great price.

 

one thing that e-bay has taught us, is that nothing is truely rare. If you wait and keep watching, another one will come along, and another, and another, so there is no reason to compete with fools for anything.

[Martijn Meerts]

I've pretty much stopped the auctions on eBay, I only buy there if there's a decent "buy it now" price. At the moment, there's just too many people using sniping programs, which means you don't stand a chance if you don't use such a program yourself.

 

Last time I tried to get something by bidding were a bunch of Japanese magazines. I wanted them specifically for the prototypical and model images of servicing terminals and old steam train sheds etc. My bid on all 5 or 6 of them were highest until a couple of seconds before the end of the auction. I would've offered more (they were only a few dollars each), but there just no chance of outbidding a program ...

[grumbeast]

That is sage advice for sure. And I think that's why I made this "whatever" bid. I think I'll follow it in future. I guess my mistake was assuming that logic applies to commodities market :)

 

Still happy now.  Will do the same in future.  Now to research this wee beastie.  I'm presuming it runs in the tottori prefecture. But that's all I have for now. Fun times.

 

Graham

[to2leo]

I am just receiving some of the items I ordered from Hobbytrain for the SBB IC2000 fleet.  It seems like Kato is obsessed with the Siemens Tarus engines while ignoring a whole line of products that it said it will release this year.

[cteno4]

I've pretty much stopped the auctions on eBay, I only buy there if there's a decent "buy it now" price. At the moment, there's just too many people using sniping programs, which means you don't stand a chance if you don't use such a program yourself.

 

Last time I tried to get something by bidding were a bunch of Japanese magazines. I wanted them specifically for the prototypical and model images of servicing terminals and old steam train sheds etc. My bid on all 5 or 6 of them were highest until a couple of seconds before the end of the auction. I would've offered more (they were only a few dollars each), but there just no chance of outbidding a program ...

 

 

Martijn,

 

Yes you did have a chance to outbid the program, why didnt you put a max bid in for the max you thought you were willing to pay for them? it would have only effected the outcome of the auction if you had a higher price than everyone else and you would have won the time, if someone was willing to pay more than you still would have lost it.

 

Sniping does not affect the bidding if you are willing to put in the max bid you are willing to pay for the item. if someone put a larger amount in on a regular bid or on a snipe bid you would still loose as you were not willing to pay more. I find bidding this way is also a calmer way to bid as if you get into that last minute bid war is when your emotions tend take over and you are apt to put in higher bids for items than you would have when calmly looking at its actual worth... i know this has happened to me a couple of times! i also blew one bid (not horrible) by hitting a number price on my last second bid in a bid war and put something like 10x the current price (ie 110 instead of 10) and hit the bid button as i realized my mistake. ended up paying like 20% more than i should and lesson learned!

 

putting in a max bid at the bargain price will usually not work as there are usually enough bidders out there that are willing to pay closer to the going rate or higher. you just need to figure out what its worth to you and put your bid in. if you always put in a really bargain price then you will rarely win things, but when you do it will be at a very good price. its hard to have your cake and eat it to. I know its hard to see your max bid get beat at the last second, but you just have to expect someone might put in a higher bid at the last second or use a sniping program and thus you need to bid the max you need to think its worth to you and see if that beats other bidder or not.

 

stuff generally goes at a fair price or many times higher than they are really worth on the open market. paying more than the market price can be worth it if its something you cant easily get yourself for one reason or another. ive just come to use ebay to find that odd thing thats just too hard to find elsewhere and then figure out how much im willing to pay vs what the usual price is (ie if im only willing to pay half the going rate on ebay it just aint going to happen) then figure out what a good max bid is to shoot for when the item comes up.

 

as grumbeast points out is also like a commodities market where odd things can cause fluctuations in the price that defy normal retail logic and then there is the emotional one of the excitement of the auction, and then there are some who just want something and this is the only way they know how and are willing to pay a premium to get it the one way they know how. mix all that up and its not a very logical or consistent, but does deliver some interesting things and good bargains once and a while (ie my zepplin car along with like $40 in other good stuff for $65 total).

 

i tend to wait on bidding until nearer the end of the auction to see if its going crazy i just stand back and watch (and add the data into the going rate calc as well. if its looking like not a lot of action and prices are still low nearer the end of the auction then i put in a max bid of what im willing to pay for it and let it ride. i find this also makes me re-evaluate a second time if i really need/want the item and what im comfortable with if i were to win it!

 

sorry for being so verbose on this, but ive bought over 500 items on ebay in the last 10 years or so. some were plaza and others buy it now, but most were things i got at either a really great price (an item i could have bought retail) or at a fair price for something rare or just to damn hard to get ahold of elsewhere, sometimes you hit the trifecta and get something rare, hard to source, and cheap! just doesnt happen every week!

 

maybe we need a new ebay thread, sorry for hijacking this one!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[clem24]

+1 to Jeff. If you get sniped, tough luck. All it means is that you didn't put enough $$ in. I've seen may auctions where there were around 6-7 bids for an item, all by one person and I think to myself what's the point?

 

I always put in the amount I am willing to pay in one shot, PLUS about 5-15% more depending on how badly I want it. Then there's items that I really feel are worth it and I'll put in way over MSRP. But that's the beauty of eBay. As a seller, I love snipers cause they drive up the cost of your item. As a buyer, I am indifferent. After adding in that 5-10%, if I still lose, then at least I know that the item went way over what I wanted to pay for it, so no biggie.

 

If I am trying to get a deal on something, then yeah, I'll put what I think is a deal amount, then if I lose, who cares.

 

And finally, I sometimes laugh at snipers that end up paying too much for an item.

 

All in all, I think sniping is fine for eBay. Some people feel cheated but I don't think it is at all. Yes, they do drive up the price of an auction, but again, it doesn't matter cause that item would've ended at the higher price regardless of whether someone sniped or not.