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5th April, 2006 |
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CONTENTS
Other Pages
Index page of previous Product & DVD
RELEASE INFORMATION
NEWS |
EDITORIAL
There hasn't really been much news in the last couple of weeks (other than many releases being put back - see the Release Information pages for all the details), or new items released, so that explains the lack of pictures this issue. However the good news is that the new discussion group has now started - so for those readers that buy the Tomy and Bandai 'Collection' series items i.e. buildings, car, buses, trucks and figures, please join if you think you would like to buy, sell, swap or just talk about these fascinating items. The group will allow storage of photos of the items, and the home page (where you can also subscribe) is at ... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Japanese_N_scale_collectors If you have any comments about this service, and would like to make suggestions as to what you do or do not want to see included, please free free to let us know. Please write to the Japanese Model Train News Yahoo! discussion group with any comments you may have. This Newsletter is available to customers of 'Japanese Model Supplies', as well as members of the 'Japanese Model Train News' and 'JR Forum' Yahoo! discussion groups. We hope to supply at least one issue every week or so, more often if there is more news. Please do not reveal the page addresses to non- members. If they want to see it, they are free to join the group like everyone else. Also please note that the contents of this publication are
copyright, and may not be reproduced without permission. |
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COLLECTIBLE SERIES NEWS See the news in the introduction about the new group just started that caters for these types of items. March 2006 Releases Released since the last Newsletter are ... Tomy's 'Railway Daughter' #2 Other item news is as follows ... Tomy 'The Bus Collection' #8 Contains 8x Nishinihon Shatai Kogyo C-1 & SD-1 'Limousine' buses (Fuji Kyuko, JR Kanto, Tokyo Airport, Hankyu bus, Osaka Airport, Hokaito Central bus, Nishi-Nippon Railroad, and Nishitetu Sightseeing) and 4x Fuji Heavy Industries R13 type (JNR bus, Keio Teito Electric Railway, Tohoku Express bus and Miyazaki Travel). This set was supposed to be out in March, but there has no date been set yet. Just announced is the Tomy's special 'Fairlady History' Collection. This contains the usual 4 different cars, 5 different colours, and 12 boxes of three cars each. models featured are the 432Z, 240ZG, 300ZX & 350Z. Depending on their age, these cars were sold as either 'Datsun' or Nissan'. It is due for release in July - no web page yet, but here is a photo of some samples ...
Reservations for this set closes 10th April !!!. April 2006 Releases Bandai's 'Working Vehicles' #6 has been announced for late April, and contains 6 different types of cement mixers trucks - Hino Profia GVW20 (do they think our layouts are one big construction site ???) - company names include Shin Meiwa Industry, Pacific Ocean Cement, Tokuyama, Hitachi Cement, and Mitsubishi Materials; and 6 of a type of powdered cement tank truck - Hino Profia GVW22 - company names include Ube Mitsubishi Cement, Shin Meiwa Industry, Pacific Ocean Cement, Tokuyama, and Ryukyu Cement. Released in March by Bandai was a special set - a 5 truck Nippon Express limited edition set. It contained different versions to the ones in sets #1 & #3, and consisted of 2x Hino Profia FN (6×2) Cargo, 1x Isuzu Forward Cargo FRR, 1x Isuzu Giga FX×2, & 1x Hino Ranger-PRO Cargo FD. There were three different paint schemes in total. Sorry, but I still cannot find any pictures of this yet. Also advertised, without firm release dates yet, are ... Tomy's 'The Car Collection' #3 - mostly 60's era cars, station wagons and pickups (around July)...
Tomy's 'The Minibus Collection ' #1
Keep an eye out for the official release of each of these. As always, early reservation is ESSENTIAL to obtain any of these sets, because the cut-off date for orders is often well before the actual release date. You cannot wait until the release of these items, so you can see what they look like, before making your decision if you want to get them or not !!! 3rd April 2006\ On the 22nd of this month, the new Tomix catalog will be released - it is 40 pages more than the previous one, but unfortunately also a little more expensive.
The good news is that if you pre-order a catalogue BEFORE the release date, you will only pay the OLD price :-) OLD price - A$40 31st March 2006 Tomix announced a range of new products, as follows ... Due June - a range of accessories for the new double slab track system, as well as a nice street level tram stop. Due July - the Nissan Fairlady History Collection Due August - a re-run of the E4 Shinkansen sets (except the 6 car set), in case you missed out the first time !!! 20th March 2006 Modemo announced the re-release in July of the Enoshima Railway 600 series 2 car set. 16th March 2006 Kato (Roundhouse) announced a limited edition release for April of a Chichibu Railway 'Paleo Express' set with C58-363 SL + 4x 12 series PC.
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Rail Fan (04/2006)
Another fabulous issue this month - this time a feature
on the Blue Trains still running, and a history on those that are
not. Included is a table that shows the full history of each train
on the Tokyo-Kyushu, Tokyo-Hokkaido & Osaka-Hokkaido routes,
showing when each one ran, how many versions there were and how they
merged/disappeared. Also included is a feature on the 103 series
electric cars. Densha Otoko (Train Man)
Company : Panasia Films (Toho in Japan) Whilst not a 'Japanese Train' video, it is a Japanese video and there are a lot of trains in it !!! The story is about a young computer nerd (otaku) who hangs around Akihabara all the time (not at the model train shops though), and who happens (by accident) to save a pretty girl from a drunk on the train. Of course he is too shy to ask her out after receiving a 'thank you' email, so their relationship starts via IRC etc, and it goes from there. This movie was very popular in Japan, and is probably available on DVD there, but I got this version from Hong Kong which still has English subtitles, and is half the price !!! 30th March 2006 Tomy released the 'Machinami Collection' #5 and 'The Railway Collection' #2 sets. 28th March 2006 Tomix released the following ... 92152 Kiha26 series DC 2 car set (bus windows)
92153 Kiha55 series DC 2 car set (bus windows)
92155 Kiha55 series DC 2 car set
2468 Kiroha25 series DC
2469 Kiyuni26 series DC
92149 Hokkaido Chihoku Heights Railway CR70 series DC 2 car set
24th March 2006 Tomix released their new EF66 EL's ... 2163 EF66 series EL (with visor) 23rd March 2006 MicroAce released their models for March ... A0568 183-1500/189 series EC 8 car set 'Shiosai'
A0569 183-0/183-1500 series EC 9 car set 'Kaiji'
A1350 Meitetsu Kiha8000 series DC 5 car set 'Takayama'
A1353 Meitetsu Kiha8000 series DC 6 car set 'Kita Alps'
A8638 TDE11-3 series DL + 14 series PC 5 car set 'Usuzumi Blue Line' (Tarumi Railway ) 16th March 2006 Kato released their version of the 209-500 Keihin Tohoku sets.
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(ADVERTISING) This information service is sponsored by ... Japanese Model Supplies o New and second-hand Japanese trains As mentioned above, this service is sponsored by 'Japanese Model Supplies', the only Japanese-only model train and other hobby item supplier in the world, outside of Japan. Other suppliers have recently been broadening their ranges, and supply other things like computer games, and Chinese & European trains - 'Japanese Model Supplies' will always stay with Japanese-only products. It is often difficult to source these type of items and get accurate and timely information in English, when you do not live in Japan, cannot read Japanese web pages or do not have any contacts there. We have the facilities to access this information and these products, and whilst based in Australia, currently supply customers all over the world, including Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Israel, South Africa, Canada and the USA. Therefore you will find that the items you see presented are not just 'fantasy' items that get released in Japan and you have no way of acquiring them - 'Japanese Model Supplies' CAN get these items, and CAN ship them to anywhere in the world (unlike some other retailers of Japanese model trains, who refuse to ship to the USA etc) !!! See their web page at the address listed above for all the information on what has been
produced and how to get it. If you are in Japan, and visit the Osaka area, I recommend you
take the time to visit "Railcraft Awaza". They have a large range of products
available, together with friendly advice and service (but only in Japanese). Some photos
on this site are taken by them and appear with their permission. For details of
their shop location, see their web page at ... http://www.rc-awaza.com |
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Abbreviation |
Explanation |
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TEC |
Shinkansen (Bullet train) |
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EC |
Electric car (EMU) |
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DC |
Diesel car (DMU) |
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PC |
Passenger car |
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FC |
Freight car |
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SL |
Steam loco |
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EL |
Electric loco |
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DL |
Diesel loco |
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Page contents copyright 2006 - Doug Coster
Photos copyright of the respective manufacturers & Railcraft Awaza Osaka.