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22nd April, 2006 |
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CONTENTS
Other Pages
Index page of previous Product & DVD
RELEASE INFORMATION
NEWS |
EDITORIAL
Quite a few new releases announced for later in the year, from both Tomix and Kato. Interesting items are the N700 Shinkansen from Tomix, and the E531 from Kato If you are interested in the 'N ' scale collectible series from Tomy & Bandi (mostly vehicles, but also buildings & figures), you may like to join this Yahoo! group, where you can buy, sell, swap or just talk about these fascinating items ... 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 couple of weeks; 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 Tomy 'The Bus Collection' #8 This set was supposed to be out in March, but it is now listed for April sometime. 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). Tomy '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 have closed. 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. Here is what it looks like ...
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 !!! 22nd April 2006 The 2006 Tomix catalog is now out, and some of the new items shown as future releases were ... JR West 321 series EC sets. These are the replacements for aging 201 and the ill-fated 207 sets.
JR West/Central N700 series Shinkansen. Tomix are jumping in early with this one, as the prototype sets is still being tested. See pictures on this page. 'Gordon' has been listed as the next release in the 'Thomas the Tank Engine' series. 21st April 2006 Tomix announced the release on the 28th of the following ... 92291 Meitetsu 8800 'Panorama DX' 3 car set 12th April 2006 MicroAce announced their releases for September 2006 ... A0614 113 series EC 7 car set (Tokaido Line - green/orange) - ¥19,000 Modemo announced that they would do another of the Enoden 1000 series sets - this time in the latest colour scheme similar to the new 20 series car - a darker green with gold pin striping. 4th April 2006 Kato announced releases for July 2006 ... 10-271 Resafu10000 + Resa10000 'Tobiuo' 7 car set (White / blue) - ¥6,800 They will also re-release the Resa5000 and Resa10000 freight wagons, and the Kiha82 DC set & cars.
Sobu line - Chiba to Mitaka
Company : Teichiku Records This DVD gives you a look at the Sobu line from Chiba thru Akihabara, Shinjuku and on to Mitaka on an E231 all-stations commuter service. After a short introduction showing the train at various locations, you get a menu as follows ...
Another great title from a company that is based in the Kansai area, and used to only cover their own trains, but is now doing most of the major lines around Tokyo (their next release is the Tokaido line from Tokyo to Atami). Chuo line - Shinjuku to Kofu
Company : Sony Music Direct This DVD takes you from Shinjuku to Kofu on an express E257 service. After a short introduction showing the train at various locations, you get a menu as follows ...
It is interesting to compare the way two different companies treat the 'same' topic !!! This DVD has more background of the line and is in wide screen format, but I am not sure the quality/content is that much better to justify the extra cost.
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Rail Fan (05/2006)
Another fabulous issue, this time covering (over 80
pages !!!) the history
of the 103 commuter sets, and showing details of all the different
combinations that ran on the various lines in Tokyo over the years.
Also included is details of the new Sendai area 721 sets, Keiyo line
E331 sets, Tokaido line E217 sets, green cars for the Joban line E531
sets and a history of the Tokyo Railway Museum. 22nd April 2006 Tomix released their 2006 catalog.
20th April 2006 Kato released the 10-499 JR Hokkaido Kiha201 series DC set
18th April 2006 Kato released the 10-498 JR Hokkaido 731 series EC set
14th April 2006 MicroAce released the following ... A0453 117-0/100 series EC 4 car set (old JR Central colour)
A0456 117-0/200 series 4 car non-powered set (old JR Central colour)
A0457 117-0/200 series 4 car non-powered set (new JR Central colour)
A1563 EF16-27 series EL + 10/43 series PC 6 car addon (Chokai)
13th April 2006 Greenmax released the first in their Tokyu5000 series - the Toyoko line 5050 series ... 4039 Tokyu 5050 series EC 4 car set (Toyoko Line)
12th April 2006 MicroAce released the following ... A0351 115-3000 series EC 4 car set (Setouchi colour)
A0358 115-3000 series EC 4 car non-powered set (Setouchi colour)
A0464 115-300/3500 series EC 4 car non-powered set (Shonan colour)
A1561 10/43 series PC 4 car addon (Hakkoda)
6th April 2006 Kato released the limited edition Sobu line 101 sets ... 10-255 101 series EC 6 car set Sobu line (Kato 40th Anniversary special limited edition release)
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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 |
E & O E - best viewed 1024x768
or higher
Page contents copyright 2006 - Doug Coster
Photos copyright of the respective manufacturers & Railcraft Awaza &
Hobbyworld Aoshima.