Blue Plastic Tracks

I know that this vintage Benkei Set is Rare and hard to find even in Japan but this one went for 101,000yen...Wow. https://www.jauce.com/auction/f271062694

I was watching this one but had no idea it was that rare. It was at 1000¥ and I figured it may be something I could snag, but that is not the case..

Yes, $922 to be exact!! I was in on this one too...I would have loved to have had it, but after I was out bid at 25000, I had to let it go...
It was gorgeous!!

What was so special about this set guys?

I remember someone finding one of the loop-around pieces from this set on here.

Oh, there are many things that makes this set one of the most special and sought after sets. Finding one new is seldom seen, at least for me. The only drawback is that the motor is the old metal one that drives the wheels with a small friction wheel. I was also interested in this set but soon dropped out on the bidding.

It was released in 1972 I believe and under the old Merry Go Round Logo and also the new (at that time) Tomy Logo with the boy and girl holding hands.

The Benkei engine and Tender are an exclusive design to this set and not like the Benkei that was sold separately that we are use to seeing. It has a big cowcatcher along with the big, wide funnel. This engine is bigger than those and is what the newer Plarail Yoshitsune was loosely based on which was also bigger than its original. This brown Express Coach I believe is also exclusive to this set also.

The first generation of the blue U-Turn Rails which are hard to find today and I believe only came in about 3 sets back then. They are oval and have a unique spread on the rails to prevent derailments. These were replaced by the red Plarail R-10's we are use to seeing today.

The Train Station I believe is also exclusive and rare. Looking closely you can see it has the (I always forget the name) bag catcher, for lack of the correct term. Please, somebody correct me.

Interesting the number of uniques this set had, maybe at the time they were not popular hence why they didn't repeat the parts?

Here is a close up running of the engine. I am still looking for a video of the set. The maker of this video states that the funnel is too high.

Quote: However, the shape of the chimney is so high that the shape of the chimney is too high, it is caught under high bridges and overhead pillars, making it impossible to run w

Maybe that's why it was so rare?

(06-02-2018, 06:47 PM)Trainfanz Wrote: [ -> ]I remember someone finding one of the loop-around pieces from this set on here.

that was me, got them on a local auction site. actually found them in the stash the other day, and thought i must try and use them in a layout.