Plarail TOMY Thomas NEW RELEASES

love that video! hope to see plarail oigawa rusty and bertie as well, one day.

[Super]

I reached out to the eBay seller Tokyo-Hobby regarding the Oigawa James pre-order. They will have it available on 4/25. I find going this route a bit cheaper than Hobby search but am anxious to get the other batch of items from them to confirm they are not damaged during shipping.

Really? 4/25 or 5/25? Hobby Search lists it as Late May. I don't see Oigawa James listed at Tokyo-Hobby.

I just did a quirk calculation because I am expecting packages from both Hobby-Search and Tokyo-Hobby. My quick addition is that much of the savings difference is only in the selected shipping method.

Hobby-Search
2 trains, Shooting Star Gordon & Streamlined Thomas...Total $62.29 with EMS shipping (with Tracking) 3 - 5 days

Tokyo-Hobby (taking from Ebay listings)
2 trains, Shooting Star Gordon & Streamlined Thomas...Total $59.80 with SAL shipping (no tracking) 10 -14 days or more

So the $2.49 difference would be the advantage for the faster service. Would using SAL at Hobby-Search be even cheaper that Tokyo-Hobby? I don't know.

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Upon a deeper inspection I am a bit wrong as I just seen that I used 257 Hobby-Search points for the order which comes to about $2.32 discount so the difference would be $4.81. as the actual cost for the two at Hobby-Search would be $64.61 before discount.

Just now realized that Plarail's remade Gordon and James, so we're one away from completing the CG'd Big Engine Trio!
I don't have any problems with the current design, but I hope they render Henry too as a loco-drive engine.... without making the firebox so ridiculously huge as the 2013(?) Trackmaster Henry's did.

Seeing the announcement of that Oigawa James has me a little excited too! It's nice seeing those types of engines rendered. Imagine what it'd be like if Day Out with Thomas locos were rendered here in the States... not nearly as good but it'd still be incredible.

[ripley802]

Really? 4/25 or 5/25? Hobby Search lists it as Late May. I don't see Oigawa James listed at Tokyo-Hobby.

I just did a quirk calculation because I am expecting packages from both Hobby-Search and Tokyo-Hobby. My quick addition is that much of the savings difference is only in the selected shipping method.

Hobby-Search
2 trains, Shooting Star Gordon & Streamlined Thomas...Total $62.29 with EMS shipping (with Tracking) 3 - 5 days

Tokyo-Hobby (taking from Ebay listings)
2 trains, Shooting Star Gordon & Streamlined Thomas...Total $59.80 with SAL shipping (no tracking) 10 -14 days or more

So the $2.49 difference would be the advantage for the faster service. Would using SAL at Hobby-Search be even cheaper that Tokyo-Hobby? I don't know.

---

Upon a deeper inspection I am a bit wrong as I just seen that I used 257 Hobby-Search points for the order which comes to about $2.32 discount so the difference would be $4.81. as the actual cost for the two at Hobby-Search would be $64.61 before discount.

It will be listed for Pre-Order on 4/25 and would not ship until 5/25.

Combined shipping may be a bit better with eBay? Not sure I would have to do some research. I do like getting EMS shipping with HS as opposed to SAL but if I could save $20 or so in shipping fees then it may be worth it. On a side note the Steam Thomas I received from Hobby search while it was in a box it had no bubble wrap or anything with it.

[Super]

Oh 5/25...whew...I was getting excited for an earlier release.

That is the combined shipping at Tokyo-Hobby. Its listed that way in the Shipping Description. $10.80 for the first item, $5.40 for the additional.

[ripley802]

Oh 5/25...whew...I was getting excited for an earlier release.

That is the combined shipping at Tokyo-Hobby. Its listed that way in the Shipping Description. $10.80 for the first item, $5.40 for the additional.

I will have to take a closer look next time.

[Super]

The Steam Thomas still came in a shipping box right? Was there no packing at all to prevent the toy box from moving around?

[ripley802]

The Steam Thomas still came in a shipping box right? Was there no packing at all to prevent the toy box from moving around?

A few sheets of paper, but yeah in a box. I would anticipate the items coming from Tokyo Hobby be in a box too as there are 5 items but we shall see.

http://hon.gakken.jp/book/1861118800

Just released! A Plarail Thomas 25th Anniversary Book containing the history of the range, secrets, and some info on new products. It's also got four bonuses including a Leisure Sheet which folds up into a box (posted a couple of pages ago), a sticker sheet with decals to put on your spare Thomas' to get The Great Race designs, a poster containing (almost) every character made in the last 25 years, and a Hiro Returns Home to Japan mini book.

I hope our Japanese friends can translate any interesting things from the book for us.

[Super]

Thanks Jdog
So I take it that Plarail has only been making Thomas trains for 25 years.