I'm trying to medel different high speed rail lines on a fictional layout...problem is, the high speed trains (ACELA, TGV, SHINKANSEN etc) aren't all that readily available. The stuff from KATO is sporadic with suppliers only offering a few models. Is there anyone out there who's found a reliable site for these trains (N-scale).
Try Rainbow Ten models in Shizuoka City, Japan - http://www.rainbowten.co.jp/english/index.html This part of their site is in English and they are great to deal with. Noa is their English speaking employee and the in-stock listing is quite up-to-date. Kato, Tomix (Tomy) and Micro-Ace (ARII) are stocked but keep in mind that models are limited run and sell quickly, particularly the Shinkansen sets, but the more popular models do get re-released at some point. Pricing is the usual 10% off MSRP and they give the option of what shipping you would like to use. I choose SAL (cheapest) and have the item generally within a week or two. With the US$ being low against the Yen expect to pay a fair amount. For the best up-to-date information on impending new and re-releases, subscribe to the two Yahoo! Groups Japanese Rail forums (one general chat and the other more retail focussed). These are run by Doug Coster in Australia who supplies just about anything Japanese toy related. [ 18. January 2004, 16:45: Message edited by: Gats ]
Thanks for the replies guys...lots-o-help. Oh, and Hoss...the regular locos just don't look as cool...funny though !
I caught the Skinkansen bug in the last two months. I have purchased six train sets (Skinkansen, Kato-Tomix) off of ebay. I have searched high and low for a US distributor but must say "None exist!" Why such a large market in the world is ignored is beyond me. There is a guy in Austrailia who will ship any where in the world but you must be patient. I'm also considering high speed rail on a fictional layout. I took some photos of my Skinkansens but don't know how to post them. Great to see someone else caught the bug!
Don, to the Japanese the US is not a large market. There may be 1-2000 people with interest enough to fork over the amount of $$$ these things cost. On the other hand, the Japanese market is HUGE and all their limited production is just about taken up within Japan, particularly the popular sets. The best bet is to keep an eye on Doug Coster's Yahoo! lists for upcoming anouncements (since the websites are all in Japanese, except Kato's cut-down English site) and have a pre-release order in place. I missed the Tomix 700 Hikari Rail Star first time around but pre-ordered, and received, the second time. You would have noticed on eBay one of the stores (East Coast Models Railroads?) has Japanese outline quite regularly. That's about as close to a distributor I have come across in the US.
http://eshare.hpphoto.com/start.asp?JobID={004848F4-6B9B-4E74-B532-68002EA00396}&IDKey=18040 Here is my Shinkansen's!!!
Gary and Bullet train it's great to find someone with simular interests, let me know how your Shinkansen hunting goes! I'm turning Japaneese... I really think so!
