D'Oh! And I just sold mine thats on its way to a fellow trainboard member, at cost. And with a slight discount on shipping! So I lost $4 in the deal! I'm hoping Karma works out in my favor.
I got one from my wife for my birthday this week. I was quite pleased. Does anyone else that has one think the decal work could be better?
Sean there are 4 up there 162.50, 159.00 buy it now. 64.00 and 36.00. Your Karma will be fine you helped a fellow member out and did't gouge them like feebay.
I think we all think that the graphics could be better, but not at $30 per car for a very limited special run. These are very unique, special cars and until now there was no cheap and easy way to add one to a Kato Superliner consist.
What are you using as search criteria on that site? I can't seem to find them all. I bought two just to defray shipping, but at prices like that I just might need to sell my extra. Thanks.
Well this is just ridiculous. People who missed out are still getting them through Amtrak. I think people just don't know where to get them, see it in eBay and are freaking. I'd never pay $160 for an N scale coach. It would have to be mother if pearl encrusted with diamonds with 24k gold wheels.
I'm guessing that those who "missed out" may be skeptical that Amtrak will receive any more stock. Since Staples is supporting this for Amtrak, they may be more calibrated to commercial production where restocking is the normal course of events. We'll see....
The Amtrak anniversary train is in Spokane, and according to the guys on the train, they have the last of the cars. And was nice as no tax and no shipping cost. But do I want to buy more...hmmm
Yeah, the paint (printing) sucks, I'm gonna re-do mine with the proper plated side for the stripe decal as well as the logo plating. Still beats buying the El Cap set to break up, although i already did that and made my money back. (dog got to that one so good thing i ordered mine while supplies lasted!
I'm always fascinated by strange things, particularly when the marketing paradigm is disturbed. But as a sorta-kinda manufacturer, using a LOT of Kato stuff (I think I may have set the market for 11-105's) maybe I get to wonder out loud. If you just do a Google search on "Kato N Pacific Parlor" the only DEALER that shows is Model Train Warehouse. Nobody else, not even KatoUSA, has them on their web page. It's not an Amtrak exclusive, then. But they're a lot more expensive than Amtrak, even with shipping.... I'm still puzzled on how this entire deal is marketed, promoted, shipped and produced. It 'looks like' a Kato KOBO project, by Amtrak, but then there's that distributor, so it's not an Amtrak licensed exclusive.... yet no Kato USA reference? And somehow Staples does the order system for Amtrak...which is really weird that you get that confirmation and shipment from Staples... And now you can buy it on the TRAIN? This is more complicated than picking the NCAA finals. I'm not sure if this entire approach will catch on, or be the topic of 'name the year and model of the Amtrak-sponsored N scale passenger car! in a future "N Scale Trivial Pursuit!. For everybody here to make a profit, I'm still surprised it was only $30, when I got $50 when I auctioned off my ATSF El Cap lounge out of my 10-car set. So maybe you'll see the FEF- sponsored by Union Pacific? You might have laughed before....but now?
Model Train Warehouse bought theirs from Amtrak. Also, MTW is a Kato dealer...not distributor. It is not a Kobo (custom) item. These cars were a special run from Kato USA to Amtrak. Staples handles Amtrak's online store and shipping.
So, if Model Train Warehouse bought a bunch of these cars, how many really made it to the general public? There were speculations that the run was less than 150 cars to start with.
Bingo!! Also, these were very likely produced as part of the recent "Amtrak El Capitan" run. I highly doubt that any more will be produced until such time that Kato produces another El Capitan run. That could be years.....
This is consistent with what I'm seeing. Nowhere on the box is there any mention of "Kobo," and the Kato part number does not have the -KB suffix shown on the MTW website. Also, MTW's website is suggesting that they will receive more inventory on 8/12. We'll soon see if that is just wishful thinking or real.
Talking to the Amtrak guys on the Anniversary train this last weekend, the total run was for around 300 cars. Original run said to be split between Amtrak and some Kato dealers, however when Amtrak sold out in less than 24 hours, Kato sent the rest to Amtrak. Once the website was sold out, the train had the only cars left, and on the 3rd, they only had 23 left. From what I heard on Sunday, they were sold out. Some of us in Spokane bought extras, I got a few for friends who missed out and one for myself.
