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7105 Yoshitsune Museum Edition Review

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First let me say that due to the lack of YouTube videos on this train (up until Muddy Poppins last night) I was planning on doing a complete video review of the Plarail Limited Edition Yoshitsune but after my initial inspection I have decided not to go to the trouble...I will explain.

I am a Plarail fan to the core but I am very disappointed in this "special" release to say the least. There are so many things that I am disappointed in so lets go to what I like about this Remake of a great, rare, Plarail train.

What I like...
The silver hand rails and silver boiler plate, all painted.

Gold banding & piping around boiler and gold trim around cabs side windows, all painted.

Smooth and quiet running motor.

The design and molded details of the tender.

Smokebox door nicely detailed

What I am Disappointed About...
The awful looking fake trucks on the Tender (picture Chuggington trains)

Tender has all stickers. Would have liked a mix of sticker and paint but the original released Tender has all stickers too so this isn't a deal breaker just a want. On a positive side, the stickers are very well detailed.

Middle wheel too prominent and looks odd. May have been better to recess it more like other trains so its not as noticeable.

Coupling too long as the Tender doesn't follow close enough which makes it look a bit odd but thats just my preference and not a deal breaker

The whole front of cab is a sticker and my preference would have been at least a couple of cut out windows along with stickers

Also my preference would have been for the long side rods like the original which would give the wheel base a longer look and not pudged but I understand why they have abandoned the long side rods on their models.

The Cow Catcher is way too short and sits way too high which makes it look odd. Even the original had the Cow Catcher lower to the tracks. Also the front fake truck sits way to high creating another odd look.

The whole front end extends too far from the front axle. This causes the train to bump into things that may be a tad bit close to a curved rail because it sticks out too far. This was happening several times on our layout on its test run where no other train we have does. There is nothing in that long front end so they could have shortened it I think

I also think the cab is too long compared to the real train

So in conclusion I am disappointed that, to me, this looks more like a regular steam engine and does not resemble the western train styling that the real Yoshitsune is. Sorry Plarail I think you missed the mark or at least to my expectations of what a Limited Edition remake of a rare release of yours should have been. I feel the original looks more true to form than this last one. There are several things I like about this train like the awesome molded tender details but too many things I don't.

I have to admit that after my initial disappointment my thoughts were to take this new train and start modify him. Like a larger cow catcher and ridding the tender of the fake trucks but after he kept bumping into things and derailing due to his extended front end I have decided to put him back in the box and sell him in hopes that he will make somebody happy. I know I will be happy with the two original General Yoshitsunes we already have.

To see a first run of the release, check out Muddy Poppins YouTube Video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0EgqfX1G2U