Plarail TOMY Thomas NEW RELEASES

Ucwepn · 2014-02-18T18:29:12+00:00

Hey guys these have popped up on the net, Stephen appears to be tender drive and Connor has a proper coach and a HUGE face! Harvey looks unchanged except for...

Super

Looks like they are the Harder to find dark brown barrel's stood on end rather that the easier to get orange ones.

chrisjo

now on Tomica website

Super

Well thats weird...in Mr No's picture above with the set in a Layout it clearly shows 3 sets of dark brown barrels standing on end in the Truck but in Chrisjo's picture with what looks like the back of the box it shows and states that the set comes with only 2 sets of dark brown barrels standing right side up in the Truck...strange why they would do that. :-/

Mister No

Not only the mountain is not a mountain anymore but a set of 4 panels (is that a dinosaur in front of the volcano in one of the stickers?) and the traffic is possible in one direction only because the steep yellow rail must be used, but it seems to me that the brown ascent rail is made so that the train swings on it while climbing the "mountain", and Thomas also has stickers that the customer must apply. I'll pass.

Mister No

Here is the illustration of McDonald's Happy Set Plarail toys (is "Happy Set" anoter name for "Happy Meal" in Japan?) from Takara Tomy website:

It's a shame they never release it with some trains that have single units that are "complete", like railcars of Hiei Railway, Meitetsu, some trams etc. They always use only the first car of some popular Shinkansen or a commuter train (Hayabusa, Yamanote, Dr. Yellow), and if you connect them all together with that front coupler and run them using your own motorized unit in front of such a train, they would look a bit silly, wouldn't they? Or they could release different cars of the same train (so you could compose the whole train) in one Happy Set Plarail series... Why always just the front car of a multiple unit train? [Nitpicking End.]

Anyway, I really like the "accessories". Some elements could be really useful on a layout. The timetable display with the clock looks really nice (I wouldn't mind having it on the platform of my Central Station). Some McDonald's themed stuff are looking good too. What do you say, Super? Wouldn't some of them look cool near your customized J-25 Overpass McDonald's Station? 😃

Super

Oh yes, for sure. I do like the Golden Arches. I wonder if its in 3 pieces where the middle section can be removed and the 2 sides of the Arches glued together??? 😃

Mister No

Yup, the arches are looking great! It's a Happy Meal toy, so I suppose they come in parts; they frequently do come in pieces, so kids (of all ages) could connect them, don't they? 😃

But even if they don't, you could still easily customize them... and they would make a really nice 3D sign on the roof of your restaurant! 🙂

Super

Mister No

And now back to the new Dokidoki Mountain Thomas Set. I was looking at the pictures on the stickers, trying to answer my own question:

Mister No wrote
(is that a dinosaur in front of the volcano in one of the stickers?)

So I was magnifying the pictures, and I found the pictures of Percy, James, Hiro, Gordon, Harold and (bear in mind it's a "Thomas & Friends" Set!) ...

... a treasure chest! Is that a treasure chest?

Yup, it's a treasure chest; what else could that be? Never mind.

Then, there is Bambi.
Is that Bambi?
I bet that's Bambi:

I'm still not sure about the volcano, but that's definitely a dinosaur!

What is that Tyrannosaurus Rex doing in a "Thomas & Friends" Set?

"Oh, look, kids love treasure chests, Bambi and dinosaurs, so we may well just put them on those stickers!"

My only question is: Why? It's a Thomas & Friends set, for crying out loud! Why the dinosaurs and treasure chests?

"Kids would like them."

No further questions. :s

Super

Yes, that is strange Mr No

Still know one has any ideas as to what the round table with the gray track is from in this picture...or maybe its just a hint of something to come? Looks to have 13 points.

Mister No

That question is still unanswered. I've never seen anything like that before, Super. Those sheds come with the orange track like in Chris' picture, not with anything grey. It must be something new (as you said), or just a special event customization (not likely).

chrisjo

I'm not convinced that I can see anything in there except the lips on the fronts of the sheds forming a circle, and one piece of grey straight track.

Super

Maybe, but you have to admit that it isn't the orange, 5 Point Tray that comes with that Bucket with the Sheds Set though...right? I also see the Black Roundness of the turn table along with what looks to be the shapes of the Tomy Track stub connectors in black in front of each shed.

Mister No

It is not orange:

It is not red (turntable) either:

I'm seeing one straight grey track too, but I can't believe that they used just one straight track on this display layout...

Super

What gives me the feeling that this is something real is that....Official Plarail Layouts don't usually have off brand items or custom made parts in their ads. Looking at the picture Mr No showed us we can see everything official Plarail parts including the to be released Mountain. Also my spider senses give me the feeling that featured item on the right is something new and the featured item on the left might also feature something new.....maybe??? The mountain does have a placard though and the item on the left has none so I am probably reading more into this than is actually there but one can dream can't one?

Mister No

Sure! And they would put new items in the front, won't they? 🙂

There is also one other thing, though: they display some items so they look their best. For example, look at the Rebecca, Ashima, Diesel 10 and Connor on the right side. They are parked so that we can see their faces (looking their best), although if they come out to the loop, they would approach the Dokidoki slope from the wrong direction. But, despite that, they displayed them as they did...

Mister No

Suzukawa's video on that event in Kyoto; Plarail stuff starts at 7:11.

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNhREeZScaI[/video]

Here are the sheds and the mysterious turntable...:

I'm still not sure what to think about it ...

Super

Well Suzukawa went right to the Round Table and Sheds like it was something so there is that. Wonder what she is saying? Looking again at it....I am now wondering if the blackened area is not just a piece of paper with a piece of gray rail on top of it....that would be disappointing after all this speculation...lol. :-/

chrisjo

That's exactly what I think it is, a shiny black piece of thin card or plastic with a bit of a pattern around the edge and piece of grey track laid over the top. The structure is intended to be a representation of the roundhouse and turntable at the Kyoto Railway Museum which is hosting the event, with the visiting Thomas lurking in shed number 6, to which the grey straight is aligned.

Note that the male connector has been cut off the end of the grey straight, I'll bet there's a screw through the middle of the grey straight and into the baseboard so that it can be rotated by hand to line up with any of the sheds. There appear to be black JR steam locos in the other sheds, you can see the number plates on their smokebox doors in sheds 4, 5 & 7.

Suzukawa had a quick look at it and moved on very quickly, I thought. Are the tracks and scenery at displays like this normally held down with shiny dome-headed screws the way they are here?

Super

Bummer

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