PJ10002
Alright, so as I stated in my previous post I “found out something kinda jarring” about my newly acquired Hiro.
Yet that jarring something I found out about it…well, it’s actually a completely different variant.
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Now this may not seem all that exciting at first, but I do have a multitude of photos to prove this realization, and here they are:
(A quick key before we get going:
Old: refers to my August 2023 purchase of Hiro.
New: refers to this January 2026 purchase.)
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Difference #1: The Nameplates
(Old: Bottom, New: Top)
Begging with the nameplate stickers, this was the first of 5 major differences I noticed about the 2 models. As you can see, the New Hiro’s nameplate is far less detailed than the Old Hiro’s nameplate, the Old one’s got shines on the bolts, depth, definition, and more shines on the letters, and heck even the FONT for them almost looks different too! (It is the same font, but with two major styling differences.)
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Difference #2: Cab Windows & Golden Lining
(Old: Bottom, New: Top)
Ok, this difference is a bit harder to spot, but if you look Extreeeemly closely at the gold lining on the cab and around the windows on the Old one, you can actually see the lining has small little defined edges and shines on there, with some bits being a little darker or lighter than others. Again, it’s quite hard to spot, but once you see it you can unsee it, and begin to notice it more and more. Meanwhile the New one’s lining is just a flat color, nothing all that interesting.
(However, if it may seem like damage to the sticker, a) how in the world would that damage look so neatly done, and b) you’d notice bits of the black plastic behind the sticker instead. So if anyone here was thinking that was damage, there ya go.)
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Difference #3: The Faces
(Old: Right, New: Left)
A pretty simple difference here, but one that is present on Billy’s model too. Simply the eye color for the New one’s is much more transparent than the Old one’s, probably because the Old one’s are painted on whereas the New one’s was printed on.
(Might try a face swap with these two sometime if I can just get that screwdriver where I need it to go…)
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Difference #4: Tender Lining
(Old: Bottom in both, New: Top in both)
Just like the cab lining, you look extremely closely on the Old one, that lining has some small shiny and defined edges in there. Much easier to see on the bottom of the Old one’s tender I found out, so look around there if you’re having trouble seeing the details.
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Difference #5: Golden Boiler Lining & Whistle
(Old: Right, New: Left)
And here’s the last of the major differences I could make out, that being the models’ overall painted lining colors. The New one’s lining I saw was just the absolute sliiiiightest bit more desaturated than the Old one’s lining. Though it’s a bit tough to see, the difference is there, you gotta look hard enough.
(Also no, it isn’t my desk lamp causing this change in color. I put the Old one on the right just to prove this if anyone’s gonna ask about it.)
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But we’re not entirely done yet, as I’ve got a few other minor differences, these are the inner workings of the two:
(Old: Right, New: Left)
Simply just a size and shape difference in the gear here. Though it is interesting to see this change they made to it, making the gear much more robust and solidified on the Old model.
(Old: Top, New: Bottom)
Like the driving gear, the motor gear on the Old one has a more robust base than the New one. (Both haven’t cracked yet either! 🤞)
(Their production dates also read:
Old: 180E9 - Monday, June 29th, 2009
New: 107E9 - Friday, April 17th, 2009)
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And there you have it! 5 major differences I was able to spot between these two Hiros. Still can’t believe I basically discovered this by complete accident, and now here I am to share this discovery with all of you!
One last thing as well, their boxes:
(Movie-Styled)
(Regular)
Didn’t exactly think this mattered much seeing as these were just different box types, but I believe that the Movie-Styled one has that New Hiro tooling to it, as I wanna say that one was released earlier on at the time.
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I’ll have more to post soon, 2 BNiB items are on their way, with one arriving tomorrow on Saturday. So stay tuned for that when it comes!
