HNBG's 2023 purchases

Thanks to Lunar New Year traditions, I have some to spend on widening my Plarail collection now.


Starting off, I have bought the J-27 Fumikiri set and Shinkansen 300 Series Last Run, both brand new.



First, the J-27, I bought it just for the fact that it got the original Plarail crews Plakids, the girl I remembered being a co-host in a 2009 Plarail DVD, the yellow cap dude is still Plarail mascot, and a generic Plakids.



This crossing has a bell that is activated when a train runs through the blue notch in the middle, not the blue rails that drops the barrier. Other than that, it's just a higher version of the normal single lane crossing.

Plarail Shinkansen 300 Last Run is a surprise for me. I did not expect to come across a Shinkansen 300 Series released quite many years ago in the wild, let alone being a special version AND brand new, with an extra plastic packaging outside and such. 



The store that I bought from somehow only have train sets from many years ago (all with previous box style). I have had plans to get the newer Shinkansen 300 (the one with 4 cars, one of which has sound), but this one is cheaper, has special livery, and looks better (imo) than the new version so there we are.

[Super]

Love the PlaKids and that 300 release is very cool. Nice pick ups Hano 👍

So this one is actually the first thing I bought in 2023, though I kept forgetting to put it to the web so here it is,
Plarail Shinkalion DXS104 ALFA-X!



It was quite amazing for me since this is one of the two Plarail Shinkalions left on sale (as far as I can found online, maybe there's more in obscure stores). It's still brand new, astonishingly, and of course it's more expensive than a normal Plarail train, but it's worth it.

Alrighty since I have concluded my Plarail buying spree for now, it's time to see what I've collected.
-----------
Here's the first group, Shinkansen Year 2022 400 series & E4 series, and S-22 Shinkansen 800.





The 400 & E4 is my first double pack I got, and they nicely complete almost the main East Shinkansen fleet. The newest Shinkansen double pack should be good if I want to complete the set further, with the de-facto 200 (E2) and the classic E3 Komachi.

800 also kind of completes the West - Kyushu Shinkansen fleet for now, I'm still missing at least one series and some other that no one imported yet, so there's that. S-22 is also the first Plarail train of mine to have the "upgraded" universal chassis, I think? It bears much resemblance to the classic chassis, but now having reinforced walls (therefore accepting only AA), and need to be screwed as always.

[Super]

Very nice additions Hano 👍

Second batch:



Here's S-23 E353 Azusa, interestingly in Hong Kong packaging. It is slightly more readable due to me having studied Chinese (around intermediate level), the train title is still written in Japanese. 
The train features coupling function, but not using magnet as with every other Plarail commuter trains that have this gimmick, separate from Shinkansen.



Like the previous 800 Shinkansen, this train also features the newer universal chassis, one speed only despite what the engraving on the shell says (looks like they reuse it from the earlier version, without coupling but with 2-speed)



And here's S-34 Autorack train, bought solely for the dual coupling of the EF65 power car, which allow me to finally get Shinkalion ALFA-X to run on my layout. I'll make another thread to talk about this train, specifically the autorack car.

For the latest acquisition, I can titled them "treasures".

First, it's TP-06 Tecology Plarail Shinkansen E7! This type of car will generate light on its own, requiring enough speed on the wheels.



I purchased this as brand new, but as you can see from the box, it has been in store for quite some time now. I was really surprised to actually find one in store, though I did have to travel 11 kilometers to there.



The build is identical to the normal Shinkansen E7 I already had, without the logo though. I attempted to pull the logo sticker off but it did not want to come out in one piece so I abandoned.
The neat thing is Tecology Plarail is made to replace the tail car, so, with the original train having front lamp already, this is cool!

The other thing is this, Series 200-2000 Shinkansen!



This is the last (representative of a) train series to complete my main JR East Shinkansen fleet!

I bought this second hand so there's no intermediate bi-level car, but both front and tail cars are there, and that should be enough for me!

[Super]

Nice additions Hano 👍

Yeah, I did not update this much, until now because I got myself the biggest Plarail set I've ever bought!



So, it's huge, at least to me with my teeny tiny room. It's the Large Train Maintenance Station, released over 10 years ago but somehow can still be bought brand new in 2023. Originally priced at US$40 here, thanks to the set being on clearance and extra discounts on online store, I got it for only 11 dollars!







These are all the stuff in the set. It's actually quite a bit dusty thanks to probably 10-year-old cardboard box, interestingly the box does not have the Vietnamese info sticker that these imported toys in large stores normally have so idk what happened there.

The two important parts that I want for my layout are the 4-track stop rail and the 4-to-1 rail switch. I have not much space but I have many trains, so this is a great set to have!

[Super]

Fantastic...seriously?...only $11 for a new in the box, hard to find large Plarail set...WOW! Those exclusive 4 into 1 Switches normally go for more than that by themselves so you got an amazing deal Hanoi 👍