Rarest Plarail/Tomy Trains

Most of the people who sell trains with tomica world packaging don't know the rarity of what they're selling, which is why the prices are somewhat cheap. It's somewhat comparable to a Plarail which was sold in the 80's or 90's with their original packaging selling for the same price as a current 2020 release plarail, which i think is not the case. There are definitely rarer things than Tomica World packaging trains but in terms of trains that were released in the western world and not in Japan, Tomica World packaged trains are about as rare as they get.

Even most buyers don't even know the rarity, the auctions on eBay with a low starting price never reached above 40 USD for a boxed Eurostar. Tomica World was not released in the 80s, but in the 90s? Even some 2020 release Plarail are higher in price, which is quite sad. But a thing to remember is that the Eurostar is available in 2 variants of Japanese boxes, which makes it way less rare than a Virgin Train or Silver TGV which was never released in Japan.

Transparent sticker 名鉄ブルーライナー and opaque sticker 名鉄ブルーライナー. Both versions must be collected to be called "rare". I think the transparent sticker is rarer, it is quite hard to find these blue liners especially when you are looking for both versions.

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Are those really stickers or painted on?

They are stickers, they tend to peel off as seen in auctions.

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Looking closer I see the edges of the sticker in the second picture and can see the engines paint colors through a sticker in the first pic.

But the motif on the sticker is interesting: two monkeys, koala bear and... a German countryside building?

The German country side building, I have no clue why. The real train also has the same building, it might reflect a more "beach" theme in the beach areas of Japan, not that I have been to.

Check it out, it is the single item Mickey Poppo Station in case you want it: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r421397006

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Could it be that the German building is a representation of an exhibit building that houses these animals in a real zoo? Just thinking out loud.

Maybe. A barn or a house now?