Plarail 7105 Yoshitsune Museum Edition Review

[Super]

7105 Yoshitsune Museum Edition Review

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

Hi Super,

Well that is quite a disappointing and damning review of what I for one was hoping would be a lovely engine. I agree the cow-catcher and front truck was a bit silly and as you already know I already felt the middle wheels were a bad idea and maybe better just not being there at all.

But looking at the two models I can see where they have gone a bit awry, basically they've extended the boiler length, probably to try to make it proportion-wise more realistic. Similarly they've kept the middle wheel and the front trucks for the same reason. Unfortunately though as you've already found the extra length has caused some problems on your layout. I'm sure if they'd lowered the truck to make it look more real and increased the size of the cow-catcher then you'd have even bigger problems. One thing that springs to mind is what would happen if you have inclines on a layout as with that large front overhang you're likely to lift the wheels from the track maybe.

So to a degree they have fumbled the ball by trying to appeal to the two distinct markets. On the one hand they've tried to make it dimensionally etc... more realistic for the collectors/display audience (bearing in mind its special limited edition status) and failed in this by trying to make it capable of running on the track. Similarly by trying to make it run better on the track they've compromised the dimensions and realism for the collectors. A typical 'committee' design rather than one party or the other getting what they want. I wonder how much of this was forced by input from museum staff? I'm sure Tomy wouldn't go to the effort of new tooling and compromises making such a bodge of it as normally they are so dedicated to making things run as best they can - as opposed to Fisher Price who just want to make things as cheaply as possible without any thought for the audience...

I'll still be glad to add it to my stable though

[Super]

As they say...beauty is in...how many layers of make-up there are...or something like that.

Good points all. It probably is what you say for their reasons of placing the Cow catcher so high. I am picturing their first prototypes with a lower, more realistic cow catcher and it failing the incline straight rails. It had no trouble with mine in its raise position but I am curious as to how it would do on the ramped curves of a spiral. I have removed our spirals in the layout so I can't do a test Your reason makes sense however...

My thoughts would be that the train would have been better served with the battery in the tender like the original and if you check out their own picture from the box of the real train they then could use a permanent coupling to move the tender closer and to protect the wires, shorten the cab backwards bringing it closer to the size of the real one and at the same time it would shorten the front end. Without the need for battery space the boiler could be lowered more like the real one and at the same time making the smoke stack look taller and bigger around. This lowering would also bring the cow catcher down with the possibility of making it a bit bigger. Maybe I was expecting or hoping for too much so I was bound to be disappointed.

I know I am micro managing here and I should keep telling myself that.....these are just toys, these are just toys, these are just toys, but that doesn't diminish my disappointment for one of my most favorite Plarail trains, my first big disappointment for Plarail. But I am fortunate and happy that I have two of the originals and quite satisfied with them.

I hear exactly what you're saying and it probably is a better compromise for what is at the end of the day a child's toy. It is a shame they've messed up and I'm not totally sure that the battery in the tender would make it better. We all know the connecting cables are always a weakness so in the environment of a child it is far more robust to have the battery in the loco. the other choice would be to put the motor in the tender with the battery and we all know how much you love that idea

I also wonder how much of this is maybe re-use of tooling used for the Chuggington steam loco (puffin pete?!?) as that has the raised middle wheel and I think the false front truck.

What they really should have done for the PlaRail version of this is to have had a real axle truck on the front with the cow catcher attached (full size) and then had it pivoted so it would move left/right or up/down depending on steep slopes and/or tight curves...

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and have fitted a real dummy freewheeling middle set of wheels even if it made it a little bit longer

Yes I was just about to post a comment on my thread that I didn't want to be a downer on my video, but that I completely agree with you Super!!!
I am going to try to remove the idea that it is supposed to be a Yoshitsune, and try to revisit again with an open mind...hopefully I can find something more positive to appreciate about it soon.

Yes I was just about to post a comment on my thread that I didn't want to be a downer on my video, but that I completely agree with you Super!!!
I am going to try to remove the idea that it is supposed to be a Yoshitsune, and try to revisit again with an open mind...hopefully I can find something more positive to appreciate about it soon.

Super we have every right to be disappointed...This was not sold as a kiddie toy, but rather in a museum setting and clearly for entutisasts and Plarail collectors who know what a General Yoshitsune is....it is an iconic train that knowledgeable collectors revere. What was marketed as a re-issue of one of the most perfectly designed trains EVER, turned out to be a cheap, poorly executed dimestore knock-off version!!
It is nothing like the original and they merely stole the name "Yoshitsune" and slapped it on something else!! Plarail should have known that "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken sh@#"!!

Guys, I think we should refer Tomy to this maker of trains, looking at the loco (and forgetting the colours) it is a far better version of this train than the Tomy one and it has 'smoke and sound' too!!!

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