Troublesome Tanker Question

[Super]

Either I missed it or any mention of the Troublesome Tankers weren't in the Ripley Catalog Collection. Or maybe they are mentioned in a Catalog he hasn't acquired yet. Might anyone know more about these like when were they released, for how long and possibly what set or train they were included with? Maybe they were an exclusive limited release and never sold in retail or possibly a limited giveaway at a Plarail Expo or Tokyo Toy Show. Anybody?...Anybody?

[Ucwepn]

Hi Super yes very rare only came in the early Plarail and early western TOMY release version of this set, the same set with Grumpy Thomas. I am lucky to have quite a few tankers that I have acquired over the years.

   

   

[Super]

Oh, Wow, I have seen that set many times and never knew that the Troublesome Tanker was included. . Many Thanks Ucwepn

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Now that I looked into it a bit more...maybe I am confusing the set I have seen so much of with this which is much more available.

[ripley802]

I had two of these come in the recent Japan lots I won. Mine are extremely banged up although the faces are fine. I am probably going to list mine too.

[Super]

They are plentiful there but rarely do you see them here in the States.

Hi there Super, to answer your question:

The troublesome tanker was first released in 2001 for Plarail in the Thomas and the Mirthful Cars Freight Set - only available in Japan at the time. Then, in 2003 the box was updated for Japan and Korea. It was also sold in Australia however the box had a Tomica World box design - this variant of the set was shortly retired that same year. Then in 2011, the Japanese and Korean versions of the set from 2003 were retired. It was replaced by Thomas and the Freight Cars set.

All variants (including box designs)

- 2001 Plarail (Japan) - retired 2003
- 2003 Plarail (Japan) - retired 2011
- 2003 Plarail (Korea) - retired 2011
- 2003 Tomica World (Australia) - retired 2003

[Super]

LOL...I was just coming here to report on my results of searching through all the Catalogs in Ripleys fine Catalog Collection Tool. BTW...what a fantastic and fun tool that is just Browsing those Catalogs.

My findings were similar to info B'Stat but not as thorough.

The first mention of the set with the Troublesome Tanker (T-Tank) in the Catalogs was the 2001-2002 edition and went for 4200yen

Price remained the same until the 2005-2006 Catalog when it went up to 4410yen

That price remained the same until the 2009-2010 Catalog where it jumped to 5250 and was the last year of mention but Ripley is waiting for the 2010-2011 so it could be in that one or not because in the 2011-2012 Catalog there is not mention of it but it does have the first appearance of its replacement as you say, the non-angry face Thomas Freight Set without a T-Tank for 5250yen.

I should also say that in no Catalog year that was listed was there ever a picture of any box just all the items that came in the set including track which I wasn't aware of until now.

I would have thought there would be more around since it was available for about 9 years or so and especially since it was discontinued not that long ago. Many thanks for sharing that information with us B'Stat, I appreciate it.

Hopefully I've just snagged my third troublesome tanker in an obscurely titled and badly photographed lot on Ebay UK!  Slight worry is that the seller has a feedback rating of zero and joined Ebay in May 2019. Looks promising anyway. Fingers crossed!!!

It appears I've also scored a Leprechaun Plakid. What's that about?

Is it a leprechaun or is it Link from the Zelda series of Nintendo games?!?