Whats The Big Deal With PlaKids?

[Super]

Whats the big deal with PlaKids you ask??? They are a big deal in Japan. This sets auction is currently over $350 http://www.jauce.com/auction/g240703208

But why are they such a huge deal? When did their popularity spike? And where can I get more? :3

You know, this is an aspect of the hobby that I would truly like to understand better. To me, PlaKids are a sort of cute, charming ancillary of the Plarail line but I don't personally use the few I have.

I guess there's some deep nostalgia among adult Japanese collectors combined with a restricted supply and enough disposable income to make aftermarket prices rapidly spike.

[Ucwepn]

Wow I had a chance to buy about 100 a few years back for $100 haha, regret is setting in.

[Super]

I had the same interest in these quite a while ago and wanted to find a list or web site that had all the variations of PlaKids and which ones were the rare ones. Never did come up with that. We talked about this in several Threads back then but I can't find exactly where those discussions are only this one https://www.blueplastictracks.com/showth...ht=PlaKids I do remember Geris saying like that they are so sought after in Japan because of their obsession with miniatures and because through their history they lived in tiny apartments and room for keeping stuff was at a premium so with smaller toys children could have more. Don't know if its true or not but it seems logical.

The fascination with these doesn't seem to have spread out of Japan much so you can find them on Ebay once in a while selling for a lot less than Japan where they are made which is weird.

If I counted correctly the listing has 180 PlaKids and at the current bid of $350, each is about $1.95. I mostly bought my collection of PlaKids from thrift stores on my visits to Japan and the prices of each are not far off from this current bid. Prices are either ¥199 or ¥299 depending on PlaKids.

[Super]

Thats cool, Thanks ND, wish I made a trip there, I would spend all my time going around to all the resale shops. They sure go to great lengths and expense to individually wrap them for resale. Looks like most of those are the common PlaKids.

On my February 2017 shopping trip to the store, the shelves were fully stocked up with PlaKids. The pictures above were from my May 2017 trip when we also visited the Plarail Expo and it didn't look there was a restock. If you are impressed with the individually packaged PlaKids, you should see all the individually shrink-wrapped engines. You definitely can lose the passage of time in these stores!!!

[Super]

Oh my.....who would need Ebay, Amazon or the Japan auctions with a resale shop like that around the corner and with so much stock. Are they a consignment shop. Holy cow, I am drooling How much fun would that be.....jumping on a plane to Japan for a shopping trip?

[ripley802]

Wow. I have to make a trip there. How much is a 40ft shipping container to ship back to the US these days?