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Tomica Plarail '94 Catalogue

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In the mid 1990s Tomy's diecast Tomica car line was integrated heavily into Plarail with crossover sets and the new B/O (Battery Operated) Tomica series of road and accessories. The 1994 catalogue was seemingly the first of the "flippy" catalogues and has Tomica starting from what would normally be the front and Plarail starting from the back.

These "standard" Tomica cost 360 yen each at the time and came in a few different scales.

I must admit that I am not an avid collector of small diecast toy cars, although I do have a handful of Tomica. There are some neat ones with flashing lights.

Tomica playsets, including one imported from Matchbox. On the right are the then-current version of some of Tomy's old garages.

Neat big radio control car carrier and several other big Tomica vehicles.

Tomica Town buildings and small accessories as well as the early B/O Tomica lineup.

B/O Tomica road and accessories as well as some of the early standalone and crossover sets.

Tomy's Big and Big Big Loaders and Metal Pocket diecast trains. The right page shows the Overpass Nozomi Set with Video and the early Thomas-series sets.

Plarail track, with a fairly nice variety of different track but without many of the odd older rails or interesting newer rails. The opposite page shows some track ideas and information about the basic rail standard.

Plarail accessories, with some older and some newer accessories.

Regular three-car trains, the early Thomas series, individual power cars, and sets of intermediate cars.

The new large-scale Nozomi with Doll Play dolls and a ride-on steam locomotive. The back inside page talks a little bit about the 35th anniversary of Plarail, Plarail's durability and range of products, and how the track can be set up different ways every time.

The back cover, with a large multilayer layout with a lot of panel stations and callouts for some products. It seems like a bold choice to make the Tomica side of the manual the traditional "front." Although Japanese books and manga are typically read right to left, previous and future Plarail catalogues are formatted left to right, making the Tomica side the "front." This photo was previously used on the 1993 Plarail Catalogue.