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Tomica Plarail World '97~'98 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 Motor Tomica series of vehicles, road, and accessories. The Plarail and Tomica ranges were both rich with variety, with a mix of classic and new Plarail trains and accessories and a wide range of cross-compatible Plarail and Motor Tomica accessories, and the Tomica range continued to be expanded with new vehicles and buildings.

By this point Motor Tomica was very nicely integrated into the Plarail standard with many, many accessories working with both systems in a variety of different ways. Look at some of the cool dioramas shown here!

The opening pages of the catalogue show the Plarail/Motor Tomica crossover sets as well as the range of Motor Tomica accessories including DR series and new action accessories like a fire and a construction diorama.

The Motor Tomica name had previously been called B/O Tomica (Battery/Operated Tomica). These Motor Tomica cars are actually very nice diecast metal like regular Tomica and have a lot of weight to them. The opposite page shows the most boring version of the remote control Nozomi set as well as some other sets of the era and the Japanese-release Big Big Loader.

New trains for 1997 include the Rapit and E3 Shinkansen. The "2" in a circle indicates a train has a two speed gearbox, and a light icon indicates a train has a light feature. A nice mix of all new-power examples of both newer and contemporary trains as well as some older Plarail classics like the Blue Train and individual C12, DD51, and EF66s and freight cars makes for a nice range. Side pieces include the individual release of the Doraemon train, the Voice Control trains, and Mickey Poppo.

The accessory selection is a mix of classic pieces like the curved tunnel and pedestrian bridge with 80s staples like the block tunnel and new railroad crossing joining some of the newer 1990s accessories like the Plarail Factory and updated drawbridge crossing (now Motor Tomica compatible) and electronic talking station. The big oversized train playset of the era was the 400 series Tsubasa.

Track is likewise a mix of older staples that would soon go out of print like R-04 Large Curve Rails and R-12 Bridge Rails. The modern R-20 1/4 Straight Rail was introduced this year, with the older R-10 Joint Rail remaining on sale. The opposite page shows a few features of the track standard and some layout ideas with some parts identified.

After a somewhat slow start in the earlier 1990s, the Thomas series was starting to become fully featured by the later 1990s with pretty much every main character from the earlier seasons of the show represented. The range featured many recolored Plarail accessories with a handful of original toolings to expand the range out. Also shown are some of Tomy's other Thomas toys, including their wind-up toys and the Golden Bear toys that they licensed and sold in some territories. It was around this time that the Thomas-series Plarail sets and trains were first exported to America and then parts of Europe.

The traditional non-motorized Tomica range was also pretty expansive during this time, with a variety of playsets available.

I must admit that I do not know all that much about cars or diecast toy cars, but I do have a handful of Tomica and they are generally nice little toy cars. Many of them have moving parts, although they are typically plastic components (crane arms, construction buckets, firetruck ladders).

There are some neat emergency vehicles with flashing lights - I wouldn't mind finding one of those. Tomica also had a number of gift sets.

The coolest Tomica playsets from this era in my opinion are these Tomica Town buildings. These are designed for the cardboard road system and have a wide variety of small signs, light posts, trees, and figures as well as some wind-up clockwork accessories as well as operating doors and detailed interiors. These are very cool toys.

In 1997 Tomy's Hikarian series was still going strong with several new models for 1997.

The last few pages show some of Tomy's books and software including Digital Plarail and Tomica as well as their home goods for young children.

The back cover outlines a photo contest for setting up a Tomica and Plarail layout, photographing it, and sending it to Tomy. Prizes for good layouts include limited edition Plarail, Hikarian, or Tomica with a grand prize of a U.K. vacation.