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Tomica Plarail World 1999~2000 Catalogue

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In 1999 Tomy celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Plarail range.

The first page of the catalogue shows a timeline of parts of Plarail's past including the original Plastic Train, Electric Plastic Train, New Electric Super Express Hikari, D51 Express Train, L Limited Express, and a wide variety of other Shinkansens. The opposite page shows several of the 40th anniversary commemorative products including the Tinplate Plarail and 40th anniversary packs as well as a small track pack.

1999 saw several new releases including the TGV, 200 series in new paint, and Car Train.

New in 1999 was the much-liked elevated station platform system which first appeared in a 700 series set with VHS. Also on sale is the remote control Nozomi set with two remote control switches. The large train station is now the 500 series, and the character train selection has expanded with new Disney trains as well as a Pokemon train that also featured Tomy's Pokemon figurines.

A "First Time" series of pullback trains was released this year which was also exported. The rail selection is varied and fits well geometrically, with older rail types having been replaced with modern counterparts in the later 1990s.

Accessory selection is nice and varied with modern, country, and panel stations, diorama scenes, bridges, tunnels, signals, and car washes... Although some classic pieces are missing or have been replaced, it still feels like a nice selection that a variety of types of train and railroad could be made with. The opposite page shows a few layout ideas.

The Thomas series now expanded to include most recurring characters from the early Thomas books and television series bar the narrow gauge locomotives who would not be produced until the 2000s. New for 1999 was the great Cranky the Crane set with double track loop and yard. The original Thomas Big Loader was also still on sale.

Tomy's other Thomas toys now get a full-page spread. Thomas the Tank Engine was still on its rise to the massive children's cultural juggernaut that it was in the early to mid 2000s but it was already clear that Thomas merchandising was a huge market. New for 1999 is the rather cool Let's Drive Thomas, which features moving wheels and interactable controls and sounds, and Tomy's classic Push 'n Go toy has been adapted into multiple engines as well as a smaller pocket-sized scale. A favorite of mine as a kid was the Thomas Melody Poppo, another Thomas adaptation of an older Tomy toy that took different music box-style discs that programmed an acoustic pipe organ blown by a motor inside the toy.

A series of remote control Tomica were released in 1999 - I am not sure exactly what scale these are, but if they can run on Motor Tomica road I would be kind of interested in finding one.

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). I think I think I actually have the animal-themed yellow bus in the top right that plays a noise.

Tomica multi-packs and gift sets. In the bottom right corner there is a Tomica pack of three low-loaders hauling Shinkansen lead cars - this is actually how some Shinkansen cars are delivered to service.

Tomica playmats, parking garages, and admittedly neat looking wall shelving units. There are some more larger R/C vehicles here, including a plane, but the plane of course does not actually fly... There are still a number of Tomica Town buildings, but it sort of seems like the range is shrinking.

A few new battery operated vehicles for 1999 but seemingly no new accessories... although admittedly the available ones were already pretty nice.

Some Plarail and Motor Tomica sets, including a Doraemon set and a set with a cool DD51 and a loop of the nice parallel road/rail sections. I also like the set with grey rails in the lower left. The right shows some of the Adventure Asphalt Island range.

The Hikarian series now included more than 20 regular models as well as multi-packs and playsets.

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