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My Plarail export collection

Stylized Plarail logo used in the 1980s

Starting in the 1960s Tomy began manufacturing components and toys for overseas markets and in the 1970s began to directly sell some Plarail and other products abroad. Tomy has export Plarail and Tomica sets and accessories as parts of several different toy lines around the world.

Sets Trains Rail Scenery Tomica Catalogues Thomas series Exports
 

One-offs

Year
Set name
Description
Photo
2003 "USA" Sleeper Express Circa 2003 a few types of 581/583 series Sleeper Express trains were produced as company gifts for the United States
2008
Tomy Train Super
Deluxe City Railway
An absolutely massive set that briefly revived the Tomy Train name (but not the system itself). Includes a Santa Fe-style F unit and Shinkansen and a large layout with multi-level elevated sections, tunnels, and bridges

Playrail

In the 1970s Tomy released a handful of sets in the U.S. under the "Playrail" name (in Japan, Plarail is short for Plastic rail, not Play rail). Most of these sets were from the Plarail Land series which were also sold in the U.K. and Europe as Merry-Go and Tivolli sets. The Playrail name was filed for trademark in October 1975.

Year
Set name
Description
Photo
1975 Chug-A-Log Choo Choo Includes an old-power D51 with Tomy stickers and log loading and unloading stations
1977 Merry-Go-Train An old-power train with carriage drops off riders into, powers, and then picks them up from a Ferris wheel
1977 Merry-Go-School Bus Includes a school bus that picks riders up from school and drops them off at a bus stop where they slide back down to the school or off a slide ramp
1978 Merry-Go-Copter Includes a rim-drive train with carriage that drops riders off into an elevator, lifts them up, and then spins them around in a helicopter before picking them back up to go around again
1979 Merry-Go-Zoo Zoo-themed set with punk elephant that drives around penguin slide and giraffe ride

Palitoy Discovery Time

In the later 1970s U.K. toy company Palitoy imported some Plarail Land "Merry-Go" sets (Merry-Go-Train and Merry-Go-Helicopter) as well as a series of traditional Plarail-like sets under the Discovery Time branding, which was also used on other toys (including others from Tomy). Like Playrail, the Merry-Go sets are more common than the traditional Plarail-style ones.

Year
Set name
Description
Photo
1977
Junior Train Set
Includes a Hong Kong-made C-12 with log car and guard's van, country station, level crossing, and oval of track

Stelco Junior Express

Stelco Junior Express was a late 70s West German-market system that combined Tomy-made engines with locally produced rails and accessories based on the Plarail equivalents with original rolling stock designs.

Year Set name Description Photo
1979 Junior Express Set 4545 Small basic set with an oval of track, EF58, and two passenger cars
1979 Junior Express Set 4570 "Overpass" layout set with C12 and local specification auto carrier, tanker car, railroad crossing, and more
  More about Stelco Junior Express Additional information on some loose accessories and rolling stock as well as other sets and Stelco itself

Tomy Train

Released in North America, Europe, and Australia in the late 1980s to mid 1990s, the TOMYTRAIN or later Tomy Trains range used the Plarail track system in dark blue but with larger engines with reversing gearboxes and magnetic couplings. This range is covered on the Tomy Train page.

Tomy Express

Tomy Express was a late 80s and early 90s German-market system that used the same darker blue rails as Tomy Train but traditional Plarail vehicles and accessories. The Tomy Express name and darker rails both harken back to Tomy's previous Junior Express collaboration with Stelco in West Germany.

Year
Set name Description Photo
1989
Tomy Express Set 02 German release of the 2-Speed Shinkansen Set with dark blue rails and "TOMY EXPRESS" 100 series Shinkansen
1989
Tomy Express Set 03 German release of the Super Hikari Three Dimensional Station Set with Tomy Express Super Hikari and dark blue rails
1991 Tomy Express Multi-Set 1 An original set for the Tomy Express range with a C12 and freight train in an enlarged overpass layout with outer loop
  More Tomy Express Info Additional information about some other Tomy Express items as well as Tomy Express in general  

 

Tomica World

In the late 90s Tomy began exporting a decent range of trains, sets, and Motor Tomica to Europe, Australia, and America. Regular Tomica World production seems to have begun in late 1997 with the initial wave reaching stores in 1998 with both traditional Plarail-type sets as well as sets from the Thomas the Tank Engine range being introduced throughout the late 90s and early 2000s. Regular Tomica World production ended in late 2003, with some products being repackaged and sold as Thomas Motor Road & Rail alongside the successful Thomas export series into the mid 2000s.

Sets

Tomica World sets often included both Plarail and Motor Tomica elements, in keeping with the whole "road and rail" idea.

Year
Product name Description Photo
1998 7421 Large Set Road and rail set with Kintetsu Urban Liner commuter train, zoo bus, elevated rail loop and network of road with overpass tunnel
1998 7423 Super Deluxe Set Absolutely massive set with two trains and ladder truck on a huge layout with three big loops of track with switches and crossings and bridges...
1999 7427 Super Mega Set Updated 1999 "Mega Set" with railroad crossing and home with garage
2001 7413 Amtrak Super Spiral Set Large American set with two spiral towers, panel station, and Amtrak train
  More sets and Tomica World info More information about Tomica World sets that I do not own as well as the rest of the range in general  

Trains

Individual Tomica World trains were sold in three packs like their Plarail equivalents in red sixth generation-style packaging in Europe.

Year
Product name Description Photo
1998 7460 Super City Tomica World version of the 300X Shinkansen
1998 7461 Silver Streak Export version of the 883 series Sonic train
1998 7463 Tomy Express "Tomy Express" version of the red 485 series Kamome Express
1998 77464 Bullet Tomica World release of the 400 series 2-Speed Tsubasa
  7560 Animal Express Red C12 with action animal cars
  More trains and Tomica World info More information about Tomica World trains I do not have as well as the rest of the system in general  

Accessories and Rail

Tomica World accessories and rail are covered on the Tomica World page.

Thomas Motor Road & Rail

After the discontinuation of the regular Tomica World sets and trains, the Thomas the Tank Engine series continued to be sold alongside some carryover Tomica World accessories until 2008 in some regions.

Tomica Hypercity

Released in the United States, Canada, and some parts of Europe in later 2010 and through 2011, this Tomica and Plarail export range featured regular and "Hyper" series trains, vehicles, buildings, and other accessories.

Knock-off/"copycat" sets

Year
Set name
Description
Photo
late 1960s-early 1970s Tren Verbena Electrico Spanish copy of the late 1960s Plarail Amusement Park No. 2 Set from Payva
1975 Straco My First Train Set
Repackaging of the Ray's version of 1974's Panorama Tokkyu Set. Includes Panorama Tokkyu with oval of track and cut-out scenery kit. These sets seem not be true "exports" but rather Hong Kong-made copies of the Plarail original produced without any kind of agreement with Tomy

Sets Trains Rail Scenery Tomica Catalogues Thomas series Exports