fall inside a hole

Shinkansen Kodama Set (2002)

Originally written August 26, 2024




The Shinkansen Kodama Set (新幹線こだまセット) was released in 2002 featuring the "fresh green" coloration of the 0 series shinkansen trains that were used on the slower Kodoma service into the 2000s. There was not a regular 0 series in the revised Shinkansen lineup, and this fresh green color of the updated Hikari with Light tooling was only used in this set with a middle car released in a limited set of three shinkansen intermediate cars. When the 0 series left service, a fresh green Kodama with an updated tooling and four intermediate cars was released in a special commemorative set.

This set reaffirmed Tomy's focus on realistic trains with real liveries and included several other color variants of existing accessories.

Set contents
Quantity
Item
Photo
3 pieces 0 Series Kodama Fresh Green
2 PlaKids (passenger and stationmaster)
3 R-01 Straight Rail
6 R-03 Curve Rail
2 R-06 Slope Rail
1 pair R-11 Turnout Rail
2 Track ramps
4 J-14 Block Bridge Girder (grey)
2 Bridge Support (tan)
1 J-16 City Station (set variant)
4 pieces Arched Truss Bridge

The 0 series in this set is neat recolor of the new power 0 series descended from the old Hikari with Light, although most of the remnants of the light elements were removed for this version of the chassis. The box says of the 0 series Kodama: The 0-series is the only Shinkansen train that has been in service since the opening of the Shinkansen line. This train is a JR West Sanyo Shinkansen "Kodama" that has been undergoing color changes since 2002, and its basic coloring is based on the "500" and "Hikari Rail Star" trains, with a fresh green line on the side. The interior also has four rows of seats for added comfort.

This set also includes the first reuse of the old Super Rail bridge as an arched Plarail bridge with a hanging support section to hold the rail joint in the middle. Also included is a variant of the City Station with integrated stopper.

This set includes two of Tomy's recently introduced PlaKids, a female passenger and the station chief. The set also has some nice color variations of bridge supports and piers.

Track in my example of this set was mixed between older toolings without the new Tomy logo and newer ones with it, and I am not 100% sure if any of the rail is original other than the two track-to-surface ramps that were only used in blue in this set.

 

The nice 0 series looks neat sitting at the station with the PlaKids on the platform, although there is nowhere for them to sit inside and the city station platform had not been updated with PlaKid slots yet.

The layout for this set is not as interesting as something like the "overpass" layout, although it does still include two turnouts. As the box suggests, there are easy ways to expand other sets to attach to this one. I like that it shows the 0 series as they were on the Sanyo shinkansen at the time the set was released.

Set name Shinkansen Kodama Set
新幹線こだまセット
Release period 2002-2004
Train rating Track rating
Accessory rating Overall
Notes:      
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