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Tomy Plaroad Sets (1985)

First written April 14, 2024
Expanded and reformatted August 2026

The Plaroad (プラロード) road and vehicle standard was first released by Tomy in 1985 as both a standalone product and a Plarail crossover product and accessory. In 1985 a series of Plaroad branded sets, bagged accessories, and cars were released similar to the Plarail range with a railroad crossing and a number of crossover sets appearing throughout the rest of the 1980s, with the Plaroad name being dropped in favor of selling the range as a Plarail accessory in 1987.

Most of the Plaroad sets, vehicles, and packaging that I do not have has been included in the Plarail Museum's Plaroad Annex. Please visit it if you would like to see the components described here that I do not own, as well as see what they have to say.

In 1985 three individual Plaroad sets were released. The smaller two sets, 301 and 302, appeared first by the summer of 1985 and included a red Nissan Skyline and a gas station charging base with different amounts of road, with the third larger 303 set released in the fall including a blue camper and restaurant charge base with even more road including a pair of switches and a third level of elevation.

Plaroad Basic Set 301 (1985)

The smallest initial 1985 set, this set includes a red Nissan Skyline, gas station charge base, and loop of road with elevated section and bridge.

The N-33 mark on the top of the box signifies it is a 1985 print run box, as it seems likely most were.

Set contents

Quantity	Item	Photo
1	Nissan Skyline (red)
1	101 Straight Road
4	102 Small Curve Road
2	104 Slope Road
2 pieces	J-03 Iron Bridge side pieces
4	J-14 Block Bridge Girder
2 pieces	Gas Station Charge Base
2	Road barriers
2	Sign
3	Streetlights
3	Standing Tree

The car in this set is the red version of the Nissan Skyline also included in the 302 set.

This set includes the gas station charge base. There is a slot where a vehicle can be sat on that looks like a jack of some kind, although it does not move, and there are tires on the station's graphic, so it is probably meant to be a bit of a service station as well.

The base takes two C batteries and the rack in the road slows the car down and drags the contacts on the side of the vehicle along the exposed contact strips on the side of the charge base. Like the railroad crossing, it is only designed to function in one direction.

Plaroad-specific accessories include the red guard rails and overhead highway signs, for which there are two different sets of stickers.

Borrowed or existing accessories include the classic Plarail iron bridge sides, yellow girders, and trees, with the long-standing Tomica streetlights also included.

 

Obviously this is the smallest introductory set but it has a nice selection of smaller accessories as well as an elevated portion and is nice as a companion loop to a Plarail set or with additional Plaroad components.

Plaroad Basic Set 302 (1985)

The medium Plarail Basic Set 302, the other initial set released in the spring of 1985, actually includes a lot of the same components, with the same charging station and vehicle included.

Like the 301 set above, the box is marked N-33 with an ST mark that dates its safety testing to 1984. The N-33 mark implies it was printed between March 1984 and February 1985.

Set contents

Quantity	Item	Photo
1	Nissan Skyline (red)
5	101 Straight Road
12	102 Small Curve Road
2	104 Slope Road
2 pieces	J-03 Iron Bridge side pieces
9	J-14 Block Bridge Girder
2 pieces	Gas Station Charge Base
10	Road barriers
2	Sign
6	Streetlights
4	Standing Tree

The set-exclusive red Skyline reappears in this set... I think it might have been a better idea to put different cars in each of their first two sets, as the initial range really wasn't all that large, and the 303 set with the blue van and much larger layout didn't appear until the fall.

Again, the gas station charge base appears. This toy gas station is also a functioning electric vehicle charger, which is a little funny.

More road barriers and streetlights appear in this medium set, as well as a few more trees and girders.

I did get the instruction sheet with this set, which show how to set up the suggested layout, where to place the stickers on the car, and how to use the different accessories.

There is definitely more to play with here but the rarity of junctions in this system certainly did not help its longevity... the old Plastic Highway system often included junctions and slip roads for coming on and off the highway and the later Motor Tomica system had three and four way intersections that were popular and fairly easy to get, even in some international markets and sets.

I would like to get the larger 303 set for its switches, blue van, and restaurant base...

After 1985 no new individual Plaroad sets were released, and the 1985 sets went out of print after 1986 as the Plaroad name was phased out with the move to new power in 1987. Starting with the Rail Road Level Crossing Set in 1986 and its new power update in 1987 Plaroad would see a few Plarail crossover sets throughout the later 1980s before being discontinued around 1990.