fall inside a hole

Voice Command series (1995)

First written June 14, 2025

In 1995 Tomy released the second series of individual remote control Plarail trains with the Voice Command series which featured voice-recognition remote controls. In addition to the 400 series Tsubasa shown below, there was also a 300 series Nozomi (the only Plarail Nozomi with yellow wheels) and an E1 MAX train. Each train runs on its own frequency, so you could run all three at once.

Voice Command Tsubasa (1995)

The Voice Command Tsubasa (音声指令つばさ号) was released in July 21st, 1995 as the first in the Voice Command series. The Nozomi was apparently released in October... Not sure about MAX.

The silvery Plarail logo used on the box is the same as used on other remote control Plarail products like the I'm Driving the Super Hikari Set and its offshoots and the Remote Control points system.

The train is based on the regular 2-Speed Tsubasa of the time, of course, although there is a nice striking VCE400 mark on the side where the usual 400 series mark is.

The power car takes two AA batteries in a slightly-staggered two-layer setup. Like the 1980s radio control Plarail, the pickup and drive electronics reside in the intermediate car with wires bringing power from the battery compartment and back to the motor in the gearbox and an antenna wire heading into the tail car.

All three cars are permanently coupled together (up to the point of disassembling the train) using a two-piece coupling similar to the later Talking Thomas series trains.

The remote takes a 9 volt battery and has a power switch, light, and hole for the microphone. Each train's remote is a different color.

When I took these photographs I didn't actually have any (functioning, spare) 9 volt batteries to power the remote... I will have to get this train out again and show the voice commands controlling the train, but I am not sure if I'll be able to get the remote to recognize my voice as close enough to a Japanese child's (lol).