fall inside a hole
500 Series Shinkansen
First written April 10, 2024The 500 series Shinkansen entered service in 1997 running the Nozomi service until 2010 when they were moved to running the slower Kodama service. The design of the train looks like an aircraft or bullet and has increased speed and decreased energy consumption.
500 Series Shinkansen (1996)
The Plarail 500 Series Shinkansen (500系新幹線) first released in 1996 and was one of the first regular Plarail trains to use a AA battery. The whitish color used on this initial release is actually a decent bit lighter than the real train, and later releases made this portion of the trains darker.
The 500 series power car was the first power car to use the new AA battery chassis with new-power gearbox used on the 500 series, earlier 700 series, and some other trains. An extra plastic cover slides forward and off and then clips back in over the battery. This was done to help deter children from potentially removing and swallowing the smaller AA battery. The example shown here was manufactured in August 1998 and comes from the Let's Play With Parents and Children!! Shinkansen Set. It is a particularly nice unused example that has not yellowed at all.
I also have parts to two more late 1990s 500 series trains, a complete three-car train and another missing the power car. The second power car I have is also from 1998.
All of these 500 series components are yellowed, although it still looks kind of neat as a four-car train.
The 500 series Shinkansen has a different sort of look to it. I suppose it looks nice, rather cool even, but it is not my favorite design of Shinkansen train. Like other new toolings from the later 1990s, more emphasis is placed on details being included in the plastic tooling.
S-02 500 Series Shinkansen (2002)
In the summer of 2002 as part of the 2003 brand refresh the 500 series was updated with a more accurate livery with "JR 500 - West Japan" marks and other minor updated details as S-02 500 Series Shinkansen (S-02 500系新幹線).
I actually do have just the power and intermediate cars of an S-02 500 Series Shinkansen.
The chassis was updated with the new square Tomy logo, which was also added to the intermediate car chassis. This partial example dates to June 2005. I do not have the tail car.
In 2012 the 500 series was updated to have a light, and it is still on sale as S-02 500 Series Shinkansen with Light as of 2024.