fall inside a hole
First written April 9, 2024
In 1999 as part of their celebration of the 40th anniversary of Plarail
Tomy released updated versions of the 1959 Plastic Train, the first
Plarail train, and the 1961 Electric Plastic Train, the first
battery-powered Plarail, as the 40th Anniversary Plarail Limited Edition
Set (プラレール 40th アニバーサリーセット
subtitle 40周年記念限定セット). The box has a nice design
incorporating the Hikari-Go logo as well as the 40th Anniversary mark.
It seems to convey
a quality product and it shows the contents and information about the
toy and its history well. The set first released in late July 1999 at a
price of 3,200 yen. The upper inner box flap shows a timeline of some
different Plarail releases. The mentioned events are:
- 1959: "Plastic Train Set" is now on sale. This is the
beginning of Plarail's history. The pictured train is a later
plastic-coupling Plastic Train. Plastic Train Set (1959~69). The
first Plarail. It rolled by hand without using batteries or motors.
The note under the picture says that the photo is an old
product.
- 1961: "Electric Plastic Train Set" is now on sale. The
pictured train is the first battery powered Plarail locomotive,
based on a German clockwork train. Electric Plastic Train Set
(1961~66). The first electric Plarail. Streamlined body like a
foreign steam locomotive. Like the Plastic Train, it notes the
picture is an old product - perhaps to make it clear that the
Plastic Train and Electric Plastic Train in this set are not like
the original type pictured.
- 1964: The Tokaido Shinkansen opens in time for the Tokyo
Olympics. "Dream Super Express Hikari Set" is now on sale. The
pictured train is the early unpowered Plarail 0 series Shinkansen.
Dream Super Express Hikari Set (1964~68). A non-powered 4-car
Hikari set that can be rolled by hand. The red car body is rare.
- 1968: "Plarail Electric Train" released in three colors:
red, yellow, and green. The train pictured is an early green
Electric Train with unpainted roof and bent up power switch.
Plarail Electric Train (1968~81). A train modeled after common
commuter trains that run through familiar towns.
- 1971: The very popular Plarail "D-51" joins the group.
Pictured is a later D-51 Express Train with plastic crank pins and
coaches lacking pantographs. D-51 Express Train (1971~80). Two passenger cars were connected
to D-51.
- 1972: Benkei and Chin Chin Tram appear in Plarail. The
pictured train is the original release Benkei steam locomotive.
Benkei (1972~76). A locomotive used when the first railway was built
in Hokkaido.
- 1972: Benkei and Chin Chin Tram appear in Plarail. The
pictured train is the original release Chin Chin Tram tram.
Chin Chin Tram (1972~75). It moves along the tracks laid in the
roadway while making a Chin Chin sound.
1973: The Plarail "C-12 Rotary Snowplow" is now available.
No associated picture.
- 1974: The first private railway vehicle appears, the
"Panorama Express". The oldest vehicle still made today, the "Tokai
type Express Train" appears. The image shows a new-power
Tokai-type train. Tokai Type Express Train (1974~). The oldest
vehicle still manufactured.
- 1978: Narita Airport opens. This year, "L Limited Express"
is released in Plarail. Modern release estimates date the
L Limited Express to 1976 or
certainly 1977. Pictured
is a new power L Limited Express. L Limited Express (1978~).
When JR was a national railway, limited express trains were of this
style.
- 1979: Light is on. "Hikari-go with Light" released for the
first time. Pictured is a new power
Hikari with Light.
Hikari-go with Light (1979~96). The first car with lights on. It was
the 4th generation Hikari issue of Plarail and was on sale until
1996.
- 1981: The Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen is released in Plarail
one day before its opening. Pictured is a new power
Tohoku
Joetsu Shinkansen with Light. Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen
with Lights (1981~92). The first Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen appeared
as a vehicle with lights.
1982: Tohoku Joetsu
Shinkansen opens. First character vehicle "Mickey Poppo
(Red)" is now available. No associated picture.
1984:
New bank notes (current bank notes) issued. This year in Plarail
comes a control function. "I'm a
Train Driver" is released. No associated picture.
- 1987: This year, Plarail introduced 2-speed Shinkansen
vehicles. The pictured train appears to be an early
Thailand-production
2-Speed Shinkansen with white
power switch.
- 1992: Tokaido Shinkansen Nozomi, Yamagata Shinkansen Tsubasa
opens. Plarail trains also appeared in this year. "Thomas the Tank
Engine" appears. Pictured is the
2-Speed
Nozomi. 2-Speed Nozomi (1992~). A popular train on the
Tokaido Sanyo Shinkansen.
- 1992: Tokaido Shinkansen Nozomi, Yamagata Shinkansen Tsubasa
opens. Plarail trains also appeared in this year. "Thomas the Tank
Engine" appears. Pictured is the
2-Speed
Tsubasa. 2-Speed Tsubasa (1992~). The first Shinkansen to
run on a conventional line connecting Tokyo and Yamagata.
- 1994: "Shinkansen Max" released. The first large-scale
scenic component "Future Express Nozomi" is released. Pictured
is the All 2-Story Shinkansen Max. Shinkansen Max (1994~). All two-level
train on the Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen.
- 1996: Third character vehicle "Doll Play Doraemon Set"
released. "500 Series Shinkansen" released. "E2 Shinkansen Asama"
released. Pictured is the E2 Shinkansen. E2 Shinkansen
Asama (1996~). Shinkansen running between Tokyo and Nagano. It is
now possible to connect with the E3 seruies.
- 1996: Third character vehicle "Doll Play Doraemon Set"
released. "500 Series Shinkansen" released. "E2 Shinkansen Asama"
released. Pictured is a
500 Series Shinkansen. 500 Series
Shinkansen (1996~). Shinkansen made by JR West. Designed to reduce
air resistance. It's cool and looks like a jet plane.
- 1997: "E3 Akita Shinkansen Komachi" released. October 14th
is established as "Plarail Day" and the limited edition product "Chin Chin
Densha" is released. Pictured is the 1997 Plarail Day
Chin Chin Tram
reissue. Plarail Day Limited Reprint Chin Chin Densha
(1997). It was released to commemorate Plarail Day on October 14th.
- 1997: "E3 Akita Shinkansen Komachi" released. October 14th
is established as "Plarail Day" and the limited edition product "Chin Chin
Densha" is released. Pictured is the E3 Shinkansen. E3
Akita Shinkansen Komachi (1997~). The Shinkansen that connects Tokyo
and Skita runs on conventional lines between Morioka and Akita.
- 1998: Plarail Day limited product Benkei released. 700
series Shinkansen on sale. Plarail's first foreign vehicle
"Eurostar" is released. E4 Series Shinkansen Max released. Colorful
express train "Fresh Hitachi" released. A Plarail fan club has been
created. Pictured are the five initial "Fresh Hitachi" colors.
Fresh Hitachi (1998~). JR East's limited express trains come in
five color variations.
- 1998: Plarail Day limited product Benkei released. 700
series Shinkansen on sale. Plarail's first foreign vehicle
"Eurostar" is released. E4 Series Shinkansen Max released. Colorful
express train "Fresh Hitachi" released. A Plarail fan club has been
created. Pictured is the E4 Shinkansen Max. E4 Shinkansen
Max (1998~). JR East's new Shinkansen has more seats than the E1
series MAX.
- 1998: Plarail Day limited product Benkei released. 700
series Shinkansen on sale. Plarail's first foreign vehicle
"Eurostar" is released. E4 Series Shinkansen Max released. Colorful
express train "Fresh Hitachi" released. A Plarail fan club has been
created. Pictured is the Eurostar, also released in the UK an
some parts of Europe under the Tomica World range. Eurostar
(1998~). An international express train that runs through the
Anglo-French tunnel connecting England and France.
- 1998: Plarail Day limited product Benkei released. 700
series Shinkansen on sale. Plarail's first foreign vehicle
"Eurostar" is released. E4 Series Shinkansen Max released. Colorful
express train "Fresh Hitachi" released. A Plarail fan club has been
created. Pictured is the
700 Series Shinkansen. 700 Series
Shinkansen (1998~). A Shinkansen jointly developed by JR Tokai and
JR West that incorporates technology from the 300 series, 500
series, and 300X.
- 1998: Plarail Day limited product Benkei released. 700
series Shinkansen on sale. Plarail's first foreign vehicle
"Eurostar" is released. E4 Series Shinkansen Max released. Colorful
express train "Fresh Hitachi" released. A Plarail fan club has been
created. Pictured is the rereleased Benkei. Plarail Day
Limited Reprint Benkei Issue (1998). The second revised vehicle
released to commemorate Plarail Day on October 14th.
- 1999: "Revival! Electric Plastic Train Trio" released.
"Tinplate Plarail" released. Plarail celebrates its 40th
anniversary. Pictured is the tinplate C53 and coach from the
Tinplate
Plarail pack. Tin Plarail (1999). 40th anniversary product.
The body is made of metal instead of plastic.
- 1999: "Revival! Electric Plastic Train Trio" released.
"Tinplate Plarail" released. Plarail celebrates its 40th
anniversary. Pictured are the three rereleased Electric Plastic
Trains. Revival! Electric Plastic Train Trio (1999). 40th
anniversary product. A 3-color set of reproductions of
representative vehicles that can be said to be the face of Plarail
vehicles.
A note at the bottom right mentions that not all vehicles shown in the chronology are currently on sale.
Inside the box are the two powered trains and their wagons. The
Plastic Train has its full compliment of box car, well wagon, tanker,
and log car while the Electric Plastic Train sports the tanker and well
wagon it sometimes came with in sets of the 1960s. The contents of the
box are well-packed and somewhat hard to get out to be honest, but I
suppose the intention was still that you could just throw the box away
if you wanted to play with these like regular Plarails.
The plastic train I think looks very nice, with bright colors and
shiny plastic. The cars are somewhat basic but they are meant to
represent the basic late 50s and 60s style Plarail cars, and do a decent
job at it. The little steam engine is actually powered, something that
the original one was not, with the trade-off that the box van is
permanently attached as it holds the C battery the locomotive takes.
Early Plastic Train Set in the
1990 Plarail Catalogue
The back of the box says of the Plastic Train: The
"Plastic Train" that appeared in 1959 (Showa 34) can be said to be the
origin of Plarail, and was a five-car train. Although it was not called
Plarail at that time, the specifications of the rail parts and the
connection play have been inherited by Today's Plarail vehicles. The
"Plastic Train" differed greatly from today's Plarail in that it was
rolled by hand rather than by motor power. Furthermore, this Plastic
Train was an original design that was not modeled after an actual
vehicles. There was also a color variation with the train color being
yellow. Production ended in 1969 (Showa 44). The yellow variant of
the locomotive mentioned on the box was also reproduced in the earlier,
larger
Plarail Club exclusive 40th
anniversary set.
It may or may not be immediately obvious, but the Plastic Train is
based on the new power Mickey Poppo, with some giveaways on the tooling
for the box car matching the Mickey Poppo tender and a version of the
chassis still being used. These trains were all produced in mid 1999 and
sold throughout the rest of the year.
The Electric Plastic Train was originally adapted from a German
clockwork train and this reprint is fairly close to the original other
than the updated chassis. The back of the box says of the Electric
Plastic Train: The "Electric Plastic Train" released in 1961 (Showa
36) was a three-car train, including the first motor-powered vehicle in
the series, and ran on a single C battery. The three-car train system
which runs on C batteries has been inherited by current Plarail
vehicles. Like the "Plastic train," this "Electric Plastic train" is
also a vehicle with an original design. There was also a red color
variation of the train. Production ended in 1966 (Showa 41). Like
the Plastic Train, the red version of the Electric Plastic Train
mentioned here was included in the Plarail 40th Anniversary Album.
The Electric Plastic Train uses a Thomas-style gearbox with a C
battery and a white power switch with admittedly a kind of odd looking blob of hot glue
over the contact point between the gearbox and contact strip in the
chassis. It
seems a little weird to put this on a nice anniversary product, but I
suppose it doesn't really matter. I otherwise like this little chassis
and reproduction as a whole.
The two tankers and well wagons are obviously very similar but they
do have different color wheels. The chassis are adapted from the short
freight cars, and the logs can be loaded into any of the open wagons.
The logs have no regional mark but do have a slot mark and seem to be
out of the standard Thailand log toolings, as they have the same small
scoring marks as other 90s Thailand-made logs.
The box car stands out nicely (even if it must always be coupled behind
the Plastic Train) and the log car is also pretty neat, if not a little
fragile like the originals. Reproductions of the yellow versions of
these cars are included in the Plarail 40th Anniversary Album, which can
be seen in the Plarail
Museum.
Included in the unused copy of this pack that I bought some time in
2021 were the original compatibility notice and survey card.
The Electric Plastic Train reissue tooling was used a few more
times as Plarail Expo giveaways as well as in the
Plarail 45th
Anniversary Set. For the 60th anniversary of Plarail in 2019 Tomy made a
Reissued Plastic Train that was free-rolling like the original with a separate powered box car.