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Plarail 45th Anniversary Set (2005)

First written April 10, 2024

In January 2005 Tomy released the プラレール45周年記念セット or Plarail 45th Anniversary Set featuring a red and black Electric Plastic Train reprint based on the 1999 version with Tomy and Plarail-themed containers and two reprinted Electric Trains in red and green. The 45th anniversary of Plarail (or, really, Plastic Rail), was really in 2004 (or arguably even 2003), but it appears this set came out right at the start of 2005.

A panel on the left of the rear of the box reads: On the 45th anniversary of the release of Plarail

To children: Plarail was able to celebrate its 45th birthday this year. Thanks to everyone for having so much fun and playing so well. Thank you! We will continue to work together with everyone to make Plarail even more fun, and to aim for 100 and 200-year-old children. Please join us.

To those at home: Plarail was born in 1959 and will celebrate its 45th anniversary in 2004. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all the children who have come to understand the play, worldview, and fun of Plarail during this time, and to all the parents who have continued to support us. Thank you. Looking to the future, we will continue to take on various challenges in order to continue delivering fresh excitement and dun to children and peace of mind to parents. We look forward to your continued support and patronage.

 

The pack includes the three three-piece trains, a parts order sheet, and a 2004-2005 Tomica & Plarail Catalogue, which is very nice.

The Electric Plastic Train comes wrapped up and is still sealed in this example. It is a fictitious blend of the real black Electric Plastic Train (reissued in 1999, pictured) and a darker maroon-red color. The original Electric Plastic Train did come in a brighter red (also reissued in 1999) but not a darker red like this. The chassis is updated to use the new Tomy logo and the gearbox now uses a grey power switch like other Thomas-type gearboxes. Thea rear and top of the box say of the Electric Plastic Train (電動プラ汽車) and containers: The first Plarail, the Plastic Rail, was released in 1959 (at the time, it did not have the name "Plarail"). At this time, it was sold as a product that could be rolled by hand. In 1961 the first battery-powered self-propelled "Electric Plastic Train" was released. At the time, the product was a three-car train with a locomotive pulling one tank car and one open car, and this established the structure of a "battery-powered three-car train." This structure has been inherited to this day, with the exception of some set items. This time's product is the 45th, and we have made a special decoration on the electric plastic steamer, and set it up with a heavyweight container that features TOMY and Plarail's logos and marks from the past.

The electric plastic train pulls two flatbeds with Tomy and Plarail cargo containers on them.

The containers on the yellow flatbed have four of Tomy's different logos, with the blue car's containers having four different Plarail logos from different eras of Plarail.

The back of the box says of each Tomy logo:

Tomiyama "bear" logo: This is the mark from before the company's name was changed to Tomy. It was also used on the packaging for the first Electric Plastic Trains. Tomy "banzai" or "boy and girl" logo: This mark began to be used around 1964. It is a mark with a boy and a girl on top of the TOMY logo. It symbolizes friendship and peace. "Curvey" TOMY logo: This is the logo used before it became the current logo. It began to be used around 1981. The slogan was "Creator of fun games." "Straight" TOMY "Dream Energy" logo: This is the current logo. It has been used since 2000. Today our corporate vision is to "create new value for play."

And of each Plarail logo...

"Tent" logo: This is Plarail's earliest mark. There were several types of marks in different colors. It appeared around 1970. Pictured is a "type two" box D-51. This mark was first used on sets and accessories around 1968. "Hikari-Go" mark: This mark is a combination of the Plarail rail and the side of the Shinkansen. The boarder has two rails on the top and bottom and one on each side. It was sometimes used in conjunction with the Plarail logo shown below. It started being used around 1973. Pictured is a type 3 liftoff box Electric Train with a sticker indicating it is the yellow version. "black outline" Plarail logo: This is the logo before it became the current Plarail logo. It appeared around 1978. Pictured is a fourth generation "train" box New Hikari, which first appeared around 1976. "modern" Plarail logo: This logo has been used from around 1987 to the present. From around this time, the image of red letters on a solid background became established. Currently, it has red letters on an orange background (with rail pattern). Pictured is a seventh generation box Loading and Unloading Cargo Train.

I really like these logos and containers, and think it is a neat thing to include in an anniversary set.

The Electric Trains are both the same tooling which is, as far as I know, the new power descendent of the original late 1960s Electric Trains. Other than the structure of the chassis, gearbox, and undercarriages, the body shells very closely represent the originals.

The back and top of the box say of the Electric Trains (電動電車): In 1968 Plarail's first commuter train was released in three colors: red, green, and yellow, and were sold for over 10 years with improvements. It continued to sell with molding and color changes as an individual product until around 1990 (set products were also produced in select years). Of the original colors, red and green have been reprinted. In particular, this is the first time we have reprinted green.

The cars do still have a rather simplistic body with unpainted roofs like the original releases. Like the originals, there is no "tail car," with both intermediate cars having both types of coupler, meaning by buying as additional pack you could have five-car examples of both the Electric Trains. Both the power cars in my pack were produced in December 2004.

Also included is the period safety warning and replacement parts sheet, as well as a 2004-2005 Plarail Catalogue which is very nice.

I like the containers and the look of the reprinted Electric Trains in this pack but unless you are a fan of Plarail I don't think that this pack is very interesting to many people. I have heard that this set was available in stores for a while after it first appeared, which seems to happen to a lot of special commemorative products. I do not think it is necessarily as nice of a pack as the 1999 40th Anniversary Plarail Limited Edition pack, and while it is nice to get three powered trains two of them are obviously very similar to one another.