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My Plarail Shinkansen Trains

The original Hikari Shinkansen was the first real Japanese train to be produced for Tomy's Plarail range just about five years after it had started, and the popularity of the Shinkansen and its expansions over the decades that followed and new trains introduced to the lines certainly helped to sell many Plarail trains...

Organized here are variations of different Shinkansen trains that I have in my Plarail collection.

0 Series Shinkansen

One of the most beautiful trains of all time, Plarail 0 series Shinkansens first appeared in 1964 when the original Shinkansen line opened. Early Plarail Hikaris were red and white, with a proper blue and white Hikari appearing in the 1970s. 0 series train serviced the original Tokaido section of the line as well as the Sanyo section when it opened, and remained running some services on the Sanyo portion until 2008.

Year	Name	Description
1966	New Electric Super Express Hikari	Early powered 0 series with "second generation" gearbox and roof power switch with early plastic couplings. Tooling based on the "prototype" 1000-series Shinkansen design with square windows in the doors
1974	Super Express Hikari	Blue and white 0 series with painted window surrounds and metal gearbox
1977	Hikari	Rereleased "New" Hikari with more common lighter grey pantograph
April 1979	EC09 Hikari with Light	Original version of the 0 series Shinkansen with illuminated nose. Plarail's first train with a light
Circa 1984	EC09 Hikari with Light	Hikari with lit nose cone and redesigned bulb placement in the chassis instead of the body shell
1984	Radio Control Hikari	Remote-control old power 0 series Hikari. Takes two C batteries plus a 9 volt for the remote and the only control is "ON" or "OFF"
August 10 1987	Hikari with Light	New power 0-series Shinkansen with illuminated nose made in Japan
1988	Hikari with Light New Overpass Set	Hikari with Light with special 30th Anniversary of Plarail intermediate car
1989	Hikari with Light	Production of new-power 0 series trains moved to Thailand around 1989.
December 25 1998	West Hikari	0 series train with light and updated details representing Hikaris that ran on the westerly Sanyo section of the line
1999	Let's Play With Parents and Children!! Shinkansen Set	The classic red and white Hikari was rereleased in this nice double-rail set and is intended to remind parents of the Plarail they played with as children as they play with their kids
1999	Fan Club Exclusive Plarail 40th Anniversary Album	Five-car commemorative album only available to Plarail Fan Club members that includes a new Hikari with Light based on the West Hikari with red wheels and yellow nose cones
2002	Shinkansen Kodama Set	"Fresh Green" 0 series that serviced the slower Kodama service on the Sanyo section
April 28 2009	0 Series Shinkansen	2009 Plarail Expo limited release 0 series Shinkansen, previously released at an event in 2004
March 17 2011	SCMAGLEV and Railway Park Opening Commemoration Special Set	Special commemorative pack that includes a 0 series tail car
September 28 2024	Shinkansen 60th Anniversary Commemoration 0 Series Shinkansen Hikari 1 & Super Express Hikari Set	Special 65th anniversary of Plarail pack commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Tokaido Shinkansen with two 0 series trains

200 Series Shinkansen

The Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen line was the second major Shinkansen line to open, running with all-new 200 series trains that were heavily based on the 0 series but modified to run in the snowier and more mountainous terrain.

Year	Name	Description
April 1981	EC12 Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen with Light	Original friction-drive 200-series Shinkansen with illuminated nose
1984	Radio Control Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen	Mid 80s radio control 200 series train
August 10 1987	Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen with Light	New power 200-series Shinkansen with illuminated nose manufactured in Japan
1988	Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen with Light New Overpass Set	Four-car 200 series train with special 30th Anniversary of Plarail intermediate car
1989	Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen with Light	Like 0 series trains, production of 200 series trains moved to Thailand in 1989
1989	Tomy-Express Set 01	Lit 200 series train with TOMY EXPRESS text on the power car sold in Germany
March 20 1990	Tohoku Joetsu Shinkansen	Later shark-nosed 2000-class 200 series Shinkansen, introduced before double-decker cars were manufactured for the Tohoku Joetsu line
April 28 2005	200 Series Shinkansen	Plarail Expo rerelease of the later shark-nose 200 series shinkansen, now with double-decker intermediate car
2012-2013	Silver Plated 200 Series Shinkansen	Silver-plated 200 series Shinkansen with translucent green skirting given away as individual cars

100 Series Shinkansen

The first new series of trains for the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen, the 100 series with its shark noses debuted in 1985 and was quickly adapted for Plarail.

Year	Name	Description
1985	EC22 New Shinkansen with Light	Old power 100 series Shinkansen with headlights
July 15 1987	2-Speed Shinkansen	Two-speed new power 100-series Shinkansen originally made in Japan
1989	2-Speed Shinkansen	Like the other Shinkansens at the time, 100 series trains began being manufactured in Thailand in 1989
1989	Tomy Express Set 02	Thailand-made 100 series trains with TOMY EXPRESS text for the German-market Tomy Express system

Super Hikari

The Super Hikari was a design mockup for a potential idea for the new 1990s Shinkansen which would outperform previous trains. During actual development, the shape evolved into the 300 series Nozomi.

Year	Name	Description
1988	I'm Driving the Super Hikari Set	Remote control version of the Super Hikari mockup with working headlights
1989/March 15 1990	Super Hikari	First released in a set and later a regular release, two-speed reimagined Hikari produced in Thailand
1989	Tomy Express Set 03	Tomy Express version of the Super Hikari