Unrecorded Phantom Gems

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Those box graphics of the Hikari-Go sets indeed look very similar, however the title and the generation is different. I found that でんどう should be manufactured around 1968, and the name was modernised by dropping でんどう.
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  • Finno, Super
I was contacted by a very quiet and low profile collector a few days ago. A 40 year old man of very few words in public but chatty as he opens up to friends, it is Mr. Fujiyama who introduced this set to me. We immediately became friends and started having drinking parties together. He is also a major contributor to the new Plarail Musuem.

This is a very hidden gem in Plarail. It is a not for sale, nameless Plarail that was manufactured and distributed for only 1 year in 1991. Due to the rectangle cuts on the right hand side of the front box, it is rumoured that it was a TA-Q-BIN distribution. Some rumours also say that it is a TOMY shareholder benefit. What is most intriguing about this set is the JR sticker 300 series Shinkansen which is different than the standard product, the Sotetsu line map on front box although the 300 series did not operate on that line, and the Yumegaoka station (elevated station) although no Shinkansens ever stopped at that station in real life. This cardboard box reminds me of the Myojo Kuroneko Nya Nya Train in a way.

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(Not a unrecorded gem from here, just a story continuation)

When I visited his house, we continued drinking until we went totally drunk. Morning came and I was sleeping next to this. I thought I was dreaming but I saw it with my own 2 sober eyes. It is the Highway Terminal Set and the C12 Rotary Snowplough Set! Looks like we found another survivor in brand new condition. Plus the 2 Hikari Monorail Sets when they are only 30000 yen each during that time! I was one lucky drinker that night.

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You can also see L Limited Express Set, that is quite a rare find today. C12 Log Loader set was quite an enjoyable set too. I liked the taste of the D-51 Rittai Daitekkyou Set stacked on the Benkei Set.
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I would love to be friends with this fellow and enjoy a brew while looking at so many vintage sets.

OMG...I didn't know that the original Rotary Snow Plow came in a set and this set has one of those harder to find stations with the pole (forgot the correct name) and it has the ring. I don't think I have seen the ring on one of these stations before, is it exclusive to this set also?. Strange it doesn't have a coal tender. Which is the drive unit? Is the C-12 the powered engine pushing the Rotary Unit? Wow, and look at that white Crossing, is that an exclusive to this set?

This set looks interesting...what might it be?

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  • violater
The rotary was always known to be in a set, but single item existence is unconfirmed until now...
The pole is common, but the ring... I know it is available in the orange Inaka no Eki from the phantom D-51 Daitekkyou set (not Rittai Daitekkyou). What you are seeing here is one of the 3 members of the Rotary Snowplough era family. The 3 brothers are ふくせんステーションセット, D-51だいてっきょうセット and the C12 Rotary Snowplough set itself. All brothers are manufactured for only 1 year in 1973. This family is the root of all the artwork in this era, known as the "Early Hikari-Go Mark Era".

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Reason why they are brothers is because they are the only 3 sets with the Rotary in the layout printed on the side of the box. The layout displays all the elements from the 3 brothers.

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C-12 is pushing the rotary. Anything white is exclusive to this set: the station, trees, signals, crossing, passenger car, and the tunnel.

That set is the ようちえんセット, a derivative of the normal Plarail line.

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  • Super
There is a little about them in the Plarail Museum here
I'm sure you've spotted that they are basically the same sets as the Merry-go sets released outside of Japan.

One of the accounts I follow on Twitter showed the Hello Kitty version of Merry-Go-Copter, amongst other "Plarail Land" sets

https://twitter.com/ftc_miyamoto/status/...22400?s=09
https://twitter.com/ftc_miyamoto/status/...99809?s=09

The "Ponkikki" (a children's TV show) version of the Merry-go-school bus uses a very similar box style to the US releases
​​​https://twitter.com/ftc_miyamoto/status/...53568?s=09

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I have a website where I have been writing about and photographing many of the sets and pieces that I find interesting.
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I guess you can put Ponkikki here since they were not in the official catalogues. I believe that the Ponkikki was imported into USA, then reimported into Japan, just like what happened to the 3 colours of Shindai Express from USA.
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(11-19-2020, 02:57 AM)Vio Wrote: The pole is common, but the ring... I know it is available in the orange Inaka no Eki from the phantom D-51 Daitekkyou set (not Rittai Daitekkyou).
For more information on the ring or hoop, whose proper name is a TOKEN, see my post on another thread here.
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Ah, a token (possibly without the smaller hole) is also in the 1992 Thomas Basic Set.
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I am not certain the bigger 1992 Thomas the Tank Engine set contains it, but I don't think I have seen a copy with it for sale so far. By the 1995 full box reissue of the Basic set and everything after, the station had been changed to the two tree version.
I have a website where I have been writing about and photographing many of the sets and pieces that I find interesting.
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  • DalaGStanator
@Duck

Really???, there was a Rural Station with a 'Token Pole' in a Thomas Set in English....wow, I thought these to be so rare that they were only in a few vintage sets only released in Japan. The only ones I see always have a tree in the place of the Pole.  I will have to keep an eye out for these on Ebay US as I would love to strip the poles off them to use with other stations or customs.

I love these discussions where an old man can learn from all you youngsters. Smile
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(11-19-2020, 04:12 PM)Super Wrote: Really???, there was a Rural Station with a 'Token Pole' in a Thomas Set in English....

I think DuckGWR is referring to the set that he showed in this thread. This is the Plarail 'Thomas Engine Set'. (きかんしゃ トーマス  セット)

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