Akihabara Station » review

Review: Micro Ace A4821 JR East E653 “Fresh Hitachi”

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:05:50 +0000

A JR East E653-series taking a detour down the Ikea Line

Micro Ace, way back in 1995, started with North American prototypes, but by 1999 had abandoned them in favor of Japanese prototypes. Among the first Japanese models they released was the JR East E653 series. (Micro Ace maintains a pictorial history of [...]

Review: Tomix 209-0 series and Kato E231-500 series

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:09:45 +0000

Both models are exceptionally detailed

Here’s a comparative review: Kato’s E231-500 Yamanote Line (part nos. 10-261, 10-262 / repackaged as 10-578, 10-579, 10-580) vs. Tomix’s 209-0 Keihin-Tohoku Lie (part nos. 92329, 92330, 8917). The Kato has since been repackaged and given a new set of part numbers, but is otherwise unchanged from what [...]

Review: Micro Ace A2896 Keisei AE100 "Skyliner"

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Keisei “Skyliner” on the Ikea Line

Prior to Fathers’ Day ’09, I had but two small Micro Ace sets. My review was not particularly flattering. Indeed, neither was anyone else’s. I enjoy the two sets, but I must admit I was a little soured on Micro Ace. But, as others have constantly reminded [...]

Review: Tomix Spare Case

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 04:27:52 +0000

Tomix 6208 “Casket for Rolling Stock (6 pieces)”

My wife and I both have this strange fascination with organizing our things; we joke that we like to buy things just so we can put other things into them. But it’s true. I just bought this Tomix spare bookshelf case to house an overflowing [...]

Review: Tomix Cleaning Car

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:34:19 +0000

A Tomix Cleaning Car sitting on a siding along the Ikea Line

Well, I promised a review of the Tomix Cleaning Car quite some time ago, didn’t I? I don’t use the cleaning car that often, but it now has got enough hours (er, minutes?) under its belt to warrant a review.

[...]

New DCC Page: Decoders for DCC-Ready Kato Locomotives

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:04:04 +0000

Trying to figure out what to put in your Kato EF65 or DD51? Click through, and perhaps I can assist you. [...]

Review: Casco YP-517 Case for KOKI

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:32:25 +0000

Trains on a bookshelf

I love the bookshelf cases that many Japanese model trains come in. They keep your trains tidy and safe. They also, if a little indirectly, put your trains on display. But what about those models that don’t come with a bookshelf case? Many add-on sets and most freight cars [...]

Review: Tomix 92950 "Yumekukan" (夢空間)

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:12:03 +0000

Happy birthday to me! This set was a gift from my wonderful wife. Actually, we kinda picked it out together, for reasons I won’t yet reveal.

The box reads “J.R. Limited Express Sleeping Cars Series 24 Type 25 ‘Yumekukan’ with Electric Locomotive Type EF81″ (which is far more terse in the original Japanese: [...]

Review: Micro Ace A3251 and A3252

D.E. Goodman-Wilson — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:26:20 +0000

Certain factors have rightly kept me a little too busy to post lately. I can’t say that I mind. Several weeks ago, I received two eagerly anticipated releases from Micro Ace: A3251, which consists of two KOKI 106 container cars, each loaded with two U47A “Eco Liner 31″ 31′ ISO containers; and A3252, [...]