Hey there everyone, this is Tominon.
I went to the 11th International Model Railroad Convention held by the Japan Association of Model Railroaders (JAM) that was held from August 20-22, so here's my report!
It's a model railroad event on the same scale (get it?) as the show at Matsuya Ginza.
I've never been to such a huge model train event before and it felt like a trial I needed to overcome.
I was met with hardships like the dreaded empty camera battery, but I held strong and pulled out my secret weapon (my cellphone camera) to continue my journey.
Some of the pictures are a little lower in quality, but I hope you'll bear with it and this log of my adventure.
Like the last model train show, Kapinozuka will be covering the trains in his reports while I'll be taking care of the figures and diorama displays.
First, we have some new Tetsudou Musume information from the TOMYTEC booths.
This is the
Tetsudou Musume Railway Information App (Sanriku Railway) where Tetsudou Musume girls deliver realtime information on the railways!
The first one is the Sanriku Railway driver Alice Kuji, delivering Sanriku Railway information by voice (Ayumi Fujimura).
And that's not all - this app comes loaded with the
iDollViewer engine that enables the character to dance to music on your iPhone.
Dancing Tetsumusu...!
The app also has videos of between stations, train encyclopedias, route maps, and time tables!
A good app for both Tetsumusu and railway fans.
And that's it for product news.
The Tetsudou Musume Premium figures that I covered in detail in
this entry were back so I'll keep it to just pictures.
* Tetsudou-Musume Premium (8 pieces)
A new Tetsumusu item is coming the end of this year, and a new
series is coming next spring! If you want the absolute latest information, keep an eye on the official (Japanese) site
here.
* The Sabo Collection Ms.Sabo Figure Summer Uniform
* Mae-Sabo (Sign Board for Front) Collection 12 pieces
These "mae-sabos" or front signboards are cool on their own, but they'll become a
really cool keychain with this front signboard holder keychain that was on display.
That covers all the figures, so let's move on to the displays.
This International Model Railroad Convention hosts not only companies, but also model railroad fans.
I've never seen so many setups in my life! It was exhilarating!
And I saw... at the
Tokkou-yarou B-Team display... that thing... the one I want...
The diorama display glass table!
"Nerima Railway Dinner Table Line"
Wow! This is the real thing! This isn't a dream... It really runs inside...
You can open this table up and slide the display out. And they said they actually made this themselves!
Incredible. I wish I could have taken it home...
That's not all the Tokkou-yarou B-Team had to show either. They had on display a way to enjoy
B Train Shorty train models a step further.
They modified existing train models to create cars that haven't been released.
- Seibu Line -
They employed techniques like carving and applying stickers to create the Seibu trains of doay.
The one on the far right is the "nonexistent Seibu train" that takes the
new 101 series and turns it into a
SmileTrain!
A scene around the Yamanote Line Meguro Station.
They even had the Tengu of the JR Chuo Line Takao Station!
It's huge compared to the
E233 series next to it.
This is a dispaly of "One Shot Dioramas."
They recreated their favorite scenes and shots using the compact B Train Shorty series trains.
These little boxes were stuffed with passion and memories.
A scene of the Ome Kaido Station of the Seibu Tamako Line.
And a photograph. I almost couldn't tell which was the real thing! (Just kidding.)
The "Takenoko Park" between Hanakoganei and Kodaira stations of the Seibu Shinjuku Line.
It uses
Concrete Sleeper Flexible Track and
The Tree 005 Bamboo.
A model of the Ginza Subway Line Shibuya station, complete with an actual working screen.
They were handing out original papercrafts for free too!
The Tokkou-yarou B-Team really knows their way around the B Train!
And that's it for this entry. More displays from other fan circles are coming up next time, so see you then.
To be continued...
- Tominon