The N-scale product I was surprised to see in a promotional email from Kato-Japan was the “CB&Q Silver Streak Zephyr 6-car set.” It had actually been re-imported from Kato-USA. When I checked the Kato-USA website, I found that the set was plain, and that in addition to that, there are several more expensive sets with interior lights, DCC, and sound.
When I learned this, I was stunned by the trends in sales in the US. Rather than being due to a gap between rich and poor, I think this is due to fundamental differences in what people in Japan and the US want from model trains.
Please clarify - do you mean you were surprised they are selling the “plain DC versions”?
Does not surprise me. Modeling in the US is very diverse, not always driven by the choices others make.
I can’t speak specifically to N scale, but in HO, if you factor in the whole range of modeler styles and interests, you find DCC and sound only embraced by 50-60% of those buying/building/operating model trains.
While not as large of a percentage as in decades past, HO in particular still attracts craftsman type modelers who build kits, paint and decal equipment, modify and scratch build models including locomotives.
Most modelers here in the US tend to find what interests them, and approach the hobby from their own perspective.
So, for example, my modeling:
Currently building a new layout - large DC powered layout, no sound in locos, combination of RTR and kit built equipment.
Radio wireless throttles, detection and signaling - of my own design and construction.
Models consist of recent products and older products going all the way back to the 1950’s.
Freelance and prototype modeling combined on the layout, time period 1954, a few years before I was born.
Just google Kato Shinkansen sets for sale. Plenty of options from Japan. Prices are very reasonable and shipping is reasonable as well.
Just be sure to buy from a store that has a physical location in Japan (or anywhere else for that matter in the world). That helps rule out dodgy online stores.
I think what the OP was saying was surprise at Kato shipping something to the US from Japan (or direct from China where it’s made?) and then later turning around and sending it back to Japan to try to sell it there.
I do find the term “plain” a little odd. The engine in the set is DCC ready, and the cars have separate drop-in kits available to light them. That’s pretty standard in N and HO - DC, DCC, or DCC/Sound; lighted or unlighted passenger cars etc. Not sure it means much as far as what people like to use. I sometimes spread out a purchase by buying a DC engine I want, and then later buying a decoder for it (especially if I want to add a sound decoder). Doesn’t mean I don’t want DCC, just don’t want to pay for the whole thing all at once. Some folks buy DCC-ready engines because they only like one brand of decoder, and want all their engines to have them.
I also buy DC engines that I want but with the intent to install a DCC decoder immediately. I only buy a DC locomotive if the DCC version is not readily available.
wjstix, that may be what he meant, it was not very clear. But he was apparently surprised at all the different versions as well.
KATO may have simply miss read the market in both countries and it made more sense to adjust inventory levels accordingly rather than make more product for the market in Japan.
Don’t hold your breath. KATO is an N scale Japanese company making models for the Japanese market that just happens to dabble in the N scale and HO scale markets in North America.
They have made it clear by their actions over these many decades they have no intentions of being a big player here in North America.
And now, there is a lot more competition in the higher end, higher quality market, so it is even less likely they would make such a move.
There is not one piece of KATO at my house, they have never made anything I wanted.
I have never had any interest in actually owning a piece of N scale. Just the opposite, on a few occasions many years ago, I considered two rail O scale (1/4" scale) or S scale when the product offerings in that size expanded a good bit.
But in the end, HO is still the best compromise for my modeling interests.
