NIB Clear 300 Series

Won this mint unopened Plarail clear 300 Series Shinkansen earlier today. It’s a very unique item with the yellow motor and green chassis, and apparently only 500 were made. Like most other not-for-sale Plarail items, it comes in a plain white box. This is one I will most likely be keeping sealed in its packaging

[Super]

Fantastic T-Raw...you got one annnd....its new in the box. Wonder how many of the 500 are left that can still claim that?

Thank you, Super! I remember once seeing three new in box in the same listing, I wonder how the seller obtained all of them

Well, it arrived and is now the first NIB item in my collection







I gotta say the unique colors on this look awesome. I might end up getting a loose one just so I can watch it run!

I usually don't look at non thomas items but that is one stunning train!

super nice! I wonder why the boxes for the not-for-sale items are just plain white.

@CS11 Yeah, that’s something I’ve always wondered too. It’s probably to make them stand out more, although why they put nothing at all on the box I don’t know.

[Super]

My guess (not based on any fact) is that pretty boxes with catchy graphics are made to attract the eye of buyers on a stores shelf or, in this day and age, online listings. Where in the cases of Limited, non-retail or giveaway trains there is no need to visually attract the consumers eye. Because of this it can also save the manufacturer some cash as they would not have to design and print out fancy cardboard graphics which would cost more to produce than a plain box. At least with the above example they have windows in the box showing off whats inside where many others do not. IMO...I also see these minimally made boxes as collectors items too as some just have a printed name or windows and might be just as desirable to complete a collection as the eye catching ones.

Thanks, Super! That’s a great guess. It seems Tomy was a bit indecisive with the not-for-sale packing though, as there are some giveaway prizes that are in the same box as their regular counterparts (for example, the Gold QUANTO 300 Series). From what I have seen, it also looks like the extra copies that weren’t given out (because some people would’ve selected the other prize option) were repackaged into the regular boxes and sent off to toy stores. Below are some examples of not-for-sale items in regular Plarail boxes.

My guess (not based on any fact) is that pretty boxes with catchy graphics are made to attract the eye of buyers on a stores shelf or, in this day and age, online listings. Where in the cases of Limited, non-retail or giveaway trains there is no need to visually attract the consumers eye. Because of this it can also save the manufacturer some cash as they would not have to design and print out fancy cardboard graphics which would cost more to produce than a plain box. At least with the above example they have windows in the box showing off whats inside where many others do not. IMO...I also see these minimally made boxes as collectors items too as some just have a printed name or windows and might be just as desirable to complete a collection as the eye catching ones.

That makes a lot of sense, thanks!