The Klick Kong Museum of toy train boxes

[GrahamB]

Excellent details VicKlicktor! I take it the red clip is to use when the coupling is not in use. I have some pictures of the older and newer style couplings which Playmofire sent me.

I wonder if other rolling stock sets with more than one version also have this difference in the couplings? 4101, 4104, 4105, 4107, 4110, 4112 are all candidates as, like 4100, they have 1 or 2 earlier versions from before 1987/88 and a later version from 1987/88 to 1994 (according to Collector), though you say 4105 doesn't have the later couplings in the later set?

It might not be that simple anyway. Versions 1 and 2 of 4053 (1986/87 to 1992/93 and 1992/93 to 1995 respectively) have the older style couplings but version 3 (1995 to 1996/97) has the newer ones. Perhaps the change from older to newer couplings was not aligned with a change of version, but just happened when the newer parts became available. I don't know enough about how the two couplings work to know whether there were minor changes to the undercarriages to accommodate the different couplings. In fact, I don't know much about PM trains, my interest is really in trying to pin down the differences (if any) between the contents of different versions of sets, something which is quite lacking in some sources.

I don't think the different pipe colours in 4105 are significant enough to describe as a change in set contents between the versions, but it's interesting to know about!

Thanks again, keep up the good work. I don't have many boxed sets, so I rely upon people like you to show what's in 'em!

[playmofire]

I'd always understood that the red clip was used to lock the coupling so it couldn't uncouple in use. 

The new coupling hook did involve a change to the design of the bogie to accommodate it and if you wanted to use the new coupling hooks on the old bogies, then you had to modify them.  I'll try and dig out the instruction leaflet showing this.

[VicKlicktor]

I wonder if other rolling stock sets with more than one version also have this difference in the couplings? 4101, 4104, 4105, 4107, 4110, 4112 are all candidates as, like 4100, they have 1 or 2 earlier versions from before 1987/88 and a later version from 1987/88 to 1994 (according to Collector), though you say 4105 doesn't have the later couplings in the later set?

It might not be that simple anyway. Versions 1 and 2 of 4053 (1986/87 to 1992/93 and 1992/93 to 1995 respectively) have the older style couplings but version 3 (1995 to 1996/97) has the newer ones. Perhaps the change from older to newer couplings was not aligned with a change of version, but just happened when the newer parts became available.

Yes! All my 4105 versions have old couplings but I do not have V3, which is Black-Nr. as defined in Collector. Guess what, all references you listed with  black number in front image from 1987/1988 (V3) included the new coupling.

As for your second observation, you are totally right, it is not that simple for other sets. I have western wagons 4120 and 4121 with old couplings (1988/89->1995/96) but set 4122 (1988/89->1992) with newer ones. At some moment in this cases they must have replaced couplings depending on parts availability. All wagons in my 4033 (1988/89->1996) have new couplings but I bet early releases had the old ones.

[GrahamB]

Thanks, VK. When I started investigating set versions, I was surprised how many 'new' versions boiled down to a mere change in the printing on the box, sometimes a minor change like 'outline' number to 'black' number. Any change in the contents from one version to another is often merely coincidental; Geobra changed one or more parts (like the coupling and associated bogie) but this wasn't always timed to coincide with the release of a new package variant. In fact there are examples of sets which contain a mixture of older and newer parts in the same box, apparently (see this picture on Klickywelt, with 3 older-style rifles (no hand grips) and 2 later style rifles (with hand grips), for example).

Then again, there are sets where different versions have significant or numerous differences in their contents, often shown in the picture on the box.

One suspicion I have is that whether a set contains a newer part or an older one might depend on where the sets were packed. One location (e.g. In Malta) might have a large supply of older-style connectors to use up, whereas another site (e.g. In Germany) might have stock of the newer parts. You would need a lot of MISB sets and a way of telling where they were packed to check this out. Probably not worth worrying about!

[playmofire]

Playmobil Collector explains and shows the history of the box design and its references to V2 etc. refer to the box design.

[VicKlicktor]

4116 Tipper Wagon (1995 - 2000)












4117 Passenger Wagon (1995 - 1999)












4118 Graffiti Passenger Wagon (1996 - 1997)












4120 Western Passenger Car (1988 - 1996)












4121 Western Cattle Car (1988 - 1996)












4122 Western Boxcar (1988 - 1992)












4125 Tipper Wagon (2005 - 2010)














4126 Flat Wagon with Low Sides (2005 - 2010)










 

[VicKlicktor]

3958 Small Western Train - Sears Exclusive (1988 - 1989) / Re-edition (1991 - 1992)


























4001 Passenger Train with Steam Locomotive (1988 - 1994)


























4005 Passenger Train with Green Locomotive (1995 - 1997)
























4010 RC-Cargo Engine with Light (2005 - 2010)


















 

[VicKlicktor]

4024 Freight Train with Yellow Diesel Locomotive (1995 - 1997)
























4034 Large Western Train (1988 - 1996)
































4035 Christmas Train (1999 - 2000)






















5258 RC Freight Train (2012 - 2016)


















 

[Junker Jörg]

Ich bin ja echt ein Schachtelfan, aber das ist schon toll! Und sehr nostalgisch!

I'm anything but a box-idoliser, but that's pure brillant! And absolutely nostalgic too.

jj:

[Knight Train]

These are excellent.  Thank you for posting them!