Why Kato, Tomix, and MicroAce? Kato, Tomix, and MicroAce are famous around the world for making some of the best model trains in the business. The amazing engineering, craftsmanship, quality and level of detail rival some of the best West German model trains out there (no offense intended Germany). We fell in love with Japanese model trains several years ago and we decided to build this business and site to share our passion with the rest of the world. Unique Items, Excellent Quality, Limited Editions Every year Japanese model train manufacturers offer a unique and wide products offering, but with limited production numbers for each type of item. Due to the uniqueness of the design, complex engineering, and the individuality of the manufacturing process, only a limited number of products are available at any given time. Certain items can routinely go a decade or more before being "re-run." Many times the run of new items will promptly sell out within weeks of their release. In our opinion, this makes Japanese model trains as collectible as, or even more collectible than, the best models out there. About MicroAce MicroAce now is one of Japan's most active N Scale model trains manufacturers. Over the last few years, the company has joined Kato and Tomix as a top-tier manufacturer of quality hobby trains. Their range of products has expanded rapidly with new models added almost every month. In the last year alone, MicroAce has released more train models than Tomix and Kato combined. Many items are manufactured in China, under full Japanese supervision and following Japanese high standards of quality, performance, and reliability. These items offer wonderful details, great engineering, and excellent quality and value at very reasonable prices. Because of all these unique and excellent characteristics we have become the largest retailer of MicroAce items in North America. Why We Ship Direct from Japan via Express Mail or from US via Priority Mail We chose Express Mail and Priority Mail to insure the best possible service and quickest delivery method to our customers. We ship many of these limited edition items direct from Japan to insure product availability (Japanese manufacturers only produce reduced quantities of each train style), offer a wider variety of items, and to keep our prices as low as possible and pass the savings on to our customers. The shipping and handling cost slightly more, but given the high quality and value of the items, we would rather ship everything with tracking and delivery confirmation. This is also offset by the more competitive prices we can offer by shipping direct. Collectible - The "Lexus" of Model Trains Often, Japanese model trains appreciate on the secondary market due to their limited numbers, very high quality, solid engineering, beautiful craftsmanship, and excellent detail and performance. We should know, we have been collecting these trains for many years and are passionate devotees and advocates for Japanese products; especially because of their legendary quality and superior engineering. They are indeed the Lexus of the model trains world; but at Honda prices.