[COLOR="DarkRed"]Hi and welcome !

"ThunderKing"....hehehe...I had never heard of that model before. I always wondered, are there tons of those 60's Japanese kits over there ?...or were they mostly exported ?

What about American vintage makes ? Are those harder to come by and expensive ????[/COLOR]

Nice stuff. I love the Thunderking name too!

thanks fellas,

It`s mixed- I think there are alot of old Japanese kits here- but almost none of them are stencils- mostly the actual Pearl or Hoshino, Yamaha, Nikkan Gakki brand name stuff. You don`t see for example Crown, or Ledo Supreme or Apollo as such very much here.

On any given day Yahoo Auctions Japan will have about 5 old Pearl kits, and a few quite old, early Yamaha kits, some old Hoshino/Star brand stuff. I check it out alot just for fun.

American vintage gear is expensive here and you get top dollar for it. I bought my Slingerlands in the States not Japan.

Thunderking was actually a pretty well know model/line name in Pearl catalogs from 1968-1975 atleast- it was their beginning of a "rock" drum line. I have a 12x8 mahaghony tom from 1965 in WMP with die cast hoops and re-rings that was labled "SanderKing Made in Japan" on the badge. Now that`s cute. They mispelled thunder in their Japanese Engrish

[IMG]http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/Osakabop/jcsr250507rk-img600x282-12392448780.jpg[/IMG]

Curious about the shipping costs to and from Japan/America. Would it be feasible to trade kits across the waters?

Oh,man....you've become"Our man in Japan".You may even be the one to solve the ancient mystery of where and by whom comest the stencils....

I tried Yahoo auctions Japan and only got a few new electronic and student kits.OsakaBop-your brothers await news of 74' Pearl BDP's 24-13-16 w/Jupiter snare (oh thats only me....)

Ok, you`re looking for a 74? I`ll keep my eyes open. With Yahoo Japan you`ve got to hit the "USED " item button and get out and away from all the new crap on there. There is not a day when there isn`t some Japanese brand gem or three newly listed on there. Jupiter steel shell snares are posted almost daily and go for between 50$ and 85$ US.

I`m happy to keep my eyes open for something for you.

shipping a 20" bass drum and kit nested inside it I hear is about 250$. I would take off all metal parts and package them up in little baggies and ship the drums nested in one box and the metal parts in a second.

It would be worth it for a mint condition one but right now I am seeing alot of good Japanese stuff on Ebay pretty cheap as well.

Recently, here in Japan, one kit- a 1968 Pearl Deluxe 3 piece (14x5 snare, 20x14 BD and 12x8 tom) with original pedal, original hihat stand, Pearl Special 18" Crash Ride, and 12" hihats, L-rod cymbal arm, original pearl sticks and snare stand - Medium condition sold for 110$ I lost the bid due to timing but I though it was a good deal. It needs some restoration work - but I think paying 250$ to ship it to the states would take the charm out of the deal IMO.

Hi welcome to the forum!

The others are right - everyone will be hitting you for Japanese knowledge!

As I'm more of an asker than a teller (but I'm learning!), just thought I'd bring your attention to a post I put up a while ago about what most people think is a Japanese stencil top with a cool wrap hidden away under paint!

The thread's 'Mystery tom - help!!' in non-USA drums if you get a spare minute!

Nikkan Gakki?I've been drumming for 38 years and never seen that one on a drum set.I have seen it on other things,though (Nippon Gakki).

I'd probably cry with one eye to recieve a box from Japan with a set which,even though costly to ship,contains a set NO-ONE-I repeat NO-ONE has or can even get here.And what is costly,and compared to what?A new Export/Rockstar/Catalina/etc?

I sent a Ludwig 13/16/22 set to Denmark just before the shipping rules at USPS changed.The purchaser was THRILLED....it cost $112.So,twice as far,$250.The price of a new ride cymbal.

And please don't misinterpret that $250 isn't a substantial sum,but-did you see those blue onyx drums?And Thunderkings?

BTW-that bass mount cymbal boom arm.What is that?I need it!

And...old-style Pearl logo bass drum heads?I need that too!

I feel like I'm 10 at the toy department!

And I want a SANDERKING T-shirt!