Thomas & Friends in 2014

[Fergusfan17]

Sorry, I meant scratch built.

[Fergusfan17]

What is the number one engine evryone wants? maybe bachmann will listen to us!

[thomasj219]

Can't really say for sure but I think it's Oliver and it's not really that simple. We have wish list threads, we just have to see what happens. At the end of the day they are a company.

[Zorran202]

One thing for sure is that they'll definitely be making characters from classic series since well it's what any nostalgic kids (like us) want right? After seeing how Duck was announced (as well as D&D, B&B, Terence, etc.), we practically went nuts. With the exception of Jeremy, they never made any other characters from the new/CGI series (though the choice in that was a little odd, but oh well).

[Cheeky_ULP]

Here's who I would expect from Bachmann 2014, and to an extent 2015, since nowadays, announcements sometimes stretch over two years.

Engines first.

Oliver: I see the chances of engines like BoCo, Stepney, and Daisy shrinking quickly, but I still see Oliver having a flickering hope. The main reason being his association with Duck and the fact that out of all the S1-4 engines left to be made that appeared in Season 5-7, he has more story appearances than Stepney, BoCo and Daisy, and is the most popular behind Duck. He's also often associated with Arry and Bert in merchandise (Nitrogen Studios even placed the Oliver model next to Arry and Bert, coincidentally enough). Toad is also still an easy-to-make character, and would fit with Oliver and Scruffy perfectly. At this point, Bachmann doesn't have much to lose as Oliver is one of the last engines that the older fan base is hoping for Bachmann to make.



Paxton: He may be a newer engine, but it's not like thats stopped Bachmann before (see: Spencer, Emily). To add, ever since Blue Mountain Mystery, Paxton has quickly become a fan favorite, critically praised among the Thomas fanbase as one of the best new additions to the show, a character that even old nostalgic fans are openly welcoming. The best part is, like Arry and Bert, Bachmann already has the tooling to make Paxton. All they would have to do is repaint Diesels body and change the face. Paxton would be a solid seller at a minimal cost.


Charlie: He may not be popular with the fans, but when it comes to new CGI characters, none have had more speaking roles and episode appearances than Charlie (Victor probably has more but he's narrow gauge, so I'll disregard him). I'll admit I do have a bit of bias towards his design, it has kitbashing potential. To add, since Bachmann announced Jeremy, Charlie doesn't seem like a far stretch to appeal to the newer Thomas fans entering the modeling hobby.



Now onto rolling stock.

Red Coaches: I'm honestly surprised Bachmann has not made these yet. They're pretty much a repaint of Annie and Clarabel, minus the brake coach, which even that is just a change of the back, not the whole coach. They've been requested by the fans for a long time too. Makes one wonder what bigger reason there might be holding Bachmann back from making these. They've been featured in the show a lot, so their number of appearances isn't a problem either. There are kits of the coaches prototype, including the brake coach, but they're absurdly expensive to where no Thomas fans to date have used them for the purpose of modeling Sodors coaches.


Toad: Not much to say here that hasn't already been said. He would be a great match for Toad, and the tooling already exists in the Mainline range. Only thing that would really need to be done is add Toads face and his lanterns.


Misc: There are more wagons that could be made from Bachmanns Mainline tooling such as the hopper car, or custom tooling wagons such as the Scrap Car, but considering Bachmann announced only Troublesome Truck 4 this year, I imagine Bachmann is waiting a few years to dry out the current wagons, tankers and vans in the range. Personal preference, I hope Troublesome Truck 4 is an HO/OO version of the Tomix van:


I have a gut feeling it might be a salt van though, which wouldn't be a bad choice, just as long as it matches Troublesome Truck 1 and 2.

I also think I could see a Mavis or Diesel set being released in the near future.

Discontinued Engines: In the near future, I can see a possibilities of engines being discontinued. Potential candidates to me feel like Spencer, Bill, Ben, Salty, and Mavis.

I think that's all I got.

[seanrail]

Here's who I would expect from Bachmann 2014, and to an extent 2015, since nowadays, announcements sometimes stretch over two years.

Engines first.

Oliver: I see the chances of engines like BoCo, Stepney, and Daisy shrinking quickly, but I still see Oliver having a flickering hope. The main reason being his association with Duck and the fact that out of all the S1-4 engines left to be made that appeared in Season 5-7, he has more story appearances than Stepney, BoCo and Daisy, and is the most popular behind Duck. He's also often associated with Arry and Bert in merchandise (Nitrogen Studios even placed the Oliver model next to Arry and Bert, coincidentally enough). Toad is also still an easy-to-make character, and would fit with Oliver and Scruffy perfectly. At this point, Bachmann doesn't have much to lose as Oliver is one of the last engines that the older fan base is hoping for Bachmann to make.



Paxton: He may be a newer engine, but it's not like thats stopped Bachmann before (see: Spencer, Emily). To add, ever since Blue Mountain Mystery, Paxton has quickly become a fan favorite, critically praised among the Thomas fanbase as one of the best new additions to the show, a character that even old nostalgic fans are openly welcoming. The best part is, like Arry and Bert, Bachmann already has the tooling to make Paxton. All they would have to do is repaint Diesels body and change the face. Paxton would be a solid seller at a minimal cost.


Charlie: He may not be popular with the fans, but when it comes to new CGI characters, none have had more speaking roles and episode appearances than Charlie (Victor probably has more but he's narrow gauge, so I'll disregard him). I'll admit I do have a bit of bias towards his design, it has kitbashing potential. To add, since Bachmann announced Jeremy, Charlie doesn't seem like a far stretch to appeal to the newer Thomas fans entering the modeling hobby.



Now onto rolling stock.

Red Coaches: I'm honestly surprised Bachmann has not made these yet. They're pretty much a repaint of Annie and Clarabel, minus the brake coach, which even that is just a change of the back, not the whole coach. They've been requested by the fans for a long time too. Makes one wonder what bigger reason there might be holding Bachmann back from making these. They've been featured in the show a lot, so their number of appearances isn't a problem either. There are kits of the coaches prototype, including the brake coach, but they're absurdly expensive to where no Thomas fans to date have used them for the purpose of modeling Sodors coaches.


Toad: Not much to say here that hasn't already been said. He would be a great match for Toad, and the tooling already exists in the Mainline range. Only thing that would really need to be done is add Toads face and his lanterns.


Misc: There are more wagons that could be made from Bachmanns Mainline tooling such as the hopper car, or custom tooling wagons such as the Scrap Car, but considering Bachmann announced only Troublesome Truck 4 this year, I imagine Bachmann is waiting a few years to dry out the current wagons, tankers and vans in the range. Personal preference, I hope Troublesome Truck 4 is an HO/OO version of the Tomix van:


I have a gut feeling it might be a salt van though, which wouldn't be a bad choice, just as long as it matches Troublesome Truck 1 and 2.

I also think I could see a Mavis or Diesel set being released in the near future.

Discontinued Engines: In the near future, I can see a possibilities of engines being discontinued. Potential candidates to me feel like Spencer, Bill, Ben, Salty, and Mavis.

I think that's all I got.

Bachmann cannot discontinue the locomotives because of the motors and electrics inside them.

[Chaz]

Bachmann cannot discontinue the locomotives because of the motors and electrics inside them.

Sure they can.  If a product doesn't sell well after a while, if at all, then I don't see why they wouldn't.  If a product is a poor seller or not too many people are buying them, then Bachmann discontinuing a locomotive isn't a horrible idea at all.  If anything, it'd be a smart idea.  They could save money and use it on new tooling for a different locomotive (IE discontinuing Spencer and introducing Oliver later).

In terms of what Sparks posted, I really think he hit the nail with the hammer.  However, I would take Charlie out of the picture and add Trevor:

There are three reasons why I feel this way:
1. Bachmann generally do one locomotive a year per range (except when they're doing twins).  So Bachmann doing Oliver one year and doing Paxton the next actually sounds extremely convincing if not very likely.  First Bachmann did Donald and Douglas who were delayed, then Diesel joined the range the next year, resulting to both being out around the same time in 2011.  With Duck being delayed from last year and the newly announced 'Arry and Bert models being on the way, something tells me that they will be released right around the same time too.  With Oliver being inevitable due to recent additions and Paxton being easy to make, I can see them coming out in the near future!
2. It's not often Bachmann do non-rail characters, however, when they do it's usually unexpected.  This could be said for the time when Bachmann announced Terence and for this year when Jeremy joined the range.  The former was welcome, but it doesn't seem like too many people are fond of the latter (which frankly I can see why).  Unlike Jeremy, Trevor actually has the right demand from fans, and would easily be a great seller.  If anything, I think Trevor is the only non-rail character who has some serious demand.  
3. Jeremy is too new of a character.  He is one of many newer characters who was made just so fans can go buy his toys and playsets.  He's not exactly a popular character with the older and arguably newer fans, on top of not appearing on the show regularly.  Yet at the same time, despite being an older character, Terence isn't exactly popular amongst the younger audience of Thomas and hasn't appeared in quite some time either.  Trevor is popular with both old and new Thomas fans, providing some middle ground in that respect.

In terms of discontinued locomotives, out of all the ones Sparks posted I can easily see Spencer being discontinued, but I don't know about the others just yet.  

[seanrail]

maybe if the Sound fitted Thomas engine proves successful then the original normal Thomas would discontinued and that faith could befall the other engines when they have their own sound fitted versions.

Spencer has appear on TV so he should not be discontinued, especially as although The 'H' Company has re-released their version of Spencer, it is only for a limited time.

If the Sound Fitted Thomas does prove successful, my predictions for future sound fitted Thomas Products would include:

Sound Fitted Percy
Sound Fitted Thomas Set
Sound Fitted Giggling Troublesome Truck

[seanrail]

I'm changing my list, as an influence of Sparks' recent list.  However for HO I'm going to mention both what I see happening in 2014 and 2015 due to production we've seen in recent years.  I know it may seem rather rash to do so, but at the same time I don't see anything wrong with thinking ahead in that respect.  Especially when you consider Duck was one of two new additions that was announced in HO last year and still hasn't been released yet.  

HO (2014/2015): * - What I can see being announced in 2015
Oliver - Highest demanded engine, not to mention would be a very logical choice to follow up with after Duck.  Personally, out of all the classic era characters left (locomotive wise), I think Oliver is the only one who has a chance of being made.   That and not to sound negative, but seeing as how Duck, Donald, and Douglas were delayed I can see Oliver being delayed too.  
Paxton* - Paxton's become pretty popular since his role in Blue Mountain Mystery, and I'm not going to pretend any longer that he's a character who I would certainly be interested in seeing Bachmann pull off!  Not to mention he sounds like a great possibility since he shares the exact same tooling as Diesel, 'Arry, and Bert.  The only reason why I'm not mentioning Sidney is just because Sidney only appeared for...three or four seconds in Day of the Diesels with no character development.  I imagine once his season 17 episode airs and he proves to be likable then that will change.  
Toad - Can't do Oliver without Toad.
Red Coaches* - The most appropriate replacement I can think of for the express coaches being discontinued.  They've appeared on the show regularly, and I think Bachmann needs to expand their variety of passenger cars.
Trevor - Biggest demand with non-rail characters and would look amazing on any model railroad!
Speed-activated sound Percy - If the sales for the speed-activated Thomas go well, I imagine Bachmann would probably continue that line by adding Percy next year.
Speed-activated sound James* - Seems inevitable enough that following Thomas and (most likely) Percy in that range, that James would be the next runner up.

I would have added more variety, but in terms of each of categories (engine, rolling stock, accessory, etc.) I feel like Bachmann would only do one in each category a year like they have in the past three years.  The only exception would be when Bachmann produces twins like 'Arry and Bert or Donald and Douglas.  

As for large scale I'm only going to do just 2014 since the large scale line is a lot more consistent in terms of getting new products available by the end of the year they're announced.  
Edward - Seems like the engine fans want to see the most now in large scale, and I can understand!  His HO model was amazing and I imagine a large scale one would look fantastic!
Henrietta - A very good possibility due to Toby being added to the range!
Red open wagon - Wagon repaint, much like the blue wagon that was added this year.
Cream tank - Tanker repaint, just like the raspberry syrup tank for this year.  

Hope they paint James' wheels, smoke box sides and tender axles black on the sound fitted version and also add a dummy coupling hook on the sound fitted Percy.

[Cheeky_ULP]

I imagine a speed-based Percy and James will be made based on how well the Thomas version sells. I'm hoping its an all new tooling, rather than just a sound chip crammed into the normal Thomas. Thomas is long due a makeover to match his CGI look with a motor that can haul longer trains. If this was done with Percy and James too, I imagine their paint and minor proportion issues would be fixed, since they already are in the Large Scale models.

[Chaz]

If you support the company and it's products, you will continue to get more products from that company.  When Bachmann introduced Bill and Ben, they became successful models resulting Bachmann to make Diesel.  'Arry and Bert then joined the range due to the success of the Bachmann Diesel (and of course the tooling that was available).  The exact same thing can be said for Duck following the success of the Donald and Douglas models.  I imagine that the speed-activated sound Thomas will be a huge seller, due to the fact that this was something fans have wanted for quite some time.  Sound in locomotives is becoming very popular in the hobby of model railroading, and is really bringing the models to life more than ever.  It's also another unique way of getting younger fans involved.  I can't say for certain what would happen in the future, but if Thomas goes well I imagine that they will continue to add one new engine after another, which would be none other than Percy and/or James.  

It's exactly why I can see Bachmann doing Oliver very soon as I can't imagine why the Bachmann Duck wouldn't be a huge success since it's a model that fans had been waiting for what felt like well over five years.  

[seanrail]

I'm changing my list, as an influence of Sparks' recent list.  However for HO I'm going to mention both what I see happening in 2014 and 2015 due to production we've seen in recent years.  I know it may seem rather rash to do so, but at the same time I don't see anything wrong with thinking ahead in that respect.  Especially when you consider Duck was one of two new additions that was announced in HO last year and still hasn't been released yet.  

HO (2014/2015): * - What I can see being announced in 2015
Oliver - Highest demanded engine, not to mention would be a very logical choice to follow up with after Duck.  Personally, out of all the classic era characters left (locomotive wise), I think Oliver is the only one who has a chance of being made.   That and not to sound negative, but seeing as how Duck, Donald, and Douglas were delayed I can see Oliver being delayed too.  
Paxton* - Paxton's become pretty popular since his role in Blue Mountain Mystery, and I'm not going to pretend any longer that he's a character who I would certainly be interested in seeing Bachmann pull off!  Not to mention he sounds like a great possibility since he shares the exact same tooling as Diesel, 'Arry, and Bert.  The only reason why I'm not mentioning Sidney is just because Sidney only appeared for...three or four seconds in Day of the Diesels with no character development.  I imagine once his season 17 episode airs and he proves to be likable then that will change.  
Toad - Can't do Oliver without Toad.
Red Coaches* - The most appropriate replacement I can think of for the express coaches being discontinued.  They've appeared on the show regularly, and I think Bachmann needs to expand their variety of passenger cars.
Trevor - Biggest demand with non-rail characters and would look amazing on any model railroad!
Speed-activated sound Percy - If the sales for the speed-activated Thomas go well, I imagine Bachmann would probably continue that line by adding Percy next year.
Speed-activated sound James* - Seems inevitable enough that following Thomas and (most likely) Percy in that range, that James would be the next runner up.

I would have added more variety, but in terms of each of categories (engine, rolling stock, accessory, etc.) I feel like Bachmann would only do one in each category a year like they have in the past three years.  The only exception would be when Bachmann produces twins like 'Arry and Bert or Donald and Douglas.  

As for large scale I'm only going to do just 2014 since the large scale line is a lot more consistent in terms of getting new products available by the end of the year they're announced.  
Edward - Seems like the engine fans want to see the most now in large scale, and I can understand!  His HO model was amazing and I imagine a large scale one would look fantastic!
Henrietta - A very good possibility due to Toby being added to the range!
Red open wagon - Wagon repaint, much like the blue wagon that was added this year.
Cream tank - Tanker repaint, just like the raspberry syrup tank for this year.  

Hope they paint James' wheels, smoke box sides and tender axles black on the sound fitted version and also add a dummy coupling hook on the back of the sound fitted Percy.

[Zorran202]

If the Thomas sound activated model will be successful that is (hopefully they fix the little minor errors they had on Thomas, Percy, and James when Bachmann first released them).

[Duke]

I they announced Oliver, Toad & Trevor next year, I would be ecstatic. 

[Chaz]

So I updated my post slightly, it's been over a month since I last updated it, but I wanted to talk about an idea I thought of just the other day.
Winston the Track-inspection Car

So why do I think Winston is a good possibility?
After seeing Bachmann announce Jeremy, I think that this could say something about how open Bachmann would be in regards to introducing different vehicles.  But more importantly, he adds good variety!  Winston being a car on rails, essentially, is a different twist to the Thomas line, yet at the same time it's not that unusual coming from Bachmann.  Bachmann have their "Maintenance of way" series with different vehicles that were made to run on tracks.  So the idea of Winston being made doesn't seem as strange as one would think.  Despite riding on rails though, being like the rest of the other vehicles, I don't think a Bachmann Winston would include moving eyes. 
Why do I think he would be a good seller?  Well Winston is perfect for any modeler!  He doesn't require any rolling stock or anything of the sort to go along with him.  He's literally an addition you can just take out and run on any layout.  Ideal for beginners who are into the hobby and it would look nice on any layout.  Plus if modelers are working on their layouts and need a model to test the track power, they could use the model of Winston to see how could the power is on their layouts... that is his job after all as a track inspection car.

But more importantly for Thomas fans, it introduces the idea of a to-scale HO Sir Topham Hatt figure.  The one that's in the HO line currently is ridiculously out of scale.  I'm surprised it's listed in the HO line when it should be under large scale.  With Winston, I could see Bachmann giving him a little driver who would be no one other than Sir Topham Hatt, as other toy ranges that have made Winston have included a little Sir Topham Hatt figure to make it look like he is driving Winston around.  This will not only look more realistic, but would also be a really nice addition to those who would be interested in having a to-scale Sir Topham Hatt figure. 
So despite Winston being newer, he not only wouldn't be that expensive for Bachmann to put together and sell, but he would also sell very popularly as he's proven to be liked by older and newer fans alike, much like Paxton.  Either way, along with Trevor, I think Winston would make another good addition as a future character to join Bachmann in the near future as far as vehicles go.
Feel free to give me feedback if anyone thinks this is a good idea or if you can see this happening too.  Either way, I'm interested in hearing any thoughts.