Bachmann Thomas and Friends in 2016

[sean1994rail]

Salty so far is the only engine that has been discontinued so far, with the exception of his set still being available.  

If I had to take a guess at which engines would be discontinued next, my money is on Spencer or 'Arry and Bert.  These would make the most sense to me because Spencer is currently the most expensive locomotive in the range.  Even though he is still selling reasonably well, I think considering the fact that prices go up every year I would imagine that Bachmann would be more willing to drop him from their range as opposed to one of the main characters like Gordon or Henry.  However, 'Arry and Bert make more sense to me than Spencer because both of them combined had very small sales, (at least from what I've seen/heard), and they aren't exactly popular characters on the show with both old and young fans compared to the likes of Duck, Diesel, or even Oliver.  I can also see Paxton having better sales than 'Arry and Bert too.  

I agree, Chaz on Arry and Bert being discontinued next. Spencer on the other hand is still a popular character.

[Jacob Wilson]

^ Above 1 Reply - @Reply #250 By sean1994rail: What is your reason for 'Arry and Bert being discontinued already? They where only released 2 year's ago, in 2014. Surely they are still too new, to be discontinued?

[sean1994rail]

My speculation at the moment.

[SportyPup]

I have been a loyal Towerhobies customer for years, and I have noticed time and time again that they stop carrying merchandise before the manufacterer stops producing it.  It is true that Mavis, Ben (but not Bill), the cargo car, raspberry and cream tankers (in HO) have been discontinued, but I don't fear that this means bad news to come.  I'm just guessing that Towerhobbies cuts out merchandise that isn't popular on its own.  G Scale Percy, James, Emily and even Toby were discontinued there, yet Bachmann is still makes a profit off of them all! (I hope) Again, this is all speculation, but I also wanted to share some of this casual "marketing research" I've done.

Arry and Bert should be discontinued before Mavis or Spencer IMO., simply based on sales I've observed... I'm no marketing expert though!

[Jacob Wilson]

^^ Above 2 Replies - @Reply #252 By sean1994rail: Ah OK, then. I do not think though, that it will be wise for Bachmann to discontinue 'Arry and Bert at this stage. They are still too new.

^ Above 1 Reply - @Reply #253 By SportyPup: I do not think that a shop discontinues a product. It sounds too me tht they stop selling it, as they probably had the product in for a while. I own x3 Cargo Car's and this is the amount of them I have ever wanted. Since I have had my account with the only supplier of the Bachmann Thomas & Friends HO range, called The Diesel Works, I emailed the guy around May last year about them, and he does not order them anymore as they do not sell often enough. He told me that in the past, he had a box full of them, and it took ages for the, to sell. Kindly though, he placed an order of 3 of them, just for me and they arrived with the rest of his order to sell on his website in September 2015.

[Chaz]

Going to what both Jacob and SportyPup both said, that is exactly why I don't see 'Arry and Bert sticking around for much longer.  Both might still be fairly new models, but both of them lack popularity as well as sales.  One of the employees at one of three stores I go to said they would only carry the characters they know that people will buy.  Otherwise they wouldn't be making money if the models are just hanging at the store with no buyers.  There isn't that much of a strong following with both of them as far as characters go, and Lionel and Hornby's 'Arry and Bert models weren't popular sellers either.  It goes without saying, that it's understandable why different ranges made them because the Diesel tooling was there and they could make a profit off of the collectors who would buy them, so it wouldn't be that much of a loss.  If they made someone like Rosie or Stanley on the other hand who are both new toolings yet would have weak sales potential going for them, then that would ultimately hurt their production team more than 'Arry and Bert would since it would cost Bachmann more money to make new toolings.  Fortunately, if they were to do Paxton I would be more confident in his sales because he's a popular character with both older and younger fans as well as appearing more often in the show now.  The fact that the tooling is there from Diesel also helps them even more. 

I'm also confident that we will get another engine this year in narrow gauge since Skarloey made it on time this year, whereas Oliver and Winston haven't even been out yet, let alone have a picture. 

[Jacob Wilson]

^ Above 1 Reply - @Reply #255 By Chaz: That is true. Bachmann would obviously release models using tooling's they already have, like 'Arry and Bert's tooling is from Devious Diesel. I do not think 'Arry and Bert are terribly popular engines anyway!

I would like Rosie and Stanley to be released though. They are good characters and very interesting.

[TTTEfan1992]

Did you say Oliver and Winston have an actual model picture right now?

[Jacob Wilson]

^ Above 1 Reply - @Reply #257 By TTTEfan1992: No, Chaz did not say that. The images of Oliver, Toad and Winston have not been released yet. Chaz was just mentioning that the images have not been released yet.

[SportyPup]

Speaking of characters that have a lot of exposure, such as Paxton, how much exposure have Arry and Bert even received on the show?  I love them as characters as well as their unique color schemes, but they honestly seem like a pair of characters that the writers loved for a couple years and then either forgot about or never had room to fit them in.  Characters such as Arthur, Murdoch, Molly and so on (I'm not debating whether they are good characters, just that they were shafted).  The few appearances Arry and Bert have had after their introduction have usually seemed really shoehorned in, like spending 30 seconds laughing at Neville in season 9 and spending another 30 seconds at the steam works with Diesel.  'Tis a shame, but true.

Also, just wondering, but how often have the Ice Cream Wagons appeared?  I've only seen them myself in Too Hot for Thomas, which is over a decade old.  I guess familiarity isn't as big of an issue with rolling stock since the tooling is cheaper, leading to unpredictable items like TT 3, 4, and even the paint drum flatbed.

It all kind of goes back to what some people are saying about making characters such as Daisy or the small railway engines--while they may receive a ton of airtime in the future, right now they're really only familiar with longterm fans.  Even then, some newer characters like Ryan might get shafted too...  Sadly

[Jacob Wilson]

^ Above 1 Reply - @Reply #259 By SportyPup: Yes, 'Arry and Bert are good, but with them appearing so little in the TV Series, they never stood a chance, and this could be to do with Hornby's and Bachmann's low sales compared to other Locomotives in their range's of 'Arry and Bert. The reason their sales could have been so low, as people didn't know what to do with 'Arry and Bert if they owned them, as in recent year's, you see them randomly in cameo shots, or laughing at the other Engine's, as SportyPup mentioned.

As for the Ice Cream Van's they appeared in a very few amount of Episode's. I imagine Bachmann and Hornby released these as they knew they would release well, because it like a good recognised Wagon, rather than something plain and dirty, like a Coal Truck. It's the same story with the Cream Tanker's, Raspberry Syrup Tanker's and Circus Wagon's. They are clean and 'special' train's that are different.

Also, speaking of the Circus Wagon's, Hornby did release 9 Circus Van's, a Circus Cattle Wagon and 2 Circus Flatbed's released in 2005 for the 60th Anniversary of Thomas & Friends. Hornby then released 3 Circus Tent's and the Circus Stalls in 2006 to correspond with the Circus Wagon's they released the year before. These are very nice and I own all of them and I love them. I would like Bachmann to release the Circus Wagon's and too see what Bachmann's Circus Wagon's would look like.

[Titanic5972]

I can't see Bachmann releasing Rosie or Stanley yet. There are far more important locos that are still not available from the original series. Boco and Daisy for a start.

[Chaz]

It is a lot cheaper and easier on Bachmann's part to produce rolling stock as most their recent ones have been repaints from Mainline or from other existing toolings they have access to.  With locomotives, they cost a lot more money to produce and if the sales are not strong with a new locomotive tooling, it hurts their marketing team a lot more because there is a lot more time and money invested in production of a locomotive than a piece of rolling stock.  That right there is the biggest reason why I don't think Rosie or Stanley would be a good idea, because sales are important for Bachmann and neither of these two would last in the long run.  I would even go as far as to bet on Hiro appearing before those two, despite being a larger and more expensive locomotive to produce, as the popularity and sales for the character are there which makes him seem like a more natural fit from Bachmann than those two.

[Jacob Wilson]

^ Above 1 Reply - @Reply #263 By Chaz: Yes, Hiro would be nice as well, seeing the a different Locomotive form Japan would change a layout. I still would like Rosie and Stanley. In fact, I also want Arthur, Molly and Charlie to be released too! I think maybe Bachmann need to release more Diesel Locomotives, as only 5 have been released.

What does everybody think the chances of Bachmann releasing Diesel 10?

[DinoNTrains]

Even though it would be awesome to have Diesel 10 in Bachmann's range, I doubt he'll be made mostly because of Pinchy. Pinchy would be an issue because it might make Diesel 10 too tall to fit through tunnels, into shed stalls, etc. (Not to mention that the TTTE Wikia says Pinchy is an illegal modification, anyway).