Bachmann Thomas and Friends in 2016

[TTTE1945]

The only engines I want this year for HD scale are Stepney and Daisy.

[Jacob Wilson]

^ Above 1 Reply - @Reply #280 By TTTE1945: I do believe we will get Stepney announced this year as well. We had the announcement of Oliver last year, and I have a feeling Stepney will be joining the fleet next!

[TTTE1945]

Good. Stepney is long overdue. I really hope Oliver and Toad are modeled after their series 3 appearances. For rolling stock I hope they reintroduce some cars as well as make some new ones.

[Jacob Wilson]

What do other User's think of Bachmann releasing more Ventilated Van's? I would like Bachmann to release more plain ones, like the blue one in different colours. I think a green one would be nice.

[AJW98Productions]

^ Above 1 Reply - @Reply #268 By Chaz: If we think about it though, OO Gauge and HO Gauge are not massively tall gauges, and I find there is some gap between the top of the Locomotive and the bridge, tunnel or shed. HO Gauge is slightly less tall than OO Gauge, so a HO Gauge Diesel 10 may just fit underneath OO Gauge tunnels or sheds, or through bridges; Providing that Pinchy is not too tall!

I do not have problems of tunnels, bridges or sheds too worry about my layout, as I do not have these on my layout, as my layout is to small to accommodate this kind of detail . I do think though that if Bachmann did release Diesel 10, he would be popular and make Bachmann a lot of money!

I disagree, because of the design of such a great lumbering claw on top of the character's head, that's going to drive up production costs, straight off the bat; infinitely more so if it moves, which I believe children could easily get bored with if it didn't. But then I imagine it would be complex to mount onto the body of Diesel 10, and would be very easily breakable. Then there's the problem with the claw throwing him off gauge, badly. This is a non-issue for some people, yes. But to those who have layouts with HO/OO bridges (even footbridges over platforms would be an issue!) and tunnels, these people whom collect Bachmann products, are faced with a problem, it is inconvenient to purchase this engine that can barely be used on their layout. If Bachmann did make such a decision, I cannot describe how daft I think it would be, but for comparisons sake, here is a sports metaphor:
It's like acquiring the soccer ball during your game (or football if you prefer), then turning around, and kicking it into your own goal, y'know...the one you're supposed to defend. I think, Diesel 10 would have the opposite effect, and can only lose Bachmann inordinate sums of money for little success in return. Also, there is such little difference between the gauges of HO and OO, I doubt a HO Diesel 10 could even fit under a OO bridge or tunnel (same applies to Harvey, but let's keep him out of this for now).

I honestly don't understand the obsession behind Rosie or Stanley in the Thomas fanbase.  The two of them are blank slates, and there is nothing really that spectacular about either of them that makes them stand out, apart from their designs which is what makes them popular in the toy department.

The obsession with these two characters, from my perspective is that the obsession can only created out of their unique designs and liveries, Stanley I guess had an interesting enough introduction (despite my personal thoughts on "The Great Discovery", I can't deny that it was interesting). Personally, I don't care about Rosie as a character, but I would like a model, so I guess the marketing team has struck again. But I recognise that as a model, she'll never be released by Bachmann for the foreseeable future, because...

Their [Rosie and Stanley's] roles have been minimal on the show because the writers don't have a lot they can draw back on for them, so I would be shocked if either of them were to get anything more than their background usage or a speaking role at this point.

Bachmann cares more about characters that can give them strong sales and these two don't feel like big hits that they would be looking for.  I would think characters like Paxton or Daisy would make more sense because they have a stronger demand and Daisy fits the classic character trend in CGI, and Paxton would be a lot easier for Bachmann to make.  I think some people on this forum are either blind to to the fact that there is nothing in Rosie or Stanley's "potential", or they choose to be simply because of the following both of these two have in the fandom.  The two may have their place in toy ranges like wooden railway or take n play, but I honestly don't see a place for them in Bachmann.

I can't put that any better than Chaz already has. They are just blank slates of characters with little to no personality, but endlessly marketable designs and unique liveries.

Each is slightly different in their obvious marketable pandering, but there is a common issue. The issue here is that these 2 characters suffer from...Season 9-16 (and the specials between) syndrome, having unique designs and liveries, but little to no personality, existing purely to sell toys, and that's easy enough to tell, they have as much character than the Horrid Lorries from Season 5! And the Horrid Lorries all had the same basic personality, all 3 of them, and only appeared in their one episode, and never again, an episode that, once opening and ending credits are taken out of the picture, lasts 4 and a half minutes! Just 4 and a half minutes versus an entire special? And a few episodes that lasted...for over 6 minutes even without credits.

The problem with these characters, is that they aren't popular enough among the older fanbase to sell well in HO/OO, which, by numbers, has a larger older fanbase than the likes of say....Trackmaster and Wooden Railway. This becomes a problem, in that they don't appeal highly enough to the mature fanbase, but as HO/OO models, not toys, but models, means that it would be a high cost for parents to buy for their kids anyway, and let's face it, kids collecting the range are probably going to focus more on the main character by default, there will be exceptions, but really these two characters only exist to sell toys in other ranges, this doesn't translate across to HO/OO well, as these are models, not toys, they would be expensive to produce and wouldn't win over the hearts and minds of either younger or older demographic enough to be a viable investment for Bachmann, better than the likes of some other characters, but I'd say that a large engine like Hiro has a better chance, because (despite his large design creating high manufacturing costs), he has more of a following in both demographics Bachmann needs to appeal to. Not to mention he actually has more personality than those 2 blatant marketing scams disguised as characters that I mentioned earlier. These 2 characters need a drastic personality turn around and a lot of screentime for these issues to be fixed, in my opinion.

And finally, Harvey, Diesel 10, Rosie, Stanley, Marion and Belle, are, when it comes down to it; very gimmicking, for the sake of selling toys. But as we know, toys does not translate to models, Bachmann would financially bankrupt themselves if they tried to mimic Leaning Curve's release schedule and range.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, next year for HO, I don't know what to expect. Maybe a new wagon or two, but that would be all I'm expecting, along with Oliver and Toad. For Large Scale, I only expect Winston. For Narrow Gauge: I expect Rheneas as our next engine, for rolling stock I don't know entirely what to expect, but I'm hoping for the Brown Brakevan, a Blue Brakevan (which is just a repaint of the brown one, so...twins philosophy I guess), and the Blue and White Coaches, but again, those are my hopes, not what I entirely predict, I don't entirely know what to expect.

~Alex

[Jacob Wilson]

^ Above 1 Reply - @Reply #284 By AJW98Productions: Pinchy won't make the cost of Diesel 10 sky high. All they need too do, is make Pinchy out a piece of moulded plastic, not something that moves around. All Bachmann need to do is go off the basis of what ERTL did when they released Diesel 10. The not difference is, is that Pinchy will need to be bigger to suit HO Gauge scale better, than ERTL's diecast toy.

[AJW98Productions]

^ Above 1 Reply - @Reply #284 By AW98Productions: Pinchy won't make the cost of Diesel 10 sky high. All they need too do, is make Pinchy out a piece of moulded plastic, not something that moves around. All Bachmann need to do is go off the basis of what ERTL did when they released Diesel 10. The not difference is, is that Pinchy will need to be bigger to suit HO Gauge scale better, than ERTL's toy.

It won't be astronomically high, yes. But he still wouldn't be a cheap model, I imagine.

~Alex

[BassTbone]

So...

Who's excited to see what we got coming next year?  

If sometime in the future we do get Skarloey coaches, I hope they look like this:

[Jacob Wilson]

^^ Above 2 Replies - @Reply #286 By AJW98Productions: How would a bit plastic on top of a BR Class 42 'Warship', which Diesel 10, is make him expensive?

^ Above 1 Reply - @Reply #287 By BassTbone: I am hoping that the Narrow Gauge Coaches that Bachmann release will look more like Series 4 - 12 Red Narrow Gauge Coaches like these: http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/ttte/images/9/9c/FourLittleEngines26.png/revision/latest?cb=20160113231529/.

[AJW98Productions]

Large engine, even though Diesel 10 is a simple enough design, he's a large engine, and with an added claw I don't imagine he'd be at the levels of Gordon and Spencer in price, but I don't really see him being cheap either. But I've more than had enough of talking about Diesel 10, other members covered it well enough, I tried to cover it pretty well. The long and short of it is it would be a terrible business move to release Diesel 10. So I don't even get why it's still a relevant topic.

Anyway, if we're talking about coaches, here is my personal pick:



~Alex

[Jacob Wilson]

^ Above 1 Reply - @Reply #289 By AJW98Productions: If Bachmann where to release Diesel 10, I think he would probably cost about the same as Gordon or Henry or just below, or even at Donald and Douglas' price tag.

What are the chances of Bachmann releasing Duke? Obviously we need Rheneas, Sir Handel, Peter Sam, Rusty and Duncan to be released first, before Duke, but of course Bachmann need to release other Locomotives, after the main 5 have been released. Unless Bachmann in the future, decide to release Mighty Mac, Freddie, Victor, Luke and Millie that is.

[BassTbone]

What are the chances of Bachmann releasing Duke? Obviously we need Rheneas, Sir Handel, Peter Sam, Rusty and Duncan to be released first, before Duke, but of course Bachmann need to release other Locomotives, after the main 5 have been released. Unless Bachmann in the future, decide to release Mighty Mac, Freddie, Victor, Luke and Millie that is.

To be honest, it is possible.  With the Ffestiniog Railway being popular as it is and the amount of rolling stock from PECO being made, it is possible.  That being said, it would be like waiting for Duck.  The more exposed NG engines would be released and so on. 

[Jacob Wilson]

^ Above 1 Reply - @Reply #291 By BassTbone: Yes, I think with all the new tooling PECO are creating ever so quickly in the OO-9 Gauge range, would be possible, but yes, it would be like waiting for Duck to be released which took Bachmann 10 year's to get to. It would be like waiting for Oliver that was announced last year, and even Stepney that has not even been announced yet!

Of course, I do expect and want Rheneas, Sir Handel, Peter Sam, Rusty and Duncan to be released before Duke.

[Akodenski]

I really would love it if Bachman could release the Miniature Railway this year!

[Jacob Wilson]

^ Above 1 Reply - @Reply #293 By Akodenski: When you say the "Miniature Railway", are you talking about Mike, Rex and Bert?