Thomas & Friends in 2017

[DinoNTrains]

Or they could please both sides of this debate, and just produce both liveries.

As nice as that would be. I don't see that happening.

I agree. I feel that releasing the same engine character but with two different liveries (like they do in Wooden Railway, Take-N-Play, etc.) would be rather expensive for Bachmann to do. Granted, there are variations on Thomas (original, celebration, and with a snowplow), but I agree with thomasj219.

[Chaz]

The way I see it, it's a lose-lose situation and I don't see them doing both versions at once either.  If they go with lavender, then it won't be the most up-to-date version of the character once season 21 is on the air.  If they go with the red livery, it won't be as marketable which is what made Rosie popular in merchandise.  Fortunately, it's an easy fix with the right kind of paint if you're bothered.

On a side note, I'm honestly surprised everyone on here keeps bringing up Rosie when Rheneas is guaranteed to look nicer and sell better than Rosie.

[Griffin (TheBlueSnowplow)]

Of course, we've heard NOTHING about either of them AND Oliver is still not out. Bachmann certainly is taking its time...

[ClrwtrMK2]

The way I see it, it's a lose-lose situation and I don't see them doing both versions at once either.  If they go with lavender, then it won't be the most up-to-date version of the character once season 21 is on the air.  If they go with the red livery, it won't be as marketable which is what made Rosie popular in merchandise.  Fortunately, it's an easy fix with the right kind of paint if you're bothered.

On a side note, I'm honestly surprised everyone on here keeps bringing up Rosie when Rheneas is guaranteed to look nicer and sell better than Rosie.

Because there's a handful of us that like Rosie, That's why.

[sean1994rail]

The way I see it, it's a lose-lose situation and I don't see them doing both versions at once either.  If they go with lavender, then it won't be the most up-to-date version of the character once season 21 is on the air.  If they go with the red livery, it won't be as marketable which is what made Rosie popular in merchandise.  Fortunately, it's an easy fix with the right kind of paint if you're bothered.

On a side note, I'm honestly surprised everyone on here keeps bringing up Rosie when Rheneas is guaranteed to look nicer and sell better than Rosie.

That reminds me, I wonder how far bachmann has progress with the Rheneas model?

[Captain Crutch]

We'll soon find out the updates on Rheneas and Rosie and what's coming. It's all a matter of time.

[Plow_Bender]

Well this is pretty much going to be my last post in regards to what I'd like to see for Large Scale 2017 announcements, unless I get the ambition to make a post about the red coaches.  Let's talk about Edward being made in large scale.  Now many people have asked for Edward to be made numerous times, yet there have been arguments that Edward is too large.  While I'm not 100% convinced with that statement, I'll be sure to explain my reason further down in this post.

First off, lets talk about Edward's fan base.  As we all know, he's a classic character, a main character, and part of the steam team (if you really want to bring that up).  Many have wanted Edward to be introduced into large scale for years now.  I've seen just as much demand for Edward as I have for Henrietta.  Years back when there was a big demand for Edward in HO, I remember many people went crazy after Bachmann finally announced him.  A large scale model would potentially fair the same way.

Now in terms of appearances and/or roles Edward has had lately, it's probably not worth discussing, but I'm going to anyway, so tuff!  Edward has made countless appearances in pretty much every season (go figure), and has even had a few roles in some of the recent episodes.  Despite being a special from 3 years ago, Edward's role in The Adventure Begins is really something that's stuck in my mind.  However in regards to a more recent special (The Great Race) Edward wasn't really included in that at all other than his singing role at the beginning.

So what are we looking at with Edward as a large scale model?  As I said before, some have argued that he's too big to be made, but I say Edward is borderline.  Yes, Bachmann does want to stick with smaller models (like tank engines), but it's pretty much proven they're not going to make a model the size of Emily (or bigger) for that matter.  I think even an engine larger than James may be asking much.  Considering Edward is a tad smaller than James, that leaves a lot of room to toy with the idea.  Characters such as Belle or Arthur could potentially have a chance for the same reason, but I'm getting off topic with that.

In terms of production, this is really the only downside I can see.  Edward would clearly be more expensive to produce than someone such as Rosie and/or Mavis, which is probably the reason he hasn't been announced.  It's a no brainier that production costs also play a factor in the final price of a model, but I think Edward's price would be pretty fair.  After crunching a few numbers, the RRP for Edward would possibly be around $423.  I'm sure some of you guys out there think that's a little steep, but keep in mind that it's not an exact number.

So my final thoughts on Large Scale Edward for 2017 are this.  Yes it's a bigger model, yes its more costly, but the demand for said model is there.  It's been over 4 years now since the range was given a new locomotive (not including Winston or the DCC models), so we're long overdue in that department.  There's nothing wrong with trying to cut costs by doing recolors and/or smaller models, but the range needs a little something more.  Many out there that would be happy even if large scale just got Edward for 2017.  Still there's probably going to be the ungrateful ones, but that's probably because they wanted Gordon and Henry...



-Rusty

[TrainFan97]

The yearly announcements are almost here. Excited, but nervous at the same time. They could be made anytime now. I'll wake up in the morning, and see that announcements were made, and once I click the admin's thread, drumroll, and bam, here they are. Hope this year doesn't disappoint, not that it usually does. It's getting closer and closer! If it's not Daisy or Paxton for HO, it could be some long shot character, one nobody asked for, or no engine at all like in 2014's announcements.

[Akodenski]

Last calls anyone, here's what I want for 2017:

HO scale:

Engines:

Hiro

Rolling Stock:

Rocky

Scrap Wagon with a removable scrap load in a long brown wagon....the scrap wagon from the the episode Percy and the Calliope in Season 16

Non-Rail Characters:

Trevor

Narrow Gauge:

Locomotives:

Sir Handel

Rolling Stock:

CGI narrow gauge passenger car

Brown Narrow Gauge cabose

[Captain Crutch]

I'm curious as to when the new James's are coming. Here (http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,29694.0.html) we're obviously told back in 2015 that James would be getting atleast a reprint this year, and that it would've happened sooner but they got a giant shipment of his old model. So when is James coming? Unless it happened just unknown to us all. Just curious.

[Chaz]

Revisions are usually unannounced, probably by the time the next shipment of models comes in, I expect we will have a better idea of what is going on then.

[MeganekkoFury1126]

That is a good point, Chaz.

Consumers weren't notified about the cosmetic changes on products like the mail car and the milk tankers.

[Metal]

Ok perhaps since the hostility has died down for a while, and announcements are just around the corner. I'm gonna post my ideas for the HO/OO Range.

Here are my candidates.

Classic

Daisy 

Well the most reasonable classic character right now would be Daisy. What much is there to say? Considering she's been having some prelevance since her return. And on a side note, this is personal preference, but I wouldn't mind at all if she was based off her CGI render. I find the proportions to be much better than her original TV model, some would also argue about the face size, but I don't care about that either.

OR

New Series/CGI

Considering Rosie, Bachmann is most likely to continue down this path and selecting more recent and/or at least more marketably appealing characters.
So to start off....

Charlie

Ok, to some this might be an.......average.....choice, character-wise, but on a positive note, Charlie, IMO does have on of the best designs in the show, and has quite the detail for a small tank engine. He could  also serve as an option for kitbashers. Other then the Culdee Fell Engines, the only purple engines we've ever had (or at least in the show) are Charlie and Ryan. However, if Bachmann were to select one of these two to provide color contrast, one of them would obviously be the more marketable, Hopefully the positives would outweigh the negatives here.

Hiro

During the the S9-16 era, most of the characters were one-offs and/or blank slates, solely for the purpose of making toys. However there's was a shining gem in the rocks, and Hiro is a great example of that, plus he was actually given depth. Since his introduction has been one of the most iconic characters in the franchise and universal popularity with Thomas fans of all ages. He would make such a beautiful model here. The pricing would be around a Bachmann Skarloey, but even so Skaroley as well as the developing NG range has shown that popularity overcame pricing, and I'm confident to believe the same would happen with Hiro.

Porter

Since Porter's debut, he has become a quite a staple in the series, since he's stationed in Brendam Docks with Salty, which is one of the most prominent locations in the show. Nowadays, you really can't have Salty without Porter, like the same with Duck and Oliver. And considering that Bachmann has now made Salty exclusively available in set, introducing Porter into the range could help drive the sales of Salty. However, the drawback would have to be the scaling, but then again Bachmann has taken Oliver's CGI render and up-the-scale a bit, so Bachmann could do the same with Porter.

Paxton

Paxton has received quite a positive reception, ever since he was transformed from a nonexistent mute into one of the most likable characters. It's obvious that he's a simple rehash of Diesel. But from a different standpoint, a handful of people seem to be tired of seeing another Class 08, so I would suggest that it's best to conserve this option in case Bachmann isn't raking up in sales, and if they need feel the urge to release a loco, Paxton could serve as a good emergency.

There's my thoughts for the HO/OO. Forgive me for the big post here, so gonna make a post on the HO/OO rolling stock and NG Range later.

What do you think?

[Griffin (TheBlueSnowplow)]

My guess is that history indicates Monday or Friday is the day. Let's look back at last year for fun

Hi Thomas & Friends fans:
We hare delighted to announce the products below. These will be the ONLY new Thomas products announced until February 2017. Please watch our website for images and delivery info. We will not release this info in personal emails.

Enjoy!

HO Scale
58816 Rosie (with moving eyes)
77014 Sodor Salt Wagon
77015 Troublesome Truck #5
77016 GWR Cattle Wagon
77017 Refrigerator Car – Live Lobsters

Narrow Gauge
58602 Rheneas
77301 Narrow Gauge Slate Wagon with Load
77302 Narrow Gauge Slate Wagon with Load #101
77303 Narrow Gauge Slate Wagon with Load #164

Large Scale
91421 Thomas the Tank Engine with DCC Sound
91422 Percy the Small Engine with DCC Sound
32037 Large Scale Thomas & Friends™ DCC Sound Module
98016 Box Van – Sodor Fruit & Vegetable Co.
98017 Box Van – Explosives
98018 Box Van – Great Western

NOTE: No delivery dates yet for HO Oliver or Large Scale Winston and Ice Cream Wagon.

[Captain Crutch]

Yea, tomorrow or next Friday. The 12th was the date but it was a Friday last year and I'm willing to bet that because of the toy fair we won't see it until next week, and we'll probably have a catalog too. Can't wait for the announcements though. Hoping for Hiro.