Thomas & Friends in 2017

[Chaz]

Would Daisy, Paxton, or Stanley be the most likely candidates for 2017? What do you think?

I personally don't think any classic characters will happen anytime soon in HO, but if we do, Daisy would make the most sense.

I think at this point they are trying to save Paxton for when they can't afford a new tooling, just because when most brands aim for recolors it's usually not because they want to, but more likely when they have to.  Considering Bachmann's track record, I think Paxton will find his way into the range eventually.

I think Stanley has somewhat of a chance, but I don't think he is as likely as someone like Charlie or Hiro since they have appeared a lot more and have had been more marketable with Mattel.  That being said, I don't think Stanley is out of the question entirely, I could honestly see him selling better than Rosie.

[BassTbone]

Just give me Peter Sam and Sir Handel and I'll shut up.   

[Metal]

Considering that we have Oliver and most of the classic characters are done anyway, I'm pretty good.
However, this is a personal preference, but as long as we get Hiro, then I really won't care what they throw out for the HO/OO range.

[TrainFan97]

At this point, I'm really not sure if we'll get anymore tender engines, with prices constantly getting higher. Their last tender engines were Donald and Douglas, and as much as I would like to see engines like Hiro, or even Flying Scotsman, they would easily be too expensive to produce.

[Cheeky_ULP]

The only relevant contender I can see for a Bachmann model that's a tender engine is Hiro. Most other engine contenders for a future model are either tank engines or diesel engines.

[JLK2707]

Could anybody here see Flying Scotsman making his way into the Bachmann HO range since he is just a modified version of Gordon?

[Chaz]

I personally don't think the Flying Scotsman has a chance despite reusing the same chassis as Gordon.  The Flying Scotsman also has a new locomotive body shell as well as two tenders that Bachmann would have to work on.  Tender engines alone are expensive to make, but an engine with two tenders would make the model even more expensive.  The last tender engines we got in HO were Donald and Douglas, and I think the only reason why Bachmann pulled them off was because they are twins (Bill and Ben were also announced at the same time).  The Flying Scotsman would easily be over $200 at retail, and I can't exactly imagine Mattel or Bachmann wanting to make an HO engine for the Thomas range at such a high price.  I also don't see him being a good seller regardless of price since he only just returned in the Great Race and doesn't really have a strong following yet.  I also don't think it really helps that his CG render isn't one of Arc's best designs, the six wheels in each of his tenders in particular is a flaw that would understandably put some fans off.

I think if any tender engine has a decent shot in HO at this point, it would be Hiro.

[TrainFan97]

I didn't say Flying Scotsman was likely.

[JLK2707]

Okay, but do you think arc will fix Flying Scotsman's wheels to eight on each tender? Also, do you think it would be cool to have Henry with a brother named Jackson who is LNER green and the same class that Henry was before the flying kipper? Or was Henry's original prototype a one-off customised design which would make him having a brother like that a bit out of the question?

[AJW98Productions]

Henry MKI has no real life prototype. The explanation given for Henry MKI's existence (canonically) is that he was a "one-off" experimental design by Sir Nigel Gresley, a prototype to the Gresley A1 class. Largely based upon parts that would make it to the final Gresley A1 class, he was also made relying heavily on parts that were used by Henry A. Ivatt's GNR class C1 (large boiler) 4-4-2 "Atlantic" locomotives.

The experiment was deemed a failure by Sir Nigel Gresley, and the prototype engine was sold off to at a cheap price to the only buyer available - The North Western Railway. The Fat Controller purchased Henry as he needed a large express engine and the North Western Railway didn't have a lot of money, so he bought the poor steaming Henry MKI. Henry MKI coped well enough for a time but his system never recovered from his stay in the tunnel, which took Welsh coal to improve until he was rebuilt into an LMS "Black Five" following an unfortunate collision one winter morning. But that's another story.

Also: as a side note, I read somewhere recently that the Rev. W. Awdry's original drawings did in fact, depict Henry completely as being a GNR C1 (large boiler) locomotive.

And of course, as I expect many members already know, William Middleton, and later, Reginald Payne, and later still, C. Reginald Dalby, didn't really follow that drawing well. In fact, Henry MKI was sometimes depicted as a 4-6-2 engine, sometimes as a 4-6-0, in early Railway Series stories. This inconsistency appalled Wilbert Awdry to no end, and it only got progressively worse with time. Wilbert Awdry would later go on to orchestrate the first Flying Kipper crash just to force C. Reginald Dalby to keep consistent to a single class of locomotive, thus preventing these "slip-up's" from occurring.

This page is very useful in learning about the illustartors: http://www.sodor-island.net/rsartists.html
And the TTTEWikia is a great place to learn if you want more information on Henry.

~Alex

[JLK2707]

Okay, thank you Alex. But do you think that the tar tanker wagons and salt wagons should be in cgi? Also, do you think that there should be new characters based on an LNER B12 and a GNR class C1?

[Cheeky_ULP]

No they will not do a LNER B12 character. You can blame this on Simon Martins famous British Railway Catalogue Stories illustrated by Dean Walker featuring Stephen the Holden B12 locomotive. Another indicating factor is Alfred the Bomber B12 was a terrorist engine (I am not making this up) in a once-popular Thomas fan series Sodor Dark Times. I doubt Mattel wants a character associated with a bomber fan character.

[JLK2707]

What makes you think Mattel know that sparks?

[AJW98Productions]

No they will not do a LNER B12 character. You can blame this on Simon Martins famous British Railway Catalogue Stories illustrated by Dean Walker featuring Stephen the Holden B12 locomotive.

I'd say if Mattel really wanted to they could, but I think that because of Simon Martin's "The British Railway Series" (of which I am a fan), it'd be difficult to introduce a Holden B12 to the series. No one would want engines from the two franchises getting mixed up after all, least of all from a competitor anyway. So there's that going against an LNER B12.

What makes you think Mattel know that sparks?

One would think that because of the popularity of the British Railway Series, and it's status as a competitor in terms of books, I think Mattel would be well aware. As for Alfred the terrorist B12 engine, well...from a company perspective...they'd certainly want to keep tabs on what has and hasn't been popular in the community, gotta appeal to your community after all, and due to the huge popularity that "Sodor: The Dark Times" had, I think it'd be hard not for any company that is highly vigilant of our community to have not stumbled upon it.

However, as for a GNER C1 "Atalantic" (large boiler version) other than perhaps it having almost too strong of a resemblance to a smaller verion of Gordon/Flying Scotsman, I don't see too much reason why they would avoid it...but I think that, given the nature of the Thomas franchise, we might be more likely to see a slightly more obscure class of engine any time soon than a GNER C1. Just my opinion though, I could be totally wrong.

~Alex

[Cheeky_ULP]

I think in general, the B12 has become overly used in the fandom with these two examples being the prime reasons. Mattel could easily be more creative than the fans in that sense, and pick more uniquely designed locomotives like Cock O' The North or the Southern Railway Leader.