Thomas & Friends in 2017

[MeganekkoFury1126]

I think there are just as many Thomas fans who despise Lady as there are ones that like her, same with Thomas and the Magic Railroad movie itself.

I get that Lady is a female steam character, which back in 2000 was a rarity, but now in 2017 we have many wonderful female steam engines that have a lot more character and depth than Lady like Emily, Millie, and technically Marion. I actually like Molly more than Lady at this point, but that's just my opinion.

[WilsonProductions2]

I'd be very surprised if Lady got released. It would be the story wanting Diesel 10 to get released, but I doubt he would get released as he has only appeared in the specials; Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Calling All Engines!, Misty Island Rescue (The outro), Day of the Diesels and finally, the Series 17 episode, The Missing Christmas Decorations.

These are more appearances than Lady has made, but still not enough for Bachmann to get released released, so I highly doubt we will get Lady, but you never know!

[Plow_Bender]

An HO scale Lady (as nice as that sounds) is unlikely to ever happen for more reasons than 1.  I'll admit that Lady has always been my favorite Thomas character (at least until Ashima came along (*cough* fanboy *cough*)), but even I can admit that chances of her happening in HO are about as likely as killing a bird by throwing it off a cliff.  Let me explain.

For starters, like Mr. HLC Railroad said in his post, Lady has only made 2 appearances.  Once in TATMRR and for a split second in Calling All Engines (worst Thomas movie ever next to Misty Island Rescue).  Since then, we have not seen or heard of Lady, or so I thought...  Interestingly enough, Milly has obtained Lady's whistle since she was introduced in King of the Railway.  Based on that little piece of information, it honestly leads me to believe that chances of Lady coming back to the series (even in CGI) are slim to none.

On another note, as much as I like Lady, I too can admit that there are just as many fans who like her as fans who (like Chris Tomson) despise her.  I can agree that most of this could in fact be directed to TATMRR itself, but Lady not having a basis, referred to as being magical, and maybe just her character in general pretty much just gives fans reason to hate her.  Given the information I've provided, this is the fan base for Lady, sad as it is...

Now in terms of Lady being made in HO, well, production of the model doesn't look much better.  For starters, Lady could not use Percy's chassis because the wheel base length is too large.  Lady's chassis would be smaller than that of Bill and/or Ben, which would make it a costly piece to manufacture.  Furthermore, Lady would be an overall smaller model, which would push her cost up even more.  If you don't believe me, take a look at how the Skarloey engines are priced.  Even Bill and Ben (being the smallest engines in the HO range) are damn near $100 or might as well be.

So in conclusion, Lady just doesn't hold enough positives to be introduced into the HO (or even large scale) range.  Not only is the fan base just not there for her, but production of such a model and the RRP that comes with it would just make it an epic fail for Bachmann to produce.  My recommendation is that if you want an HO scale Lady model (and if you have the skills), you might as well just build one.  Back in 2010, I took on this task and converted the ERTL model over to HO scale.  The chassis was built entirely from scratch with 1mm styrene, along with aluminum for the oil pan and copper for power pickups.  I've included photos of my model if you want some ideas.  Water marks are applied because I don't want them pinched...




Bachmann Thomas & Percy models supplied by Wittman Studios.

-Rusty

[metal4life]

An HO scale Lady (as nice as that sounds) is unlikely to ever happen for more reasons than 1.  I'll admit that Lady has always been my favorite Thomas character (at least until Ashima came along (*cough* fanboy *cough*)), but even I can admit that chances of her happening in HO are about as likely as killing a bird by throwing it off a cliff.  Let me explain.

For starters, like Mr. HLC Railroad said in his post, Lady has only made 2 appearances.  Once in TATMRR and for a split second in Calling All Engines (worst Thomas movie ever next to Misty Island Rescue).  Since then, we have not seen or heard of Lady, or so I thought...  Interestingly enough, Milly has obtained Lady's whistle since she was introduced in King of the Railway.  Based on that little piece of information, it honestly leads me to believe that chances of Lady coming back to the series (even in CGI) are slim to none.

On another note, as much as I like Lady, I too can admit that there are just as many fans who like her as fans who (like Chris Tomson) despise her.  I can agree that most of this could in fact be directed to TATMRR itself, but Lady not having a basis, referred to as being magical, and maybe just her character in general pretty much just gives fans reason to hate her.  Given the information I've provided, this is the fan base for Lady, sad as it is...

Now in terms of Lady being made in HO, well, production of the model doesn't look much better.  For starters, Lady could not use Percy's chassis because the wheel base length is too large.  Lady's chassis would be smaller than that of Bill and/or Ben, which would make it a costly piece to manufacture.  Furthermore, Lady would be an overall smaller model, which would push her cost up even more.  If you don't believe me, take a look at how the Skarloey engines are priced.  Even Bill and Ben (being the smallest engines in the HO range) are damn near $100 or might as well be.

So in conclusion, Lady just doesn't hold enough positives to be introduced into the HO (or even large scale) range.  Not only is the fan base just not there for her, but production of such a model and the RRP that comes with it would just make it an epic fail for Bachmann to produce.  My recommendation is that if you want an HO scale Lady model (and if you have the skills), you might as well just build one.  Back in 2010, I took on this task and converted the ERTL model over to HO scale.  The chassis was built entirely from scratch with 1mm styrene, along with aluminum for the oil pan and copper for power pickups.  I've included photos of my model if you want some ideas.  Water marks are applied because I don't want them pinched...

-Rusty

The argument of Lady demand/probability has been done over so many countless times that it's really not worth going over. 

Also, careful with your digressing. We're here to discuss the T&F models and all railroading matters related. Not petty discourse.

[donaldthescottishtwin]

That Lady model is exquisite.

[Captain Crutch]

Images of a few new characters that will be in this year special have been released. The ones that have images are Frankie (the one that looks like a diesel, and is a diesel), Hurricane (the red one), Lexi (the teal cab-forward one), Theo (the one with the giant wheel on his side), and a three funneled one that may be called Merlin (that or it's a new character all together). I would post the pictures but I still haven't figured it out yet, here's a few links instead.

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/ttte/images/a/ad/JourneyBeyondSodorStorybook.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170121110817

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/ttte/images/f/f2/JourneyBeyondSodor2booksin1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170120200743

[JD417]

The official Thomas and Friends Facebook page has posted a new promotional image, there's quite an interesting change in a certain character that's coming out from Bachmann soon:

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/16113156_10154938051724556_414712659589111561_o.jpg?oh=acb368b0227e92c22bceeeb5eb373b6a&oe=5903B4E0

I wonder what livery Bachmann be going with, I really hope it's this new one. It's much, MUCH better than the lavender and white, in my opinion. Plus, if they pick the lavender livery it'll be out of date as soon as it's released, so that really seems against the whole 'Release the character as children will recognize them' dispute that went down with Oliver.

[sean1994rail]

They've also announced Rosie's return in season 21 and she's returning with a new NWR livery, though I prefer her pink livery. I wonder if bachmann Rosie will be red or her familiar pink livery.

[Griffin (TheBlueSnowplow)]

Bachmann, any news on Rosie now? Perhaps you can release that product image now that we know about her new hue...

[donaldthescottishtwin]

I can hear people whining about the new livery already, the "NWR" on the side tanks is very welcome. Since bachmann Rosie has been ghosting as of late I think we can assume the model will be in her new design.

[Captain Crutch]

I'm excited if they do make this a change on her model. I've loved the headlamp since it was introduced and I like this livery as much as the last one. And she's finally gonna speak again!!! Hopefully she won't be annoying this time. I've always wanted something good out of Rosie, I have a special relationship to the class of loco, and we might finally get it. She may become such a main character she could be part of the steam team, or they could add duck like they were going to before Emily came along.

[MeganekkoFury1126]

As much I would've much preferred Molly returning instead, these changes might actually make me NOT hate Rosie. The fact her paint scheme is no longer a 'stereotypical girl' color is already an improvement, but let's see how the writers handle her as a character.

At this point in time, I'm not sure if Bachmann would be finished picking out color samples for the new Rosie model, so there might be a chance Rosie might be in this new scheme.

[ClrwtrMK2]

I can hear people whining about the new livery already, the "NWR" on the side tanks is very welcome. Since bachmann Rosie has been ghosting as of late I think we can assume the model will be in her new design.

Am I the only person that prefers her lavender livery over her new red paint?

[Rickenbacker 325]

Seems that this is what was going on and why I heard Rosie was cancelled from 2 hobby stores. Looks like the original model is cancelled and hopefully the new one will have this new paintwork.

Looks like it was to soon for them to tell me and now it makes sense on why they didn't have any other information on her.

[ClrwtrMK2]

Please, Fellow Thomas Fans! We can all assemble heal Rosie for good, If we beg HIT to get the original lavender livery back for Rosie!! Mr. Bachmann, If you're reading this, Please stick to the original lavender livery for Rosie! Please don't cave in to HIT's new change!