OFFICIAL 2017 THOMAS & FRIENDS NEW PRODUCTS ANNOUNCEMENT!

[Toad139]

I'm quite happy with these announcements. I can't wait to see Rusty's model because I love his CG render. I'm also hoping the new vans use the Ice Cream wagon's tooling like the large scale ones.

[JLK2707]

You never know, they could do the Spiteful Brake Van in HO Scale next year.

[Plow_Bender]

I'm a little late on posting this, but better late than never, eh?  So what are my thoughts on this years announcements?  Well coming from me personally, I see them as a little hit and miss to be honest.  Granted they're better than last year's announcements, but are still somewhat lacking I feel. 

To be honest, the HO announcements are probably the most disappointing considering their all pretty much just recolors, but I'm not writing them off completely.  It's nice to see we're finally getting Paxton, considering many expected him to be announced in 2016.  It really took me by surprise last year when he got pushed aside for Rosie, and I think many others felt the same.  As for the new rolling stock, I'd rather just save myself some time and not bother discussing that.

Narrow Gauge is both good and bad I guess you'd say.  It's nice to see that we're getting Rusty this year, and if we're lucky maybe in time for Christmas.  I was surprised though to see Rusty announced before Sir Handel, considering I (like many I'm sure) expected Bachmann to make the narrow gauge engines in numerical order.  Either way, Rusty is a winner nonetheless.  The only downside to announcements for Narrow Gauge is we aren't getting any rolling stock this year, but I think many are happy just to have Rusty added to the range.  Definitely a model I'll be adding to my want list once I get a proper HOn30 layout started.

Large Scale honestly was kind of a disappointment for me.  I will say I am happy to see we're getting an actual locomotive for the first time in 4 years (going on 5), but the disappointment for me here though is that I would rather have seen Mavis over Diesel.  Granted we'll probably get Arry and/or Bert, and/or Paxton for 2018, but I'm not really looking forward to them either.  As I said before, Diesel wins hands down just for the simple fact he's (unlike stupid Winston) an actual locomotive.  The Spiteful Brake Van is another announcement that took me by surprise, considering the fact he is a character from Season 2.  Depending how the model looks when finally released, I may be adding it to my want list as well.

So my final thoughts on the 2017 announcements are this.  Large Scale has finally gotten the help its needed for years with an actual locomotive being introduced into the range, Narrow Gauge is getting yet another classic and asked for character, and HO is finally getting a character that should have been announced over a year ago.  The way I see it, these announcements are really a step in the right direction for all the ranges, and the positives outweigh the negatives.

-Rusty

[Cheeky_ULP]

How long will it take before someone starts a 2018 predictions thread..?  

Predictions are one thing but it never hurts to let Bachmann know what products we want/are pleased/displeased with at all times of the year. A lot of people seem disappointed that Sir Handel wasn't next, so maybe that's a good hint to Bachmann as to who to make next.

[PaulGWR]

All I really have to say is: Molto bene!

[Cumbrian]

I made my first purchase of a Bachmann Thomas range engine a few few weeks ago ( Devious Diesel) and was disappointed that it was not DCC ready.  There seems to be nothing in the announcement on moving to DCC ready locos in HO scale in the future or am I just out of touch with Bachmann plans.

[Titanic5972]

Unfortunately none of the Bachmann locos are DCC Ready.

[TTTEfan1992]

My input on this year's announcements is that I kind of like it. It's a little exciting, but not too exciting. The HO scale standard gauge range this year, I'm indifferent about. I can wait for Paxton, and the other pieces of rolling stock.

The HO scale narrow gauge range, I'm happy about. I'm pretty excited for Rusty to be released in the Bachmann HO scale narrow gauge range. I think Rusty would be pretty cool to run around the track for the way his wheels are. There are no side rods, or pistons to make Rusty to run around the track. He just has small separate wheels that are exposed. I think that would be pretty cool for that kind of locomotive to run around the track that is small, and has a good amount of detail that is in high quality. It's nice to finally have a diesel locomotive being released in the HO scale narrow gauge range.

The G scale range, doesn't really apply to me, because I don't collect the G scale trains. I knew Diesel was going to be announced sometime. I was surprised that they announced the Spiteful Brake Van. The Spiteful Brake Van hasn't been in the series since season 2. I think it would've been cool if they announced Duck in the G scale range. Overall, the announcements this year may not be very strong, but that's a good thing. It's a little exciting for me, but not too exciting. I don't have to keep counting down time, rushing the time to get a product I'm so excited about like I did in 2015 (which in fact are still not released yet, biggest mistake I've ever made about rushing time, but it's no big deal. Not the worst thing in the world), and I don't have to wish my life away. I can just enjoy life.

Kudos to Bachmann Trains!

[Mike1121]

I'm quite pleased with this years announcements. I'm surprised that Bachman didn't announce any rolling stock for the narrow gauge this year! It would be nice to see some coaches added to the lineup.
For the large scale, it's nice to see a locomotive added to the lineup again, but where is Gordon or Henry? Shouldn't we see more of the main characters before we see some of the more minor characters? Hopefully for 2018 we see one of them and maybe some express coaches.
For HO scale, I'm not surprised they chose Paxton, but I would have liked to see maybe Stanley or Daisy. I'd really like to see them reintroduce the express coaches for HO scale as well. Let's see what 2018 brings us!

[TTTEfan1992]

I agree with you Mike1121, I was surprised that there was no rolling stock for the HO scale narrow gauge range this year. I was sure there would be. I thought they were going to add some coaches to the HO scale narrow gauge range this year.

Henry, or Gordon would be probably be very hard for Bachmann to release in the G scale range, because they would be so large, and it would cost them a lot of money to make them. It would also take them a very long time to make. Possibly surpassing the amount of time it took for them to make Oliver for the HO scale range. It's a possibility, but that remains to be seen.

I'm not either, I knew they were going to announce Paxton sometime soon. I was hoping for Daisy this year. Yeah, that would be very nice for me. I can add the express coaches for my Bachmann Gordon. I need some rolling stock for my Gordon.

Well, the Official 2018 Thomas & Friends New Product Announcement remains to be seen in about a year. But for now, I'm just going to be grateful for the announcements this year. They're kind of good. A little exciting, but not too exciting. I like that from time to time.

[Chaz]

A large scale Gordon and Henry is out of the question. Especially with how this year's announcements have consisted of mostly recolors.  The only new toolings we got are diesel engines, and one of them will obviously be used for recolors in the future.  Both the Bach-man and Doug Blaine have mentioned that they would be too large as well as expensive to produce and they wouldn't do well on standard large scale train sets.  The fact that the large scale range is doing a new engine at all in today's market is a blessing on its own, let alone an entirely new tooling.

[Griffin (TheBlueSnowplow)]

I think it's interesting they did Emily but can't swing Gordon or Henry...but I'm no expert.

[sodorlad]

In theory, Gordon and Henry could work with R2 (bear in mind different terminology between G Scale track manufacturers) curves upwards, provided there is no middle drive wheel nor middle tender wheel flange - as per Thomas, James and Emily.

Also, in theory, are they really that much more expensive to produce than Emily? Design wise they are more simple and wouldn't need an alternative motor to - say, James.

However, a parent buys a starter set - the simple matter is an engine like Gordon and Henry aren't immediately compatible with this.

Gordon too has arguably little to pull rolling stock wise associated with his character.

Until the large scale climate improves - and it will only improve by us fans and consumers getting behind it, then this will limit certain releases.

Consider Diesel's character and presence in the show currently... this will also be a factor of his release in terms of projected sales - a decision not taken lightly when generally characters painted black tend to keep the shelves warm.

Don't get me wrong, I personally would have chosen Edward this year because of my sentimentality for his classic era persona  - but I still think Diesel's worth getting excited for.

[Plow_Bender]

With all the talk about people wanting Henry and Gordon in large scale, I think it's time we revisit a post I made back in April of 2016 in the Thomas & Friends in 2017 thread.  I pretty much say the exact same things Chaz's has mentioned in his post, but I go a little more in depth about it.  My post can be found at the link below.  I highly recommend you read it if you're one of the ones whining because you're not getting a large scale Henry and/or Gordon this year...

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,31790.msg237691.html#msg237691

-Rusty

[Griffin (TheBlueSnowplow)]

Gordon too has arguably little to pull rolling stock wise associated with his character.

I mean...what does he have to pull in HO?