Thomas & Friends in 2018

[donaldthescottishtwin]

We don't want Philip.

[MeganekkoFury1126]

I for one would snap up a Ryan on the spot. He's currently my favorite ARC/Jam Filled era character that's we've gotten (not counting Rex, Bert & Mike being RWS based) in these past few years. From a modeler's standpoint, he has an excellent, highly detailed prototype, and a handsome paint scheme that stands out. I have quite a few friends who love Ryan, too, and would love an official, mass produced model of him as well.

While I dislike Phillip, Bachmann does see an easy model to make. An easy to make model that customers don't want is more likely to be made than a complicated one that customers do want at this point, at least in the HO and Large Scale lines. I mean, hey, we did get Rosie... But hey, maybe we'll get Samson instead or...

Hey, maybe even Bradford! Just put mold his face on an existing model Bachmann has made and repaint it, much like with Toad. I personally wouldn't mind getting a Bradford.  

On a side note, I don't know how many will be asking for Wooden Railway items now since next year the line completely changes to THOMAS WOOD.

[TrainFan97]

We don't want Philip.

I don't want Philip either. I was only saying he'd be a simple new tooling.

Anyways, I really think Norman deserves more speaking roles and merchandise. He is very underused in the show. Sidney is pretty much guaranteed to be made before Norman, since Bachmann at least has Sidney's tooling. For a diesel with a new tooling, I'd definitely pick Norman over Philip by a landslide. Norman seems more likely than Daisy, because Norman is a diesel shunter, with a fixed wheelbase for an eye mechanism. He is slightly longer than the Class 08s. I think his tooling looks simple to make. The range can use a diesel with a new tooling.

Even though Daisy has had several starring roles, she seems too big, being a diesel railcar with no fixed wheelbase which can make an eye mechanism difficult.

Ryan is a great choice for his appearances, and unique livery.

[thomasj219]

We don't want Philip.

Maybe you don't   

Always with the short condescending comments.

You take yourself a little too seriously Donald. 

[donaldthescottishtwin]

Probably.

[Captain Crutch]

Atleast Philip's role in JBS was so small I didn't even remember he was in it, the only reason I know he was in it was I wanted to make sure I had my facts straight. It seemed like ever since his introduction Philip was treated like a main character, JBS stopped that luckily. Hopefully if he's a background character he'll be more likable.

[SilviaGunner]

We don't want Philip.

And by we you mean you? As for Daisy...Well Bachmann has made her prototype that is a Class 101 DMU. They could just turn their DMU into a single unit diesel rail-car & that's where their Daisy comes in.

[Chaz]

If Bachmann were to make Philip, it wouldn't be the first time Bachmann announced a character who not a lot of people would have expected (or wanted), like Rosie or Jeremy.

[TrainFan97]

If Bachmann were to make Daisy, they could use the tooling from Bachmann UK to make her. She can be the first engine to use a tooling from Bachmann UK. May not be perfect, but still.

They just need to turn the DMU into a single unit.

[Chaz]

If Bachmann were to make Daisy, they would make a new tooling for her to match her CG render instead reusing the DMU tooling.

[mully]

Mavis adds another diesel and a female however her model has been discontinued in ho scale so...

The Mavis model is not discontinued and is still in production.

Also I think Ryan would be a likely candidate too since by next year he would have been around by three years and is a tank engine with a color contrast, something I imagine Mattel would be on board with.  I could see him being more popular than Rosie.

Sorry using the new 2017 cataloge as a reference I thought she was as she's not included in there. My mistake

[Plow_Bender]

Sorry using the new 2017 cataloge as a reference I thought she was as she's not included in there. My mistake

Statement invalid...

http://resources.bachmanntrains.com/bachmann2017/

Page 31, below Emily, above Ben, next to Diesel.  There's no way Bachmann would discontinue Mavis considering her character status and her popularity.  If Bachmann decides to discontinue any engines in the HO range, Arry and Bert will most likely be next to go.

-Rusty

[SilviaGunner]

Because let's face it, Arry & Bert share the same face with the former having more stubble than the latter.

[TrainFan97]

I guess creating a new tooling would be the better idea. Daisy wouldn't look much like her render if they just modified the Bachmann UK tooling.

Chances of Daisy being made seem slim, due to the fact that they haven't made any big engines since Donald and Douglas, and economics. The recent releases (Oliver and Rosie) have been great sellers so far, so Daisy might have a shot, but with Paxton delayed, I probably shouldn't expect the next announcements to be that big. They did manage to announce Rosie with Oliver delayed.

I'd welcome either Daisy or Norman. If we get a diesel with a new tooling, I can't tell which one's more likely. Daisy for her starring roles and character development, or Norman for being a diesel shunter with a fixed wheelbase. Both diesels haven't had any recent merchandise.

I wouldn't mind Sidney or Ryan being announced. I'd welcome any of these characters as long as it's not Philip.

[Chaz]

Well I talked about my thoughts on HO and narrow gauge and went in depth with Peter Sam earlier too but I figured I would now share my thoughts on large scale.

To be completely honest I feel like this range is dying and this is because of how bad the market is for large scale in general.  The fact that the Thomas range is getting a new engine with a new tooling is surreal but it's almost obvious why they went with Diesel and I'll explain why in a minute.  It's just so hard to overlook that literally the only other thing they are doing is just taking the exact same brake van and slapping a face on it to make profit off the model is really showing signs of how little to expect in future announcements.  Even then it still doesn't justify the spiteful brake van not being out in HO yet.

So with that in mind here are my thoughts.

For engines I could see them do one of two things, both having to do with Diesel.  One of them is introduce Diesel with DCC and sound.  Diesel is already being delayed til 2018, at least from what I can tell so why not add him with DCC and sound just like Thomas and Percy?  He isn't available in the DCC module (yet somehow almost half the engines available will never be made in large scale at this point), so why not make him with DCC and sound so fans have a choice right when the Diesel model comes out?  Seems like the best solution to do this now while the model won't be out for a while.  It also wouldn't be a bad idea to do this for James, Toby, and Emily too, again to make things simpler for fans and giving them the option.

The second likely option is almost obvious...


I'm not gonna deny that these are the only new engines I see having a shot at this point.  It's obvious to me too that with Diesel coming out these two are a quick cash-in with Diesel's tooling being available.  Their sales in other ranges, including Bachmann's HO range, have been pretty poor in sales resulting in being discontinued in other ranges, so already these two are going to be a double-edged sword for the range even though they are inevitable additions.  Personally I think Bachmann shouldn't even bother with these two and instead focus more on DCC and rolling stock.

Speaking of rolling stock, if we get any here are the only options I see happening:


Now while this is a new tooling and a fairly large one, my money is on the Mail car appearing in large scale for a couple of reasons.  One of them is that it's used on the television show regularly and as a result the HO model is still in production and people are still buying this model regularly.  Large scale would be no different, and fans would buy multiple quantities of these.  But more importantly, like the vans that came out the Mail car offers recolor possibilities.  Something Mattel probably insisted Bachmann made like a green mail car or the refrigerator car (with that dumb live lobster logo on it...), so already it would offer a lot to the range despite being the largest piece of rolling stock the range would offer.


The red coaches are a good possibility too.  They're not only recolors of Annie and Clarabel with different modifications but once again, like the HO models, proved to be very popular sellers.  Even though they would be easier to make than the mail car, I would honestly put these as a close second in terms of likelihood of being made.

Probably not the most optimistic list for large scale, especially since some of these are a push but I figured I would get my views out there anyway.  Any thoughts?