Thomas & Friends in 2018

[BassTbone]

I hope to see Peter Sam this year.  It is my own personal taste, but having two orange, a scarlet and a yellow engine doesn't bring much color. 

[TrainFan97]

Just like you guys, for HO Scale, I would RATHER see Daisy, but at a realistic standpoint, we may or may not get an engine announced this year, considering Paxton's still not out yet. If we do, Sidney seems like the most possible choice, or for engines with new toolings, we could get Stanley or Ryan. Porter sounds like a long shot because of his scaling issues. Philip seems too small for HO.

For Narrow Gauge, I've got hopes to see Peter Sam get announced. Until the announcements, we've got only Rusty to anticipate. Hopefully, Sir Haydn will be out of overhaul by 2019, so we can eventually get Sir Handel.

For Large Scale, I'd rather see Bill and Ben, but at a realistic standpoint, we'll most likely get 'Arry and Bert (who did poorly in HO) or Paxton. If it has to be a Class 08, Paxton would be a much safer decision. Like we've said a while back, 'Arry and Bert would be suicide for the Large Scale range.

[Cheeky_ULP]

IIRC, Oliver took a long time to come out, and we still had Rosie announced the next year. I feel like we've had similar instances in the past with engine announcements. Paxton was announced in 2017, and on average, it does take about a year at best, and two years at worst for an engine to come out. This isn't really anything new to the Thomas range.

[TerencetheTractor525]

I think that the flat cars that Metal mentioned (found at the bottom of the previous page of this thread) is a fantastic idea. I could imagine them doing very well in the market, especially since there is such a demand for the discontinued flat car with paint drums. Iron girders and steel pipes would be great examples of loads. Timber is another load that I thought of.



This goes to show that there is so much that can be done with the flat car.

In addition, if I am not mistaken, the announcements are now less than one month away. Becasue of this, I thought that now would be a good time to make my lists of what I think Bachmann will announce and what I truthfully hope that Bachmann announces, just as JD417 and Chaz did.

What I think Bachmann will announce:

HO:
Ryan
Ventilated Van - Explosives
Spiteful Brake Van

Narrow Gauge:
Peter Sam or Duncan
Brake Van (Light Brown)

Resin Buildings:
Ffarquhar Station
Narrow Gauge Double Engine Shed

Large Scale:
Paxton
Red Coach
Red Brake Coach

What I hope Bachmann will announce:

HO:
Daisy
Flat Car (2-3 with different loads)
Spiteful Brake Van

Narrow Gauge:
Peter Sam or Duncan
Brake Van (Light Brown)

Resin Buildings: (In priority order as I do not expect Bachmann to make all of them in one year )
Narrow Gauge Double Engine Shed


Neptune Refreshments


Castle Ruins (Season 7)


Ffarquhar Station


Large Scale:
Edward
Red Coach
Red Brake Coach
Lady Hatt

All in all, as long as Daisy and/or at least one new resin building is in the 2018 announcements, that's all that I will need to feel content.  

[douglas]

When is Rusty supposed to be debuting again?

[Griffin (TheBlueSnowplow)]

Here are my wishes and my predictions.

Wishlist:

HO Scale
58818 Stanley (with moving eyes)
77014 Flatbed with Oil Drums
77015 Gordon's Express Coach
77016 Gordon's Brake Coach
Thomas & Friends™ Resin Buildings: Ffarquhar Station (Item No. 35909), Dieselworks Shed (Item No. 35910), Neptune Refreshments (Item No. 35911)

Narrow Gauge
58604 Peter Sam
77304 Narrow Gauge Blue Coach
77305 Narrow Gauge Red Coach
77306 Narrow Gauge Red Brake Van
77307 Narrow Gauge Blue Brake Van

Large Scale
91408 Edward (with moving eyes)
98022 Red Coach
98023 Red Brake Coach


In actuality:

HO Scale
58818 Sidney (with moving eyes)
77014 Box Van- Explosives
77015 Spiteful Brakevan
(No Thomas & Friends™ Resin Buildings Announcements)

Narrow Gauge
58604 Duncan
77304 Narrow Gauge Conflat (with Wire Coil Load #102)
77305 Narrow Gauge Conflat (with Tools Load #102)

Large Scale
91408 Paxton (with moving eyes)
98022 Red Coach
98023 Red Brake Coach

In conclusion, I'm not expecting very much from Bachmann this year. Sad, but true.

[Chaz]

Great thoughts, but what about the resin buildings? We did put a lot of effort into thinking about them after all.

I'll update my thoughts on resin buildings in my old post, forgot to add them.

It's also interesting that besides Sidney being expected but not wanted that Duncan is also falling into that same category as well.

[thomasj219]

Ok so here's what I'm hoping will be announced. I'm really hoping for some new Resin buildings this year.

HO
Daisy
Stepney
Brakedown Crane
Various Cars
A New Brakevan

Narrow Gauge
Sir Handle
Blue Coach
Red Coach
Brakevans (Various Colors)

Resin Buildings
Farquhar Station
Narrow Guage Shed
Neptune's Refreshments
Double Engine Shed
Signal Box
Wellsworth Station

[Angelob6660]

When is Rusty supposed to be debuting again?

I looked at the Walthers website that he will arriving around on the 29th of this month with other Thomas merchandise.

[TrainFan97]

I don't rely on Walthers.

At least Rheneas was released before Christmas.

[Chaz]

After a while, you really get used to when engines get released after Bachmann announces them.  Typically an engine gets announced one year in February at Toy Fair and gets released during the second half of the following year.  Rarely does it happen sooner, or in the case of Oliver, later than that.

[TerencetheTractor525]

I'll update my thoughts on resin buildings in my old post, forgot to add them.  

Thanks Chaz! I find it interesting that you put the watermill on your list, as there has been barely any discussion regarding it. Would you prefer for it to be an operating watermill? If so, I think that Bachmann will choose to make the model out of plastic, just like the windmill. However, if the model is non-operating, then I could see Bachmann choosing resin. What do you think?



Moreover, if the watermill gets announced, do you think that Bachmann would make the stone bridge behind the watermill that the engines cross? I'm going to guess no for two reasons. The first reason is that I'm not certain on how well it would do in the market. Would Bachmann call it "Watermill Bridge"? I think that this logic can also apply to the small buildings around windmill.



The second reason is that the people who purchase it would need to build off of the bridge professionally, meaning that it would require skilled modelling such as working with plaster cloth in order to keep the track at that height of the bridge when building off of the sides. In fact, I remember seeing someone suggest Bulgy's Bridge in another thread, and this reasoning would definitely apply to that as well. However, considering the resin building range is aimed towards a more mature audience (ages 14 and above), I could be wrong, and quite frankly hope that I am wrong. Thoughts?

I'm really hoping for some new Resin buildings this year.

I'm right with you  .

[Chaz]

I thought about it, and the last time we had a plastic operational building in the range was the windmill, which was announced in 2011.  I feel like at this point if they do the watermill they would have the building be resin to go along with the recent resin building additions.  Plus the way how it's designed and made out of stone it gives off more of a resin building vibe to me rather than all plastic.  If they were to make it operational like the windmill and lighthouse, then they would have to go with plastic since if they go with a motor and a resin casting it would be way too expensive.  Admittedly I don't see them making a bridge for that particular building since a general consumer would have to find a way to elevate the rail line above the standing height of the waterwheel and mill themselves. It would essentially be two pieces combined into one and a lot of consumers aren't going to want to pay that extra price, especially since most of the people buying Bachmann's Thomas-range buildings for their kids are only doing so for tracks that are level, not elevated.

Plus this is also the range that made a Brendam warehouse but not the Sodor Shipping Company building, so if they were to do other buildings besides the Watermill they would probably look into other options like what we've mentioned in the past for some variety that fans can choose from.  

[Cheeky_ULP]

The Round and Square water towers were also plastic, and those were made in 2016.

[TerencetheTractor525]

I thought about it, and the last time we had a plastic operational building in the range was the windmill, which was announced in 2011.  I feel like at this point if they do the watermill they would have the building be resin to go along with the recent resin building additions.  Plus the way how it's designed and made out of stone it gives off more of a resin building vibe to me rather than all plastic.  If they were to make it operational like the windmill and lighthouse, then they would have to go with plastic since if they go with a motor and a resin casting it would be way too expensive.  Admittedly I don't see them making a bridge for that particular building since a general consumer would have to find a way to elevate the rail line above the standing height of the waterwheel and mill themselves. It would essentially be two pieces combined into one and a lot of consumers aren't going to want to pay that extra price, especially since most of the people buying Bachmann's Thomas-range buildings for their kids are only doing so for tracks that are level, not elevated.

Plus this is also the range that made a Brendam warehouse but not the Sodor Shipping Company building, so if they were to do other buildings besides the Watermill they would probably look into other options like what we've mentioned in the past for some variety that fans can choose from.  

I agree with you Chaz. The resin gives the watermill a much more realistic look than plastic, especially with the stone. Regarding the bridge, I also concur with you. I'm sure that the problems with the watermill bridge would apply to all bridges, with the exception of footbridges (if Bachmann were to make stations such as Wellsworth). Even so, I'm sure that none of us are going to want to jump to conclusions since the resin building range really is targeted to an older audience, just like the narrow gauge range. Although, when looking carefully at the watermill again, I noticed that it is actually a very massive building.

Because of this, another idea that I thought of is the watermill seen at Rheneas Station on the narrow gauge railway.



While observing the size of the narrow gauge watermill next to Peter Sam, it is clear that it is a smaller watermill that would not be as expensive to make as the standard gauge one.



Ultimately, it is a structure that all avid Thomas fans will remember. What do you guys think?