Bachmann Thomas & Friends in 2019

[TerencetheTractor525]

That being said, Bachmann should look seriously at the prices that their discontinued flatcar is going for on eBay. They have a huge untapped market there similar to the express coaches.

The same can be said for this guy . I apologize for sounding like a broken record, but the prices that the Hornby model are going for on eBay are astounding, as are the amount of people who are desperate to see Bachmann make him. Let's hope that Mattel won't stop Bachmann from making a new HO loco that will wow all Thomas fans and be an outstanding seller, just as Duck and Oliver were.

Regarding narrow gauge, I have a feeling that Peter Sam will be the next loco. Yet, even if Duncan is next, I am confident that his model will be in proportion to Douglas (Duncan's basis).



In fact, the reason why Bachmann has taken so long to reveal Rusty may be that the prototype was based off the redesigned Midlander design, and was therefore given a red flag by Mattel, considering how different the shape of the model is from the television series model (the biggest notable difference being that the real life model presents the bottom half of the front protruding outward, making it impossible to incorporate the larger CGI face). I am not certain about this, but this may be a possible reason.



Going back to Duncan though, I firmly believe that the differences between Duncan's basis and his awful CGI render would not be as noticeable as Rusty's to Mattel (to avid fans like us, it would). Therefore, as long as the measurements of Douglas (Duncan's basis) were taken during the Talyllyn Railway visit, I am sure that we will be in luck when it comes to Duncan. 

However, as long as the narrow gauge range keeps on expanding with more locos, I really feel that Bachmann should consider making a narrow gauge engine shed for the resin building range.

[JLK2707]

Yeah, I'd buy a Bachmann Stepney!

[Metal]

I might actually but in the minority here, but I actually hope that Rusty is based off his TV design. While I do like his S4 face over his S5-12 face, I don't mind Rusty being full CGI.

Another interesting note is how Rusty's CGI render has more detail then Midlander's original design

[Chaz]

Personally I'm thinking that they will more likely go for the CG render, considering most of the marketing standards by Mattel.  Like Oliver, I can't hold it against Bachmann if they choose to go that route even if it isn't my personal preference.  Plus since it will most likely have the same quality that the Skarloey and Rheneas brought to us, I think Rusty will be a nice model once it's revealed, regardless of its design.

[DucktheGWREngine08]

If they make another NG steam locomotive I really am hoping for Sir Handel or Peter Sam as I would love to see one of them made or both of them.

[Metal]

Wonder if we'll get some generic open wagon for narrow gauge that resemble the ones on the show and not the Peco china clay ones.







If the Bachmann Skarloey Coaches become a hit, then I'd personally would like to these announced.

[Chaz]

While I don't collect a large scale, I feel it's worth bringing up that Lionel just announced red coaches for their O scale line.



Honestly, it really does surprise me that not even the large scale range has made the red coaches yet, especially when the HO red coaches managed to sell so well.  Perhaps this is worth considering for 2019?  I feel like that these would especially do better than the tankers that got announced this year for large scale (or pretty much anything that they have done in the last couple of years).

[Rodimus Supreme]

While I don't collect a large scale, I feel it's worth bringing up that Lionel just announced red coaches for their O scale line.



Honestly, it really does surprise me that not even the large scale range has made the red coaches yet, especially when the HO red coaches managed to sell so well.  Perhaps this is worth considering for 2019?  I feel like that these what is specially do better than the tankers that got announced this year for large scale (or pretty much anything that they have done in the last couple of years).

Woah! I'm surprised to see Lionel do anything new in their O Scale Thomas and Friends line at all! Interesting. Not too bad looking, but still has those weird proportions that Lionel Thomas model all have, and black roofs instead of white. I notice that they didn't design one of those coaches to be a brake coach. Both of them are composite coaches. That's an odd thing to do. Also, it says that S.C.Ruffey is new. I thought they had already done S.C.Ruffey before? Or have they not and this is the first time they are doing him?

[Chaz]

Let's try to refrain from criticism or comments about Lionel since I only used the picture of the new red coaches as a reference and a reminder of why Bachmann should consider making these for their large scale range.

Either way I think it's time Bachmann focused on doing the red coaches for large scale since that range could really benefit from having some more coaches besides Annie, Clarabel, and Emily's coaches.  Henrietta would be nice too in large scale and I feel like she would be very popular with those who already bought Toby.  Plus if they wanted to re-use Henrietta's tooling in large scale they could always release Hannah alongside Henrietta.

[Plow_Bender]

Woah! I'm surprised to see Lionel do anything new in their O Scale Thomas and Friends line at all! Interesting. Not too bad looking, but still has those weird proportions that Lionel Thomas model all have, and black roofs instead of white. I notice that they didn't design one of those coaches to be a brake coach. Both of them are composite coaches. That's an odd thing to do. Also, it says that S.C.Ruffey is new. I thought they had already done S.C.Ruffey before? Or have they not and this is the first time they are doing him?

I'll be honest and say that I too don't care for a lot of what Lionel puts out anymore (at least in terms of T&F items), but I also agree that it's not fair to be criticizing them on what is of course the "Bachmann" forum.  Like Chaz even pointed out, the image was intended as a reference and therefore I would like to give my thoughts on the red coaches in large scale as well.  It's also worth noting that the roofs are actually correct as they went from black to white somewhere around the CGI era.

So that aside now, Chaz does make quite a few good points as Large Scale could definitely use this simple addition.  What I don't understand is why Bachmann hasn't taken a stab at this yet considering the tooling is practically already there with Annie/Clarabel/Emily's Coaches.  I'll second the fact that red coaches would be a "far" better addition to the range than 3 mediocre tanker recolors that literally no one even asked for much less wanted.  Like I keep saying, large scale really does need some help for 2019 and I think Bachmann really needs to take a look at how bad the announcements have been for the range the last few years and look for ways to improve it.

Bachmann has so many existing toolings they could be using to their advantage, but unfortunately they aren't.  They could easily do things like James, Emily, and Toby with DCC sound, Red Coaches, Troublesome Truck #3 (or even #4 and #5), or even an LBSC Thomas.  People have been hounding for a couple years now for TT#3 in large scale, but instead we got the Spiteful Breakvan.  Now I'm not saying this addition was bad, but in my opinion it should have been released in the HO range first.  To be fair, I think that a TT#3 (being a simple van or tanker with a face), would have made more sense rather than taking the original brakevan and slapping a face on it.  Give credit where credit it due I guess.

Although I pretty much lost all hope for Henrietta getting announced for large scale, Bachmann hasn't done a new tooling for the range since Winston and the Ice Cream Van, and Diesel would have been the exception had he not ended up being canceled.  So since everything over the last few years has been nothing more than just recolors, maybe they could get away with making a new tooling for 2019?  Like Chaz mentioned in his post, if they want toolings they can use for recolors, then just use Henrietta to make Hannah.  I'm pretty sure even Hannah would sell better than a Chocolate Syrup Tanker.

That's just my thoughts on the matter though, but even then I still have that nagging feeling that large scale announcements in 2019 will probably be minimal.  Still, the announcements in general have been all over the place in recent years, so it's kind of hard to really predict what exactly will happen.  Still, fingers are crossed for the red coaches to make an appearance in 2019, but I'm not going to hold my breath either.

-Rusty

[TerencetheTractor525]

While we are possibly getting closer to the time of year when Bachmann starts to finalize on what they will announce for the Thomas line in 2019, I thought that I should post what I (and the majority of fans) would like to see in 2019 in a nutshell:

HO Scale
-Stepney (would highly recommend reading Chaz's post, which is found at the bottom of the page, if you have not done so yet: http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,34526.75.html)
-Flat Car Reintroduction (Various versions with different loads distinguishing them (would highly recommend reading Spark's post if you have not done so yet: http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,35062.0.html)
-Troublesome Truck #6: http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,34526.45.html

Narrow Gauge
-Peter Sam (would highly recommend reading Chaz's post if you have not done so yet: http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,34526.30.html)

Resin Buildings (if lucky)
-Narrow Gauge Double Engine Shed
-One of the other buildings listed in the following thread: http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,34707.0.html

Large Scale:
-Red Coach
-Red Brake Coach

or

-Troublesome Truck #3 (Van)
-Troublesome Truck #4 (Tanker)

In my eyes, this is a list of products that seem possible announce in 2019, please ALL fans, and will guarantee strong sales  .

[Chaz]

Hit the nail with a hammer as usual Terence, though I'm surprised you didn't include brake vans for narrow gauge in your post, or any rolling stock for NG for that matter.   Either way, that would be a solid lineup for next year.

[TerencetheTractor525]

Thanks Chaz! I did think about putting the narrow gauge brake vans on the list, but decided not to at the last second after remembering that there can only be so many new toolings announced in one year. Considering that the narrow gauge carriages were the one/two new toolings announced for 2018, I think that narrow gauge rolling stock is the area that can be omitted for 2019. Would definitely love to see them in the future though.

But it's definitely clear that Peter Sam and Stepney are the most anticipated when it comes to new toolings, which is another reason why I hope that Bachmann will not throw away money by making Nia and/or Rebecca, both of whom would be much more expensive to make than Stepney.

[Chaz]

That's a completely valid point actually.  Especially considering when only Rusty got announced last year, and this year we only got coaches. I could definitely expect them to do one or the other, even though my personal preference is both, but maybe Bachmann probably wants to wait and see how the coaches will sell before doing brake vans.

Peter Sam is definitely the preferable one I would choose, (if it really came down to it), so if he was the only new announcement for narrow gauge in 2019, I would be pretty happy.

Nia and Rebecca would be a total waste, especially with the reception BWBA/S22 has so far, so I would strongly advise Bachmann to not consider those two and focus more on the characters that were suggested in your post before even giving any thought to Nia and Rebecca (especially with how expensive their models would be).

[TrainFan97]

My 2019 predictions:

HO Scale
Stepney
Explosives Van
Troublesome Truck #6 (tanker)
Red Express Coaches (re-introduction)

Narrow Gauge
Peter Sam

Large Scale
Red Branch Line Coaches

As much as I'd want her, I don't think we'll get HO Daisy anytime soon, given her size, Mattel's marketing standards, and how many recolors we've been getting lately, and very rarely do we get a new tooling for HO Scale. If any new tooling is possible, Stepney should definitely get made, since he's a simple tank engine. HO Stepney would be a hugely successful model, since there is clearly a market for him.

Bachmann must NOT make Nia or Rebecca, given the controversy and reception Big World Big Adventures and Season 22 have had.