OFFICIAL 2018 ANNOUNCEMENTS

[InsideTrack]

Dear Thomas & Friends™ fans,
Below is a list of the new items we are announcing for 2018. This is the COMPLETE list and the only new items that will be announced in 2018. Happy rails!

HO Scale
58818 Grumpy Diesel (with moving eyes)
76034 Gordon's Express Brake Coach
76035 Gordon's Composite Coach
77010 Spiteful Brake Van
77008 Sodor Diesel Co. Tanker
77009 Water Tanker

Narrow Gauge
77204 Red Carriage
77205 Blue Carriage

Large Scale
98022 Toffee Tanker                                   
98023 Water Tanker                             
98024 Chocolate Syrup Tanker             

Please watch Bachmann's website, www.bachmanntrains.com, for the official announcements of new Thomas & Friends™ product arrivals.

[TrainFan97]

Wow. Grumpy Diesel, eh? At least fans don't have to complain about his friendly expression anymore. He may get black siderods.

[TrainshockeylifE]

What??? No narrow gauge engine??

[TrainshockeylifE]

Insidetrack,
Is grumpy diesel daisy?

[DinoNTrains]

Nice to see that Gordon's coaches are making a comeback!  I wonder if they'll be exactly the same, or if they'll be different models all together.

The other announcements are interesting, and I can't wait to see what they'll look like (especially the Spiteful Brake Van).

[InsideTrack]

Grumpy Diesel is Grumpy Diesel, not Daisy.

[Griffin (TheBlueSnowplow)]

Grumpy Diesel is Grumpy Diesel, not Daisy.

Probably a stupid question, but this is the current character, not a new one. Correct?


I really don't know what to think. These are definintly the strangest announcements we've ever had, but it wil be interesting to see how they unfold. Really upset that we're not getting another NG engine. Excited to see Gordon's coaches return.

Also, @InsideTrack, no news on Paxton or Rusty I'm assuming?

[TrainshockeylifE]

Grumpy Diesel is Grumpy Diesel, not Daisy.

there is no engine names grumpy diesel.

[Chaz]

The catalog is up my friends:

Paxton is up, but it's a photoshopped image of Diesel.  Admittedly I'm kind of tempted on getting him, but might wait til he is on sale.  No Rusty image but eh it's forgivable.  Looks like the large scale Diesel is not in the catalog and neither is Mccolls cattle wagon... have they been cancelled?

resources.bachmanntrains.com/bachmann2018/html5/index.html?page=1

Now for my thoughts on the announcements themselves:

Honestly, I'm not entirely surprised that there are no new engines this year, with how slow production has been in the last couple of years, maybe we will have better luck with Peter Sam next year (or Sir Handel).

Grumpy Diesel just seems... lazy and a real disappointment.  It's great that the face is getting updated but why have both in the range?  Even Sidney would have made more sense.

Gordon's express coaches are returning, excellent! While I had my doubts on Bachmann bringing back discontinued products, it's nice to see that these made it back into the range. I can see them being very popular after their long absence.

Spiteful brake van in HO, glad to see that happen!  Will be buying for sure!

The water tanker is not a surprise, and neither is the other tanker coming out. The large scale tankers also seem pretty lazy as well and sounds like design choices/suggestions from Mattel (especially with Grumpy Diesel).

The highlight for me though, is narrow gauge coaches! No brake van, which is a little bit of a shame, but hopefully we will have better luck next year.

Overall, a bit of an underwhelming lineup of announcements, but aside from "grumpy Diesel" not a whole lot to complain about on my part, but at the same time nothing to get excited over.  Only things I care for are the narrow gauge coaches and the spiteful brake van in HO.  Otherwise, looks like my wallet is going to remain unharmed.

[TrainFan97]

I'm disappointed that we're still not getting Daisy, but at least a face change for Diesel is better than NO engine for HO Scale. It's still something. We were expecting Daisy, Stanley, Sidney, or Ryan, but it ended up being none of them. NOBODY expected this, but at least HO Diesel will look more like a villain now. A face change for an existing model is a first! *Sighs* Guess we can hope for Daisy in 2019... I have no idea what to make of it. We've been wanting Daisy since she returned in CGI, and she's still not coming.

The express coaches are returning by popular demand. It's about time.

The Spiteful Brake Van, which was announced last year for Large Scale, is coming to HO Scale. Still no Explosives Van.

No new engines for Narrow Gauge or Large Scale, but at least we're getting Narrow Gauge coaches, which were a huge request.

[Griffin (TheBlueSnowplow)]

I'm disappointed that we're still not getting Daisy, but at least a face change for Diesel is better than NO engine for HO Scale.

I'm willing to bet that anyone who has any knowledge of the Thomas range will simply buy the face plate off of Bachmann's parts department. No one is stupid enough to pay for a whole new engine unless they need a new Diesel anyway. I'm shocked that Bachmann wouldn't have considered this factor. I can see a move like this for Trackmaster where new characters are made all the time, but Bachmann? Never in my wildest dreams could I have predicted they would go this route.

[TrainshockeylifE]

Does anyone have a clear picture of Paxton, mines blurry

[TrainFan97]

I'm disappointed that we're still not getting Daisy, but at least a face change for Diesel is better than NO engine for HO Scale.

I'm willing to bet that anyone who has any knowledge of the Thomas range will simply buy the face plate off of Bachmann's parts department. No one is stupid enough to pay for a whole new engine unless they need a new Diesel anyway. I'm shocked that Bachmann wouldn't have considered this factor. I can see a move like this for Trackmaster where new characters are made all the time, but Bachmann? Never in my wildest dreams could I have predicted they would go this route.

You're right... A simple face change just seemed very lazy. Hopefully, we'll have better luck getting Daisy in 2019. I'm very mixed on these announcements. Can't wait to get a clearer image of Paxton. Grumpy Diesel will still have silver siderods. Bachmann might as well post Paxton's image.

[Angelob6660]

I like the return of Gordon's coaches. I hope it contains the same model of the old ones so their will be no difference in details.

You think the NG coaches will be based on the classic series? I know I'll be getting 6. 3 of each.

[BassTbone]

The NG coaches are great, but I am a bit disappointed overall.  Was hoping for Peter Sam or at least an image of Rusty.  

There is always next year though.  It could be worse, we could have nothing at all!