Sir Topham Hatt and other scaled figurines

[Zekeism]

Has there ever been a reason why HO scaled figurines of Sir Topham Hatt, Mrs. Kyndley, Farmer McCol and Cyril the Fogman in HO scale never been made?

[Streak]

I created a thread similar to this a while back talking about HO Scale Figures for human characters.

https://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,35242.0.html

It is a pretty cool idea and it's cool to see that other people have though of the same thing.

[the Bach-man]

Dear All.
Since we want younger fans to be able to have the
Thomas characters, the figures have to be large to
avoid being a choking hazard.
Happily they work great with Large Scale!
Have fun!
the Bach-man

[Plow_Bender]

Dear All.
Since we want younger fans to be able to have the
Thomas characters, the figures have to be large to
avoid being a choking hazard.
Happily they work great with Large Scale!
Have fun!
the Bach-man

Personally I say some items in Narrow Gauge are pushing the boundaries of trying to avoid choking hazards, but at the same time I do believe the range may have never been intended for the younger fans, and more for the older ones.  On the subject of the larger figures working with Large Scale, that statement is more than correct.  After all, someone needs to step in when Percy causes confusion and delay.



-Rusty

[Cheeky_ULP]

I think another minor factor not mentioned yet is the novelty of such an idea is gone. In the model era, the humans were these uniquely stylized doll figures. Once CGI came around, they looked more like normal, cartoony CGI people.

[Chaz]

Even more interestingly, they hadn't announced a new human figure since Farmer McColl in 2010.  I think that's showing that the market for the human figures isn't really there anymore for the Thomas ranges.  I don't even recall Farmer McColl being nearly as popular compared to the Sir Topham Hatt and Conductor figures too.

[Rodimus Supreme]

That's kind of odd to say they can't be done because they would be a choking hazard, as there are tons of 1:87 Scale humans and animals for non-Thomas lines and those aren't restricted because of a choking hazard. We know kids do play with those lines as well, with adult supervision. Kids would also have adult supervision while playing with the HO Scale Thomas and Friends trains (at least I hope they would). By that logic, no model railway scale or line should have any human or animal figures as those are just as much of a choking hazard.

[Cheeky_ULP]

It's more likely something Thomas' parent company, Mattel, mandates.

[JLK2707]

Apparently, Hornby were going to make the fat controller, driver and fireman in OO scale, but were cancelled, most likely due to just how they would provide a choking hazard.