Bachmann's 2021 Thomas & Friends Announcements!

[InsideTrack]

Bachmann is excited to announce new items coming to our Thomas line in 2021.

- HO Scale
Ryan (Item No. 58823)
Toby's Museum Coach (Item No. 76032)
Toby's Museum Brake Coach (Item No. 76033)
Narrow Gauge Yellow Rheneas (Item No. 58605)
Narrow Gauge Box Van - Blue (Item No. 77208)
Narrow Gauge Box Van - Red (Item No. 77209)

- N Scale
Toby the Tram Engine (Item No. 58794)
S.C. Ruffey (Item No. 77092)

-Large Scale
Paxton (Item No. 91408)
Mining Wagon with Load - Blue (Item No. 98025)
Sodor Coal Co. Wagon with Load (Item No. 98026)
Sodor Scrap Co. Wagon (Item No. 98027)

For more details, tune into our segment at the Amherst Railway Society's Virtual Show tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. EST. More information available at http://www.railroadhobbyshow.com/attendingtheshow.php

[Chaz]

Gonna re-post my earlier post here with additional thoughts included:

Ryan is definitely an interesting choice. I would argue that out of all of the newer characters, he seemed to be a very popular request with both the older and younger fans.  Plus he goes hand-in-hand with Daisy and has always been popular merchandise wise.  So if anything Ryan was a shoe-in for Bachmann.  He's not the first choice of locomotive for me personally but I think the model itself will turn out really nice.  I can see him being a popular seller.

Toby's Museum coaches are honestly a really solid choice for rolling stock in HO.  I not only appreciate that these are pieces of rolling stock based on something from the show, but also that these were requested by fans on here and Twitter briefly and clearly Bachmann listened to that suggestion and followed up with it.  It's funny how a standard museum coach never was made in the show but I'm assuming Bachmann went this route just to allow fans to buy a complete pair of two coaches to make a standard train.  

I may pick these up actually since these are some of the few pieces of rolling stock past season 5 that doesn't scream "toys" from a mile away and they genuinely look really nice on the show.  Probably won't get more than two of them though.

Yellow Rheneas is... honestly a disappointment.  I am surprised Bachmann decided to go down the route of repainting the same character again for narrow gauge instead of making a new tooling in narrow gauge to go along with Ryan (like Sir Handel).  But perhaps they want to take things slowly since narrow gauge is a more niche scale than HO?  Either way this won't be something I'll be picking up.  Hopefully Bachmann has plans to announce Sir Handel once Peter Sam and yellow Rheneas are out.

The box vans are a really interesting choice.  It looks like these will most likely be new toolings since the Peco ones are still listed at Trainworld with a different product number.  Which if that's the case I'll definitely be purchasing some once released.  Hopefully they do the same with open wagons too.

The highlight for me without a doubt is N scale Toby, as he's one of my favorite characters and he's the first character in N scale that Tomix didn't do so I'm happy to see him come to the range.  He was popular in all ranges beforehand so it's no surprise to see him so soon after James.  A purchase I'll be making day one!

N scale SC Ruffey is not a surprise I'll probably be purchasing him as well.

The large scale Paxton is probably the least surprising out all these announcements since it was technically "leaked" from Bachmann UK a few months back.  But regardless Paxton has proven to be a very well liked character, clearly well enough to get Bachmann to introduce him before 'Arry and Bert.  While I do think Paxton was a much safer option than 'Arry and Bert long term, I don't think he's gonna fly off the shelves as fast as the previous engines did, including Diesel.  I'd be very curious to see how they handle his faceplate too.

The large scale wagon recolors aren't a surprise, like the tankers I don't see these selling too well if I'm being totally honest.

Can't wait to see more info on these hopefully tomorrow at the Amherst show!  Bachmann's presentation will be at 2:30 PM East coast time so look out for that.

[Falcon the 2nd]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand there's the full lineup. Like Chaz, I'll reiterate some of my initial thoughts from the other thread.

Ryan is a character I'm not too familiar with since he was introduced past my initial time with Thomas. Regardless, I'm still happy to see him join the lineup! He'll certainly be a worthy addition to the HO engine selection and many fans will be eager to buy him. As the range's second GCI character and an engine without an existing fixed eye mechanism to conform to, the team will hopefully have it a little easier making him than Paxton.

'Toby Feels Left Out' is an episode I've only seen once, so I'm just a little more familiar with the Museum Coach. It looks nice going by pictures on the wiki and both coaches will be welcomed in the growing group of HO rolling stock.

Yellow Rheneas was a left-field announcement, but I'm guessing the Narrow Gauge lineup has gotten old enough to the point where recolors are now viable. I'm also more familiar with this choice having also seen Blue Mountain Mystery once, but I don't even have the original Rheneas yet, so I'm not sure if I would want it. We'll most likely have to wait for a new character after Peter Sam is finished (preferably Sir Handel).

Not much else to say about the Narrow Gauge Box & Break Vans, but I could see myself buying them depending on how they look.

I'm happy to see N Scale Toby confirmed by this time! And he's the right engine to introduce now for a multitude of good reasons - he's the most cost-friendly engine to choose, his chassis could be re-used for Mavis (if she remains viable in the future) and as a whole, he is a beloved long-timer with much potential to be successful. I can't wait to see him sculpted later on and I have a feeling that I'll want to buy him when I have the chance.

S.C. Ruffey was a bit of an obvious choice, but I'm sure he'll turn out good as well. We surprisingly didn't get the Milk Tanker or Brake Van despite sharing many guesses with Toby & S.C. Ruffey up until now. I'll continue to hope for them as the N Scale range keeps growing. It'll likely be a good while until we can have Henrietta to compliment Toby.

I've been holding out on new toolings for Large Scale after Diesel's reconfirmation last year, but it looks like we'll have to wait a little longer. It's all understandable and acceptable, however - the pandemic is still making things hard from a manufacturing point-of-view and Diesel alone has shaped up to be a worthwhile new tooling after a long time. I'm sure most people who model Large Scale will agree that anything for it this year is better than nothing.

Paxton is a character I want Bachmann to be careful with handling in Large Scale - his HO Scale model was not well-received for the fact that his face was poorly proportioned as a result of Diesel's existing eye mechanism. With a much bigger scale to work with this time around, I hope that the team can take their time to get the face just right on Paxton. As far as I'm concerned, the most that they would have do is adjust the eye mechanism on Diesel and sculpt the face around that. It'll make the creation of him cost more, but I'm certain it'll be worth it for the long-run and that he'll sell better with a more accurate face. Hoping that my concern can be passed on to the team and taken into consideration while it's still early.

With the announcements for all ranges shared, I can safely say that Bachmann is off to a good start this year. We already have a handful of previously shared products to look forward to later this year and we now have a bunch of new ones to also anticipate in the near future. Likewise, I'll tune into tomorrow's stream and see what else they've got to share. Best of luck to the Bachmann team as the year continues - you're the best!

[JLK2707]

Cool! I am definitely going to be getting all of the HO scale announcements, along with the narrow gauge announcements! I will also just be getting two models of Ryan. One I will leave as him, and the other for repainting into the white tank engine from Big World! Big Adventures!

[Rodimus Supreme]

So I wonder how many people are actually going to buy the museum coaches for Toby? I feel like more people will end up buying them to use as generic branch line coaches on their layouts, or even repurpose them as coaches meant to be pulled by one specific character.

[TrainCollector]

I'm definitely getting HO Ryan, N scale Toby, N scale S.C. Ruffy and Large Scale Paxton. Those I was actually surprised at. I thought for sure we would get Gordon and Henry for N scale maybe next year hopefully. Really excited for these.

[Angelob6660]

I believe their reissuing the same narrow gauge box vans with different serial number.

[TrainFan97]

Glad to see Ryan being confirmed for HO Scale. That means people can start an Arlesburgh-Harwick layout, now that both Ryan AND Daisy are on the horizon for HO Scale (You can even recreate the Season 20 episode "Ryan and Daisy" using these models). It's also good to see we're getting another new tooling, instead of another recolor, as people were really starting to get sick of them. Ryan will be the fourth new tooling in the HO Scale range since Mattel's takeover. First Oliver, then Rosie, then Daisy, and now Ryan.

For future new toolings in HO Scale, Stepney and BoCo both have a slim chance, since their last appearances were in the model series, but either one will sell like crazy. Norman was a character with wasted potential, since he never had an episode dedicated to him, but I think he's an interesting engine. It's just that Mattel actively refused to show Norman's full potential in the show. Stanley is another character people sometimes talk about. He's not really my favorite, but Stanley does have a unique white livery. If Salty gets brought back, Porter is another good choice for your Brendam Docks layout. The only issue with Sonny (aside from only recently appearing in Season 24) is his rather complicated siderod configuration. What should be the next new tooling after Ryan?

For HO Scale rolling stock, we're getting Toby's Museum Coaches from the Season 9 episode "Toby Feels Left Out" (only the brake coach was used). It's model series rolling stock we're getting. Still no red express coaches or tar tanker reintroductions. Still no Explosives Van, or Chocolate Syrup or Toffee Tankers.

Regarding Narrow Gauge, we now have the first engine recolor in the range, and it's one that only appeared briefly at the end of Blue Mountain Mystery. Smudger would've been a better recolor than Yellow Rheneas, or Proteus (after Sir Handel gets made). Both of them also only appeared briefly, but in the model series. Not sure what to say about the Box Vans. Because Peter Sam hasn't been released yet, maybe they weren't ready to announce Sir Handel yet.

N Scale Toby is now confirmed, so we'll already have half the original Steam Team in HO Scale. I knew that during these trying times, they're not ready to make Gordon or Henry yet, and Toby was the best bet. We're getting S.C. Ruffey for rolling stock, but no Henrietta. I'm hoping we do get Henrietta for Toby eventually. Now that Toby is coming, who should be the next N Scale engine? The best choices would be Gordon, Henry, Emily, or Edward.

Large Scale Paxton is now confirmed. Hopefully, he turns out great. The three open wagons that were made for HO Scale a few years ago are now coming to Large Scale.

[RailwayRoundhouse]

Considering the fact that Bachmann is still working to release previous products like Daisy and Peter Sam, this is actually a really good line up. I didn't think we'd be getting any new toolings this year. Certainly a nice surprise.

[Mulfred100]

Again I'm echoing what I said previously in the 2021 predictions thread. I'm pretty happy with Ryan. I think he will be an excellent addition to the HO range along side Daisy and if they had to make any CGI character I wanted him. I'm not overly familiar with Toby's museum coaches but I'm sure there was only one in the show however I'm probably wrong. Yellow Rheneas is a bit of a dud one for me personally. I'm not a fan of the whole recolour trend and I'm a bit shocked they chose Yellow Rheneas over Smudger. Yeah sumdger only appeared once years ago but he still had alot of merchandise and I hope Smudger is something that Bachmann will consider in the future. Narrow Gauge box vans also threw me abit. I mean we have box vans. Sure they aren't massive sellers but how will these vans be different but theres not image to go off yet so. N Scale Toby and S.c.Ruffy were obvious picks but great little additions to the range never the less. I was a little surprised with Large Scale Paxton. I thought we would get him but might have been next year but its really nice to see the Large Scale range grow a bit more. Wonder how long it will be before They announce Arry and Bert in Large Scale. As for the rolling stock again just nice to have a bit new rolling stock in the range. Thank you bachmann. I know people are disappointed with some of these announcements. I myself I'm not jumping for joy over Yellow Rheneas and I know others are annoyed about Ryan being introduced over Stepney but again Ryan has a lovely basis and will look grand next to Daisy and is probably my favourite CGI introduced character. Other new engines will be along soon so please be patient and remember that we are still recoving from 2020.

[shining time]

glad for the new releases like Ryan and n scale Toby/S.C. Ruffy, was kind of hoping for Sir Handel but yellow Rheneas will at least be a collectors item. Also glad the large scale line is getting some new items as well

[TrainFan97]

It's great that we're indeed getting Ryan to go along with Daisy. I'm still hoping we'd get Sidney at some point in the near future for HO Scale, so we can be done with the Class 08 characters, but I understand. Bachmann must have known that people were really starting to get sick of the amount of recolors in the HO range, so they announced Ryan, another new tooling, to break the monotony.

Which new tooling is most likely next for HO Scale?
-Stepney (last appearance in model series)
-BoCo (last appearance in model series)
-Stanley (unique white livery)
-Porter (would be great if Salty comes back)
-Samson (they'd need to make Bradford to go with him)
-Whiff (they'd need to make Scruff to go with him)
-Den (they'd need to make Dart to go with him)
-Norman (not frequently used in the show, nor did he have a dedicated episode, but people can show his potential with their own stories with him)
-Timothy (not frequently used in the show, but would go good with Bill and Ben, but Marion is too gimmicky)
-Hiro (very popular choice, but he's quite a big and detailed engine)

If they can't announce model series characters like BoCo or Stepney, which character used in the CGI series would be best for next?

[Falcon the 2nd]

Either Hiro or Porter would be my picks if the options were restricted to GCI characters:

• Hiro has held his ground well since his debut. He'd be a solid seller and he also seems ideal for the first tender engine to introduce since Donald & Douglas in 2011. He could still be both a more expensive and detailed engine to produce than usual, however.
• Despite having a similar caliber of detail, Porter serves a good alternative since he's a shorter engine. Announcing him could also be Bachmann's one opportunity to bring back the long-discontinued Salty.

I'm a little surprised there haven't been much mentions of Stephen, Gator or Glynn at this point, though there could be unique issues that prevent them from being considered possible.

[Chaz]

https://resources.bachmanntrains.com/bachmann2021/html5/index.html

The catalog is up!  The large scale Paxton is up and finished and they did a much better job on his face than the HO model.

In addition we are getting HO models of Thomas and Percy with DCC and Sound!  Never thought I would see Bachmann include DCC and sound in their HO models after putting it off for so long so that's super exciting to see!

Also the prices went up again (no shock there) but Ryan's RRP is only a few dollars behind Spencer... yikes.

I believe their reissuing the same narrow gauge box vans with different serial number.

Yeah about that... check the catalog.  Bachmann discontinued the Peco ones but instead announced them with a new product number, cheaper price and new pictures from the show.  These are going to be new toolings like the coaches/brake vans.  Likely due to the poor sales from the Peco recolors.

Hope this means we are getting more accurate narrow gauge open wagons at some point too.

[Falcon the 2nd]

The photo of Large Scale Paxton is the highlight of the catalogue for me - they surprisingly have him ready right off the bat!

It looks like they listened to what fans said about the HO model a few years back and worked hard to make this one better. Giving him a slightly more neutral expression this time around certainly helped. If he was in production at the same time as Diesel, it was likely the smartest move made. Props to the Bachmann team for improving upon Paxton in Large Scale - he looks great!

I don't have much to say about the DCC Thomas and Percy on the other hand since I'm not into DCC yet, but a few more surprise announcements are still welcomed.

Ryan's price is admittedly a bit much, especially since he costs more than Daisy, but I'm sure he'll still be well worth the purchase.