Future suggestions/predictions thread

[mtrocke88]

My thoughts exactly. I'm really glad you and the other fans agree with me on this. We really don't want stepney, Boco, Duke, etc to be barred from being made forever. If and when Bachmann finally does run out of viable cgi characters, we hope Bachmann can make the best choice and finally make Stepney, Boco, Duke, etc with new tooling. As for cgi characters like Gabriella, they could make that character, but I don't really recommend it, especially since there was little to no demand for that character to be made to begin with, at least not yet. At least that's what I think. But I'll still buy a Bachmann hiro as well.

[mtrocke88]

There are some exceptions of cgi characters I want from Thomas and friends though. Those exceptions include hiro, Stephen, Glynn, Samson, Luke, victor, etc. just to name a few.

I would pay good money for those products too.

[mtrocke88]

Even so, for Thomas fans who want a bachmann Gabriella, I fully accept and respect that.

[Awesometrain77]

15 days till the NMRA what is gonna be I really wanna here some peoples ideas for this .

If I were to revise my predictions .here are they I am gonna try not to do more of these predictions but I really want to open the discussion.

HO scale
Iron Arry
Iron Bert 
Circus cattle van
McColls cattle van
Trotter cattle van
Troublesome truck 7

N scale
Henry
Mining wagon
Sodor coal co wagon
Sodor scrap wagon

I really would like to see what you all think we could see

 

[Chaz]

My list is basically the similar with a possible reintroduction of Arry and Bert in HO, but if they opt to only announce rolling stock this summer then I wouldn't be surprised.

For N scale I'm expecting Henry like everyone else, but I'm kind of leaning towards no new engine in N this summer since Gordon and Emily won't be out til the end of the year.  I'd be more willing to bet on N scale Henry and Edward both getting announced early next year for the anniversary. 

I'm sure we'll get some N scale rolling  stock this summer, but I'm hoping they'll do the original coal wagon with load and the blue and red open wagons first before doing the wagons with decals that you mentioned earlier.  A brake van would be nice too in N scale too but otherwise that's about it. 

[N Scale Sudrian]

Personally I do not expect to see Iron 'Arry and Iron Bert come back this year... Between Rebecca and Stanley making great progress, and Salty's reintroduction being more troubled than anticipated... I think a new tool loco wouldn't be unreasonable for this year's HO announcements... Nia would be my choice if I were in Bachmann's shoes... With her being the highest-billed character that they can make but have yet to commit to, doing her now instead of later will open up more options for the future...

I do agree with Henry and unlettered open wagons as the optimal choice for N Scale's announcements... N Scale has also made good progress this year with the remaining 2022 models slated for delivery before the end of the year... It would be nice for it to receive some more forward momentum this year...

[thomasj219]

The "highest Billed Character"

[Awesometrain77]

Most billing right now could be Sidney. We have a huge backlog we have yet to see sir Handel Duncan and bulgy . Along with a lot of rolling stock.
Sidney could be easy if they use diesel/paxton shell . And nice it a new eye mech a small peice to block the gap covered by the face , and a new face . And of course a new paint .if we were to get a new engine right now it should be Sidney

Tbh rather then us just wagons with printing the N scale open wagons could be the following

 mining wagon with coal load
 Green wagon with coal load
 Sodor scrap wagon 
  Red wagon

I do think they need a new N scale engine to keep the ball rolling and my pick is Henry as diesel and Paxton  could be in the physical protype stage by the end of the year . And we know the express coaches are in development.

[N Scale Sudrian]

"Higher Billing" is entertainment industry lingo, clearly I need to watch my language... What it means is that she is a higher profile character, being one of the ten main cast characters from the 3D-animated show. Since nine of the ten are either already in the HO 'Thomas' line-up, it gives her a leg up on the various secondary characters and troves of tertiary characters that aren't in the series yet, at least in terms of demand and relevance of choice... Budget is clearly another matter given Stanley's announcement last year. But with the amount of obscure picks we all want to see introduced to the line, having Nia be greenlit before any of them will give them better odds in the years to come. It's easier to convince executives to greenlight a side-character once you've exhausted all your leads...

[thomasj219]

"Higher Billing" is entertainment industry lingo, clearly I need to watch my language... What it means is that she is a higher profile character, being one of the ten main cast characters from the 3D-animated show. Since nine of the ten are either already in the HO 'Thomas' line-up, it gives her a leg up on the various secondary characters and troves of tertiary characters that aren't in the series yet, at least in terms of demand and relevance of choice... Budget is clearly another matter given Stanley's announcement last year. But with the amount of obscure picks we all want to see introduced to the line, having Nia be greenlit before any of them will give them better odds in the years to come. It's easier to convince executives to greenlight a side-character once you've exhausted all your leads...

I work in the entertainment industry, which is why I took note of that phrase. That makes no sense in this context as it's an Inanimate object. Not an actor who is billed. If you mean the most profitable character, there's a difference there. But I would also disagree with that.

[DustyMarie53!]

I believe N scale Sudrian means Nia is the highest character in the overall character ranking left to make. She's an actual main, still is in AEG. She's the only character in the model series and CGI series that was a main that is currently missing. Kids love her I've learned on my travels around Europe and my own volunteer experience, and she has plenty of fans fandom side as well. I'd say I'm one of them. She might not necessarily be the most "popular" character left to do, but as a main that shoots her up priority wise. The only other character I'd argue rivals her in terms of that position is Hiro. But he A. isn't a main and B. is dependent on how Rebecca does sales wise according to Doug on previous livestreams. Highest billing probably isn't the most accurate turn of phrase but it gets the point across she's the highest priority character let for Bachmann to make.

[thomasj219]

And I disagree with that too. She may be the highest priority for the owning company, but not for Bachmann. Not only is her basis incredibly complicated when it comes to side rods, which will make it very difficult for kids not to break as well as expensive, she's not as popular as people would like you to believe. I don't dislike her, but she's sort of character and believe me Bachmann knows this. They'll make her if they have to, but it will be an if they have to

[DustyMarie53!]

Just to be candid, there are no safe choices left.

They're going to get more out there by necessity. Stepney, Hiro, and BoCo would be safe choices but they're off the table for time being right now. Hiro less so than the other two of course but until we get actual sales data for Rebecca he's iffy.

Sidney has weird face issues.

The Iron Twins risk running into the same issues as Salty.

Whiff would require potentially really fragile glasses and has a really unique wheel config that would require a complicated mechanism, the issue they ran into with N Emily.

Nia is a pretty intricate design.

Harvey has his crane arm to worry about.

D10 is bigger in CGI than Rebecca even without the claw. So, he's simply too big.

Charlie, Norman, and Porter would probably be easier, but no one here really has asked for those yet.

I guess there's no issues with Fernando, but let's be real here for a second, it's Fernando.

So like. No matter what they're in risky territory. And frankly I wouldn't be surprised if a requirement Mattel gave them is that they have to make both Nia and Rebecca before they even consider letting them do non-cgi characters again when they renegotiated the contract in 2022.

And I think Stanley being announced after Rebecca was intentional. He was the last safe choice they had left. Sandwich him between Rebecca who is risky, and someone else who is also risky. That could be literally anyone of the ones listed. But given the big thing they pressed during the Rebecca and Beau catalog Thomas Tuesday was "relevancy and recognizability with kids" I'm thinking Nia has to be next for a new tool. Feel free to disagree because I can also make the argument for like, Whiff next cause he's also pretty major right now. 08's also can happen at any time but imagine they'll be saved for a bit. We'll see though. I'm not too terribly picky with character choices I just like seeing this line evolve.

[thomasj219]

I guess we'll just have to wait and see won't we

[Awesometrain77]

Since nothing if safe I gonna go by lowest risk / high popularity

Diesel 10 and Nia are the 2 character i hope Bachmann does next .
 

Judy and Jerome are some others I want to see very soon .

Glow in the dark Henry and Emily with 12 are some variants I want to see

Lastly what about a brake coach for Spencer something I think we need badly.