Future suggestions/predictions thread

[Stephen62]

...Stephen62 is it? N scale sudrian insulted me calling me childish and entitled. I'm sorry but I don't like being treated like that. I only intended to make a point and if I offended anyone, I sincerely apologize for that. I didn't even mean to upset anyone. Like I said, it's very frustrating that Mattel used a cgi mandate to stop Bachmann trains from making non cgi characters to begin with. And I didn't exactly say we're the only ones Bachmann should cater to either.
That's it. I need a break from this forum, at least for awhile.

I hear what you're saying. I hear what you're saying. Mattel really needs allow more freedom with characters selection. It's weird for me that I love and hate Mattel. My son and I collect Jurassic world stuff together and they are currently done by Mattel and they are doing a terrific job in that department, but I hate that they are involved with Thomas just because of all this limitation crap. There are so many characters that people have been clamoring for for years and they are why we can't and because of that we sometimes get repaints like busy bee James or origin Thomas or James because Bachmann run out of ideas because of being limited. And it was not as bad until recently because we still had shapeways until recently and they were a way to get some of the things that Bachmann couldn't make and now they are not an option anymore.

[mtrocke88]

Well, I still like Stanley as a character so I'm still gonna buy the upcoming Bachmann Stanley from Thomas and friends. And yes, I forgive Bachmann trains for the unpopular product choices. I mean this in the best way possible.

[Stephen62]

I'm not saying I won't. I just think that there a lot of characters that played a bigger role in making the franchise what it is that deserve to be made first. Stanley is a great character and I will probably buy him at some point. But I would definitely buy characters like Murdoch, stepney, flying Scotsman, Bradford, Derek and boco in a heartbeat. Even bear, D199, and class 40 would all be great additions.

[thomasj219]

I'm sorry... This is just an absurd thing to say. Just because you dislike Bachmann's model-making choices or what Mattel is or isn't willing to green-light doesn't mean they're trying to scam anybody.

If you want to talk unpopular choices for models, let's consider that Beau (maligned by many as being an odd pick, since he was only in a few minutes of one special and nowhere else in the series) was the third-most pre-ordered 'Thomas' item on Trainworld in the run-up to his release... Die-hard nostalgic adults aren't the target demographic for 'Thomas', and we aren't the only ones interested in buying model trains based on 'Thomas'. To say that we're the only ones who Bachmann or, more chiefly, Mattel should cater toward comes off to me as very childish and entitled...

Except we actually are. We are the ones who buy the Bachmann Thomas products in the majority especially today. The reason Beau  was bought Is the same reason the narrow gauge models do so well. Other modelers buy them because they're cheaper options I'm assuming or the only options available of certain engines. The American model he is based on seems to be very popular it's not really character.

[DustyMarie53!]

Except we actually are. We are the ones who buy the Bachmann Thomas products in the majority especially today. The reason Beau was bought Is the same reason the narrow-gauge models do so well. Other modelers buy them because they're cheaper options I'm assuming or the only options available of certain engines. The American model he is based on seems to be very popular it's not really character.

Two things. The DCC ready version of the same tool as Beau is only $5 more. Unlikely anyone would buy Beau over that. His success has nothing to do with that.

Secondly, I think people on this forum are too dismissive of the rest of the market for these products. Kids are a huge factor, and general modelers wanting Thomas engines on their layout for events. I volunteer at a railroad and kids and parents alike consistently ask for advice about collecting the Bachmann line. Kids know Daisy and love her thanks to the model. Bachmann isn't just trying to appeal to us, we're just a part of a larger market. Being everyone. That's why they're so hesitant with Diesel 10. They know people here will buy it already, they made that much apparent. But they are worried about him being too expensive for the rest of the market, and how that wouldn't be fair. We are an important part of the market still, but still just that, a part. They're not going to cater to exclusively us.

[thomasj219]

Not only does the history prove you wrong, (Narrow Gauge) the packaging also proves you're wrong. 8 and up. When the shows target audience is nowhere near that age anymore, I don't get how what you're saying even has a shot. I'm sorry dude, but we're right to dismiss those products because they will no chance have the longevity of the classic characters. We're not dismissing the children's market, just acknowledging the reality. Especially with the show where it is. Beau Is an interesting American model with a Thomas fave. I guess I have to spell everything out very clearly here.

There is the odd character that will sell well from the CGI series, but once you move past that it's just not going to work. Add on the price point, The fact that Bachmann is literally doing a Thomas Tuesday with more experienced modelers, you can't see which way the wind is blowing?

Or you just like to be contrary?

[DustyMarie53!]

Notice how literally nothing you said disproves what I said. The 8+ also does not prevent parents from buying this stuff for their kids and is a huge part of the market. Bachmann reps have even outright said this both at train shows and Doug Blaine himself during Thomas Tuesday's Rebecca and Beau reveal. Just because you don't like it doesn't make it not true all of a sudden.

We're a factor of the market, so are the kids/adults buying these things for their kids. That's literally something Bachmann themselves have said. It doesn't get much more cut or dry than that.

Plenty parents comment on Bachmann's Facebook reveals, one I've seen I think about a lot is one whose daughter wants a G scale Rebecca. There's a parent on here who's been asking questions to help build a layout for his kid.  I've seen plenty of parents AND younger modellers in the Thomas Tuesday chats as well.

Truth be told I don't think the difference between us and them is that different even. Especially if they actually commit to the UK line since the RWS is still released over there. But to say we are the only factor is highly inaccurate and frankly selfish

[thomasj219]

It's not about disproving, it's about understanding. The show is literally gauged at kids who are 5 and below. 

Bachmann is leaning more into the modeling side of Thomas. It's obvious.

I am aware. I was a guest on that Thomas Tuesday 

And just so you know. It's "cut and dried" not cut or dry. I am not trying to be rude when I say that just informative.

[DustyMarie53!]

Actually following up on my point. I just came back from the UK. Bunch of kids buying the models, some with their parents, some around the 8-12 range, bunch of adults, bunch of fans. Really shows the variety of the hobby.

But that's not my main point. Actually, I'm leading into a suggestion. The UK line is kind of....bad. They have all the other scales. But the HO line is not great.

Only 1-7, only two road vehicles, like half the rolling stock we do. It's not great. And genuinely I think Bachmann is sitting on a goldmine they need to capitalize on by releasing more of those guys over there. It's a separate branch of Bachmann as Doug has said before, so idk if posting here will even get them to look at it. But if anyone knows better avenues to get in contact and shares my sentiment, I'd love to spread the word

[N Scale Sudrian]

I don't think Bachmann "leaning more into the modeling side of Thomas" suggests that these models "for the nostalgic adults only"... There's nothing about that idea of making a model railway Sodor that is inherently age-gated... Price-gated, certainly, but given the prices for non-'Thomas' trains are much higher than what we see in the 'Thomas' line, I think that is not an insurmountable wall to climb... And as Marie pointed out, there are plenty of demographics besides us that are interested in modeling the Island of Sodor. I think specifically the 'children wanting to break into the hobby' demo will be quite happy with later characters being added. Any children who've retained interest in Thomas after growing up with the late-age 'CGI' show will be what, 9-10 years old now? That's around the same age I was when I was interested in the early days of Bachmann 'Thomas' with locos like Edward and Mavis on the horizon, ha ha... I think if those children are anything like us, they'll be very happy to have engines they grew up with represented in the lineup in the same way we were hoping for our old favorites like Duck to be announced.

Nothing about later-era characters makes them exempt from being useful for a model railway of Sodor, either? They are all 'Thomas' characters. By definition, every locomotive in the line is useful for making a model railway of Sodor, because all of them either live on Sodor already or are feasibly able to come over and visit (in the case of Beau)... It is more or less down to personal preference, and not every prospective modeler is so unreceptive to newer age characters, so personally I don't like to dismiss any of them out of hand regardless of my personal feelings regarding them...

I think now's a good time to end this line of conversation. Everybody's too miserable. I think Marie has the right idea in bringing back the actual point of this thread, ha ha.

[thomasj219]

I'm sorry, but looking at Mattel's sales I think you guys are vastly overestimating those "demographics".

Of course not all are turned off. But most are, and when cost is the issue that's what matters.


As for the UK line, they have a harder time putting things out over there because those products are technically for three and up, so many of the models have to be changed.

Also, you have to look at the reason Mattel revitalized the show to begin with. Those who grew up with the later series of Thomas. The CGI series, fell out of the hobby and didn't hold onto it as we did. Their sales dropped, and they needed to cater to older fans to make money. The same thing is happening here just in a different and slightly more cautious way.   

And it's a conversation guys. No ones miserable or mad. It's good to have them.

[Chaz]

It's a separate branch of Bachmann as Doug has said before, so idk if posting here will even get them to look at it. But if anyone knows better avenues to get in contact and shares my sentiment, I'd love to spread the word

Although Bachmann UK doesn't have a forum, or even a social media profile outside of YouTube, a good place to start would be to contact them through their website:

https://www.bachmann.co.uk/page/customer-support

They do allow you to send requests/suggestions, however they can only accept a suggestion for a product from the same person once. This is to prevent people from requesting the same item multiple times and artificially inflating the number of requests for a product. I sent a follow-up for a request I made a year or so prior for Duck and they told me this, while confirming they still had the same request from me saved in their database (right down to the exact date of when I sent my first email), so they're great at staying on top of their requests too.  They're a great service and send replies fairly quickly too.  Hope this helps, Marie!

[Armada Starscream]

Actually following up on my point. I just came back from the UK. Bunch of kids buying the models, some with their parents, some around the 8-12 range, bunch of adults, bunch of fans. Really shows the variety of the hobby.

But that's not my main point. Actually, I'm leading into a suggestion. The UK line is kind of....bad. They have all the other scales. But the HO line is not great.

Only 1-7, only two road vehicles, like half the rolling stock we do. It's not great. And genuinely I think Bachmann is sitting on a goldmine they need to capitalize on by releasing more of those guys over there. It's a separate branch of Bachmann as Doug has said before, so idk if posting here will even get them to look at it. But if anyone knows better avenues to get in contact and shares my sentiment, I'd love to spread the word

That is good idea, I hope Bachmann will expand in the UK more. Especially considering Thomas and Friends are mostly based on trains in the UK, and the Bachmann Thomas line uses a lot of Bachmann Branchline rolling stock models.

I am also hoping that Bachmann USA is also able to do the reverse of this as well: Release versions Bachmann Thomas Models that carry over some features of the UK versions. I am particularly hoping for HO/OO Annie and Clarabel to be released in the US with the correct Black Chassis that the UK versions have, instead of the incorrect gray that the US versions currently have.

They have seemed to have been doing this with some of the Bachmann Engines, giving Thomas, Percy, and James thicker, more sturdier lamp irons and dummy coupling hooks that are colored the correct black instead of gray. I hope that they can also update the lamp irons and dummy coupling hooks on Henry, Gordon, Toby, Endward, and others to be the sturdier version colored in the correct black, and not the incorrect gray.

[DustyMarie53!]

I'm sorry, but looking at Mattel's sales I think you guys are vastly overestimating those "demographics".

Of course not all are turned off. But most are, and when cost is the issue that's what matters.

Also, you have to look at the reason Mattel revitalized the show to begin with. Those who grew up with the later series of Thomas. The CGI series, fell out of the hobby and didn't hold onto it as we did. Their sales dropped, and they needed to cater to older fans to make money. The same thing is happening here just in a different and slightly more cautious way.   

It's actually all a little more complicated than that. Cause Sandy and Bruno toys sell well both U.S. and UK wise. But the other characters hit a snag. And it's not out of lack of interest of the show inherently. AEG James used to be a big seller, so did Edward, so did Ashima, so on, in the states anyway. However, the slow release of characters and barrage of variants means there's less that kids actually want. So, once they get those characters they start to stagnate. In the UK it's even worse. Because most families already have toys of all the old characters, so they have no interest in buying the new reboot versions. So only Sandy, Bruno, and that one big Sodor cup pack really sold. Toby and Carly don't sell well anywhere. It's not a demographic problem it's a lack of good toys problem.

Same thing happened with both the Brenner and BWBA seasons. Brenner was specifically targeted back at winning back the old fans, but then Mattel lost a major Disney license. So, they had to cheapen the toys. Then corporate suits worried that kids would get confused about too many green characters in merch, so characters like Daisy and Alfie got nothing. Which ultimately harmed them in the long run, because as I've emphasized a few times now, kids love Daisy. Mattel equated this with being the fault of trying to appeal to older fans (when it wasn't, the balance is needed) so were planning AEG. Ian McCue stepped in with his BWBA pitch. It wasn't as drastic as it became when it was pitched, I don't even think Nia was part of the initial pitch, but as they say the rest is history. The toy problem got even worse, especially with the abundance of new characters, and they stopped making DVD's in the U.S. It was set up to fail in a way. It had Paw Patrol elements in it now, but Mattel thought that didn't work, so they moved on to AEG for real. Now basing it off of Looney Tunes (for some reason....I still don't know why. That's just what writers have said.)

The new TWR line was than created to still appeal to older fans, as well as others who didn't like the new designs. It was also trying to win back the lost trust that wood caused. However, the price point compared to the motorized AEG toys, lack of new products, and the fact the line had a lot of issues meant it only did ok in Mattel's books. Older fans bought it, but that wasn't enough.  Not enough to keep it going, and that's why it's discontinued now.

Sorry that I went rambly this is only partially related to the topic, but I am very passionate about the toys under Mattel and how they continuously miss the mark. I truthfully don't know how many other people know about this stuff, so I always like to share it.

[Awesometrain77]

It's a shame TWR 2022 got discontinued. Back to the topic of new stuff .
Every five or so years we get a new scale or new range . 2009/2010 was large scale 2015 was narrow gauge and 2019/2020 was n scale.

What about minimum gauge for 2025
As for my picks to announce first
Mike
Open coach 
Hopper wagon

Year 2
Rex
Red  plank wagon
Blue plank wagon
Brown plank wagon

Year 4
Bert