Dear Bachmann: Brake Van!

[Cheeky_ULP]

Well, bringing the thread up for more discussion, with the recent hype of Duck, Donald and Douglas.

[Santa Fe buff]

You ever wonder if Bachmann is about to come out with the models? I wonder if that's the other thing Anthony didn't tell us...

Joshua

[Cheeky_ULP]

Reposting here so it doesn't get lost in the Wishlist Topic


The Breakdown Train

The Breakdown Train is pushed into place by Thomas, from Thomas and the Breakdown Train. (c) HiT Entertainment 2010.

So, there has been a lot of rolling stock in popular demand. The most common-place being the Red Coaches, and the Breakdown Train. Chaz covered the Red Coaches, so I'll cover the latter of the two. Thanks goes to him for saving time, and being just as formal with his post.

So, back to the Breakdown Train; what does it bring to the range? Well, up til Season 10, The Breakdown Train was the crane that was traditionally used to clear wrecks off the Sodor Railway. The set made its iconic debut in Thomas and the Breakdown Train. It quickly drew in profit among the popular Thomas ranges such as ERTL, Wooden Railway, and even Hornbys OO Gauge Thomas range (the UK equivalent of Bachmann Thomas). I think it's time for Bachmann to cash in on it as well.


Thomas passes a confused Rocky, from Thomas Puts the Brakes On. (c) HiT Entertainment 2010.

First off, some people would rather Rocky over the Breakdown Train, and I can see why. He's newer, he's cutting edge, and he has prototypical accuracy to boast. HiT has also given him a lot of focus as the "new" breakdown train in recent seasons, possibly to show off his abilities being put to the test in CGI. I like Rocky as much as the next guy, but I don't think he would be best for the Bachmann range.  What is it about Rocky that brings him at a disadvantage?

1). He's quite a large set piece. What I mean by this is he consists of three pieces of rolling stock, and put together would give him one of the biggest containers to date. How is this a disadvantage though? I'll get to that.

2). He's very detailed. Rocky, unlike previous Thomas stock, has a lot of fiddly and specific parts to him, even so far as having moving pistons to operate his crane. He's anything but a mold, and may lead to a lot of breakable parts. Considering Bachmanns other merchandise within the range, this would be pretty different.

These two facts combined can lead to a hefty development and retail price. How this compares to the Breakdown Train, I'll get to in a moment.


Iron 'Arry and Bert hide cheekily in the Breakdown Trains shadows in Halloween. (c) HiT Entertainment 2010.

Now, what advantages does the Breakdown Train have?

1). It has a history. Season 1-7 episodes are still commonplace among the Thomas franchise (and in some places and or cases, may be more commonplace than later episodes), especially within DVDs. Any child watching them would soon learn about the Breakdown Trains existence, and probably want one.

2). Price advantage. To have a complete Breakdown Train set, you'd need two of the cranes, and then the Works Coach*. This can benefit in various ways; the crane and the flatbed can be sold as one pack (or both separate), and then have the Works Coach sold separately too. This means for customer convenience, they can buy whatever part of the set they want, need, depending on their preference. With Rocky, they'd be stuck with the complete set and with a bigger price tag. This means people might be turned down by the said high price tag. The Breakdown Train being in "pieces," to put it, can attract more customers as it would be a cheaper alternative that can be expanded by customer choice.

3). Every railway needs it's breakdown train, so why not Sodor? Bachmann already released Cranky before, so a crane wouldn't be foreign to the range either.

4). The shape of the Breakdown Train. It has more of a "mold friendly" shape than Rocky, which will be easier on the manufacturing of it. Even the flat beds for it have less detail that needs attention. Basically not much more to say here, as the reasoning is pretty much what it says on the tin can.


The Works Coach

The Works Coach sits in a siding, from Thomas and the Breakdown Train. (c) HiT Entertainment 2010.

The Works Coach is a piece of rolling stock that is generally, but not always associated with the Breakdown Train. It's what the workmen ride in when a train takes the breakdown train to a crash site. Having this included in the range is optional. I don't have any specific opinion on whether it has any reason to be made or not. It'd be nice to have though, in a novelty way.

Conclusion:
With the ever increasing brand that is Bachmann Thomas & Friends, more and more customers are being drawn to its appeal. Recent classic engines Bill & Ben, and Donald & Douglas are coming out too, so it'd be a nice touch to have the classic Breakdown Train come alongside them later in the years.

This is a suggestion by a customer, so I'm not an expert in the backstage of the industry. I just speak for what I would want, as a customer, in a very formal manner. I also believe that I speak for many others who are faithful to this brand.

[The Chaz Storm]

Sounds great Sparks, very convincing as always.  Glad we could get the voices clear about the pieces of rolling stock that are high in demand.  I especially couldn't agree more with the points about Rocky.  One broken piece or part on Rocky and no one wins.  The breakdown train seems to be a lot more flexible in this case, and needless to say would look a whole lot better on a Sodor layout compared to Rocky. 

[SodorAdventures]

Excellent Work, you are good at persuasion, I can tell 'ya that.

[PasqualeCS96]

Besides if you want a Rocky just paint and modify the Hornby Breakdown Train.

[PerfectPercy]

I agree 100% with your reasoning, Sparks. Might I add, if it wasn't already in the post you had, that with the Breakdown Train being sold in different parts would add up profits comparable to that of Rocky by himself. If someone, such as I, were to buy the Breakdown Train items, I wouldn't having a problem buying two sets of the crane and flat wagon and one works unit coach, and it would add up.

If I were to be making decisions in Bachmann Industries, I would be bought on the idea of the Breakdown Crane and Flat Car as an item, and then maybe even the Works Unit Coach as well.

Besides if you want a Rocky just paint and modify the Hornby Breakdown Train.

If I'm correct with my assumption, you'd need a lot of plasticard.


Cheers to All

P.S. Let our wishes be greatly considered by whom it may concern.

[branmas]

Hay, long time no post.

Well wanted to point out about one thing for the james, thomas, and percy moldels. One thing (for all actaully) is that the eyes paint scratches off easly, thus having an odd thomas moldel, why my broken percy has now one painted eye and one made w/ a sharpy. I say the should put a plastic coating over it to prevent that. Another thing was that front couplers are a great idea seeing that even little kids want to pull the trains backwards, the all would need a front coupler. But also they should work on the troublesome trucks. For one they are black int the series, but bushman's are a plastic gray, and then the wheels are too big, and not show accurate, pulse the wheels have some kind of "steps" in the sides. And even Toby's face isn't TV accurate. I just hope they don't go for the CGI image faces instead, that wouldn't be good . Aw well lets just wait and see what will happen.

but they are gray.

[branmas]

Reposting here so it doesn't get lost in the Wishlist Topic

Donald and Douglas the Twin Engines

Here we see the pair of twins sitting together idly at Brendam Docks yards.

So lets cut down to it, why should Bachmann make Donald and Douglas next? First let me cut off the question of "What about those engine retoolings you said?" The engine retooling suggestions were never said to be of any date. However I would not be surprised if they were done for 10 Years of Bachmann, 65 Years of Thomas or whatever reason. Now then, back to Donald and Douglas...

These are a popular pair of engines among nostalgic fans and newer fans alike, and been around since Season 2. But why do them next instead of say Duck, or a more recent character like Rosie? Well, we did just have Emily, Spencer and Salty recently, so maybe we should go back the the pre HiT/Gullane era. As for Duck though, well, you'll read why Donald and Douglas will be more favorable engines.

In recent years, Donald and Douglas have been heard of less, but recently returned in episodes like "Saved You," and "Gordon and the Engineer." But they've also been in many of the episodes re-released on DVD from VHS tapes, and their Season 6 and 7 episodes "Twin Trouble" and "Bad Day at Castle Loch."



So, lets look now at what makes these two engines profitable.

1). Bachmann would save money in developing two engines, for the price of a bit more than one: Donald and Douglas are twin engines, with MINOR differences. Basically all that Bachmann would do is make Donald, take the model and make a second pair, change the face to Douglas' face, change the paint work to sport Douglas' nameplate and "10" on his tender, and you have two engines! Quicker profit!

2). They're recognized by the youth and are pretty popular engines among Thomas fans in general. Hornby hasn't beaten Bachmann to making Donald and Douglas either, so Bachmann has the entire market for the UK (and Australian?) market who buys from Ebay and other websites that ship oversea.

3). Donald and Douglas are based on the 812 Class, which has been shown to be recognized among real modelers. People who would want a RTR Caledonian 812 Class could cheaply buy Donald and or Douglas, do some detailing up and modifications, and have their engine in no time!

4). To anyone wondering why I didn't say Bill and Ben...
Bill and Ben are smaller engines, so developing a working chassis for them with their small size, and getting them to pull a heavy load would be a bit more frustrating than making an easy 0-6-0 Chassis for Donald and Douglas.

5. Speaking of Chassis, Donald and Douglas' chassis could in fact be REUSED for another engine, Duck the Great Western Engine. In the TV Series, the three engines seem to appear to use the same Chassis, right down to drive wheel size, space, and all. I wouldn't be surprised at all if right after Donald and Douglas were made, Duck was announced and used the same chassis. That's an even better money saver! Just reuse the chassis and make the body for Duck.

Conclusion:
With the economy in a money crunch right now, Donald and Douglas would be a fairly good pair of engines to make. It's almost a shortcut for the company to make and sell more engines at a cheaper price! These twin engines provide large opportunities for the market ahead of them, take the advantage! They even provide development advantages for the two of them, and plans for Duck. Why avoid that? 

hornby tock over australia, unfortnatley.

[branmas]

Hay, long time no post.

Well wanted to point out about one thing for the james, thomas, and percy moldels. One thing (for all actaully) is that the eyes paint scratches off easly, thus having an odd thomas moldel, why my broken percy has now one painted eye and one made w/ a sharpy. I say the should put a plastic coating over it to prevent that. Another thing was that front couplers are a great idea seeing that even little kids want to pull the trains backwards, the all would need a front coupler. But also they should work on the troublesome trucks. For one they are black int the series, but bushman's are a plastic gray, and then the wheels are too big, and not show accurate, pulse the wheels have some kind of "steps" in the sides. And even Toby's face isn't TV accurate. I just hope they don't go for the CGI image faces instead, that wouldn't be good . Aw well lets just wait and see what will happen.

but they are gray.

so you mean in that one episode?

[PerfectPercy]

I'm just gonna throw this out there: you can edit your posts so that there isn't a triple posts. Use the "modify" button.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

2). They're recognized by the youth and are pretty popular engines among Thomas fans in general. Hornby hasn't beaten Bachmann to making Donald and Douglas either, so Bachmann has the entire market for the UK (and Australian?) market who buys from Ebay and other websites that ship oversea.

hornby tock over australia, unfortnatley.

It isn't possible that Hornby took over the Australian market in terms of distributing Donald and Douglas models because they haven't even been created yet. If Bachmann were to make the twins sooner than later, which is probably the case for the upcoming year, they would be unbeatable in the marketing and distribution of the Scottish Twins.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Well wanted to point out about one thing for the james, thomas, and percy moldels. One thing (for all actaully) is that the eyes paint scratches off easly, thus having an odd thomas moldel, why my broken percy has now one painted eye and one made w/ a sharpy. I say the should put a plastic coating over it to prevent that. Another thing was that front couplers are a great idea seeing that even little kids want to pull the trains backwards, the all would need a front coupler. But also they should work on the troublesome trucks. For one they are black int the series, but bushman's are a plastic gray, and then the wheels are too big, and not show accurate, pulse the wheels have some kind of "steps" in the sides. And even Toby's face isn't TV accurate. I just hope they don't go for the CGI image faces instead, that wouldn't be good . Aw well lets just wait and see what will happen.

For the eyes of the models: I am really curious as to how you were able to scratch away the eyes of a model with the face on. Were you poking at them with a toothpick or something (for no reason I might add)?

About the troublesome trucks:

A) They aren't black, they are a dark gray in color.
B) The wheels are to scale (at least from my views).
C) There are no steps on the trucks (to my knowledge).

The only thing that could ever consider the reason to fix the troublesome truck models is to darken the gray color.

One last thing to note: Bachmann Toby's face is in fact close to TV accuracy:



vs.


These images are of the property of Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia.


If anything, out of all you said, the couplers could be a good possibilty, but Percy needs a rear coupling hook before anything happens. That is just not acceptable.
_____________________________________________________

Cheers

PPercy

[branmas]

I'm just gonna throw this out there: you can edit your posts so that there isn't a triple posts. Use the "modify" button.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

2). They're recognized by the youth and are pretty popular engines among Thomas fans in general. Hornby hasn't beaten Bachmann to making Donald and Douglas either, so Bachmann has the entire market for the UK (and Australian?) market who buys from Ebay and other websites that ship oversea.

hornby tock over Australia, unfortunately.

It isn't possible that Hornby took over the Australian market in terms of distributing Donald and Douglas models because they haven't even been created yet. If Bachmann were to make the twins sooner than later, which is probably the case for the upcoming year, they would be unbeatable in the marketing and distribution of the Scottish Twins.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Well wanted to point out about one thing for the James, thomas, and Percy models. One thing (for all actually) is that the eyes paint scratches off easly, thus having an odd thomas model, why my broken Percy has now one painted eye and one made w/ a sharpy. I say the should put a plastic coating over it to prevent that. Another thing was that front couplers are a great idea seeing that even little kids want to pull the trains backwards, the all would need a front coupler. But also they should work on the troublesome trucks. For one they are black int the series, but bushman's are a plastic gray, and then the wheels are too big, and not show accurate, pulse the wheels have some kind of "steps" in the sides. And even Toby's face isn't TV accurate. I just hope they don't go for the CGI image faces instead, that wouldn't be good . Aw well lets just wait and see what will happen.

For the eyes of the models: I am really curious as to how you were able to scratch away the eyes of a model with the face on. Were you poking at them with a toothpick or something (for no reason I might add)?

About the troublesome trucks:

A) They aren't black, they are a dark gray in color.
B) The wheels are to scale (at least from my views).
C) There are no steps on the trucks (to my knowledge).

The only thing that could ever consider the reason to fix the troublesome truck models is to darken the gray color.

One last thing to note: Bachmann Toby's face is in fact close to TV accuracy:



vs.


These images are of the property of Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia.


If anything, out of all you said, the couplers could be a good possibilty, but Percy needs a rear coupling hook before anything happens. That is just not acceptable.
_____________________________________________________

Cheers

PPercy

what i mean is there is no such thing as a store that sells bachmann stuff but is such thing as a store that sells hornby stuff in Australia( the reason i know this stuff is because i live in Australia).

[branmas]

I'm just gonna throw this out there: you can edit your posts so that there isn't a triple posts. Use the "modify" button.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

2). They're recognized by the youth and are pretty popular engines among Thomas fans in general. Hornby hasn't beaten Bachmann to making Donald and Douglas either, so Bachmann has the entire market for the UK (and Australian?) market who buys from Ebay and other websites that ship oversea.

hornby tock over Australia, unfortunately.

It isn't possible that Hornby took over the Australian market in terms of distributing Donald and Douglas models because they haven't even been created yet. If Bachmann were to make the twins sooner than later, which is probably the case for the upcoming year, they would be unbeatable in the marketing and distribution of the Scottish Twins.

I'm only 9, so i don't know what that means!
[move][move][move][move][move][move][move][/move][/move][/move][/move][/move][/move][/move]

[branmas]

Thomas passes a confused Rocky, from Thomas Puts the Brakes On. (c) HiT Entertainment 2010.

First off, some people would rather Rocky over the Breakdown Train, and I can see why. He's newer, he's cutting edge, and he has prototypical accuracy to boast. HiT has also given him a lot of focus as the "new" breakdown train in recent seasons, possibly to show off his abilities being put to the test in CGI. I like Rocky as much as the next guy, but I don't think he would be best for the Bachmann range.  What is it about Rocky that brings him at a disadvantage?

1). He's quite a large set piece. What I mean by this is he consists of three pieces of rolling stock, and put together would give him one of the biggest containers to date. How is this a disadvantage though? I'll get to that.

2). He's very detailed. Rocky, unlike previous Thomas stock, has a lot of fiddly and specific parts to him, even so far as having moving pistons to operate his crane. He's anything but a mold, and may lead to a lot of breakable parts. Considering Bachmanns other merchandise within the range, this would be pretty different.

These two facts combined can lead to a hefty development and retail price. How this compares to the Breakdown Train, I'll get to in a moment.


Iron 'Arry and Bert hide cheekily in the Breakdown Trains shadows in Halloween. (c) HiT Entertainment 2010.

Now, what advantages does the Breakdown Train have?

1). It has a history. Season 1-7 episodes are still commonplace among the Thomas franchise (and in some places and or cases, may be more commonplace than later episodes), especially within DVDs. Any child watching them would soon learn about the Breakdown Trains existence, and probably want one.

2). Price advantage. To have a complete Breakdown Train set, you'd need two of the cranes, and then the Works Coach*. This can benefit in various ways; the crane and the flatbed can be sold as one pack (or both separate), and then have the Works Coach sold separately too. This means for customer convenience, they can buy whatever part of the set they want, need, depending on their preference. With Rocky, they'd be stuck with the complete set and with a bigger price tag. This means people might be turned down by the said high price tag. The Breakdown Train being in "pieces," to put it, can attract more customers as it would be a cheaper alternative that can be expanded by customer choice.

3). Every railway needs it's breakdown train, so why not Sodor? Bachmann already released Cranky before, so a crane wouldn't be foreign to the range either.

4). The shape of the Breakdown Train. It has more of a "mold friendly" shape than Rocky, which will be easier on the manufacturing of it. Even the flat beds for it have less detail that needs attention. Basically not much more to say here, as the reasoning is pretty much what it says on the tin can.


The Works Coach

The Works Coach sits in a siding, from Thomas and the Breakdown Train. (c) HiT Entertainment 2010.

The Works Coach is a piece of rolling stock that is generally, but not always associated with the Breakdown Train. It's what the workmen ride in when a train takes the breakdown train to a crash site. Having this included in the range is optional. I don't have any specific opinion on whether it has any reason to be made or not. It'd be nice to have though, in a novelty way.

Conclusion:
With the ever increasing brand that is Bachmann Thomas & Friends, more and more customers are being drawn to its appeal. Recent classic engines Bill & Ben, and Donald & Douglas are coming out too, so it'd be a nice touch to have the classic Breakdown Train come alongside them later in the years.

This is a suggestion by a customer, so I'm not an expert in the backstage of the industry. I just speak for what I would want, as a customer, in a very formal manner.  I also believe that I speak for many others who are faithful to this brand.

i perfer the brakedown train

[TrainFan2020]

there all cool