Okay, the announcements are out! Here're my thoughts.

HO:

The starter set is pretty nice. Exclusive items were a smart move that give something for everybody. The grey 12T double vent van in particular looks pretty slick. Honestly? It should've been available like that at some point, but I guess now was the perfect opportunity to release it. The brake van is interesting. Wonder what the final product will look like? If it is the LMS-style 20T van, perhaps it can be used for Bradford. Let's see it first. Hopefully won't be too long of a wait.

The open carriage looks nice. Don't think I'll be getting one myself, but glad it turned out nice.

The new CGI Milk Tanker was inevitable, but it does have me (only a little) concerned about the Tidmouth Milk Tanker. Since I grew up with the original show (I turned 34 last week), I'm probably going to buy two more of the Tidmouth variant if they are going to go the way of the dinosaur.

Are the flatbed with oil drums, the Tar Tanker and the China Clay Wagon the final samples? Sure looks like that to me. If they are, they look good and I'll be preordering them once I have the chance. The China Clay wagon even pays homage to the illustration in the Main Line Engines RWS book. Nice.

Troublesome Truck #7. Here we go! MUCH better than TT #6. Will probably get it when it comes out, but hope the paint scheme can be altered SLIGHTLY to differentiate it from the standard 12T single vent van. Maybe a slightly darker shade of gray? It'll be our first Troublesome Truck with a CGI face as well. From Sodor, anyway.

And finally...the retro logo vans. They're interesting, to say the least. Don't know if I'll pick them up (need to see the samples), but the vintage TV show steam cloud logo has piqued my interest.

Narrow gauge:

Even though there wasn't anything announced, I want to commend Bachmann for going that route to get Sir Handel out. All hands on deck for Sir Handel!

N Scale:

LBSC Thomas and Origin James were a brilliant move. This was the perfect time to announce them since Edward couldn't. In terms of it being an anniversary year and the fact that N scale is in a good enough place to where recolors can be an option. I look forward to picking them up.

The red open wagon and Scrap wagon are also decent moves. Hopefully, some track cleaning brake vans using Graham Farish 20T BR model as a guide and the original green coal wagon will follow suit.

Large Scale:

LBSC Thomas was a fine choice. Large Scale isn't my thing, but I'm glad to see it's not 100% DOA

And those are my thoughts. Take them or leave them.

Great review, Mulfred! I got my 12T van in last week, but am waiting to open it and various N scale stuff next Wednesday for obvious reasons. I have some Bachmann Mainline UK 12T vans, so I only bought one gray van. It'll go nicely with those and my other rolling stock. Your review has definitely got me pumped!

I also hope we get some more variants with this tooling. I'd personally love to see (although it may be a pipe dream) a plain green van, myself. Same livery as the Fruit and Veg van, but without the logo. I'd snatch that up without flinching. Maybe even the dark blue livery that the Brendam Bay van is in, just again, without the logo? Again, I'd snatch it up in a heartbeat.

Anyway, I'm definitely excited to rip open the package for my 12T van! Merry Christmas, mate!

Great review as always, Chaz! Always enjoy seeing your pictures as well.

I still feel...and cannot believe we're almost ten years out, Skarloey still holds up. I got mine in 2021, and I'll never get over how great and surreal is to have him. He paved the way for OO9 modeling and for the better. Each model, I feel, got better following him...with the exception of Rusty, but that's just me. Took something good and made it better.

Onto Talyllyn. I have no immediate plans to pick the model up at this time. Your review definitely help get my expectations in check. As far as the front portals go, it is disappointing, but if one is handy with customizing, I'm sure they could open them up and bring some life to the model. From what I've been told, apparently waves of Skarloey following Peter Sam had the back trailing wheels powered. Does your Talyllyn model have powered trailing wheels?

Either way, your review was indeed informative and will hopefully help board members decide if they want to add this model to their collections. I know it's been selling out fast here and in the UK and rightfully so. Seems like a fun model indeed.

Can't wait for your review on N Gordon, either. I got my package from TrainWorld, but am waiting to...erm...christen it at Christmas.

Sir Handel looks amazing! Glad to see that they're making serious headway. With all the little details of Sir Hadyn present, in addition to the fact Bachmann can clearly use the tooling/casting for that loco, it also makes Sir Handel well worth the 3 year wait. Itching to see the painted sample!

With that in mind, I think Rheneas, Peter Sam and Rusty can all be reused in some fashion to make Dolgoch, Edward Thomas and Midlander, but all with some minor retoolings. Rheneas and Peter Sam would both need new die cast casting for their smokeboxes to accommodate more accurate funnels, while Rusty's radiator will need to be replaced altogether for Midlander. I think it can work that way.

Sorry for the slight detour, onto Sir Handel! Expectations are high for his release!

Happy to see Duck make it to the range. One of my favorite Bachmann models. He's a popular character with a simple, yet charming design. The crucial question: will they fix his buffer housings and paint them in their proper red?

Daisy is awesome, too. Didn't see her coming and it's a bit left field, but glad all the same. Since the UK range is DCC Ready, I'm willing to bet they chose Daisy because her model is easy to take apart and put a decoder into.

SCRuffey is not surprising, but it makes you wonder if they're going to do like they did with Annie and Clarabel. Update his livery to look more like the large scale and N scale counterparts or leave him as is. If Bachmann UK do to SCRuffey what they did to Annie and Clarabel, I'll gladly import one over here to the States, like I did with Thomas' coaches.

Terence is welcome. Fruit & Veg van...okay. I personally would've chosen the Blue Vent Van, but that's just me.

It seems that Bachmann UK does Thomas stuff every two years. 2020, the range was introduced, 2022 we got Edward and Henry (and Bertie and Harold) and this year, Duck and Daisy (with everything else).

Either way, glad to see the Thomas range acknowledged with a solid lineup!

Okay...late to the party, but I concur with Chaz and Mulfred100. The wishlist is meant to be a placeholder and there're other retailers besides TrainWorld. Yes, they're popular (I have extreme loyalty to them myself, as I'm sure many others here do), but a lot of sales come from other online dealers (The Toy Crossing on eBay is one that immediately comes to my mind) as well as local hobby shops -- which where I live in Louisiana, is rare as a hen's tooth. They aren't the only game in town.

As for what I want to see (and maybe I'll be able to gather my thoughts more cohesively as these lists need 100% concentration) next January/February:

HO/OO:

Hiro - a beloved character from the CGI series. He was the first and with Rebecca sharing his wheels, they're technically ready to go. Yes, he'll be expensive, but I'm willing to bet he'll do relatively well. Would seem poetic for the 80th Anniversary

Gold/Silver Thomas - Wooden Railway and Take Along/Take N Play did this. Since we've got the main attractions from The Adventure Begins in this scale, now seems like as good of a time as any to do a fun 80th Anniversary recolor. If I have to choose one, I'd get behind gold for a reason I'm about to list below...

Silver Spencer - This would be a fun one, especially if we get Hiro. Spencer's Season 7/8 bluish gray livery looks outdated. He's one of the only models I don't have because I don't feel he's worth it. If they recolored him and essentially did an inverse of what's on him -- the blue gray for the handrails and silver for the body, I may finally consider picking him up. Reissuing him alongside a Hiro announcement, I can say no more.

'Arry and Bert reissue - Demand is surging for them. If it isn't time for Hiro, then it'd at least be something to get collectors who don't already have them excited about rather than a recolor of something that already exists.

Narrow Gauge:

SKIP - all the attention needs to be on getting Sir Handel out there. Especially with Duncan cancelled, I feel (and please don't take this the wrong way) all hands on deck for Sir Handel!

N Scale:

Edward - the one who started it all 80 years ago. It'd be simply poetic

LBSC Thomas and Origin James - I think we're in a good enough place in N scale to do some engine recolors. What better way to do so than to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of TAB? Alongside Edward and with Henry along the way, seems like a no brainer

7 plank variants - specifically standard green coal wagon and the new red China Clay wagon that was announced in HO. I also wouldn't be angry about a blue open wagon, either.

Large Scale:

Pipe dream, but Edward and Henrietta. Rather than repeating what's been said over the last 10-11 years by various people, please see what they had to say.

Those're all my thoughts. Please take them or leave them.

Quote from: Chaz on October 24, 2024, 05:57:11 PMGreat seeing pictures of each of the figure packs as well!  Anyone have a favorite pack that's coming out soon?

Personally, besides the low-hanging fruit that is the Hatt Family, I'm looking forward to the Railway Staff. That'll liven up anything, be it a layout or static display. Also a fan of the Narrow Gauge Personnel. That was one I was pleasantly surprised by.

Wow! Color me impressed with Stanley. I seem to remember Doug saying while the cab is open, the floor is raised, like Ryan. This isn't a dealbreaker for me. Everything else ticks all the boxes. His face is also spot on as well. I preordered him from TrainWorld the day the link came up, and I'm glad I did. Looking forward to getting my hands on him, for sure. Well done, Bachmann! Looking forward to finally getting the shipping notice.

And he's already in the store , too. Always a good sign!

Well, folks, official images and product listings for Rebecca and the 12-ton vans have all hit the webstore.

https://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=258_259_261&products_id=9117
https://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=258_259_262&products_id=9109
https://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=258_259_262&products_id=9108
https://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=258_259_262&products_id=9111

I guess their arrival to all retailers is sooner rather than later now.

IF everyone saw on Facebook, a HQ image of Stanley was posted there. That gives me a better idea of what to expect. I think he looks great! Him having Thomas' wheels don't bother me. Stanley seemed (to me) on the short side in CGI, so the Thomas wheels give him some added height, closer to his model series counterpart.

These announcements I can get behind. Surprised Sidney and one of the Mainland diesels were chosen instead of bringing 'Arry and Bert back, but you can't win them all, I suppose. Happy with all of the rolling stock choices, and will be placing preorders when TrainWorld has links ready.

N Scale Henry definitely makes me happy. After all these years, the original Tomix quartet of Thomas, Percy, James and Henry is now complete in N scale. I agree with Chaz: hopefully, Edward will be announced for the 80th Anniversary next year, for obvious reasons. The brake van announcement also makes me happy. As far as Hannah is concerned, I wasn't exactly wild about her or her episode, but glad to see that they're putting the Henrietta tooling to good use already, I suppose.

I echo comments that Henry and Edward NEED to be next in N. That will complete the original Steam Team. Following those two, I *personally* don't mind Duck (who'd go great with Toad and SCRuffey) or Mavis, in reality, we may more than likely see Rebecca. I personally don't want that to happen at all, but I feel like that would be the case, considering she was pushed to be a major character. After Henry and Edward, I'd also be okay if they held off on any new engines and concentrated on rolling stock for a while, too.

I haven't seen a thread for Stanley, so let's get one going!

Cannot believe he's got a prototype almost one year to the day that he's been announced. Talk about progress. It appears he has an open cab, too. Unexpected, but appreciated. The question I have is: will he recycle Thomas' chassis? Or will he have one unique to him? I imagine his wheels will be new. I can see plenty of OO model makers using Stanley's wheels to kitbash a more accurate OO Thomas.

I've got my list for what I'd like to see at NMRA next week. While we've got updates on FOUR products, there is still got a long way to go in terms of getting caught up. This NMRA should be another catch up. Keeping expectations in check...

HO:
'Arry and Bert (but only if they look like the original prototypes)
Tar Tanker

Narrow gauge:
SKIP

N:
Red express coaches
Original coal wagon
Red open wagon
Blue open wagon
British track cleaning brake vans

G:
SKIP

With the 80th Anniversary being next year, we should have all the stops be pulled out for that.

I think Chaz and Mulfred both hit it on the head: Despite Gator being a good character with a relatively good render (and a potential tooling that appears simple enough), he wasn't seen at all after TOTB/S18. Compare that to Stanley, whose only big role was The Great Discovery, he still made frequent appearances, even if most of them were in the background or minor speaking roles. He was seen right up until the final season, which makes sense to produce a model of him.

I liked Gator, but I think his main purpose was to sell toys for 2014. I commend them for still producing merch of him afterwards, but he served his function. TOTB is ten years old now. Gator is more of a forgotten memory than Rebecca (I only used her because her model is currently in production...).