Thomas in Williams O scale

[TrainCollector]

Hey guys I've been thinking a lot about this lately. Lionel has discontinued several Thomas products in O scale and this got me thinking. Bachmann does a great job with Thomas products and Lionel hasn't really put the best Thomas products out there. What if Bachmann bought the rights to sell Thomas in O scale? The engines would look much better plus we would get much more characters in the range. I think Williams by Bachmann should make Thomas in O scale. Plus unlike large scale bigger engines like Gordon and Henry would have a better chance at being made. What do you guys think?

[TrainFan97]

Bachmann needs the license first. They need to acquire the rights from Mattel in order to make O Scale items.

[Cheeky_ULP]

Bachmann needs the license first. They need to acquire the rights from Mattel in order to make O Scale items.

More like pry it from Lionels cold dead hands

[TrainCollector]

Right I'm sure Mattel could buy the license to do it. Seriously though I think Williams would make great Thomas items in O scale

[Bucksco]

Lionel has the license in O Gauge. If they ever give it up Bachmann might consider it.

[TrainFan97]

Lionel used to have a G Scale Thomas range, but it was short-lived. Since that range died, now Bachmann makes the G scale Thomas models. Maybe eventually, Lionel could call quits on their tiny O Scale range, and then Bachmann can take over. Lionel's O Scale Thomas range is still alive, but we don't know how long, since they haven't made a single new product for many years.

Lionel is holding Bachmann back from making O Scale Thomas models. It's just like how Hornby is holding Bachmann back from producing the HO Scale models in the UK. Bachmann does produce the G Scale models in the UK.

Bachmann making an N Scale Thomas range has a much better chance. None of their competitors have the license for N Scale Thomas models, other than Tomix, but that's a Japanese range. If Mattel gives Bachmann the rights to produce N Scale Thomas models, they wouldn't just be available in the US, but the UK can have them too. Characters like Thomas, Percy, and James would look much better in N Scale than their HO models.

By N Scale, I mean Standard Gauge. We got Narrow Gauge, which was something we needed more. If we ever get Standard Gauge N Scale, we could hopefully get Thomas and Percy in the same year.

[TrainCollector]

I think if Lionel discontinues all of their products Mattel would be able to let Bachmann pick up the license to make O scale Thomas products. I think the sizes and porportions would be much more accurate compared to their Lionel counterparts. Plus unlike Large Scale, Gordon and Henry would have a much better chance at being made as well as other classic characters.

[Cheeky_ULP]

If they did do O scale, I would hope they would make it in-scale to other O-Scale British stock. It's understandable why the G-Scale range is scaled to Garden Railroad rather than Gauge 1 (which is what the show was filmed with), but it still feels a bit like a missed opportunity.

[TrainCollector]

Same here. I'd wish they would be compatible with other British stock. But if they were to do it, I think they would have those knuckle couplers which would make them compatible with O/O27 stock. I hope Lionel gives up the license to Bachmann soon. I would love to see Thomas in O scale done right.

[Chaz]

I too would like to see O scale done right by Bachmann since Lionel's range never did it for me beyond Thomas, Annie and Clarabel, Percy, and the troublesome trucks.  If they did James as a scaled down version of the G scale model like in the promotional picture maybe I would give it a pass too, but sadly that wasn't even close to what happened with the final model...

Anyway like large scale I probably wouldn't get into O scale even if Bachmann were to buy the rights but I could definitely see it lasting longer than large scale and picking out more products to choose from.  Gordon and Henry at least wouldn't be out of the question like in large scale so that's saying something at least.  It would really depend on sales and pricing at that point.

Personally I think they would have a much better chance at doing an N scale range since they would not only smaller and possibly cheaper to produce, but they would definitely gaurentee higher chances of more characters and stock than O scale would offer.  Tomix is only selling in Japan so, at least to my knowledge, the license to sell N scale Thomas models to the US should be up for grabs, unlike Lionel with O scale.