The next non classic series character to be made next

[HO scale Den-liner]

I'm new to the bachmann forums, I've always checked these forum pages to see what is announced or what's to come or even what people like to see be made next. So I'd like to give this a shot myself.

I, like rest of those who come here, am a person who grew up and follow thomas and friends and I still hold some interest in the series in some ways. I mostly enjoy the classic series from seasons 1 through 7 (mostly seasons 1 through 5 because I didn't grow up with 6 and 7) but I have seen the later seasons from time to time and it has it's ups and downs. While the classic characters from 1 through 7 are well known by long time fans there are some characters from the later seasons that do catch many's interests which brings me to the topic of this post.

So far through out the run of the thomas and friends HO range we've mostly had characters from seasons 1 through 7 be made and we have daisy on the way this year (or possibly 2021 given the current situation), the only non classic characters we've gotten are Rosie (both pink and red), who was introduced in season 10 and then redesigned between journey beyond sodor and season 21, and then we got paxton, who was introduced in day of the diesels, as the latest one to be made.

So this brings us to wonder, which non classic character could be made next? Could we get the likes of;

Whiff the waste engine?


Stanley the silver engine?


Hiro the Japanese engine/the Master of the railway?


Den and Dart the diesel works engines?


Sidney the forgetful engine?


Scruff the scruncher?


Porter the dockside tank engine?


or Ryan the purple engine?



Now these character choices are based on who has gotten the most attention in the past ever since their introduction and what I assume are favorites among thomas fans of all kind (whether old/long time fans or even young fans). With almost all the classic characters being made in the HO scale range, with the exception of Boco, stepney, Diesel 10 (who will never happen due to his claw), harvey, and murdoch along with the discontinuation of Arry, Bert, and Salty, where does bachmann go from there?

Personally I would love to see bachmann make Hiro, Stanley, and Porter, but most especially Hiro, he was the first CGI thomas character (along side victor and kevin in hero of the rails) to kick off the CGI era of the series and he was/still is a fan favorite. Heck the japanese audience love this character and bachmann could make tons of money on him while gaining new customers from the land of the rising sun. I, as a US buyer, would definitely get him. However I believe the most likely/realistic choice to happen would be Sidney due to the fact that he'd be a simple recolor of diesel and paxton but probably won't sell as well like arry and bert.

But what do you guys think, out of everyone in this selection who do you want to see and who do you think is the most likely to be made in the future, I'd like to know.

[Mulfred100]

I hate to say it but I think the next will be Nia or Rebecca or possibly Philip or Sidney since he will be the easiest to make. I'm sure they will all make great models but I am beginning to wonder how much longer Bachmann can dodge the Big World Big Adevtures era of the show. Troublesome Truck 6 already looks to be based off the tankers seen in Big World.

[HO scale Den-liner]

I hate to say it but I think the next will be Nia or Rebecca or possibly Philip or Sidney since he will be the easiest to make. I'm sure they will all make great models but I am beginning to wonder how much longer Bachmann can dodge the Big World Big Adevtures era of the show. Troublesome Truck 6 already looks to be based off the tankers seen in Big World.

I wouldn't be surprised, and like I said I do realistically see sidney happening for how easy he is. As for the other three, mostly especially nia and rebecca, I don't think most people will be keen with them due to them replacing edward and henry completely in the tv show for reasons, but you are right that they'll eventually happen.

[TerencetheTractor525]

Let's remember a few things before we jump to conclusions on Bachmann making Nia and Rebecca.

1. Neither engine has received good reception throughout social media, which consists of the older Thomas fans, and are the ones who purchase all of Bachmann's engines.
2. The new toolings for Nia and Rebecca would be incredibly expensive to make. Rebecca is a long tender engine, and Nia, while a tank engine, consists of a complex side rod configuration.

Thus, the poor reception for the engines, and the high cost to make them would lead to poor sales, much like what happened to Bachmann's Chuggington line.

Furthermore, the Thomas television series is going on hiatus. Heck, the show doesn't even air on PBS Kids anymore, which is where most children watched the show. With that considered, it should be much more likely for model era products to be made (Stepney and BoCo in particular). They would sell better, and their toolings would not be as expensive to make than the CGI engines.

All in all, let's hope that Stepney can be announced before any of these CGI engines are  . Thomas fans would be much happier altogether, and Bachmann would be better off with strong sales.

[sean1994rail]

Let's remember a few things before we jump to conclusions on Bachmann making Nia and Rebecca.

1. Neither engine has received good reception throughout social media, which consists of the older Thomas fans, and are the ones who purchase all of Bachmann's engines.
2. The new toolings for Nia and Rebecca would be incredibly expensive to make. Rebecca is a long tender engine, and Nia, while a tank engine, consists of a complex side rod configuration.

Thus, the poor reception for the engines, and the high cost to make them would lead to poor sales, much like what happened to Bachmann's Chuggington line.

Furthermore, the Thomas television series is going on hiatus. Heck, the show doesn't even air on PBS Kids anymore, which is where most children watched the show. With that considered, it should be much more likely for model era products to be made (Stepney and BoCo in particular). They would sell better, and their toolings would not be as expensive to make than the CGI engines.

All in all, let's hope that Stepney can be announced before any of these CGI engines are  . Thomas fans would be much happier altogether, and Bachmann would be better off with strong sales.

Nia I can understand her mixed to mostly negative reception. Rebecca on the other hand has, In My Opinion, some redeemable qualities such as:

1. She has problems with braking and wheel slipping, like on her actual basis; the Bullied Light West Country/Battle of Britain Pacific, thus conveying a sense of realism.

2. Speaking of her basis, not only did the light weight Bullied pacifics haul main line express passenger and fast trains, but their light weight made them suitable to run on many seaside branch lines in Devon and Cornwall. They also haul boat trains between London Waterloo and Southampton Docks, so I can see a boat train themed story, with Rebecca as a main star hauling a boat train for Brendam Docks on Edward's branch line.

So in conclusion, if Bachmann was forced by Mattel to make Nia and Rebecca, the latter, Rebecca, should be made first. She would be bachmann's first tender engine for their Thomas line in years, the last ones being Donald and Douglas in 2011, as much as I would like to give that distinction to Hiro, giving his huge popularity.

As for new characters to be made next by Bachmann in general, for HO/OO I would be content with Hiro, Sidney, Stanley and Ryan, and for OO9: Victor and Luke.

[Cheeky_ULP]

If they're going to spend a lot of money on a tooling for a big tender engine in the Thomas range again, the only engine that deserves that honor is Hiro.

[Chaz]

Nia I can understand her mixed to mostly negative reception. Rebecca on the other hand has, In My Opinion, some redeemable qualities such as:

1. She has problems with braking and wheel slipping, like on her actual basis; the Bullied Light West Country/Battle of Britain Pacific, thus conveying a sense of realism.

2. Speaking of her basis, not only did the light weight Bullied pacifics haul main line express passenger and fast trains, but their light weight made them suitable to run on many seaside branch lines in Devon and Cornwall. They also haul boat trains between London Waterloo and Southampton Docks, so I can see a boat train themed story, with Rebecca as a main star hauling a boat train for Brendam Docks on Edward's branch line.

Those are not exactly "redeemable qualities" for Rebecca, at least not for why Bachmann should include Rebecca in the range.  With the way how the brand is being handled currently because of the reception of Big World and the shows ""hiatus"", Nia and Rebecca's inclusion would not only be poorly received but also hurt Bachmann's production team if models of them don't sell very well since these will likely sell about as well as the Chuggington range did.  

Bachmann is much better off avoiding these two and instead focusing on characters where the market and demand for other characters is a lot more evident.  Stepney and possibly Ryan in particular are the only engines with new toolings that I feel are worth Bachmann's time and effort.  Hiro would even be a safer option too if Bachmann wanted to go for a larger engine considering how much of an icon the character is, especially over in Japan.

[HO scale Den-liner]

Let's remember a few things before we jump to conclusions on Bachmann making Nia and Rebecca.

1. Neither engine has received good reception throughout social media, which consists of the older Thomas fans, and are the ones who purchase all of Bachmann's engines.
2. The new toolings for Nia and Rebecca would be incredibly expensive to make. Rebecca is a long tender engine, and Nia, while a tank engine, consists of a complex side rod configuration.

Thus, the poor reception for the engines, and the high cost to make them would lead to poor sales, much like what happened to Bachmann's Chuggington line.

Furthermore, the Thomas television series is going on hiatus. Heck, the show doesn't even air on PBS Kids anymore, which is where most children watched the show. With that considered, it should be much more likely for model era products to be made (Stepney and BoCo in particular). They would sell better, and their toolings would not be as expensive to make than the CGI engines.

All in all, let's hope that Stepney can be announced before any of these CGI engines are  . Thomas fans would be much happier altogether, and Bachmann would be better off with strong sales.

yeah I can see stepney as the next classic character to be made after daisy. Plus bachmann even acknowledges the character so he's got that going for him too and hornby doesn't make thomas engines anymore so I can see stepney and maybe murdoch become bachmann engines but we'd have to wait on that. The only classic characters I don't see happening are Boco: for not being in later episodes after season 5 making him a forgotten character, and then Diesel 10 and Harvey; because they have movable parts (I.E. pinchy and harvey's crane) that would regard a ton of cash to have molds be made for them.

But again, eventually bachmann will have to start making characters from seasons 8 through 19 and I do think that Stanley, Hiro, and or Ryan would be likely candidates.

[HO scale Den-liner]

If they're going to spend a lot of money on a tooling for a big tender engine in the Thomas range again, the only engine that deserves that honor is Hiro.

Either him (who I agree the most on) or murdoch (another classic character) that have that chance.

[HO scale Den-liner]

I can see victor and luke happening for the OO9 range but only after we get peter sam (who is set for this year along side daisy who is representing the HO range with recolors of thomas and james), sir handle, and duncan.

[HO scale Den-liner]

Nia I can understand her mixed to mostly negative reception. Rebecca on the other hand has, In My Opinion, some redeemable qualities such as:

1. She has problems with braking and wheel slipping, like on her actual basis; the Bullied Light West Country/Battle of Britain Pacific, thus conveying a sense of realism.

2. Speaking of her basis, not only did the light weight Bullied pacifics haul main line express passenger and fast trains, but their light weight made them suitable to run on many seaside branch lines in Devon and Cornwall. They also haul boat trains between London Waterloo and Southampton Docks, so I can see a boat train themed story, with Rebecca as a main star hauling a boat train for Brendam Docks on Edward's branch line.

Those are not exactly "redeemable qualities" for Rebecca, at least not for why Bachmann should include Rebecca in the range.  With the way how the brand is being handled currently because of the reception of Big World and the shows ""hiatus"", Nia and Rebecca's inclusion would not only be poorly received but also hurt Bachmann's production team if models of them don't sell very well since these will likely sell about as well as the Chuggington range did.  

Bachmann is much better off avoiding these two and instead focusing on characters where the market and demand for other characters is a lot more evident.  Stepney and possibly Ryan in particular are the only engines with new toolings that I feel are worth Bachmann's time and effort.  Hiro would even be a safer option too if Bachmann wanted to go for a larger engine considering how much of an icon the character is, especially over in Japan.

Yeah I agree, Nia and Rebecca wouldn't do so well due to their reputation since mattel's announcement of being in the show and with the how the tv show itself is being handled today. Bachmann would definitely be better off doing characters that have the most buzz (popularity) to them like hiro for example. He's quite an iconic character for someone who kicked off the CGI era and japan loves him. Plus bachmann could even gain new customers from japan if they did make hiro (if mattel gave them the okay).

[TrainFan97]

The CGI series characters I would welcome the most are Sidney, Norman, Hiro, and Ryan. The classic character, BoCo, has not appeared since Season 5, and as much as I want to see him made, BoCo doesn't have nearly as much demand as Stepney, but if Stepney does get announced, it could increase BoCo's chances. Norman could be more likely than BoCo. Norman hasn't had a single episode dedicated to him, and rarely had speaking roles, but did get some speaking roles in Season 23. Unlike BoCo, at least Norman is actually a CGI character with recent appearances and speaking roles. Unlike Sidney, Norman would require a new tooling.

Sidney has had episodes dedicated to him, and has had regular speaking roles as well. Due to being a Diesel recolor, Sidney should not be too hard to make, but his facial features might have to be altered to fit the eye mechanism, plus a painted border around the face, like Paxton.

Ryan and Hiro seem to be the most popular choices for CGI characters. Ryan would work well alongside Daisy, while Hiro is a very iconic character who is loved by the Japanese audience, and he was one of the first CGI characters.

[Angelob6660]

Although I like Ashima. I know she can't get made because of her wheels. Over on top of the other ones including the complex coupling rods.

They will probably make Phillip the box diesel.

[HO scale Den-liner]

The CGI series characters I would welcome the most are Sidney, Norman, Hiro, and Ryan. The classic character, BoCo, has not appeared since Season 5, and as much as I want to see him made, BoCo doesn't have nearly as much demand as Stepney, but if Stepney does get announced, it could increase BoCo's chances. Norman could be more likely than BoCo. Norman hasn't had a single episode dedicated to him, and rarely had speaking roles, but did get some speaking roles in Season 23. Unlike BoCo, at least Norman is actually a CGI character with recent appearances and speaking roles. Unlike Sidney, Norman would require a new tooling.

Sidney has had episodes dedicated to him, and has had regular speaking roles as well. Due to being a Diesel recolor, Sidney should not be too hard to make, but his facial features might have to be altered to fit the eye mechanism, plus a painted border around the face, like Paxton.

Ryan and Hiro seem to be the most popular choices for CGI characters. Ryan would work well alongside Daisy, while Hiro is a very iconic character who is loved by the Japanese audience, and he was one of the first CGI characters.

If norman never had a speaking role nor had episodes around him then I wouldn't see him be made. Plus if was made then they'd have to make dennis since they're of the same locomotive class, I mean it's only fair.

But yeah Hiro or Ryan both deserve their chances.

[HO scale Den-liner]

Although I like Ashima. I know she can't get made because of her wheels. Over on top of the other ones including the complex coupling rods.

They will probably make Phillip the box diesel.

Ashima would be nice but yeah that is true. Her wheels are too small, plus the wheel configuration is too complex to work with. As for philip that depends on how well received he is, personally I don't care for him and I don't think he'd sell that well in my book. He'd be too small for an HO scale engine and he wouldn't be able to pull a lot of rolling stock that well.