Bachmann's 2020 Product Announcement

[Chaz]

Origin James really should've been announced earlier this year at Toy Fair instead of busy bee James, but aside from that little criticism, I'm still happy all the same that both of The Adventure Begins recolors since they found their way into HO for the 75th anniversary. Like the LBSC Thomas, the black James will be another purchase I will be making on day one.

Like the majority though I am more disappointed in the fact that this was the "only" announcement for the summer show not just for the HO Thomas range but for Thomas in general.  The only possible reason I think they went this route was because of all the previously delayed products are still on the way and they didn't want to overflow production?  The coronavirus is likely a major factor too.  That being said, if this was a new tooling announcement or even a new rolling stock tooling I would be a little more forgiving but instead it's only a recolor we should have gotten earlier this year... Guess we'll have to wait til February 2021 for more announcements.

The only other news that's worth talking about is all the prices for the newer stuff has been posted at Walthers (albeit with prices crossed over) so if you want to know what prices to expect for Daisy, Peter Sam or anything else is to check them out down below:

https://www.walthers.com/search/scale/ho-scale/show/120?match=AND&q=Thomas

[TerencetheTractor525]

I understand that Bachmann is company of many scales, but this year was Thomas' 75th Anniversary. The fact that only one thing got announced for this month for the Thomas line, that being a repaint of a character that should have been announced in February instead of its Busy Bee counterpart, frankly feels like a slap in the face. If it were 2021, 2022, or 2023, seeing one thing announced in July would have been completely fine to me.

I mean, they announced all this other stuff for the other scales, and they could not even announce additional popular rolling stock that utilizes existing toolings such as the red express coaches or explosives van to celebrate the anniversary. Here's hoping that February 2021 will be much better for the Thomas line, even though it is after the 75th Anniversary.

[TTL]

I wasn't expecting any new announcements, but I wasn't expecting at least the bare minimum update wise. Status of the N scale line's release, when we may see samples of Daisy and PS, that sort of thing. And the funniest part is that we honestly got more of a reveal out of the twitter page, who somehow pre-one upped Bachmann's actual show reveals, and that twitter stuff was heavily implied to just be a hint at what would be revealed on the stream...it really wasn't.

[TrainFan97]

The blurred photo was indeed Black James (called Origin James) and if the wheels aren't painted, they'd better be painted on the final model.

I'm a bit disappointed that was literally the only thing new announced, and it was something that should've been announced back in February. They hyped us up, and built up our expectations, only to crush our expectations in the end. Maybe they didn't want to overflow production.

The only thing that makes this forgivable is the fact that they're still working on Daisy, Peter Sam, the N Scale models announced this year, and finally getting Large Scale Diesel out there. Bachmann already had enough on their plate as it is, especially their new N Scale line. Still no update on the first wave of N Scale models. Seriously, the first N Scale models are taking forever to come out. Any date yet?

Origin James, like LBSC Thomas, will be a day one purchase for me, as long as the wheels are painted on the final model. I'm pretty sure what was shown was a pre-production model, or prototype. Duck originally had a black running board, and that got corrected. Same for Paxton's prototype having an unpainted face border, which was painted on the final model.

Guess we'll have to wait until February 2021 for more exciting announcements...

[Falcon the 2nd]

We can all agree that this season for announcements was pretty anticlimactic. I guess because Bachmann already has a ton of products they're handling, the emphasis of other announcements during the live event and especially as a result of the ongoing pandemic, it would've been safe to expect a low amount of announcements this year around. Still, with the anniversary in mind, it's easy to see where the fans were coming from for a good while.

I'm just glad they've gotten at least one highly-demanded idea taken care of (Origins James) despite the needless prolonging of it. As much as I wanted to attach a screenshot I took of its appearance during the event, the file size limit has prevented me from doing so. I'm sure a high-quality image of it will surface soon anyway.

I already mentioned this elsewhere, but Large Scale Diesel's prototype was rather gratifying - maybe a little too much in context of preceding the event, come to think of it. I'm still happy it was shown off and very interested in seeing how he'll turn out later on.

Perhaps the best way to cope with a dry season of announcements would be discussing when we think most future items will come. There's already a lot in store within the next year and a half.

The starter items of the N Scale line entered their painting phases in January and received their first official photo in March (being the Thomas set) earlier this year, so they cannot be that far way from their completions and releases. My best guess would be within the last 3 months of 2020 and if not, then within the first 3 months of 2021. I'm also guessing that both Origins repaints of Thomas and James should be out around this holiday since they're much easier products to handle and release by that deadline.

Daisy, Peter Sam and Large Scale Diesel are shaping up to be 2021 releases by this time. It may be a bit too early to judge the second set of N Scale items (James and the tankers), but I feel somewhat convinced that they should be out by the end of that year as well. I personally can't account for rolling stock between HO and N since I haven't been as inclined to take notice of them as I usually do with engines. Anyone else is free to do so, however.

That's pretty much my input on the pair of reveals and when I think everything else will come. Props to the Bachmann team for continuing to do what they can in a trying time like this. Here's hoping next February can improve upon this season in any way it can.

[GordonPacific04]

I do very much like Origins James. However, I don't like the fact that Bachmann's Twitter account posted it a few days before and very poorly blurred it out to the point where people were making jokes about it. I would've been less disappointed about having only one announcement. I do wish more Thomas products were revealed, however, the entire presentation had very few products compared to last year. This is most likely due to the pandemic. This isn't just exclusive to the Thomas & Friends range. As the guy said there were only around 21 products announced in the presentation. I think the fact that it's the 75th anniversary is still irrelevant in my personal opinion because Mattel themselves only released a few products and isn't even pushing Thomas's 75th in the show anyway. It's not like I'll lose sleep over it, but I'm still disappointed. While I think the people running the twitter are great people who have good intentions, I think they need to handle announcements like this better in the future.

Remember, Stepney is still a likely candidate. Don't lose hope! 

[DecadesofSun]

Okay, I'm genuinely upset about this. I'm sure I'm likely to be perceived as extremely arrogant and entitled for saying this, but it needs to be said because I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Bachmann let us down significantly this year. Yes, I know they owe us nothing. Yes, I know they are a business and have to do what's most economical for them. Yes, I know that COVID has halted production of a lot of products by various companies around the globe, including this company. If you feel I'm being unfair to them for any of those points, please acknowledge what I'm about to say on its own merit before you come at me with some lame response of "stop being mean to the corporation" or "just be grateful for what you have".

There are several ways in which the team handling the Thomas and Friends range at Bachmann failed during this demonstration. The first was hyping people up on Twitter with a blurred-out image of what what obviously black James before it was meant to be announced, therefore ruining the surprise, but the surprise coming a day early isn't the problem. What's wrong is that in spoiling the surprise, they indicated to us that there was to be more coming and that black James was the first of the new lineup. That was what we were led to believe. It was false- they KNEW there wouldn't be any more new pieces to get excited about, they KNEW we were expecting something the day after that model was announced, and they KNEW they'd have nothing left to show. They set the entire Thomas HO fanbase up for disappointment because someone on Twitter/Facebook decided to give out the only worthwhile information a day early. Either announce your new stuff when you say you will and use something like the black James hint to lead up to that, or don't leave hints for information that isn't there.

The second failure on Bachmann's end, which I'm a bit more understanding of, is the lack of any pictures of new models announced in 2019 for the 2020 winter season, the most sought-after of which are HO Daisy and Peter Sam. Yes, again I know COVID has shut down their production. I'm not faulting Bachmann for that. What I will fault them for is not providing any supplementary information about those previous announcements when they were all too eager to show us new models that were announced AFTER Daisy/Peter Sam, with no explanation as to why or even a mention of their overall status in the TrainWorld livestream. Green Thomas, Busy Bee James and Black James are all recolors so of course it didn't take them as long to get photos out, but all three of those (along with any rolling stock announced in 2020) came at least a good six months after the news of Peter Sam, Daisy and the 2019-announced rolling stock came out. If they can get pictures of three recolors out before they can get even design material photos out of something announced a year ahead of time, then the impact of COVID should have little to no bearing on what's publicly visible. We know the prices and weights of Peter Sam and Daisy, therefore the models have to be done through the initial design and production stages. That's not the same thing as saying they would be *in* production, only that production prototypes have to be available by now for that information to become available. They could have given us either pictures of the unpainted prototypes, like they did MONTHS AGO with the N- scale range, or they could give us pics of the CAD designs they used to assemble the prototype models. Either one of those would have been a much better option than leaving us in the dark and shifting the blame to China not being available to produce the physical models themselves. We don't even need the physical model final promo pic, we just need the CAD design/prototype pic. You gave us a pic of an unpainted G scale Diesel, and he was also announced after Daisy and Peter Sam if memory serves. There's no excuse for this.

Third, and this is probably the biggest reason I'm infuriated right now, is the fact that we have nothing to look forward to DURING THE DIAMOND ANNIVERSARY YEAR other than yet another recolor (with a face that's still not improved, by the way) and the news of items that were either announced back in the spring or announced a whole year ago. To sum up: we have pictures of Thomas and James recolors from earlier this year, and then we got a pic of another James recolor during the same year. All three still have the really awful faces they were given when the line started in 2002, and the second James recolor seems to be more a response to the negative reception to the first James recolor than an actual attempt by Bachmann to release a genuinely good model. It's basically like they realized no one besides little kids wanted the Busy Bee James, so they gave us black James to make up for it. And again, those recolors are fine. This isn't a complaint against the fact that these new spinoff models are being made; more power to Bachmann for getting an easy buck. I'll almost certainly buy green Thomas and black James and then instantly replace the faces on both with something that doesn't give me nightmares. But the fact that those three recolor models are the ONLY new HO models announced in 2020 which, again I remind you IS THE ANNIVERSARY YEAR, and also comes at a time when the Thomas and Friends brand NEEDS TO MAKE MONEY TO SURVIVE, tells me that either Bachmann, Mattel or both companies have dropped the ball seriously hard. This should be the year where they brought out the big guns! Dying brand based on toy sales? Make newer, more original toys to replace the old ones, don't just "update" the old ones with a new paint job and call it a day! They could have used this chance to even use some of their other moulds to freshen up the character range. They could have discontinued the original HO Diesel model, kept the grumpy variant which seems to be selling better (probably also the reason the G scale model of him uses that face) and used those same body shells to make Sidney, with a very similar cost to what they put out to make the other recolor characters. The only effort the design team would have had to put in would be to have rounded off the top of the face plate, and that's it! Easy money. They didn't even have to necessarily announce a new mould, which would of course have been preferable to Sidney or another recolor since new original characters are what the fans have been BEGGING FOR for years; they could just keep reusing certain molds to recycle into other characters as long as possible until they ran out. Again that's why I'm not faulting them for a quick buck with repainted locomotives, but at least make it count with a new character or two along the way. Is that asking too much?

But of course, the main thing most of us wanted is NEW LOCOMOTIVE CHARACTERS. That's what this brand, and this toy range, thrive on. Recolors are nice and harmless, but they're not where most of us fans are willing to put our money. We buy new locomotives more than we buy Bachmann's rolling stock, repainted models, road vehicles, people, buildings or anything else. All it would have taken to not **** off the fanbase would have been ONE new locomotive, even if it was a rinky-dink 0-6-0 like we've had plenty of. Stepney would have been incredibly cost effective for his size. Ryan is probably the second-most in demand and would have sold similarly well despite being a bit larger. Heck, even a side character like Stanley would have worked, or if Bachmann had been feeling financially adventurous like they clearly were when announcing Daisy, they could have gone for a larger steam engine again like Hiro, who seems to have similar high demand. Now obviously not every character is going to be made for this range; there's what, nearly 100 locomotives in the show now, just in standard gauge? No one was asking for one of the obscure international engines, no one was asking for Mattel's little darlings Nia or Rebecca (who might have sold well with kids better than with adult fans) and no one expected them to do Railway-Series only engines or characters who might be hard to make logistically, like Diesel 10 or Harvey. Point is there are plenty of locomotive characters they could have discounted right away in favor of the characters older fans DO want, and we wouldn't have faulted them for it. Worse still, we've TOLD Bachmann's staff what we're WILLING TO PAY MONEY FOR for so long now, both on THIS EXACT SAME WEBSITE and on Twitter, Facebook and through email correspondence, that they have no reason to brush us off like that when BACHMANN THEMSELVES have admitted that older fans are what keeps this range afloat. Heck, we were the reason they even decided to launch a HOn30/OO9 narrow-gauge line in the first place; it sure isn't the 6-year-old with mommy and daddy next door buying Skarloey or Rusty; they're buying Busy Bee James. Bachmann has willingly listened to us on multiple occasions. Why couldn't they have listened to us now and just given us a crumb of what we wanted, even if it was just an announcement for what they hope to make after quarantine? If they'd said, "we want to make Stepney (or Ryan, or Stanley or whoever) but it won't be out until 2022", I don't think any of us would have blamed them. It would be a whole lot better than what we got.

Lastly, let's talk about the non-existent elephant in the room. No new narrow-gauge announcements, no new updates on the N-scale range (which again has had prototype pics and video out for months) and no news about the G-scale range other than the pics of the Diesel model we all knew was coming. Pick any one of these to be disappointed about. I guess since G scale is a financial liability anyway, having no more updates there makes sense even if I'm not pleased about it (not even another rolling stock recolor, or something people wanted like Henrietta?)... again, that makes sense on account of how few people can afford that range. I'm still hoping for a G-scale Edward or Mavis, but that's beside the point. The other two ranges though have less cause to be so tepid. Bachmann knows we're willing to shell out big bucks for the OO9 range. Why couldn't they have slated a Sir Handel model for 2022? Again, quarantine won't last forever and they could have simply announced it, designed it, and waited to produce the thing until the time was right, but they failed to even announce it when they know that's what fans are after. Why couldn't they have given an update on the N range, which like Peter Sam and Daisy we've known about for a year now, but have failed to see any progress on since springtime? What's wrong with just giving us the information we're asking for? Most of us are polite about it, most of us have been courteous to Bachmann and their staff both here and on other social media, and most of us aren't trolls who just get angry at everything they do. I know I sound angry in this post, because I am, but that's not because I have anything against Bachmann or their crew personally. Again, I want them to succeed, and I want both sides of this niche market to be happy. But I can't support them keeping us in the dark about something like this when we've demonstrated time and time again that this fandom is willing to be patient, courteous, and pay them good money when the time comes. Blame me or the fandom all you want for seeming entitled, but we're still the ones paying for their products. Without us, their Thomas-range market dwindles considerably.

TL;DR: I'm incredibly disappointed by Bachmann's announcements for 2021 and had expected better from a company I've grown to respect. I hope they learn from these mistakes and improve their efforts next year.

[TrainFan97]

Now that Origin James is on the horizon, the only engine recolors left that use existing toolings, that actually make the most sense, are Sidney, and Silver Spencer (Spencer with his metallic silver livery from Season 10 onwards). Other ideas to throw out there would be Glow-in-the-Dark Henry, Green Salty, or Blue Bill and Ben, unless you think those are too gimmicky.

Silver Spencer might be the favorite among remaining engine recolors now. Rosie was made in her current red livery, as she was a character who had a permanent change to their paint scheme. One that's been overlooked is that Spencer was released in his old blueish gray livery. From Season 10 onwards, Spencer was given a metallic silver livery, which I think could be made into a Bachmann model. They might call it "Spencer - Metallic Silver", "Spencer - Silver", or "Shiny Spencer". Just like how Black James is officially called "Origin James" and LBSC Thomas is officially called "Thomas the Tank Engine - LBSC 70".

I know not many are big fans of getting so many engine recolors like we currently are, but we are getting one engine in HO Scale with a new tooling, and that's Daisy. Because Daisy uses a new tooling, they ran into delays in production, so we may not see her until 2021. At least for HO Scale, new toolings just haven't been financially viable in recent years. It took many years since Toby to finally get Diesel made in Large Scale. There should still be hope for Stepney.

Which engine recolor should happen next for HO Scale?:

-Sidney
-Silver/Shiny Spencer
-Glow-in-the-Dark Henry
-Green Salty
-Blue Bill and Ben

Those are the remaining options from the top of my head.

[TheFattHatt]

TL;DR: I'm incredibly disappointed by Bachmann's announcements for 2021 and had expected better from a company I've grown to respect. I hope they learn from these mistakes and improve their efforts next year.

"Alright Magic Conch Shell, what should Bachmann make that's worth buying now?"

"....nothing."

"ALL HAIL THE MAGIC CONCH!"

[Cheeky_ULP]

It seems a bit misguided for the Bachmann Twitter page to hype up the announcements, only to tease (in a very obvious manner) their only announcement prior to the event. It led many users to believe that there was still more to be seen during the announcements themselves, which is why so many people are frustrated now. I feel as though any update from the pieces of rolling stock such as Troublesome Truck 6, the flatbeds with crates, or something from the N Scale range would've alleviated this issue.

That said, this was also a live-streamed event with multiple vendors participating, so in hindsight it's not a shocker that every vendor, Bachmann included, basically had to bee-line it through their announcements and keep it short and simple. Either way, I think Thomas fans were hoping for something just a -bit- more. Hopefully we'll get just that in later months. COVID-19 is making things unpredictable, which has to be considered.

Though I will say that it was nice to see the G Scale Diesel in advance, and I always enjoy seeing prototypes in development in such a regard. I'm a little surprised neither Daisy or Peter Sam are far enough in development to have the same kind of preview, but hopefully that'll change soon.

[HO scale Den-liner]

STL. I don't think you realise how much stuff Bachmann still has to release for us or the fact the world has pretty much broken in 2020 so majority of these products have been delayed because of this. We've got HO Daisy, the three 1 plank wagons with different loads, troublesome truck 6, the 75th train set, LBSC Thomas, busy bee James, origin James, Peter Sam, narrow guage breakvans, the whole N scale range, large scale Diesel. The fact theres no updates is probably because they can't update us with news as there is no news. Since February the world's gone to hell so most products are still in development. LBSC Thomas and the James recolours are just the recolours, the rest is pretty much new tooling in terms of engines and that.

Yeah I don't see anything happening until march of 2021.

[Mulfred100]

While I am disappointed with the lack of announcements, I do understand why given things being delayed in production and had things gone smoothly in 2020 I think we probably would have gotten more. Let's hope there's no more delays and bachmann can get some of these backlogged products out there for us and hopefully by the time the 2021 announcements are due to be announced in February or at least majority are and theres product photos for the rest. I imagine the two James mods and Thomas will be the first released along with N Scale Thomas and Percy. I know its frustrating for people but I do think that we will get some decent stuff in 2021 if the world lets things run smoothly between now and then. I dunno maybe I'm.just trying to remain optimistic to mask the disappointment.
I won't living in the UK and being an early to bed type of fella I literally said "I STAYED UP LATE FOR THIS! With a few explicit words thrown in. In regards to Origin James he looks great, clearly  the model Bachmann should have announced in February. Correct me if I am wrong but I think Black James if the first steam engine to have sliver windows on their cab. As for 2021 we just need to keep trying for what we want. We did it for Origin James which lets face it should be been a February announcement anyway.

[TerencetheTractor525]

While looking back at yesterday's announcement, I must state again that I firmly believe that Bachmann's priorities should have been set differently for this year, even with the pandemic at stake. After all, let's remember that yesterday's announcement showed that Bachmann was able to announce re-toolings for other non-Thomas lines such as the USRA 0-6-0 in HO Scale, so I do not see the pandemic as an excuse. In my opinion, an HO Stepney or at least some popular recolored rolling stock for the Thomas line should have been announced instead for this year, with announcements such as the HO USRA 0-6-0 saved next year when Thomas' diamond anniversary has passed. Of course, I understand that a popular new tooling such as Stepney would take years to be released. Most of us are already used to that. We know that Bachmann takes their time to perfect the models. I am just shocked that during Thomas' 75th Anniversary, their attention was not on the Thomas line as much as it could have been.

As for products that were already announced, I can honestly understand why the Large Scale Diesel was in the works before Daisy and Peter Sam, even though he was announced after them. Firstly, let's remember that the large scale Thomas line has received the short end of the stick since 2015, with the announcement of Winston. Others would even argue that it was 2013, when Toby was announced, so it is only fair the large scale gets the spotlight for once. Secondly, Diesel was already made in HO Scale. Thus, all Bachmann needed to do was scale up the model to G Scale, whereas Daisy and Peter Sam are getting constructed entirely from scratch, since there is no physical model to use as a reference. I could only imagine that CGI references make the construction of the models even more challenging nowadays. Therefore, to be fair, I can understand why Bachmann diverted more attention to the Large Scale Diesel when it comes to working on previously announced products.

Going back to the priority of announcements, all Bachmann would have had to do for this year was make a pinned post for the this forum, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram along the lines of "While this year is Thomas' 75th Anniversary, and our Thomas products do very well for us in terms of sales, we will be devoting extra attention to the Thomas lines just for this year. Stay tuned for more exciting announcements for our other lines in the future." And in response to delayed announcements, "Due to the uncertainties of COVID-19, it may take longer for newly announced models to be revealed." Both are statements that could have easily been copied and pasted to avoid extra headaches too. Hence, stronger communication from Bachmann could certainly help to lessen the amount of tension that has accumulated in the past day.

[Rodimus Supreme]

The blurred photo was indeed Black James (called Origin James) and if the wheels aren't painted, they'd better be painted on the final model.

What are you talking about? The wheels are painted.

[thomasj219]

Alright guys, Yes yesterday was a bit of a disappointment. But you have to look at the bigger picture, I'm sorry just saying "I may seem entitled" doesn't excuse the lack of understanding that people seem to have during the current situation.

Seeing as Bachmann teased things and made it seem like there would be new engines before this, it says to me that something must've happened, I have a feeling that the delays for Daisy and a Peter San came later than anticipated and they're still planning for stuff but had to pull it back because the wait between announcement and release would've been just too long. I'm hoping for a much more satisfying announcement in February. Plus the fact that we only have to wait six months for announcements now rather than a year is another plus. I still think we're in a better place than we've ever been.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is relax, and remember the days when we had to beg for any classic character to be considered let alone announced. We have a narrow gauge line now and the range is only looking more promising as time goes on, these are unbelievable circumstances that we unfortunately have to deal with. But don't get greedy boys. There are only six characters from the classic series that Bachmann has not made in standard gauge, excluding one offs like Derek and class 40.

We are living the dream.

Don't forget that.