Future suggestions/predictions thread

[TrainFan97]

For HO Scale recolors, Bachmann could easily make Sidney, Fernando, the Mainland Diesels, or Green Salty because their toolings already exist. For new toolings, they could make Nia, Stanley, Whiff, Harvey, Norman, Diesel 10, or Hiro. For Harvey, one issue is his crane arm, but Bachmann has made rail cranes. Making one that's self-propelled shouldn't be too hard, though they may have to omit the eye mechanism for a rotating crane arm. As for Diesel 10, they could at least make his claw posable, and could still stay in place when not in use. Diesel 10 is the only other good choice for a larger diesel that's appeared in the CGI series. Not a fan of Nia, but since we're getting Rebecca, they might as well complete the BWBA Steam Team. Ashima would be really interesting, but two problems with her are her complex siderod configuration with upper flywheels, and her highly-detailed paint scheme.

We may never get a Bachmann Stepney, no matter how great his demand is, solely because he never appeared in the CGI series. Same for BoCo or Duke, unless Mattel ever warms up to the idea... They probably won't, given that they intentionally made All Engines Go a dumpster fire for the older fans, but that's a different topic.

[RailsByRick]

Hi everyone! I wanted to share my quick predictions before the 2023 catalogue is out!

HO SCALE

I do believe that this year will be a recolor year. With Rebecca and Beau in development, I think Bachmann will take a slight hiatus from new tool announcements. So my prediction for HO locomotive(s) this year:

-Sidney

-Arry and Bert (reintroduction)

Sidney would be a great, new addition, and would be cost effective too. My only fear is the face. Hopefully it wouldn't be completely botched like how Paxton's face was.

As for the Iron Twins, they fetch a very hefty price tag on the secondary market. I think a limited reintroduction would be a great idea so fans who missed out on those two could get them, and it would be extremely cost effective as well.

If there was going to be a new tooled HO loco announcement, I'd have to say it's going to be......


Nia.


Why?
Well, we have Rebecca already announced. I think it just makes sense to have both of these characters together from a marketing standpoint. Another reason being the reintroduction of Tidmouth Sheds. I just have a feeling that bringing back Tidmouth was in preparation for the announcement of Rebecca and then later, Nia. Another reason: Mattel.

However, if Nia isn't announced, another new tooled loco I could see is Philip. He's small, and he's a diesel. I don't think he would be too difficult for Bachmann to develop, and he is from fairly recent media.

Those are my predictions, but my HOPES are for:

-Stepney
-Hiro
-Stanley
-Harvey
-Diesel 10

The demand is THERE. These are what the people WANT. I cannot emphasize enough that any of these characters would basically be printing money. These would be instant sellers. I usually don't preorder, but I would make exceptions for these, and buy multiple. Please, Bachmann!

HO ROLLING STOCK

-CGI Troublesome Truck

I think the days of classic era faces are over. I would be personally be really happy to get a CGI troublesome truck, and buy multiples as well.

NARROW GAUGE

-Duncan

He's the next in line. Simple as that. If not Duncan, then I'd be happy with Victor. Victor can even have a yellow version 

HO ROAD VEHICLES

Discontinue Jeremy (why was he ever a thing?) and introduce:

-Trevor

He is simple, and the demand is there. Also appeared in recent media (JBS).

I'm not too concerned with N or G scale, but I think a great idea is to do TAB recolors of Thomas and James in both scales. I know I would be very tempted to get them.

That's all I have for now! Hoping we get the new catalogue very soon!

[TrainFan97]

If we finally do get Sidney for HO Scale, I just hope the face won't be botched, like how Paxton's was. However, Paxton's face was a huge improvement on his Large Scale model. Sidney would also need a painted border around his face.

It's been six years since Paxton was first announced for HO Scale, and Sidney still hadn't been on the cards, but we'll see if that changes soon. Fernando and the Mainland Diesels are other good choices that use the same tooling, but it would make sense that Sidney comes before them. Too bad Splatter and Dodge haven't been relevant in two decades.

[Chaz]

I definitely agree with the general consensus, that Duncan is the most obvious if not inevitable pick for narrow gauge.  However, with how far behind Bachmann is on several projects for narrow gauge, including the brake vans announced back in 2020(!), I think this year Bachmann will take a breather and focus on releasing the vans and starting work on Sir Handel and the new wagons on the way.

As for Nia, if I'm honest, I'm surprised that she wasn't announced before Rebecca since Bachmann hasn't announced a tender engine in over a decade and Nia seems to have a much bigger push by Mattel, especially with marketing.  The only possible explanation I can think of why they picked Rebecca first was maybe they thought Rebecca's price would be a better value of money between the two since Nia has a far more detailed and complicated design to work with than Rebecca does despite Rebecca being a tender engine.  Granted, I'm sure Rebecca being a "top requested locomotive" were most likely a response to requests coming from Mattel, but it still makes her a very questionable choice since Hiro was very clearly a more popular demand and would have sold far better than Rebecca too.  But anyways, I do think unfortunately, Nia isn't that far off from being added in the future.  However, like Sidney, Nia just strikes me more as premonition that most fans are dreading to see happen rather than something they're getting excited and hopeful for like they have for Hiro or an N scale Henry.

[GordonPacific04]

Here's the weirdest thing with Rebecca:

I'm not sure how much The Reboot influences the Bachmann range, but Rebecca hasn't been in the reboot, so she hasn't appeared in the show since 2020.

Hiro, actually has appeared in the reboot.

I'm not saying I want them to make things purely based off the influence of the reboot, I just think it's a really weird choice, especially when Doug said on a livestream that characters like Stepney would be shadowed by newer characters like Rebecca due to relevancy, and Rebecca hasn't been relevant since the BWBA era, it just seems like an excuse for what seems like a Mattel push. I'm not saying that's fact, but it's personally what I believe.

[TrainFan97]

I shouldn't get upset if Nia is next in line for new toolings in HO Scale, considering we already have Rebecca coming our way. The demand for Hiro is bound to have skyrocketed following Rebecca's announcement, which greenlit new toolings for tender engines. Hiro could even use Rebecca's wheels (repainted) as parts, like how Ryan used Oliver's wheels; just repainted. For smaller engines, Stanley has had high demand for years, and can recycle Thomas' chassis with the wheels painted red. Hiro should be the next tender engine for HO Scale, as he's had consistent demand, and now more-so following Rebecca's announcement. I think Hiro should be considered before Flying Scotsman (whose only concern is the second tender).

As for diesels with new toolings for HO Scale, the best choices are Den, Dart, Philip, Norman, or Diesel 10. Dart would make Natalie a potential recolor (albeit she was a one-off character like Beau). However, Dart's only concern is his small size, and may have to be scaled up slightly to fit the eye mechanism and motor. Frankie could recycle Diesel's chassis, though she was a one-off character, but would make one of the American diesels a potential recolor. Not only would this be Norman's first official piece of merchandise since Mattel's takeover, but he would also be the first ready-to-run model of 11001. Philip would also be a good choice for Large Scale.

[Kemptown Branch]

I've been asked, so I'll put my predictions in last minute. But first, let's take a bit of a walk on what Bachmann still has on the back-burner for each scale (yeah, I may have been keeping a list).
HO Scale
Ryan (painted sample)
Salty (painted sample)
Beau
Rebecca
DCC Sound Thomas & Percy
Explosives Van (painted sample)
Chocolate Factory Van
Brendam Bay Van
Figure Packs

Narrow Gauge
Sir Handel
Brake Vans (Painted Sample)
Box Vans (Painted Sample)
BMQ High-Side Wagons
Gondolas

N Scale
Toby (painted sample)
Emily
Gordon
Emily's Coaches (unpainted sample)
Toad (unpainted sample)

Large Scale
Chocolate Van (painted sample)
Brendam Bay Van (painted sample)
Toby's Museum Coaches (painted sample)

These lists use information from the TrainWorld "Thomas Tuesdays" and Bachmann's Social Media posts, and I believe the list is up to date (feel free to let me know if I missed anything). I'll be partially basing my predictions off of this list, so here we go:

HO Scale
I'm honestly not sure what to expect here, especially since it has the largest backlog of unreleased products. It would be cool if they could announce a new engine, but I'm not really expecting one, at least for the February announcements. As far as rolling stock goes, I could see the Chocolate Factory Tanker and Toffee Tanker make the jump from Large Scale to HO. Other than that, maybe some more figure packs will be announced?

Narrow Gauge
I could possibly see Duncan getting announced soon, since it's been a year since they announced Sir Handel. As far as rolling stock goes, I'm not really expecting much for these announcements, but a Brown Brake Van & Box Van would be pretty easy recolors for them to do. As far as the future goes, it seems like Bachmann is pretty willing to do any narrow gauge stock (looking at the gondolas), so I'd definitely like to see Bachmann tackle the Brown and Grey Open Wagons from Series 4 in the same sort of style as the Box & Brake Vans at some point, along with some Talyllyn-style tipper wagons.

N Gauge
Henry has to be next; they've got his chassis design, and he's been just as requested as Gordon. I'm surprised they weren't announced together, to be honest. As far as rolling stock goes, I'm hoping for a Milk Tanker, the Red Open Wagon, Coal Wagon w/ Load (original version), maybe a Tar Tanker, and Express Coaches for Gordon. These would really help the range feel complete, and shouldn't be too difficult for them to do (they seem to be very quick with getting physical models in this scale).

Large Scale
Although I don't personally collect Large Scale, I do want to talk about it. Since everything unreleased has painted samples ready, the range is in the perfect spot to announce a new engine. I'm personally hoping for Edward or Mavis. As far as rolling stock goes, I'm not sure what we could see, but Bachmann seem to be good at finding recolors. It would also be cool to see a rerelease of Thomas' Snowplough.

[Terry Toenges]

I would like to see the "Naughty or Nice" Brake Van sold separately. I want one of those but I don't want to have to buy a whole set to get it.

[TrainFan97]

So SOME catalog announcements were shown in Bachmann's latest video, but NONE of them were Thomas & Friends products. However, there will soon be a separate video announcing Thomas products within like a few weeks or so. We'll get the full catalog during February. We may not see the new Thomas products until then.

We'll have to hold our breath for just a little longer. There will be Thomas announcements. Just not at this moment. They're being saved for a dedicated video on them.

[thomasj219]

So I figured before the announcements come out I'll put in my predictions. I'm not really sure what to expect this year, I'm tempted to do a hopes and predictions column. So I will. Lol.




HO SCALE

Engines

PREDICTION
Stanley or Nia

HOPE
Harvey or Stepney


Rolling Stock

PREDICTION
Well Wagon Comeback
Troublesome Truck 7
Gordon's Special Coaches
Circus Train

HOPE
China Clay Truck
Breakdown Crane
Spencer's Express Brake Coach

NARROW GAUGE

ENGINES
DUNCAN (Seems inevitable, just pray they don't use his CGI model as a basis.)

My hope here would be Duke.

ROLLING STOCK
GREEN (CATTLE CAR) COACHES
GUNPOWDER VAN
FLATBED


No hopes here. They are doing pretty well

OFF-RAIL

These are all wild cards, I expect we may see another figure pack or two. But beyond that I'd love to see...

TREVOR
GEORGE
BULGY (He's been around recently too)
LORRIES


LARGE SCALE

Here is an interesting scale, I love large scale and feel it's long overdue for a new engine. But I'm not sure what direction they'll go. I propose two for the engine.

Option 1:  One Bigger Tooling options I see as,
 
Edward
Duck
Mavis
Donald and Douglas

It would be a big new tooling. But I think they would get some thing for their buck.

Option 2: The Twin Route

As much as I want some of the engines on that list I put above in large scale, if I were Bachmann what I would do is this.

Bill & Ben
Arry & Bert

Do both sets of twins in one year and get four engines for really the price of one. Use the Class 08 tooling to do Arry and Bert, which most all classic fans would buy. Plus Bill and Ben would be selling like hotcakes. Then Bachmann is able to make a decent amount of money to put into the range for the future. Boom.   

As for rolling stock.

More Recolors
Flat Car
Mail Car (Long Overdeue)

Also, I really like the option of a normal brake van.


N Scale

This is the only scale I haven't purchased a single item from yet, I plan to, and I can't wait seeing how much has been introduced so far. Here's what I think is coming next. 

Engines
Edward or Henry

Stock
Mail Car
Express Coaches

I'd also love to see Cranky in this scale.



That's about it for me, might come back and edit later or make an additional post. Happy to be back all. 

[Chaz]

The fact that Trainworld announced that for their next Thomas stream the first unpainted sample of N scale Gordon will be ready definitely gives me the impression that they have to be working on Henry or have plans for him.  I can't see any other reason why that's the case, especially since there's no word on Emily and she was announced a few months before Gordon. 

Either way, it's very exciting to hear they've made so much progress on Gordon already!

[TrainFan97]

An unpainted prototype of N Scale Gordon is ready much sooner than expected, even before Emily, who was announced before him, which is very weird. Not too long ago, Bachmann did show an unpainted prototype of Emily's coach. I really hope N Scale Henry gets announced soon. He would be the best choice immediately after Gordon's announcement, especially for being the same size as Gordon, as well as sharing Gordon's chassis; minus the trailing wheels. After Henry, Edward will be the only member left of the original Steam Team for N Scale.

Gordon is also the first engine in the N Scale range who doesn't already exist in Large Scale, since N Scale is much more flexible with big engines like him. If Bachmann can make Gordon, they can absolutely make Henry for N Scale. Just recycle the chassis, remove the trailing wheels, change features of the body to match Henry's, paint him green, and make the tender different.

[TrainFan97]

Pardon this double post, but the 2023 catalog is up!

No new engines were announced, but HO Scale is getting an Open Carriage, which is a new tooling for rolling stock, as well as Sir Topham Hatt's car. N Scale is also getting Henrietta to go with Toby (thank goodness) by popular demand, as well as three box vans (Great Western, Fruit & Veg, and Ice Cream), and even a set for Emily. Also nothing new for Narrow Gauge, but there's plenty of stuff there still on the backburner. Also, nothing new for Large Scale...

[RailwayRoundhouse]

To be fair to Bachmann, there's still a lot of products yet to come out, so it can't be too surprising that there isn't much this time around. Here are my thoughts;

HO Scale:

The Old Carriage: Out of the rolling stock that could've been announced, I certainly wasn't expecting this one! I'm really looking forward to seeing this. I really like the 1800s Era of trucks and coaches and I reckon these will go down a treat! Who knows, maybe Stephan could be announced further down the line (no pun intended).

Sir Topham Hatt's Car: I'll be honest, the figure announcements last year were the biggest surprise in my opinion. I've personally always wanted a scale figurine of The Fat Controller and now not only are we getting that, but we're getting the "Hatt Blue" car as well! It's so great to see Non-Rail characters/vehicles making a comeback! Hopefully one day we'll see a model of Trevor or maybe Bulgy? Here's hoping!

N Scale (I'll keep my thoughts brief as I'm not particularly bothered by N Scale personally):

Henrietta: It's nice to see Toby's faithful coach getting a release, though I can't help but wish one could be made for G Scale. We've been waiting years for that, so maybe with an N Scale version coming out, the chances of a G Scale model are more promising?


The Ventilated Vans: I mean, yeah... cool. I don't really have much to say regarding these honestly.

Emily's Passenger Set: This sounds like a good one to me. Personally speaking, I wish Bachmann went back to making sets with other characters besides Thomas, nice to see that happening for N Scale. Hopefully in the future the same can be done for HO/OO and G Scale.


Conclusion:

While there isn't a lot announced this time round, these sound like really cool products and besides that we've still got models like Sir Handel, the new NG wagons, Ryan, etc still coming. Nice work Bachmann! Looking forward to seeing the finished results!

[Zekeism]

Pretty pleased that we are getting Sir Topham Hatt's car, makes sense as it can go with the family figure pack.

What is the open carriage from? I don;t remember seeing it, but I'm guessing it'll look good.

Shame there isn't a new Narrow Gauge engine announced, but it also means I can catch up, seeing as I only started collecting them since Christmas.

I don't collect N Scale, but it's great to see Henrietta to go with Toby, though I do think it would have been the perfect time to put a face on her. At least she makes sense unlike Toad, I do think they should release rolling stock that fits with the character they are releasing.
Like Thomas, Annie & Clarabel
Percy, Mail coach, Break van
James, Red Express Coaches
Toby, Henrietta, an open wagon
Emily, her coaches
Gordon, Green Express Coaches


I do wish starter sets came with a little bit more than a circle/oval, a siding or something would be cool, I find the circle/oval is a little boring.