Bachmann Thomas & Friends in 2020

[TerencetheTractor525]

While seeing that many people are desperate to start a new predictions thread on the Bachmann 2020 Thomas range, and that next year is a very special year for Thomas (Thomas' 75th Anniversary), I thought that it would not hurt to start one now. I'm just going to start with a general list of what I would like, and expect to see.

HO Scale
Stepney, Daisy, or LBSC Thomas
Troublesome Truck #6
Flat Wagon with a new load (paint drums, oil drums, pipes, or crates)
Resin Buildings: https://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,34707.0.html

Narrow Gauge
Peter Sam

N Scale
James
Tankers
Spiteful Brake Van

Large Scale
LBSC Thomas
Red Circus Van
Blue Circus Van

[mulfred-100]

I'll do what I'd like to see then what i expect to see.

HO scale

Daisy, Stepney or flying Scotsman
I think one of these three will sell really well and be very nice for the 75th especially Daisy or Scotsman.
Original Thomas.

Troublesome truck 6
Flatbead with load
Wagon with load

Resin buildings

Narrow gauge

Peter sam
Breakvan

large scale

Original Thomas
Verious recolours of wagons
Possible new troublesome truck.

N scale

James
Tankers
Scruffy
Breakvan

N scale thomas set

Now this is what I'm expecting

HO scale

Sidney
Updated celebration thomas (possibly with sound)

Various recolours for tankers (toffee, choclate syrup)
Possibly troublesome truck 6
Mining wagon (red)

narrow guage
Breakvan
Maybe a new engine depending on other lines

Large scale
Celebration Thomas

N scale
James
Scruffy

[TrainFan97]

Here's my 2020 predictions.

HO Scale:
Sidney
Green Thomas (LBSC)
Explosives Van
Troublesome Truck #6
Orange Coach
Red Express Coaches (reintroduction)

Narrow Gauge:
Peter Sam
Brake Van

N Scale:
James
Red Coach
Red Brake Coach
S.C. Ruffey
Brake Van

Large Scale:
Celebration Thomas

[douglas]

Woof. A little early, don't you think, boyos? We're only another ~365 days out from the official reveals.

[Cheeky_ULP]

Woof. A little early, don't you think, boyos? We're only another ~365 days out from the official reveals.

It gives Bachmann a pretty good idea of what products people want.

Of course to me, it's not like too much is gonna change in terms of wishlists. We're still gonna wish for engines like Stepney and Daisy, but still expect engines like LBSC Thomas or Sidney. Only difference now is N scale items will be added to said wishlists.

[TrainshockeylifE]

Bachmann doesn't listen to what we want, they make their decisions off of what Mattel wants and what fits their budgets.

[Cheeky_ULP]

Bachmann doesn't listen to what we want, they make their decisions off of what Mattel wants and what fits their budgets.

If that was the case they would've never made items like the Spiteful Brakevan, Duck, or Skarloey. They listen to consumers because consumers buy their product. There is also a difference between listening and actually doing. They do listen to what we request, but Bachmann also does what is the most reasonable for them to manufacture, and they are always trying to balance the best of both worlds within their budget. If they don't make items people want, nobody will buy them. What Mattel does is approve or deny product propositions Bachmann thinks of doing, and then approves or denies designs as they go along the development line. Sometimes this can be a factor as to why items take longer to make.

[Chaz]

2020 thread already?  Sure, why not.

I'm leaving out large scale and even HO and resin buildings after how this year's announcements turned out for the time being.  Only just going to share my thoughts on N scale and narrow gauge.

For N scale, do I even need to state who the next engine is inevitably going to be?


It's obvious, literally one of the most popular well-known and iconic characters throughout the whole franchise since the very beginning. If they announce a new engine, it is going to be James. At this point it's more of a matter of who they will announce after James, and not after Thomas and Percy.  

After James I am willing to place bets on either Emily, Toby, or even Diesel.  Of course it's really hard to avoid the low-hanging fruit that if Bachmann wants to make larger engines, Gordon in particular would be ridiculously popular for the range.  But I'm not going to hold my breath on that one quite yet simply due to budget reasons.

For rolling stock I could see them going for either tankers, box/vent vans, or brake vans as well as other wagon recolors.  S.C. Ruffey in particular will probably find his way into the range too seeing as how almost every Thomas range has made a model of him at some point, even Tomix.

Now for narrow gauge.  My thoughts are literally the same as before which is Peter Sam and brake vans, so to save time, here are links to both of my in-depth posts for these two:

Peter Sam:
https://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,34526.msg254930.html#msg254930

Narrow gauge brake vans:
https://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,34526.msg254654.html#msg254654

Hopefully when Rusty and the coaches are released this year as Peter Sam and the brake vans will find their way into the 2020 lineup as they are the most popular requests for the next narrow gauge engine and rolling stock respectively.  

[sean1994rail]

Woof. A little early, don't you think, boyos? We're only another ~365 days out from the official reveals.

Bit early for my liking too, but anyway, here are my 2020 suggestions:

HO:

Engines
Daisy
Reintroduced Salty
Sidney
Stanley
Hiro

Rolling Stock
Troublesome Truck #6
Explosives Van
Toffee Tanker
Chocolate Syrup Tanker
CGI Milk and Fuel Tankers
Updated Henrietta with Face
Hannah

Vehicles
Trevor
Kevin

Buildings
Sodor Steamworks
Motorised Watermill
Ffarquhar Station

OO9

Engines
Victor
Peter Sam or Sir Handel
Luke

Rolling Stock
NG Brakevans
BLue Mountain Quarry Wagons

[really called Thomas]

[dream]

N Scale

It would be awesome if Bachmann continued the inital announcement trend of 2 loco and 4 pieces of rolling stock. So for 2020:

James
Edward

Red Express Composite Coach
Red Express Brake Coach
A Tanker (Milk, Sodor Fuel or Tar)
Normal Brakevan

In futures years ideally 1 tender/long engine and 1 small engine along with 2 coaches and 2 goods wagons. For example:

Gordon/Duck, Green Express Composite Coach/Green Express Brake Coach/Tar Tanker/Troublesome van
Henry/Oliver, Red Branchline Coach/Red Branchline Brake Coach/Toad/Sodor Fuel Tanker
Daisy/Toby, Henrietta/Sodor Mail Coach/SC Ruffey/Troublesome Tanker

Of course I would not object to more being made each year 

[/dream]

[Streak]

Well, since everyone is doing it, I'll post my stuff on what Bachmann could make in 2020. Keep in mine, these are simply suggestions for what Bachmann could possibly make as it's way too early to make concrete realistic predictions for something literally a year away.

HO Scale-

Daisy
Stepney
Sidney
Stanley
Ryan/Porter/Samson
Philip/Nia/Rebecca (could possibly happen, even though many don't want them. I do, but yeah)
Reintroduced Salty
LBSC Green Thomas/Black James

Troublesome Truck #6 (Van or Tanker)
Explosives Van
Brown Mail Van
Flatbed w/ New Load (Paint Drums, Oil Drums, Pipes, etc)
Bradford
Toffee Tanker/Chocolate Syrup Tanker
Jam Tanker/Dieselworks Tanker
Updated Henrietta w/ Face
Hannah
Dexter

Vehicles-

Trevor

Narrow Gauge-

Peter Sam/Sir Handel
Duncan

NG Brake Vans (Red, Blue, and Brown)
Gunpowder D-Fusit Wagons
BMQ Wagons

Large Scale-

James/Emily/Toby w/ DCC Sound
Rosie
Mavis
Edward
Philip
Diesel (not likely but I'd say still possible)
LBSC Thomas

Troublesome Truck #3
Red Coaches
Henrietta
Hannah
Jam Tankers/Dieselworks Tanker/Sodor Diesel Co. Tanker

N Scale-

James
Edward

Red Coaches
S.C.Ruffey
Tankers (Fuel, Oil, etc)
Brake Van/Spiteful Brake Van

Again, these are all just suggestions. I doubt that more than one sixth of this list will be apart of Bachmann's 2020 announcements unless Bachmann gets a BIG boost in their budget between now and 2020 which seems unlikely. I just feel like these are the ideas I can think of that are at least possible for 2020.

[TrainFan97]

@Streak, we don't want Bachmann to make Nia, Rebecca, or Philip in HO Scale, but I know you do have very unpopular opinions regarding the show's current direction. Given the fact that Nia and Rebecca are main characters now, they actually might get made eventually, if Bachmann has the budget to do so.

Now that Red Rosie is being made, all eyes for recolors will be on LBSC Thomas and/or Sidney for HO Scale. Two years after Paxton was announced, Sidney still remains pushed aside. If we can't get new toolings for budget reasons, then 2020 should be his year. Because of the 75th Anniversary, two recolors for HO Scale are not too out of the question. It can have one being Sidney, and the other being Green Thomas. If we can't get Sidney because of problems with his face, then another possibility would be Black James. Any of these three recolors, which include Sidney, Green Thomas, and Black James would all be welcomed with open arms. When we eventually do get Green Thomas and Black James, we can better recreate scenes from The Adventure Begins.

The Special edition for the 70th was Celebration Thomas. The special for the 75th should be HO Scale Green Thomas, with his LBSC livery. I'm sure that version of Thomas will sell better.

Rosie is the third engine in HO Scale to get a variation. The second was Diesel who got a Grumpy version. Thomas was the first, getting a sound-fitted model, then a Celebration version. James would have to be the fourth, being made in his black livery.

[Streak]

@Streak, we don't want Bachmann to make Nia, Rebecca, or Philip in HO Scale, but I know you do have very unpopular opinions regarding the show's current direction. Given the fact that Nia and Rebecca are main characters now, they actually might get made eventually, if Bachmann has the budget to do so.

Now that Red Rosie is being made, all eyes for recolors will be on LBSC Thomas and/or Sidney for HO Scale. Two years after Paxton was announced, Sidney still remains pushed aside. If we can't get new toolings for budget reasons, then 2020 should be his year. Because of the 75th Anniversary, two recolors for HO Scale are not too out of the question. It can have one being Sidney, and the other being Green Thomas. If we can't get Sidney because of problems with his face, then another possibility would be Black James. Any of these three recolors, which include Sidney, Green Thomas, and Black James would all be welcomed with open arms. When we eventually do get Green Thomas and Black James, we can better recreate scenes from The Adventure Begins.

The Special edition for the 70th was Celebration Thomas. The special for the 75th should be HO Scale Green Thomas, with his LBSC livery. I'm sure that version of Thomas will sell better.

Rosie is the third engine in HO Scale to get a variation. The second was Diesel who got a Grumpy version. Thomas was the first, getting a sound-fitted model, then a Celebration version. James would have to be the fourth, being made in his black livery.

It's not even the fact that I'm neutral about the current show (while some changes I like, it does have very unnecessary and unwelcome changes like the shorter runtime), it's that I just genuinely like Philip, Nia, and Rebecca as characters. I can see why some people may not like Philip but most of the hate towards Nia and Rebecca I see is simply because they replaced Henry and Edward and not because they're actually "bad" characters. But this is not a discussion I want to get into, especially since this isn't the Everything Thomas thread.

I definitely think that unless the weird budget issues that Bachmann have been having are fixed sometime this year, it'll be safe to expect recolors like Green Thomas, Black James, and possibly Sidney. It would be great to get a new engine like Stepney, Daisy, Ryan, or Stanley but until Bachmann gets back on their feet, we shouldn't really expect much from the HO Scale line in 2020.

[TrainFan97]

@Streak, it's all good.

Regarding HO Scale, it's best to realistically expect recolors like Green Thomas, Black James, and possibly Sidney like you said, since we know that Bachmann's having budget problems. There actually is a demand for recolors like those three engines, which Bachmann can easily make with existing toolings. Green Thomas, Black James, and Sidney are the best three options for recolors left in HO Scale, now that Red Rosie is being made.

[JLK2707]

I agree. I would just love to get LBSC Thomas, Black James and Sidney next year for HO scale. I would also just love to get the explosives van, chocolate syrup tanker and toffee tanker in HO Scale too.

Also, speaking of the explosives van, has anybody made their own version of it in HO scale?

But here are my expectations for 2020:

HO Scale

LBSC Thomas
Black James
Sidney
Reintroduced Salty
Explosives van
Chocolate syrup tanker
Toffee tanker
Hannah
McColl's cattle van (probably just wishful thinking)
Troublesome truck 6
Tar tanker wagon
Resin buildings

Narrow gauge

Sir handel
Peter sam
Duncan
Brake van

N Scale

James
Gordon
Express coaches
Brake van
Tankers

Large scale

LBSC Thomas
Black James
Henrietta
Red branchline coaches
Edward
Diesel (probably just wishful thinking)

Also, has anybody made a 3D printed version of Sidney's face which can be used for HO scale?