Future suggestions/predictions thread

[DustyMarie53!]

That's actually a thought I had myself. The preorders for Duncan were live, and I do wonder how that may have ultimately played into the decision. Similarly I noticed on rewatch they used a lot of the same wording with to cost estimates in regard to Harvey and Diesel 10. So I wonder if maybe they had the factories look into it like Duncan and then ultimately decided it wasn't worth pursuing, except unlike Duncan it wasn't previously announced. If that is true I wonder how potentially putting out preorders could sway the decision, but that runs the same risk of disappointment like Duncan did. It's a tricky situation I imagine.

[Awesometrain77]

A Quick Look at train world
3 and 4 for now in wishlists
Are N scale Gordon and Rebecca
These will be the most expensive engines  for there scales .these are top models and thus I think models for popular and fan loved characters such as Diesel 10 and Hiro have chances to sell very very well.

[JLK2707]

I don't feel Diesel 10 could be made since the claw would just cost too much.

[Awesometrain77]

if Bandai could do it Bachmann could do it .also if they need 2 the claw could be a separate piece that is removable
 
Other want large scale tankers to be in HO and  utility vans
Another rolling stock breed that I think we should see is a lot more salt vans in the colors of brown , black , and cream

If we get more 12 ton vans
I think we need to see a orange ,bakery ,and a ice cream rerelease
With a troublesome truck # 7 being a van that is brown and the face that says ooh look Henry's spooked
And Lei an international van

If we got more 7 planks
Pink , orange , black , yellow

New tooled wagons I could see happening are the hopper wagon

[JLK2707]

I honestly do not feel that Nia would be possible since her prototype is just narrow gauge.

[Mulfred100]

if Bandai could do it Bachmann could do it .also if they need 2 the claw could be a separate piece that is removable
 
Other want large scale tankers to be in HO and  utility vans
Another rolling stock breed that I think we should see is a lot more salt vans in the colors of brown , black , and cream

If we get more 12 ton vans
I think we need to see a orange ,bakery ,and a ice cream rerelease
With a troublesome truck # 7 being a van that is brown and the face that says ooh look Henry's spooked
And Lei an international van

If we got more 7 planks
Pink , orange , black , yellow

New tooled wagons I could see happening are the hopper wagon

Well if we are talking about recolours this is a little bit out there but I think these will be brilliant recolours to do

12 Ton Topham Circus van and 7 plank wagon.
I figure these two would be perfect recolours and would sell well. With the festive vans I feel like the season 8 ones would be too similar even though there's some nice variations. It's something Bandai have done and would appeal to older fans and still have that marketable quality to make younger fans want them and maybe seek out the episode they are from if they haven't seen it already. It's probably a silly idea but I thought I'd throw it out there. If we were to get any classic rolling stock (that's not a Troublesome Truck) I think these stand a good chance

[Cheeky_ULP]

I honestly do not feel that Nia would be possible since her prototype is just narrow gauge.

When Bachmann designs products for the Thomas range, they usually try to base it off the design in the TV series and the provided CGI orthos of the character or item in question. Nia's basis being narrow gauge would have little difference in the equation of her design, especially when she is designed to be standard gauge.

[JLK2707]

True, unless it is the same matter as Duncan who could not be made due to just how inaccurate he looks in CGI.

[DustyMarie53!]

True, unless it is the same matter as Duncan who could not be made due to just how inaccurate he looks in CGI.

Again, unrelated. Duncan not being like his basis was huger hit for specifically the narrow gauge line because it is aimed at 14+ modellers. Not having Duncan be like his basis risks that wide appeal for the older demographic. The HO line gears younger and isn't as high quality with less diecast. It wouldn't run into the same issues

[Mulfred100]

So with Duncan being cancelled I have been thinking about the remaining NG engines and what their chances are. However there's several draw backs and issues with each engine which I'm not gonna lie has me concerned about the future of the NG range at least engine wise.
Firstly Luke

Luke's CGI model and his real life counterpart have several major differences, the main being the cab. If Bachmann were to make Luke and his real Basis they'd have to spend extra money to either mold the cabs separately. I know you can say "well people can buy Luke and modify him" but it's still alot of money for Bachmann to spend on a tooling they can't reuse. Also another issue is his boiler is quite small with big tanks so not too sure how the motor would fit.
 
Millie

Like Luke, Millie has a different cab to her real life Basis however hers has an added bunker. So again it would make life difficult for Bachmann to reuse that tooling and if they did reuse her tooling I'm unsure how well her basis would sell. I don't know if there's a market asking for her basis or if she's a bit too niche.

Victor

Now thankfully Victor doesn't seem to have too many differences, thinner dome ect however I think if Millie is too Niche then Victor's basis probably will be too. I don't know the market for people this basis so it might be another tooling Bachmann can only use once.

[JLK2707]

Thx for pointing it out to me.

[DustyMarie53!]

I wanted to build off of the points Mulfred made. It is of note Duncan's issue was specifically lack of general appeal to non-Thomas modelers, rather than the tooling being able to be reused. Doesn't mean tooling's being able to be reused isn't a bonus, but that's not the main reasoning with Duncan. With that in mind I think Luke and Millie are pretty safe bets. There are multiple examples of both engine types, Luke isn't just based on Peter Pan there are other similar wren engines. Same goes for Millie. With that said I'm not sure if there is an exact match for either of them in the real world, I think liberties were taken. However, since there are so many examples, general modelers may jump onto those two to kitbash into whichever example they desire. Therefore, Luke and Millie actually do have the wide appeal Duncan lacked. Even Duncan's chassis I know some modelers were looking forward to was already supplemented by the similar N scale Percy. 

Victor is where it gets tricky. He's pretty close to his basis. However, his basis is standard gauge. Meaning general appeal for him simply does not exist. However, he has two liveries which could mitigate the production costs. It's also possible he could have wide general appeal for simply making industrial trains. Think of the old American toolings Awdry used to use for his layout, Victor could meet a similar niche. Albiet, modeling as a hobby has changed a lot since Wilbert's time.

Unfortunately, I do think Duke and Mighty-Mac are out of the question. Even if the model rule was lifted, their production costs would likely run higher than even Duncan. Which, is really risky when both of their basises are already repped in the scale in a RTR format. You might be asking why I didn't mention Freddie, well, he's weirdly different. His basis does exist in kit form, but there is still not RTR example yet. It is entirely possible Freddie may be able to hit a niche that way, however he'd still probably be really pricey and might not be worth pursuing. Although for what it's worth, Mattel produced merch of him up until 2020.

There's also of course Smudger and Proteus. I'm less sure on Smudger simply because they may be saving a green Rheneas recolor for Dolgoch and may not want to double dip, but I'm not counting him out just yet. Proteus, however, is a sure-fire easy model and likely to be a hit. And the new Tallylyn prove Bachmann are willing to attach a head lamp to an existing narrow-gauge tooling. I really can't see much reason to not make him, he's also been in an official Thomas podcast story as of 2021, only issue is he isn't in CGI but I think Bachmann could be able to make it for same reason they have with stuff like the circus vans. They don't require a new tool.

I am also admittedly concerned about the line's future though, however I think we have two more safe choices before we have to worry about that. All we can really do now is make Bachmann aware how much we want these characters and hope for the best.

[N Scale Sudrian]

I think that in the case of Duke, even if he would lack cross-pollination appeal with the OO9 kitbashing crowd, he does at least double as Bertram to help justify the cost of his tooling... It may also be that in whatever far-flung future year a Duke announcement finally happens (likely further off now that Duncan's been kicked down the road), the Kato/PECO George Englands could be discontinued and harder to acquire compared to an upcoming Thomas equivalent.

Either way, I agree that Luke, Millie, Victor and Freddie are pretty safe bets for the future. I do hope OO9 modellers get their Duncan fix someday, though...

[JLK2707]

What if the Narrow Gauge modellers do not get Duncan fixed?

[DustyMarie53!]

Well if we are talking about recolours this is a little bit out there but I think these will be brilliant recolours to do

12 Ton Topham Circus van and 7 plank wagon.
I figure these two would be perfect recolours and would sell well. With the festive vans I feel like the season 8 ones would be too similar even though there's some nice variations. It's something Bandai have done and would appeal to older fans and still have that marketable quality to make younger fans want them and maybe seek out the episode they are from if they haven't seen it already. It's probably a silly idea but I thought I'd throw it out there. If we were to get any classic rolling stock (that's not a Troublesome Truck) I think these stand a good chance

A really solid suggestion! These are a visually unique piece of rolling stock that don't require a new tool. Bachmann probably don't have their reference material, however since these wouldn't require a new tool it may be easier to swing as a repaint opportunity. Plus it was in other toys as you said. Realized the same applies for the D fusit wagon as well so there's a precedent. It's possible Bachmann has since been sent pre season 8 ruler pics which would be great I think. That'd truly put everything on the table, but I do think it's too early to tell on that front.