Recently, I've taken the effort to acquire the Tomix Thomas range, and I have to say that it's one of my favorite Thomas ranges period. However, its availability is limited, especially for a younger audience. N scale has a large presence in the USA, and many N scalers love putting the Tomix Thomas items on their layout (as the range was easier to get until about 4 years ago). I think this is a hole in the market that Bachmann could easily fill.

One thing I think Bachmann should make an important note of if they go down this avenue though, is that the Tomix Thomas range is slightly overscale to N scale, similar to how the Large Scale Thomas is larger than Gauge 1. I think if Bachmann matched the scaling of this theoretical range to the Tomix range, they would have a range "steaming with synergy" for the US and Japanese market alike (who would definitely import the stuff, just as Americans have imported Hornby items, and British people Bachmann items). In a post shortly after this, I can post measurements of the range if people want to see what I mean.

Anyway, if Bachmann did jump into making N Scale Thomas items in the US, I think a small range similar to the Large Scale range could work. It could easily start with a simple set of items like...

Engines:
- Thomas
- Percy
Rolling Stock:
- Annie
- Clarabel
- Troublesome Truck 1
- Troublesome Truck 2

Which over the years, could extend to James, and possibly Emily, Toby, Rosie or Diesel. Rolling stock offerings could even expand to the vans and tankers, similar to the ones in the Large Scale range. Even a NW Brakevan or Spiteful Brakevan would make a great addition, and once Bachmann has those basic wagons out, they can easily milk the tooling for multiple decals and designs.

The main thing I think would be an obstacle though is pricing and resources, as Bachmann already has the HO/OO range going on, Large Scale, -and- a OO9 range that has just began a few years ago.

What do you guys think; a good idea, a bit too soon, something worthy for the future to consider, or even a bit farfetched?

I thought it was fairly common knowledge that the blue truck and cargo truck were the remains of those products.

I  don't think it's a joke, but I did get excited when I saw new posts in this thread.

Ah well, the Spiteful Brakevan looks great at least. For a piece of rolling stock that Bachmann could only go by Wikia references for, they did a very good job with the face.

I think after how Paxton turned out, Bachmann might be better off on skipping further 08s for now.

If they made Sidney down the road, I don't think I'd be as interested in his outcome, since I don't hold a personal attachment to him.

Either way, if they wanted to milk other toolings, I could think of a handful of possibilities off the top of my head. At the same time I'd rather see Stepney or Daisy come out for the HO range, so I'd rather not give ideas that would hinder that.

The fact that they went the easy route with the face is disappointing to me. The large amount of green plastic around his face, going all the way up to the piping around his face is very noticeable. I feel like this could've been a home run hit if they had taken the extra effort to change the eye mechanism to match his face better, but they didn't.

I feel like this is gonna have to be a model I'll end up getting when I'm in a good mood, but as of right now I'm definitely not feeling that face, and the "faceplate" method they went with it, especially when Arry and Bert have larger faces than their counterparts, but lack that jarring plastic. It's a shame since this is a model they definitely put a good effort into the paintjob, but my personal opinion is the facejob was an absolute dud.

People on Twitter have pointed out there's a good chance that Wood might be discontinued. I imagine if the Wood range flopped, then Mattel might be better off letting Bachmann just do what Bachmann does best, rather than try to intervene and risk trying to break something else that doesn't need fixing.

As long as it's not cancelled, I don't mind if they take their time with it.

Fingers cross it's closer to Midlander than it is CGI Rusty though.

Quote from: DucktheGWREngine08 on May 15, 2018, 12:25:06 PM

Quote from: Sparks on May 14, 2018, 09:56:06 PM
Its been about a month since the discussion ignited, but I think more or less the sentiment is the same. Stepney is just as hard as ever to get, consistently selling on eBay every time one emerges. I really think there's a nice "nostalgia" market for Bachmann to tap into. Duck and Oliver have already proven it, as has the Hornby Stepney.

But Duck and Oliver are also in the CGI seasons, Stepney HAS NOT. Bachmann are only doing characters that reappeared in the CGI seasons so you guys can rule out: Stepney, Boco, Bertram, Duke, Mighty-Mac, Molly, Neville, Murdoch, and Fearless Freddie as they never appeared when the ahow went full CGI.

It's like you didn't read anything we've discussed.

Its been about a month since the discussion ignited, but I think more or less the sentiment is the same. Stepney is just as hard as ever to get, consistently selling on eBay every time one emerges. I really think there's a nice "nostalgia" market for Bachmann to tap into. Duck and Oliver have already proven it, as has the Hornby Stepney.

Tomix Gordon was brought up awhile back, and it wasn't really a rumor; it was a translation in one of Tomix's catalogues which listed a "Gordon." Whether it was a mis-translation of something else, or Gordon being announced but never shown or released is up for debate.

For years, Hornby has always been the opposing competitor for OO Thomas range. Many internet debates and videos have been solely dedicated to comparing Bachmann and Hornbys products. Today however, it looks like this is the closing chapter on the Hornby Thomas range:
https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/news/thomas-and-friends-news-april18
The range I feel like, had already been long past its peak, but it's sad to see the popular "rival" of Bachmanns Thomas range to formally end. I felt like it would be worthy of a thread, at the least.

Now the question is, does Bachmann have plans with Mattel to expand their range to the UK? Bachmann already did hit the Australian market not too long ago, and British stores regularly import the Bachmann range in whatever odd way they can. Perhaps 2019 will be the beginning of a new future in a new market?

While not a full post in itself (I'll get to narrow gauge engines later), but if Bachmann is considering making Sir Handel any time soon and Bachmann needs to do measurements for said Sir Handel, the real Sir Haydn is very close to completing its restoration:

I've been looking around on eBay at Hornby Stepneys lately, and I have to say, Bachmann is definitely missing out if they aren't planning on announcing Stepney next year. His collectors vale from Hornby is over 300 dollars right now. If I could snag a Hornby Stepney at a fair price, I still would though, but not for 300+.

Digging through some old websites, it's funny to think that a lot of the ideas mentioned on my old blog at http://sodorblog.blogspot.com/ ended up being made into the Bachmann range.

It would be simple and efficient to make, but I'm unsure if it would be popular. It's not a location I've heard many people rooting for.