Here's hoping we don't get Nia or Rebecca. 

It's a fear Mattel will push Bachmann to do them, but who would be the audience? They may be girl engines and a unique color, but nobody in the Thomas fandom (both young fans who are the shows target audience, fans of the classic show like us, and older folks who know Thomas because their children and grandchildren are into it) has any emotional connection to these new characters, and thus no incentive to buy them.

Hopefully we will get an answer soon, likely on Monday if they do. I don't want to start fiddling with Rheneas in case it breaks warranty.

I had just noticed this on mine as well, and was going to inquire on it, but I got busy with a snow day. 


But yes, mine is doing an identical deformation on its footplate. The fact that it took me a few days to even notice this probably speaks volumes about the issue, but once you notice it, it does stick out a bit. If there's an easy way to fix it myself, I'd like to hear others experiences, or if this is an actual defect.

If they did do O scale, I would hope they would make it in-scale to other O-Scale British stock. It's understandable why the G-Scale range is scaled to Garden Railroad rather than Gauge 1 (which is what the show was filmed with), but it still feels a bit like a missed opportunity.

Seems weird that Bachmann can't just send the Talyllyn Railway an email for blueprints/measurements of Sir Haydn if they really want to make Sir Handel. I'm sure they would comply/come to a deal if it meant getting another RTR model of one of their engines. To add, many photo references exist, and there's the Corris Railway locomotives as well they could get measurements from.

Quote from: TerencetheTractor525 on December 03, 2017, 08:35:58 AM
Thank you Chaz and Sparks! That sure is a lot of numbers, and I think that if Bachmann chooses to produce these, the numbers plus adding loads to them will make them stand out. Although, I do believe that Sparks was only openly stating to all of us that if any of us wanted tipper wagons as soon as possible, then the Peco versions would be a quick option. But anyways, I do not mean to escalate that one little issue. Thank you very much both of you  .

Bingo. Just an open suggestion for anyone who wants them now. A good stocking stuffer, I'd say.

If you're impatient for tippers, Peco (the same brand Bachmann used to make the vans and open wagon) makes tippers in OO9:

They're available on Hattons (which ships to the US at a good price) in both grey and brown.

There's a slight humor in Rheneas popping up on websites and shipping out before Bachmann themselves announce his release.

Quote from: Rickenbacker 325 on November 23, 2017, 12:53:23 PM
James was seen in the TV series with this same face, around season 8 if i remember correctly

James has never had a face like that in the show. Bachmann didn't start using the show for face references until Gordon and Henry.

Quote from: Griffin on November 22, 2017, 04:50:35 PM
A new face would require a totally new mould as well as probably licensing privileges from HiT/Mattel. A motor is, in my eyes at least, something they have far more control over since they themselves are in charge of the mechanical aspect- the physical appearance of the model is something that HiT and Mattel control. This was confirmed on a thread somewhere here. 

It's surprising Mattel hasn't mandated CGI faces yet, considering just about every other toy range made the same move, even Tomix.

If anything, this will make people talk about revising James even more, as well as other engines now.

Honestly, I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet for something I don't see mentioned when it comes to revisions: The tooling itself. Most of Bachmanns newest toolings, including Oliver, have the body of the locomotive made up of a largely singular solid piece with a few accessories attached. James, Thomas and Percy on the other hand, are a huge assortment of parts; the cab, the boilers, the footplates, etc. If they did a new body tooling that was one condensed tooling, they could probably save resources on the assembly line.

Are those black wheels I see?

Quote from: TrainFan97 on November 22, 2017, 12:03:55 AM
Bachmann needs the license first. They need to acquire the rights from Mattel in order to make O Scale items.

More like pry it from Lionels cold dead hands

Quote from: angelob6660 on November 09, 2017, 05:50:15 PM
I never seen McColl's stock wagon in the series. I started rewatching it back within season 16 going back to season 13.

Well it have different paint or just another logo.

It's a freelance design Bachmann came up with.

Quote from: Titanic5972 on November 07, 2017, 11:35:43 AM
It will not be based on the Bachmann Branchline tooling, not will any of the Bachmann Thomas stuff. Branchline is OO Gauge, the Thomas stuff is HO. The only thing that is the same between them is the track gauge of 16.5mm between the rails. Nothing else is the same.

All the Thomas rolling stock is OO scale ex-Mainline toolings (barring custom rolling stock like Mail Cars and Flat Beds, which are still scaled to OO for consistency). The range being called HO is simply for marketing/familiarity purposes in the Americas.

The 2017 catalog for the McColl cattle wagon is based off Bachmann UKs GWR cattle wagon, the second time the range has used a UK range tooling, with the first being Toad.

The only time HO scaled equipment has been in the Thomas range has been the (now discontinued) Sodor buildings, which were repaints of Plasticville buildings.


Wait, hold on. I just explained this to you a few weeks ago. Why is this discussion being repeated?