That is very interesting.  Although that's not the retail price of the Bachmann Oliver, it is interesting to note that Oliver will cost just about as much as Arry and Bert (given by what's at the store).  So since at the Bachmann store the Arry and Bert models are $119.00 each at retail, we can assume that Oliver's retail price is around that same price range.  Hopefully other shops will list Oliver for cheaper prices soon, since I always like preordering models before they arrive.  Thank you for sharing that with us!  

I liked both of the clips that were revealed so far.  Oliver's line "This is what happens when Toad is in a good mood" was pretty funny in regards to Toad's singing.  Perfect comeback to the singing too I'll admit.  Even the Search and Rescue center clip looks interesting, and I thought the animation was stunning with Harold flying all over different parts of the railway.  I give both of the clips two thumbs up, and hopefully the episodes will be as promising as the clips are. 

That and these DVDs will be out right as I'm finishing college so that's some extra motivation for me to get through these next couple of weeks!

A shop I would recommend is called Train Buddy.  This business was kind enough to sell me models of Thomas, Percy, James, and Toby with lights installed in each of the models with the results being very satisfying.  They do this as well as DCC by request of the customer and I believe they do sound too but don't quote me on that.

Some advice I have for you for looking into this is there is no specific Thomas page on this website, so I would suggest clicking on "search" and under manufacturer type in Bachmann, and for scale type in H (Not HO), and then type up the specific Thomas engine you would like to have with lights or other features installed.  You can then order the engine and call/email them requesting them to have the model include any of the features listed above.  However, if you already have models and you would like to send them to Train Buddy to add decoders or other features to them, then I'm sure they would be willing to help out.  They're a great business and I recommend them.

www.trainbuddy.com

Good luck

Interesting, he's about 149 pounds which is $222.95, I wonder what the original retail price for Winston is.  I guess if they do have a price planned for him but haven't updated the site yet, maybe Winston will be available this year since I literally was talking about how products who have retail prices are generally available on the year they are announced (I guess that leaves the HO Oliver and Toad left). 

Either way, thanks again for showing me that.

I am happy to keep up!  I gotta ask, where did you preorder Winston?  Why I'm asking is that there is no retail price on the Bachmann webstore, so I'm surprised that you found a site that had a price ready for him for preorder. 

Being honest, I never really cared for the cream tanker, the raspberry syrup tank, or most of the rolling stock that have been repainted in the range.  Despite this, the fact that you made a video on the cream tanker a lot of fun to watch on your garden railroad really blows me away.  That alone is truly saying something about the quality of your videos!  Are you planning on getting Winston and the ice cream wagon too?  I'd be interested to see how those two will do on your railroad. 

Thanks for sharing!

There is so much I can say about this special that has me really excited for this new special coming out.  

I love how we are getting our first legitimate human antagonist.  Sailor John looks like he's going to be a pretty interesting character in the special and I can't wait to hear more from him later.  The voice actor for him, John Hurt is pretty well known too, one of my favorites from him personally is the War Doctor from Doctor Who.

Compared to Skiff, I can easily say I'm looking forward to Ryan a lot more.  Based on how the characters that have been interesting in the past, I have a feeling that he will make for an interesting character in the special.  Already he looks more promising than Rosie and Stanley.  Eddie Redmayne is a great actor too, it's funny you mention The Theory of Everything.  I saw that movie on DVD with some friends one night, great movie!  

Skiff looks interesting, and the idea of a rail sailboat sounds interesting for the show and I'm interested to see where this will go from there.  

I love how the small railway engines look!  They were the highlight for me in the trailer, as I thought they looked really good in full CGI.  I guess now it's just a matter of seeing how their voices turn out at this point.  

Donald and Douglas look great!  It's great to finally have them back, since having Duck and Oliver without them did not feel complete to me either.  I love how their nameplates are positioned on their smokeboxes, similar to how they were in season 2 and the RWS.  

Alfie and Oliver also don't look half bad and it is good to see Jack again.  We did not see Max or Monty, but I'm sure they will turn up soon.  Beyond that something tells me that those will be the only pack characters, since we are getting a handful of returning characters coming our way, so they are keeping that to a minimum in that regard.  

I like how there are more returning characters/RWS characters coming to the show than the newer characters.  The writers truly know who to please when making these episodes/specials!

Everything else visually in the special is great, and I found myself watching the trailer a handful of times.  Hopefully this special will live up to the excitement that the trailer has given us.  

Wow!  A very nice surprise to see you join the forum.  I have been a fan of your videos for a long time and it is great to see you join us in our discussion.  Feel free to post any updates or new videos here, as your videos have always been presented in terrific quality.  Welcome to the forum!

Quote from: JD417 on April 13, 2015, 07:51:43 PM

Quote from: Sparks on April 12, 2015, 06:31:46 PM
Arcs been very good with their faces, unlike Nitrogen.

Well lets remember that Nitrogen created Oliver and Toads faces in season 12

Honestly, the faces that Nitrogen created looked pretty poor in comparison to Arcs.  To add, season 12's faces looked worse as some of the faces were out of proportion and were too small or large for some of the characters.  Duck's faces in season 12 are a perfect example of this. 

In the end, the logic is simple regarding the direction Bachmann will go in regards to what kind of faces they will use for different characters: 

If a character is announced and has appeared in full CGI around that time (not including season 12) - Expect the characters to have CGI faces.  Examples of this includes Diesel, Arry, Bert, and the engines in the large scale range. 

If characters are announced around a time when they have not appeared in full CGI yet (again, not including season 12) then expect the characters to have model era faces.  Examples of this include Duck, Donald and Douglas, Bill and Ben, and Salty.  I'm fully aware that most of these characters are in CGI now, but at the time when they were announced they were not in full CGI yet.  Duck and Salty's models were made about a year before they came into CGI which is why they had model era faces.  Even Jeremy is in his model form since he hasn't appeared in full CGI yet. 

Quote from: TTTEfan1992 on April 12, 2015, 04:02:59 PM
I DO NOT want these characters to be in there "CGI" form. I want them all to be in there "Classic Series" form all the way around (their faces, and their shells (train and car bodies). I hope the Bachmann Company makes all the characters that occurred before the "CGI Series" in their "Classic Series" form. I am posting this because I care about how Bachmann makes the characters look.

I hate to break it to you, but CGI faces are inevitable when it comes to designing characters who have been introduced into full CGI and the illustrations on the catalog is enough evidence to prove this as well as models from the large scale range or engines like Diesel, 'Arry and Bert.  

I've expressed this before in the Oliver thread earlier, but I think the most probable direction for Oliver and Toad would be they would have their original model era forms with CGI faces.  Toad is surprisingly one of the most accurate CGI forms Arc has done, when admittedly Oliver is my least favorite, but that's simply due to the scaling issues.  

Quote from: JLK2707 on April 07, 2015, 09:46:13 PM
Exactly! Does it also just sound plausible for Henry to be in his old shape permanently (as if the flying kipper crash never happened) whilst the current Henry model is scrapped or would kids not understand whatsoever?

They are not changing Henry's shape back to his former shape.  Henry's current shape is by far more iconic than the older design, and I can't see that changing or getting "scrapped" anytime soon.  We didn't even see his old shape in the Adventure Begins, and I think that is saying something about the possibility of them going back to the old shape, even for a flashback.  

Quote from: DoggySporty on April 03, 2015, 10:38:23 PM
Sometimes I feel like Edward and Toby fall into the category of "not much you can do with," since it is true that being old and wise is only entertaining for so long.  Of course, that would be the excuse of a poor writer, since a writer's job is to be creative and not rely on the go-to cliches.

I definitely agree with this, since there is so much you can do with that.  I think that is why they are focusing on James since he is a character with his flaws, which makes him easier to explore for story-telling as opposed to Toby, Edward, or even Hiro for that matter.

I agree with you on your point with "Baa" too, I feel like that an episode like that for Toby is long overdue, but as I suggested earlier it would work well with a character who is flawed.  Bulls Eyes is another perfect example of where Toby had a perfect role with a character who also had her flaws as well, Daisy. 

I guess if there is another character who I would be interested in seeing return at some point is Arthur.  I feel they could pull off a decent story with Arthur if they were to make him a returnee since he has his own branch line.  I mentioned the idea of Arthur pulling the flying kipper for an episode, and I feel that could really work out.  I've always liked Arthur more than Murdoch, or even Fergus, which is why I'm hoping he'll be the next character to return non-Awdry wise.  Though I could see how it might be harder to do a story with Arthur, besides the idea I mentioned, simply because Arthur's persona is nowhere close to flawed and might not have much to explore besides a few appearances every now and again like Oliver.  Hopefully we can see something from him soon.  He's not just one of my favorite characters, but even the Bach-man himself has mentioned to me that he likes Arthur! 

I feel like the show is better off without Rosie, as with other characters in the show they've been using a lot less.  I think the show is focusing more on characters that allow them to have more potential for unique and interesting stories, which is why we've been seeing Toad get more attention than Oliver, or even Duncan being the only narrow gauge engine to get episodes in the 18th season.   With characters like Rosie or Molly, there really isn't that much you can do with them.  

Even the use of characters of the steam team has been more limited to some degree, as they've been giving characters like Paxton, Timothy, or Bill and Ben more roles, since with their unique personalities there is a lot more they can do with them.  It's why we've been seeing Duck and James playing off against each other in season 18 since they're both fairly egotistical characters.  When characters were forced into stories, much like in season 8-16, the episodes didn't work and the characters were forced to be flawed.  When characters were given stories that worked naturally for them, like in seasons 1-7 and 17-18, they became much more effective.  

Edward is a perfect example of a character who has been blatantly forced through audiences with weak episodes throughout 8-16.  When season 18 came around with Old Reliable Edward, it became one of the best openers to a new season, as well as one of the best roles Edward had in a long time.  It really shows that when they have an idea that works for an episode with a particular character, it works really well, and it works effectively!  Hiro is another example of a character who had a poor portrayal in season 13-16, but both of his season 17 episodes are easily on my top 10 favorite episodes from that season, as both of them gave Hiro roles that were effective.  I actually found Signals Crossed to be a decent episode as it gave Henrietta and Toby a unique role that made the characters work well together.  That being said I would like to see Toby have a less-cowardly like role in the future, since that is something that made me cringe in the episode.  Maybe if they allowed a flawed character like James or Samson to work with Toby and having Toby be a wise engine, much like in the classic series, I could see Toby potentially having a decent role in the future.  

Say what you will about characters that haven't had starring roles recently, but I would rather wait until they can give a character a story that works with them, rather than having a forced plot like they have given other characters in season 8-16.  I believe the show is working more towards quality when it comes to giving characters their own roles, not quantity.  It would certainly be nice if other characters were given a chance for a storyline, but I would rather have two decent episodes starring Duncan, rather than 3 or 4 average episodes for the other narrow gauge engines.  If characters were forced into the episodes like they were in previous episodes, the characters would become less interesting, as the stories have been around that era.  This is a new generation of Thomas that has given us quality story-telling, and I believe that's what counts for more than anything with these episodes.  

Great to finally see the final product images!  Shame that they didn't make it to the catalog, but better late than never.

Definitely looking forward to getting mine as soon as they get to my hobby store, I already preordered mine. 

I think Winston would be too small to produce in HO, hence why he was made in large scale and not HO.  He would be a much better seller in the large scale market than in HO.

As for a new cattle wagon, I don't see that happening either.  They probably won't make a new one anytime soon since the original has been discontinued for some time, with no real strong demand for it coming back.  Plus it's in the fun with freight set if someone is really bothered to get it, or better yet they can look around on ebay or other shops online for it.