Quote from: Mulfred100 on July 21, 2023, 09:18:07 AM

Quote from: TrainFan97 on July 19, 2023, 12:11:49 AMN Scale Gordon was confirmed to finally be shown fully painted next Tuesday. Don't know about N Scale Emily, but we'll see for sure. Would be nice if both N Scale Gordon and Emily were shown fully painted together, but Doug might not have Emily's painted sample just yet.

It's far from "Confrimed"
The post actually says "all will be revealed soon"
You are forgetting that it's Awdry Extravaganza this weekend so it's extremely likely that Christian and all booked guests are extremely busy. Plus the NMRA is out at the back end of next month. Soon could be anytime. There's been no announcements of a stream on Tuesday.

But if the stream is on Tuesday, prepare to eat your words. Maybe N Scale Emily will also be revealed fully painted with Gordon.

Also, I am entirely aware the NMRA is in a month.

N Scale Gordon was confirmed to finally be shown fully painted next Tuesday. Don't know about N Scale Emily, but we'll see for sure. Would be nice if both N Scale Gordon and Emily were shown fully painted together, but Doug might not have Emily's painted sample just yet.

Given that Bachmann has made plenty of non-Thomas HO Scale figures, it only made sense to start making them for the Thomas line.

Sodor Brass Band would make a great idea, as well as Quarry and Dock workers.

The recent Trainworld stream still didn't show N Scale Gordon or Emily fully painted, but did show unpainted samples of the HO Scale figures.

Progress has been made on Rebecca, but Doug still didn't know much on Sir Handel.

As long as N Scale Henry gets announced, I'll be good. Given that steady progress has been made on Gordon and Emily, who will soon be shown fully painted, it's time to announce another N Scale engine. A big green tender engine that can recycle Gordon's chassis minus trailing wheels.

Wow, an admin actually confirmed we are indeed getting new product announcements later this summer, with the NMRA being in August.

If Hiro can't be the next newly-tooled engine for HO Scale, other good choices would be Stanley, Whiff, or Nia. The latter only because we're getting Rebecca. Recolors to settle on would be Sidney, Fernando or Green Salty.

With N Scale Gordon and Emily soon to be shown fully painted, it's time another N Scale engine gets announced, which no doubt must be Henry, which would leave Edward as the only member of the original main cast left for N Scale. Then it would really be time to move on to side characters like Diesel.

After a seemingly endless wait, the Narrow Gauge Brake Vans and Box Vans are FINALLY in stock. After so many delays, it took forever. Three years for the Narrow Gauge brake vans is just crazy. The longest wait we had for Bachmann Thomas models to show up in stock.

Still no word on when the next Trainworld stream is. Within a few months, they should hopefully have unpainted samples of HO Scale Rebecca and Sir Handel.

I guess duos of characters aren't really practical anymore simply because price increases on even small engines have gotten out of control, and the hobby is barely affordable anymore. Constant price increases are just out of control. HO Scale engines are costing as much as Large Scale engines used to. 'Arry and Bert got discontinued because they didn't sell very well. The only thing keeping Bill and Ben as well as Donald and Douglas on the market is the fact that they're classic characters with a nostalgia factor. Now, I can't even get Donald and Douglas unless I have over $200 to cough up, even as a discounted price on other sites. I still haven't gotten any Narrow Gauge products yet. I'll definitely need a bigger bank account to really start collecting those.

That being said, the most likely character mentioned is definitely Whiff, who used to work alone until Scruff was introduced, and still works alone in the reboot. While many, including myself, don't care for Nia, she would make sense following Rebecca. Stanley has also been a consistent request for Bachmann who has appeared in both model and CGI. The only issue with Den and Dart is that you HAVE to have both, since they almost always work together. Porter would just be joining alongside a previously discontinued character like Salty.

I guess the most-likely newly-tooled diesel would be Norman. Although he never had an official episode dedicated to him, and was severely underused, he can still work alone, and originated from the CGI series.

Quote from: Zekeism on May 25, 2023, 08:13:21 PMOut of the four mentioned, I would like to see Whiff first.

However, if they are going to release duos, could they announce Porter seeing as Salty is getting a rerelease?

I too would like to see Porter in HO Scale, but one big issue is his scaling. He is considerably scaled down to where trucks tower over him. His scaling is even more problematic than Oliver's. It could take a miracle for Bachmann to pull off.

Looks like Whiff and Scruff, the Waste Dump duo, would be a more popular choice than the Dieselworks duo. Whiff is the only one of them to appear in the model series, and he would be a popular seller from Bachmann. A good piece of rolling stock to compliment Whiff would be a rubbish truck, with a new trash bag load. Scruff would be a smaller and simpler model for Bachmann, and has a unique design and livery; a boxy lime green tank engine with stripes. Whiff is the best choice for the next larger tank engine like Ryan. Not quite as heavily detailed, but no ready-to-run model of Aerolite exists. With moving eyes, the glasses would definitely be a feature unique to Whiff. Bachmann used to make sunglasses, according to Doug Blaine. They would then be making glasses for Whiff. Molded to his face, of course.

Now that the Harwick duo exists in HO Scale (both Ryan and Daisy), what should be the next duo of engines to be made in HO Scale? There's the Waste Dump duo which has Whiff and Scruff, and the Dieselworks duo which has Den and Dart. All of them require new toolings.

Whiff would be about as long as Ryan, and they would have to make his front wheels powered; a similar thing to Emily. If Whiff's glasses were to have lenses, they can be clear plastic, like windows. The glasses being a feature unique to him. If we do get Whiff, Scruff would become inevitable to complete the Waste Dump duo. If rubbish trucks were to be introduced as rolling stock, they can have a new trash bag load.

Den would be a great choice for the next newly-tooled diesel in HO Scale, who originated from the CGI series. Has had considerably more speaking roles than Norman, another diesel that would require a new tooling. Dart would have Natalie (a one-off character like Beau from the same film) as a potential recolor. The only issue with Dart would be his small size, but he could be scaled up just a little, like Oliver was.

With the Harwick duo now out of the way, should we have trash pickup or diesel repair next? I know the demand for Hiro has skyrocketed since Rebecca's announcement, and he definitely should be the next tender engine for HO Scale. Definitely one of, if not the most popular character to originate from the CGI series. This post is about which pair of characters should be next. If Hiro isn't feasible at this time, there are other options.

Still waiting to hear on when the HO Scale Explosives, Brendam Bay and Mr. Jolly vans will show up in stock. It would be nice if they started selling their Christmas rolling stock separately so that you don't have to pay so much for the sets or get extra Thomas models you don't need. Christmas rolling stock including the 1-plank wagon with presents, 1-plank wagon with sleigh, and the two Christmas brake vans, including Naughty and Nice. One idea for a Christmas rolling stock they haven't done yet would be a flatbed with a Christmas tree, which can be tarped over for protection. With more rolling stock options coming to N Scale, it's only a matter of time before Bachmann announces a Christmas-themed N Scale Thomas set.

The Chocolate Syrup and Toffee Tankers still have yet to be on the cards for HO Scale. The Cream Tanker is discontinued, and the Raspberry Syrup Tanker may soon follow.

With the next Trainworld stream in a few weeks or so, we can hope they'll finally have painted samples of N Scale Gordon and Emily. Also hoping there's an update on HO Scale Rebecca and Sir Handel. Progress should have been made on those. The Narrow Gauge Brake Vans and Box Vans may finally show up in stock soon, and might be shown in boxes.

Rebecca's announcement really skyrocketed the demand for Hiro, now that Bachmann is back to making tender engines in HO Scale. Stanley would also be a good choice for HO Scale, since he has a unique white livery, plus he can reuse Thomas' chassis with red wheels. Whiff would be another good choice for a larger tank engine. He would be about as long as Ryan, though they'd have to make his front wheels powered as well. If we do get Whiff, we could then get Scruff to complete the Waste Dump duo. We already have the Harwick duo in HO Scale. Could we eventually get the Waste Dump duo? The Dieselworks duo would be Den and Dart, which are two diesel engines that require new toolings.

As we get deeper into All Engines Go, once Bachmann runs out of CGI options, especially for Narrow Gauge, could Mattel finally let them produce more classic series characters like Duke, Smudger, Stepney and BoCo? Smudger would be a recolor of Rheneas' tooling, and once we get Sir Handel, Proteus can be made from his tooling. Duke would have Bertram as a potential recolor as well. Bachmann UK also has the tooling for Mighty Mac, but one problem is that Double Fairlies lack buffers, which Mighty Mac has. Freddie could also become possible, although his side rod configuration is complicated.

One rolling stock idea I have for HO Scale that hasn't been talked about is a Sodor Recycling Wagon. The front one, which can use the existing open wagon tooling. It can have a load, or even a face, like shown in the provided image. The load can still be tires, or it can be cans, paper, or bottles. Though, the Sodor Scrap Wagon ended up not having a load. Might need a new mold for the load part if there is one.

https://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/Troublesome_Trucks_(T%26F)/Merchandise?file=WoodenRailwayRecyclingCars.jpg

I tried uploading the image as a file, but kept getting the "upload directory is full" error.

Henrietta was announced early this year for N Scale, after she too was given the short end of the stick in Large Scale like Mavis was. Really looking forward to getting Henrietta, so Toby can have his faithful coach. Hannah would be a potential recolor. In a few months, we should hopefully see an unpainted sample of N Scale Henrietta.

I would love to have Mavis in N Scale. Although she was never made in Large Scale, an N Scale Mavis can still happen. She would use Thomas' chassis, complete with side rods like Toby. It would be her only commercially-available model to actually have side rods. But first, we at least need Edward and Henry for N Scale to complete the original main cast. The best choices for the first side characters in N Scale would be Mavis, Diesel, Duck and Oliver. The latter because we're getting Toad.

The only gripe with Ryan is that his cab is not fully open, so you can't put crew inside. Other than that, he is one of the most detailed models in HO Scale. Now we have both Ryan and Daisy in HO Scale, which completes the Harwick duo.

With Ryan now available, and Beau already shown fully painted, Bachmann can turn their full attention to Rebecca. For the next Trainworld stream, I hope someone will ask Doug Blaine if progress has been made on Sir Handel and Rebecca, and where those models are now in terms of progress. For the next new tooling in HO Scale, the engine with the highest demand is Hiro, especially after Rebecca's announcement, since Bachmann is back to doing tender engines. Rebecca will be the most expensive model in the HO Scale range, but a high price like that won't stop people from buying Hiro. Given that Hiro is even in the infamous reboot, Mattel would certainly approve a character like him. Being one of the most popular characters to originate from the CGI series, Hiro needs to be the next new tooling for HO Scale. Even a recolor can be made using Hiro's tooling; being his patchwork livery.