Happy to see Duck make it to the range. One of my favorite Bachmann models. He's a popular character with a simple, yet charming design. The crucial question: will they fix his buffer housings and paint them in their proper red?

Daisy is awesome, too. Didn't see her coming and it's a bit left field, but glad all the same. Since the UK range is DCC Ready, I'm willing to bet they chose Daisy because her model is easy to take apart and put a decoder into.

SCRuffey is not surprising, but it makes you wonder if they're going to do like they did with Annie and Clarabel. Update his livery to look more like the large scale and N scale counterparts or leave him as is. If Bachmann UK do to SCRuffey what they did to Annie and Clarabel, I'll gladly import one over here to the States, like I did with Thomas' coaches.

Terence is welcome. Fruit & Veg van...okay. I personally would've chosen the Blue Vent Van, but that's just me.

It seems that Bachmann UK does Thomas stuff every two years. 2020, the range was introduced, 2022 we got Edward and Henry (and Bertie and Harold) and this year, Duck and Daisy (with everything else).

Either way, glad to see the Thomas range acknowledged with a solid lineup!

Okay...late to the party, but I concur with Chaz and Mulfred100. The wishlist is meant to be a placeholder and there're other retailers besides TrainWorld. Yes, they're popular (I have extreme loyalty to them myself, as I'm sure many others here do), but a lot of sales come from other online dealers (The Toy Crossing on eBay is one that immediately comes to my mind) as well as local hobby shops -- which where I live in Louisiana, is rare as a hen's tooth. They aren't the only game in town.

As for what I want to see (and maybe I'll be able to gather my thoughts more cohesively as these lists need 100% concentration) next January/February:

HO/OO:

Hiro - a beloved character from the CGI series. He was the first and with Rebecca sharing his wheels, they're technically ready to go. Yes, he'll be expensive, but I'm willing to bet he'll do relatively well. Would seem poetic for the 80th Anniversary

Gold/Silver Thomas - Wooden Railway and Take Along/Take N Play did this. Since we've got the main attractions from The Adventure Begins in this scale, now seems like as good of a time as any to do a fun 80th Anniversary recolor. If I have to choose one, I'd get behind gold for a reason I'm about to list below...

Silver Spencer - This would be a fun one, especially if we get Hiro. Spencer's Season 7/8 bluish gray livery looks outdated. He's one of the only models I don't have because I don't feel he's worth it. If they recolored him and essentially did an inverse of what's on him -- the blue gray for the handrails and silver for the body, I may finally consider picking him up. Reissuing him alongside a Hiro announcement, I can say no more.

'Arry and Bert reissue - Demand is surging for them. If it isn't time for Hiro, then it'd at least be something to get collectors who don't already have them excited about rather than a recolor of something that already exists.

Narrow Gauge:

SKIP - all the attention needs to be on getting Sir Handel out there. Especially with Duncan cancelled, I feel (and please don't take this the wrong way) all hands on deck for Sir Handel!

N Scale:

Edward - the one who started it all 80 years ago. It'd be simply poetic

LBSC Thomas and Origin James - I think we're in a good enough place in N scale to do some engine recolors. What better way to do so than to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of TAB? Alongside Edward and with Henry along the way, seems like a no brainer

7 plank variants - specifically standard green coal wagon and the new red China Clay wagon that was announced in HO. I also wouldn't be angry about a blue open wagon, either.

Large Scale:

Pipe dream, but Edward and Henrietta. Rather than repeating what's been said over the last 10-11 years by various people, please see what they had to say.

Those're all my thoughts. Please take them or leave them.

Quote from: Chaz on October 24, 2024, 05:57:11 PMGreat seeing pictures of each of the figure packs as well!  Anyone have a favorite pack that's coming out soon?

Personally, besides the low-hanging fruit that is the Hatt Family, I'm looking forward to the Railway Staff. That'll liven up anything, be it a layout or static display. Also a fan of the Narrow Gauge Personnel. That was one I was pleasantly surprised by.

Wow! Color me impressed with Stanley. I seem to remember Doug saying while the cab is open, the floor is raised, like Ryan. This isn't a dealbreaker for me. Everything else ticks all the boxes. His face is also spot on as well. I preordered him from TrainWorld the day the link came up, and I'm glad I did. Looking forward to getting my hands on him, for sure. Well done, Bachmann! Looking forward to finally getting the shipping notice.

And he's already in the store , too. Always a good sign!

Well, folks, official images and product listings for Rebecca and the 12-ton vans have all hit the webstore.

https://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=258_259_261&products_id=9117
https://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=258_259_262&products_id=9109
https://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=258_259_262&products_id=9108
https://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=258_259_262&products_id=9111

I guess their arrival to all retailers is sooner rather than later now.

IF everyone saw on Facebook, a HQ image of Stanley was posted there. That gives me a better idea of what to expect. I think he looks great! Him having Thomas' wheels don't bother me. Stanley seemed (to me) on the short side in CGI, so the Thomas wheels give him some added height, closer to his model series counterpart.

These announcements I can get behind. Surprised Sidney and one of the Mainland diesels were chosen instead of bringing 'Arry and Bert back, but you can't win them all, I suppose. Happy with all of the rolling stock choices, and will be placing preorders when TrainWorld has links ready.

N Scale Henry definitely makes me happy. After all these years, the original Tomix quartet of Thomas, Percy, James and Henry is now complete in N scale. I agree with Chaz: hopefully, Edward will be announced for the 80th Anniversary next year, for obvious reasons. The brake van announcement also makes me happy. As far as Hannah is concerned, I wasn't exactly wild about her or her episode, but glad to see that they're putting the Henrietta tooling to good use already, I suppose.

I echo comments that Henry and Edward NEED to be next in N. That will complete the original Steam Team. Following those two, I *personally* don't mind Duck (who'd go great with Toad and SCRuffey) or Mavis, in reality, we may more than likely see Rebecca. I personally don't want that to happen at all, but I feel like that would be the case, considering she was pushed to be a major character. After Henry and Edward, I'd also be okay if they held off on any new engines and concentrated on rolling stock for a while, too.

I haven't seen a thread for Stanley, so let's get one going!

Cannot believe he's got a prototype almost one year to the day that he's been announced. Talk about progress. It appears he has an open cab, too. Unexpected, but appreciated. The question I have is: will he recycle Thomas' chassis? Or will he have one unique to him? I imagine his wheels will be new. I can see plenty of OO model makers using Stanley's wheels to kitbash a more accurate OO Thomas.

I've got my list for what I'd like to see at NMRA next week. While we've got updates on FOUR products, there is still got a long way to go in terms of getting caught up. This NMRA should be another catch up. Keeping expectations in check...

HO:
'Arry and Bert (but only if they look like the original prototypes)
Tar Tanker

Narrow gauge:
SKIP

N:
Red express coaches
Original coal wagon
Red open wagon
Blue open wagon
British track cleaning brake vans

G:
SKIP

With the 80th Anniversary being next year, we should have all the stops be pulled out for that.

I think Chaz and Mulfred both hit it on the head: Despite Gator being a good character with a relatively good render (and a potential tooling that appears simple enough), he wasn't seen at all after TOTB/S18. Compare that to Stanley, whose only big role was The Great Discovery, he still made frequent appearances, even if most of them were in the background or minor speaking roles. He was seen right up until the final season, which makes sense to produce a model of him.

I liked Gator, but I think his main purpose was to sell toys for 2014. I commend them for still producing merch of him afterwards, but he served his function. TOTB is ten years old now. Gator is more of a forgotten memory than Rebecca (I only used her because her model is currently in production...).

Chaz, let me start off by saying I adore your Stepney model. BlueBells5529 also made my Percy and Oliver customs I showcased in the "Custom Models" thread. Small world!

My two cents:

As far as a new engine tooling, outside of Whiff and Nia -- who both appear in AEG, everyone else are forgotten relics of the past. I'm personally leaning more towards Whiff myself. Not because I prefer him as a character to Nia, but also the fact that Nia has a rather intricate design with a lot of small details. If Ryan and now Rebecca are anything to go by, every last tiny detail on Nia would need to be replicated. If Rebecca's RRP is high, then I can only imagine what Nia's would be. And she's only a tank engine! Whiff is much less detailed as a result, and in fact, his CGI render is almost a 1:1 of his Season 11 prop.

Norman literally just existed. Yes, a ready-to-run model of his basis would technically have a market for kitbashing, but even that isn't enough to warrant Bachmann making the tooling for a character who only spoke a handful of times and was mostly relegated to background appearances. As a result of this, a lot of people wouldn't know who Norman is.

Charlie did play a heavy role in the Miller era, but after Season 18 was also relegated to the background. From my memory, Charlie wasn't well liked by fans, and was mostly tolerated in his Season 17 and 18 appearances. While he's got an attractive color palette, it isn't enough to produce a character that wasn't liked, then faded into the background.

Stanley, yes, came and went in terms of appearances, mostly being the station pilot, but he had The Great Discovery to warrant enough demand. That special was well loved and still is 15 years later. I myself already have his model on pre-order at TrainWorld, the first time I preordered an HO engine without flinching.

Philip is divided in the fandom. I personally tolerate him. It could cut either way with a Bachmann model of him, but I don't think it'd be wise.

Out of all of these, I'd prefer Whiff and gladly have Stanley on preorder.

One final thing: I rewatched Tale Of The Brave last night, and while it'd be awesome seeing as I liked him, I think Gator has just as slim of a chance of having a Bachmann model produced as Norman does.

Thought I'd showcase two custom models that I commissioned a friend to do for me last year.

First, we have Percy. I'm not the biggest fan of the regular Bachmann Percy, so I asked my friend to recycle the chassis on top of a new bodyshell. I couldn't be happier with the results!



Here's Oliver. Same story as Percy:



Meanwhile, engines 1-5 plus Donald & Douglas had some custom faces added to their models, which I think improve the looks greatly:








I also have Toby, Duck, Emily, Bill & Ben, Diesel, Daisy, Mavis, Salty, Red Rosie, Ryan and the narrow gauge engines, but nothing has been done to them, they're just fine the way they are.

I'm quite proud of my collection. Even though my models are display pieces, if I get the opportunity to run them, you bet I would!

Hope you all enjoy!

Great suggestions here, Chaz! Adding Henry to the range will also complete the original Tomix quartet alongside Thomas, Percy and James. Edward and Duck are also strong suggestions. Mavis' issue is that she did not appear much in CGI following her episode with Den and Dart. Oliver has appeared more consistently, so that's the second reason I'd choose him over Mavis, the first being that his sidekick Toad is already out there.

Definitely in 100% agreement about the red coaches and original green coal wagon. The red coaches will be great for James and Percy to pull. In addition to the coal wagon, I'd personally also like to see the red and blue open wagons join the range. On the subject of brake vans, I think Bachmann could get away with them being track cleaning like in HO, and not necessarily market them as Thomas products. They're colorful and are generic rolling stock that don't need a face to sell. Same liveries as the HO counterparts, too.

Bertie and Harold would also be fun additions. Both were staples of the show all 24 seasons and appeared consistently. Cranky might be  a bit of a stretch due to his size and being delicate at such a small scale.

Either way, solid suggestions, and couldn't have come up with better ones myself!

If this year having no new Thomas products is the case, then I'm all for it. Mulfred kindly took time a few posts back of making a detailed list of everything Bachmann has in the works right now (thanks again, mate!). To boil it down even further, we have a whopping total of 36 products, that begin dating back two years following their announcement(s) and 19 new toolings spreading across three different scales. Not to mention the HO DCC and Sound Thomas & Percy models and the Salty reissue, that's been delayed again, much longer than intended. They need to catch up this year, especially with expectations of products for the 80th anniversary next year.