Future suggestions/predictions thread

[Coaltronn]

Im really sad i cant buy a iron arry and bert. I have just stumbled into the HO model trains of thomas the tank and trying to collect them all and i cant. its super frustrating. cant even find them for a premium price. I think Bachmann should consider releasing the discontinued items at a premeium and let us that did snatch them up pay or do a kickstarter to let us fund a run of trains.

[thomasj219]

Let's just re-introduce them, the prices are premium enough already.

[Coaltronn]

fair enough. seeing what these things cost less than 10 years ago compared to now is a lot. especially their MSRP on their site compared to actual sites like train world or amazon

[RailsByRick]

Gator is high on my wishlist of characters that I think Bachmann should consider making. I'd say he's probably had the same amount of screen time as Stanley (if not more). All around a great character, and a great design. If Bachmann can produce Stanley, then why not Gator?

[Chaz]

Gator is high on my wishlist of characters that I think Bachmann should consider making. I'd say he's probably had the same amount of screen time as Stanley (if not more). All around a great character, and a great design. If Bachmann can produce Stanley, then why not Gator?

The difference between Stanley and Gator comes down to how often they were used.  Gator just came and went after Tale of the Brave/season 18, whereas Stanley was introduced a lot earlier in the Great Discovery and has been used a lot more frequently since then.

[Mulfred100]

Gator is high on my wishlist of characters that I think Bachmann should consider making. I'd say he's probably had the same amount of screen time as Stanley (if not more). All around a great character, and a great design. If Bachmann can produce Stanley, then why not Gator?

I mean Stanley has had 50 on screen appearances, including cameos, 10 of which include speaking roles. Gator had 4 including Tale of the Brave. I'd absolutely love Gator but Stanley was as mentioned used alot more. He's a Sodor engine compared to Gator being on the main land. Even Samson, Spencer, Connor and Caitln (other main land engines) appears more then Gator. After series 18 he's never even mentioned again

[Awesometrain77]

Gator would be cool but idk he really only appeared in a movie and maybe like 3 episodes characters like whiff are better options for another large tank engine

[JacobSK]

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...).

[DustyMarie53!]

I do think in theory there is something to said about Gator's potential popularity. He's continued to last into the merch, said merch/DOWT events most likely being why the cgi rule exists. It's still A version of Thomas being promoted by Mattel, while model series is basically dead and buried beyond Youtube uploads. I'd still argue the rule is dumb but I get why it exists. I do think Gator is too niche though unless demand here shoots up. Albeit I feel using lack of show appearances since season 18 gets tricky. Norman had supporting roles in 3 BWBA episodes all in the same season. Does that make him more likely than Whiff and Hiro who only had one? Answer is obviously no because of demand from fans here and on other social media platforms but let's just say that isn't a factor. Would that make Norman a better choice because of relevancy? I'm not sure how much the actual show appearances matter truth be told, I imagine the only factor that really matters is what fans at events, here, and so on pitch. Cause like. What Bachmann rep is going to go out of their way to check the episode appearances. If Gator's demand shot up here for whatever reason, I don't think his lack of recent appearances would limit him. Also because the show is over anyway.

TLDR: Gator probably not now, maybe not ever, but I wouldn't rule him out entirely just because he didn't appear more post season 18. I think that's the least important factor when deciding a Bachamnn engine. Fan demand is the big one and I've seen, literally no one request him until this hypothetical so that really speaks for itself now doesn't it.

[Awesometrain77]

Personally I think the CGI mandate has been irrelevant since the day all engine go came out . I think it's about time Bachmann looked into making characters like Stepney or BoCo while still making CGI characters like Hiro or Sidney . I do think he changes needed in the contract, especially since I don't think  any parent is spending over $100 on Rebecca  for there 5 year old son  . While I do think some kids get the starter set . This line has clearly been for us fans being marked 8+ which at that age probably have a clue who characters like Stepney and BoCo are . By the time I was eight I knew the likes of Wilbert and Culdee .

[Mulfred100]

So did I but we grew up in different times where there was no CGI mandates on merchandise and other merchandise wasn't afraid to tackle that. Just because we recognised something as an 8 year old doesn't mean 8 year olds today will. We take it for granted just how much Thomas was everywhere growing up, toy sections were full, there was always DVDs and VHS tapes available with older and newer episodes, there was always RWS books available to buy and pretty much every episode was available on YouTube. An 8 year old today would have been born around season 21 and look at the difference. I agree that the CGI mandate is silly but I also get it from a business prospective.

[thomasj219]

YouTube makes that mandate irrelevant. Especially because the classics always do better. AEG was the final nail in the coffin for defending that mandate imo.

If what we see happening continues, more model stuff being found like from the pilot, if the 80th anniversary leans into the models, then I think that mandate will be a thing of the past.

[Mulfred100]

YouTube makes that mandate irrelevant. Especially because the classics always do better. AEG was the final nail in the coffin for defending that mandate imo.

How exactly? Mattel culled most of the episodes that were uploaded to different channels. If anything it's the polar opposite now. It's harder for people to find model series stuff.

[Chaz]

An 8 year old today would have been born around season 21 and look at the difference.

Thanks for making me feel old today.

[Awesometrain77]

Mattel still has the classics on the Thomas and friends classic channel and on Amazon prime . So don't worry lol back to the topic on future stuff

 what about large scale toad