Quote from: thomasj219 on August 07, 2012, 03:02:23 PM
The products are always announced in February at the toy fair in New York. BACHMANN's deal with Thomas has no time constraints as far as we know, they will continue to add to the line as long as it is profitable on both ends. Which it should be for some time, HORNBYS range has been going since 1985 and shows no signs of stopping even if the range is not added to as much as BACHMANN'S. And yes we have noticed not only the mail car changing but tankers as well. Unfortunately that is what will happen to all of that type of stock eventually, HiT wants them to keep up with the current look of the show. You should still be able to find the old style without too much difficulty you just need to do careful shopping.   

Thanks for that input...I'll need to keep an eye out around February for news  

As for the changes like the mail cars...it seems a little strange since in alot of ways the range seems to go more in the direction of the show's roots with Bill/Ben, Donald/Douglas, Duck and other items coming out in the past couple years which I don't seem to see all that much if at all on the CGI series...though I haven't seen much of it other than the 3 movies and a handful of TV episodes.

Around what time of the year are the new products typicaly announced?  Haven't really paid that much attention to the product line and I've only been buying in the range for about 2 years now.  Also does anyone know what sort of contract Bachmann has with Thomas?   How many years are left on it at the moment or anything of that nature?  I'm really just starting to get into it and I'm happy there is so much great stuff in the line. 
 
Anyone else take much notice of the mail cars changing to the mail logo seen in the CGI stuff instead of the original "Sodor Mail" lettering?  I wanted to get a 2nd one to match my old one and see they've changed.  And most of the ebay sellers have the new printing even if they're using the old stock photos.

I'm intrested in seeing alot of things mentioned already.

Engines:

More diesels, I'd really like Diesel 10, Arry and Bert would be nice too, or Boco.

I think Hiro would be awsome to see too.

And the red coaches and Trevor.

More scenery/structures would be great too. 

Thanks for the help guys!  That sounds fine to me, I was only hoping to use the smaller Thomas trains on the 15" r areas...not really running anything besides Thomas and it's mainly for my kids to watch the trains run.

I have 22" radius around the outside for Gordon, Henry, Express Coaches etc, and an 18" track inside that. 

Do any of the locomotives/rolling stock run ok on 15" radius track?  I was just thinking of buying a few packs and trying out the smaller engines like Thomas/Percy/Toby on the tighter turns.  Trying to think of ways to add more track in tight areas.

Any help is appreciated.  Thanks.

I have even worse trouble with my James...literaly he can't make ANY gradeing....even from slight unlevelness of my layout table.  I don't seem to have trouble with any other engines, my Thomas runs just fine.

I wondered if adding weights to James would help or if I just need a new one.  Makes me wish I had bought them at a real store instead of through ebay...maybee I could have exchanged him right away then.

My James won't make any incline and I'm not talking with cars either, just him (and tender).

Thanks Percy,

James seems to be my biggest issue at this point.  I just got Mavis and Salty and both are running great out of the package.  Is this a problem with everyone's James?  Mine can't even make it up a slight grade difference, like if there's a spot that dips in the table.  Are you guys just talking about going up a pier set?  I do have an elevated section on the layout and the others seem to do just fine.

I wonder if adding weights will help or if I should just contact customer servie.  Not even sure how the warranty would work/or not work since I bought him off ebay like all the others I have, also came in the "James' Freight Set", not sure if that matters or not.

Well of course they are popular.  I just mean in comparison to Gordon and Toby.  All the originals are must haves, but Edward and Henry don't seem like they are used as much as the main focus of many of the stories in the show.

Deluxe Henry, I wasn't aware there was a difference though between the 2 versions.  Some of the rolling stock I've gotten off ebay says Deluxe and some doen't.  I just thought they updated the package art at some point.

I would sorta think Gordon or Toby next.  Henry and Edward don't seem so popular.

I currently have five engines, all pretty new, not much run time on any of them.  Thomas, Toby and Gordon all worked fine right out of the box, but I have trouble with James and Henry.

James can't go up any sort of incline and Henry seems to rattle/shake alot from side to side.  I've heard some mentions about some engines being finicky when they were new.  So I wasn't sure if I should just try to let them break in and hope they get better, or contact Bachmann for repair/replacement.

I've seen it a few times here.  Not as good as Thomas, not even close.  Just as someone else said, it just looks cheesy and cheap.  Especialy the rails or whatever they use, sorta reminds me of a subway maybee.

I really prefer the actual model train sets from the older Thomas episodes, just think it's much cooler to see real model trains running in a real set than all the CGI stuff.

Thanks Joe, I'll try the #5, I only need one so if I can't work it in, no big deal. 

Very cool, I hope your able to bring it all together!