While Diesel's update would be pretty straightforward: a simple coat of paint, Bill and Ben getting updated would lead to them needed updated valve gear, and then that leads to a new running board piece, and I'm sure if they'd get that far, they'd give them CGI styled faces.
So it's very unlikely for the twins, more likely for Diesel

Something I'm quite frankly dumbfounded by at this point is the fact that Annie and Clarabel haven't gotten their grey running boards switched to black yet. I mean, all the Sound, and Celebration Thomas' have gotten black hooks instead of the standard's grey ones, so...

Quote from: ThomasFan247 on March 31, 2017, 11:24:07 AM
(it looks as though he has teeth lol)

I wonder where you got that from 

Quote from: Chaz on March 28, 2017, 06:49:50 PM
Some new wagons wouldn't be a bad idea either and I think they would be great additions if Bachmann wants to focus more on the mining theme that's mentioned in promotions for the range.

That is an extremely good point that I'm sure Bachmann hasn't even thoroughly thought through. Whenever Bachmann talks about Skarloey (as he's the only one out, but I'm sure if Rheneas was at shows to present, he would be given the same description) They mention the Quarry.
I would really like to see the wagon Chaz posted, in a few colours, such as red, green, and maybe an offset yellow or bright tan just for a little diversity to the range.
I'd also like to see this truck in the appropriate colours, as this is the perfect marketing product to fit in with Bachmann's pitch of the Narrow Gauge range (The Quarry):



We'd most likely only get one tooling of an open wagon, as they're going to get recoloured several times as we all can expect, so, as long as they don't suffer the same fate as the slate wagons, I wouldn't mind at all.

Colour diversity and appeal is key with a child's property, as a conversation with a younger child would go:
"Do you want the blue truck or red truck?"
"I want the blue one"

They don't go off reading the miniscule details, like on the Slate Wagons. Imagine talking to a younger kid like this:
"Would you like the one with the number 101 or 164, or do you want the one with no number at all? But it doesn't matter which one you pick kid, because they all look the same anyway."
They would look at it and wouldn't know the difference unless they have a magnifying glass.

So I'd much rather prefer different colour over a running number, especially if they produce the BMQ ones where there's a logo, as that would be more difficult to paint around, as if you really want to make Talyllyn wagons, you can just get some transfers and do them yourself.

The reason why the standard Thomas is discontinued is a brilliant marketing strategy: The only way to get a Thomas now is the more expensive variant (The Sound one), or through the most expensive way possible, by having to buy a whole set.

But to be honest, I'm thinking anyone who wanted a Large Scale Thomas (and only him) most likely would have one by now.

Paxton. Ah, we all knew this was happening.

Large Scale Diesel.
Well we know who's coming out next year 

I really hope that Diesel will come with black rods, considering they'll be plastic like the rest of the engines. (Those who have them, that is. Even if he doesn't, it's a simple fix I guess.)

Also, The large scale Spiteful Brake Van is something I could've seen from a mile away, as the Brake van was the only rolling stock piece in the range not to have been subjected to having a recolour.

But in all seriousness, I wonder why they skipped over 2 narrow gauge engines, and didn't want to add to the list of rolling stock for the range?

Alright, I said it on Twitter, but I'm sure half of you fellows here don't have one, so I'll just repeat myself here

Rosie is definitely a model that should've been worked on more than it did. I cannot pinpoint what they were trying to replicate their model off of.

Overall complaints:
-The Middle dome has way too much rounding at the bottom, and her front and back domes don't have enough.
-Her whistle is moulded on, like Oliver, and the bottom part of her whistle is unpainted.
          Here's an image comparing the domes between the show, and the Bachmann model, and this also shows part of the whistle not being painted: http://i.imgur.com/aw24wIS.png
-The oversized crosshead.
          Here's an image comparing the crosshead between CGI, the Bachmann model, and the Model Series: http://i.imgur.com/iyzxBud.png
-Her footsteps are not fully painted, just the outermost face.
-This is one I'm not happy about personally, there's no lamp. But that's just a personal preference.


Good points:
-The entirely open cab. We haven't seen one of those since Donald and Douglas. (Skarloey almost qualified for that, but for some odd reason they blocked off his front port holes)
-The face is very well done, the eyes aren't sunken back like some other models (Like Oliver, or Salty) and I'm very surprised that she actually got her rosy cheeks, I thought she was going to have just freckles, like how most merchandise skips over it.

All in all, It's not a terrible model, but its just confusing as to what they were going for.

Hoping to finally get Large Scale Edward, and Henrietta. But the talks on here would make me fine with someone like Mavis. Just as long as it's someone who can actually pull something. Winston

Paxton for HO, as he's my favorite Diesel. And he'd be easy to do, as everyone else has said at least 3 times.

Maybe another figure, Sir Robert Norramby seems the most likely, or possibly even Dowager Hatt.

Sir Handel for HOn30. Best thing Bachmann could do with this line is go in order, so just keep doing what they're doing now.
Oh, and Brake Vans for the Narrow Gauge dudes. I would see them being another new tooling, so I see them being released in a few colours to use the new tooling as much as possible.
I'm safely assuming they'd come in Brown (CGI) and Red, and Blue (Model Series). I'd award bonus points to Bachmann if they include a tail lamp on the back, like Skarloey has.

Considering Bachmann hasn't shown anything on Rosie yet, that gives them a chance to correct their model from having, as most people would call it, an awful livery, to, as the reception to it has shown, a great one.
Hopefully they'll use this to their advantage to produce the character in the most up to date version in the show, considering that's how they had to do Oliver, apparently.

Or they could please both sides of this debate, and just produce both liveries. It's a recolour, so it's not like asking for that would be the world.
If Bachmann were to do this, it wouldn't be the first time they recoloured an engine to make a separate product. Celebration Thomas, anyone?
Plus, there would be people who would buy both, just wanting to have both of them. Or maybe a parent would get both for their kid because they think they're two different characters

The official Thomas and Friends Facebook page has posted a new promotional image, there's quite an interesting change in a certain character that's coming out from Bachmann soon:

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/16113156_10154938051724556_414712659589111561_o.jpg?oh=acb368b0227e92c22bceeeb5eb373b6a&oe=5903B4E0

I wonder what livery Bachmann be going with, I really hope it's this new one. It's much, MUCH better than the lavender and white, in my opinion. Plus, if they pick the lavender livery it'll be out of date as soon as it's released, so that really seems against the whole 'Release the character as children will recognize them' dispute that went down with Oliver.

I was just linked to a Bachmann Spencer review video, and the user in the video had one of the Bachmann Spencer coaches to go with it, and it got me thinking; it's been over 7 years since we've gotten Spencer's Coach, and at this point, what easier release could they do?
Spencer's Special Brake Coach.
I don't see why they haven't done it yet. They have the tooling from the other two large brake coaches in the past. (Which might I add I think now would be a great time to reintroduce those, as both variants are back in the series)

Hornby released both of their's at the same time, so like, what's the deal with this? Was this ever answered as to why they never made the Brake Coach, if so what is the reason?

It doesn't. He has to lay down, as the Sir Topham Hatt Figure doesn't have joints, and there's not enough room down into Winston's interior for him to stand up in.

Considering the year is coming to an end, I thought i'd finally put my wish list for next year in

HO Scale

Troublesome Truck #6. Personally I'd like to see them utilize the Ice Cream Wagon for this, and seeing how they like to do obscure colours, bar #5, I'm going to guess it'll be a dark red.

Water Tanker. Let's be honest, Bachmann loves an easy recolour, and the Water Tankers are as easy as they get, an entirely blue tanker body, with nothing else. Plus, the Water Tankers have made it to the merchandise lines several times, albeit not accurate to the show, but they do exist elsewhere in the merchandise realm.

Paxton. Off of the easy recolours, Paxton seems to be the most likely candidate for HO scale, as everyone else has said at one point, he's popular, and the tooling is right there for them to use, just a new faceplate is needed to be made.

The supposed updated James, no explanation needed for that one.

If they really do plan on doing updates to models, then I definitely see them redoing the Brake Van.
Let's be honest, the Thomas Brake Van is pretty bland. Bachmann really showed what they could do with a little creative freedom, just look at the Large Scale one. I honestly see them redoing the HO Scale one to be a bit more visually appealing, such as just a shrunken down version of the LS one. Or maybe something new entirely, who knows. But something should really be done with it.


Large Scale

Edward. The steam engine everyone wants for Large Scale. He'd be the last medium sized engine that would be even likely at this point. Any other explanation I'm sure has been said already, but I'll just recap: He's smaller than James and Emily, and bigger than the rest of the characters already available, so no pushing the size would be necessary, like how Emily was done. It would add a different wheel arrangement to the group of characters, but they could still reuse parts, such as James'/Thomas' Driving wheels, and James' bogie wheel, and even James' tender chassis if need be. And as we saw with Winston, they're not afraid to push out two characters with the same colour (James and Winston), so Thomas and Edward sharing the same contrast shouldn't be a bother.

Mail Car. The Mail car would be the first (Thomas styled) bogied rolling stock piece to make it into Large Scale. The option is clearly there, as the engine who mainly delivers the mail, Percy, has been in the range for over half a decade, and now he's come out with a second, specialized model. There are several vans in the show that can be replicated into large scale: there's a white one with red lining, (not the Live Lobsters van), a light blue one with white lining, plain ol' brown, and I'm sure more that I can't think of off the top of my head. But then there's also the option to make bachmann-customized versions of the mail car, such as the HO scale Green or Live Lobsters one.


HO Narrow Gauge

Sir Handel. The number 3 narrow gauge engine would be appropriate to follow Rheneas, as so far the range has been going in order of the engine's number. But unfortunately I can't really think of any other reason that's valid at this point to push Sir Handel's chances, other than his number, as the show hasn't utilized him almost at all recently.

Brake Vans. We've gotten to the point where we have a total of 6 "different" trucks, and nothing to cap them off at the end of the train. I see them releasing them a Red, Blue and Brown version. Hopefully with the same little tail lamp Skarloey has.


Other

Figure wise, I'd really like to see a Sir Robert Norramby, and he's become a character who's very well loved, and has a rather larger role in the series, more than some engines, as it seems. Looking at you, Rosie

Sir Topham Hatt's Car. It's not a character, but he's had it the entire series, and he uses it just as much as Winston, and look who got a model.

This is a dream of mine, but I've been talking about this with my family and friends for some time, one thing I would absolutely love to have is a Large Scale Bertie that's remote controlled. That would open up for a ton more play for kids, and it would make anyone who's a fan of Thomas go "I NEED THIS". I mean, who wouldn't want to be able to run out to their driveway and drive Bertie around? I'd be satisfied with a normal Bertie for LS as well, then I could just do it myself, but that would really kind of open up to another market if they did it.


I know what's the most unrealistic thing in there, but it is my wish list.

Diggin' it. I just hope the final product includes all the buffers..

Oh, if he meant on Facebook, it was from one of the many Bachmann Thomas groups that people make. I'm sure it's been shared in everyone of them by now.

It was the Milwaukee train fest that ran this weekend