At least in terms of what might be off the market next year, my bets are gonna be on the analog sounds Thomas as he's been in the market longer than original Rosie (I'm hoping they're keeping her as I prefer that livery over the recent one and that she was just in the market for less than 5 years. Plus Bachmann still has both Happy and Grumpy Diesels). But the main factor is that with the DCC stuff coming out, Bachmann would make more than likely to push that out as they only made Thomas in that range. Another factor I feel like that would be out of the market is that I see that they haven't updated the packaging with the CGI one (though I might be wrong about that as I don't see that much listings that show the box).

So I got two of the original flatbeds with the paint drums, but the problem is that the last one I got had some scrapes on the barrels and I can't find another one without spending almost my wallet. So I wanna ask anybody if there's any decent barrel drums I can find online, on any site?

I tried looking at shapeways, but I don't know if any of them are small like the original barrels. I know that the load has 3X9 barrels and 2X6 barrels. If anybody can help me, let me know.

Well, at least I know why the previous image for Troublesome Truck 6 was in red.

Anyway, despite it being based on the African Tanker from BWBA (I'm not against that era), I'm actually pleased how it turns out and unlike the other even numbered Troublesome Trucks, at least it's based on the show (#2 was based on a random clipart and #4 I think looks the worse, as it doesn't seem to be based on anything. Plus the color they choose for #4 looks very weird, even though I'm a fan of the color green).

So the webstore updated the new wagons (I'm planning to buy them once they're released) and saw that Troublesome Truck had a red text instead of the image, which I'm kinda wondering if they're revamping or not.

I'll be talking only on the HO range as that's the one I'm only gonna be focusing on. So I'll talk about what items they should bring back or what they could offer.

Salty
I think they should try this again as it's only about 5 years since they discontinued the engine, and while I can understand why Bachmann stopped making it, I think they can try putting Salty out in the market again now they stopped Arry and Bert recently. Plus it's a different tooling so it would be good to bring this guy out again as some people (like me) didn't had the chance to get him when I got back into modeling.

Splatter and Dodge

With Arry and Bert now off of the market, I think it would be interesting to use the Class 08 tooling on these two as the only thing they have to do is just make a new face mold. Despite the fact Arry and Bert are more recognizable, I think Splatter and Dodge might work better for a few reasons. The first thing is that unlike the Ironwork Twins, Splodge are painted in different colors (green and purple). Plus because they never appeared in the CGI series, I think it'll be more of a excuse for Bachmann to give them different faces (eg Bill and Ben) as I think why Arry and Bert failed was because Bachmann made them a couple years after their CGI debut. Maybe give one diesel with a sad face and one with a happy one.


Now one of the issues with them is that they only appeared in one story, but that didn't let Bachmann stop and create the Spiteful Brake Van, who was also a oneoff. But I think the main issue I think some people might have with them is how the film bombed years ago and the canonicity of the film and the show, plus also I don't know if there's a rights issue between Mattel and Sony as they're the ones who released the film. But I think they have potential as it would allow Bachmann to try another model series character. Plus it would be a gateway for them to try out doing Magic Railroad characters in case they want to do Lady and Diesel 10 (regardless of the canon and status of the film) and it's the 20th anniversary of the film.

Tar Tankers

Another iconic item Bachmann made long ago before it was taken off the market. I think they would be good items as the show brought them back last year.

Wellwagons

Another item Bachmann made that was off the market, I think they are good for those who like to add other engines or vehicles on their trains. Maybe withe success with the conflats and flatbeds they brought back, maybe they can do the same.

Other items for the flatbeds
While I like the log cars from last year, I feel a bit off that they plastered logos on the sides. I know they're easy to take off, but  I don't want to ruin them by accidentally scraping the paint off of the wagons as well. So I like to see if Bachmann can make some other flatbed items.

Paint Drums

These were part of Bachmann's line in 2009, and while Calling All Engines wasn't my favorite special, I like the paint drums.

Oil Drums

If Bachmann wanted to resue the paint drum tooling, they can make them into oil drums, much like in the episode "Thomas to the Rescue".


Sets with other characters
The one thing I missed from Bachmann is that they would make sets on different characters besides Thomas. I think these sets were charming as it allows consumers on picking out a set besides Thomas. I think the sets they could bring back are either Percy's or Emily's as they have those engines and exact rolling stock still being made.

So I decided to get Mavis as my last engine at the moment and she runs well. However, I noticed that the pupils on the release I got her from are a bit smaller.

Here's the one I had for a while before I sold her.


And here's the Mavis I got yesterday.


I got her in the 2011 packaging, and SamsTrains on YouTube had the same Mavis with the smaller pupils. Then I saw they released her with the 2020 redesign packaging on ebay and saw that Bachmann changed the size of the pupils back to how they were before. I wonder why Bachmann changed her pupils between 2011 and 2020?



And no, I'm not upset about it (though I did wish I had her with the regular pupils), just wanna know why this happen.

It's not the beams that you can take apart. It's one of the main ones attached to the green supports.

So I bought Knapford a few months ago and I kept the platforms the same for a while as I don't want to take it apart as I don't want it to break. But my grandparents wanted me to put my trains away for a while due to space. So I decided to try taking apart, and my fear was true as one of the beams snapped off.

And because it's discontinued, what should I do?

I personally would go with the CGI render as I like how the buffer beams are more in height and the face is slightly smaller compare to Boco. At least if Bachmann does make Boco, then it would make it a bit less lazy for them to just remold the same face (remember how Arry and Bert failed because there's hardly any changes to the faces?).

As for whenever or not they should show the eye mechs, I don't really care as some details like that aren't something I dawdle on unless it's a defect on the item.

Hey guys, I just got some of the new N Scale range I decided to buy to resell on my ebay store.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_odkw=&_sop=10&_ssn=20_percent_awesome&_armrs=1&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.A0.H0.Xbachmann+thomas+n+scale.TRS1&_nkw=bachmann+thomas+n+scale&_sacat=0


As the items are easy to open up, I decided to do some comparison sizes.

Due to recent events, I thought on rebuilding my Bachmann Thomas items either I had before or didn't own. One of the items I thought on hunting down is the Flat Car with Paint Drums, which appeared in the first special "Calling All Engines".

I was lucky to find one for $30. Even though I'm happy on getting one, I'm kinda hunting for a second one. I know that they brought the flatbeds back last year, but I wanna get the plain ones. 1, because they don't have the logo. But the main reason is because in the learning segment, there was a part where Percy and Mavis were taking a load.

If Bachmann plan on bringing this item back, I would be happy to get it.

So right now I'm just looking to see if anybody has this, even if it's just second hand. The problem is how hard it is to find it. Other than ebay, I tried various sites that are still active (similar to how I'm hunting down the Tidmouth Sheds to resell), and some of them said that they don't have it in stock anymore. There were two listings on May, but they went for just about $200 and I find that a bit too steep. If anybody can help me on tracking it down, please let me know.

Yes, you can get the parts to assemble him, but putting the face can be a bit tricky.

I had a similar issue last Christmas when I was getting back into the Bachmann Thomas range where I saw they had the parts to built him.

In order to built him, you only need to get the Body Shell, Complete Chassis, 2 of the couplers (they need to be the ones used for Toby and Oliver), the faceplate, Screw 10597 (2) and Screw 10152 (4).

So after hearing Bachmann was gonna discontinued some items from their catalog, I decided to save some money to get whatever Thomas buildings were gonna be off the market. I got so far 2 Knapfords and a Tidmouth Sheds (I wasn't planning to get one, but figured so after getting it for a decent price off from a retailer.


That last building I need to get was Maithwaite. So I got it from HobbyInc, but I saw that the box had a wet stain all over it. At first I thought it would be just the box, but I saw that there was a wet stain on the bottom of the platform. Not only that, but part of the fence on broken off.

I decided to look it up on their return policy, but I saw on their policy and I'm unsure if they could replace it with another one or not. https://www.hobbylinc.com/returns-policy

So what should I do, return it or just sell it on ebay?

I took apart a bit of the chassis (not the whole thing, but enough to see what's inside) and it looks like there's some cracks on the first and third wheels. Is that the split chassis issue?

I got my engine today and aside from dust, she runs very well and even smokes good. My only question is that how can you tell if the engine has a split chassis?