Quote from: Chaz on July 13, 2019, 01:43:29 AM
Looking back at all the responses on here, as well as the responses I've seen on social media, I don't think I've ever seen a lot of people in the fandom so... happy, which is a rarity especially with what Mattel has been doing with the brand as of late.  But to be fair, Mattel did have to approve these models and in some ways I'm still shocked that Mattel approved a model of Daisy, but clearly its a decision that's going to pay off.  Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

But in all seriousness, I do like seeing these positive responses as I feel that Daisy and Peter Sam's announcements have really restored a lot of faith some fans may have lost over the years over some arguably lackluster choices we have seen in the past.  Even the rolling stock that got announced at the NMRA is a lot better than the wagons that got announced at the Toy Fair this year.  It's nice to see that Bachmann managed to surprise us just like I had hoped like I mentioned earlier.  Something I will happily eat my own words with.

The Bachmann Daisy is going to make a very huge impact in sales for Bachmann, in the exact same way Donald and Douglas did as Hornby never produced a model of her prior before dropping the license.  So clearly there is that extra bit of collectors value that's following her moreso than Duck and Oliver.  A lot of people even like her CG render a lot more than Oliver's too, so more power to Bachmann on that one.  There is no doubt that this is the model that I think everyone is excited for the most and I think that is because of how much people wanted this character and how much of a surprise it was when she got announced yesterday.

Peter Sam seems to be making quite the positive reaction as well.  I'm really glad that they went with him instead of Duncan or any of the newer Narrow gauge characters.  Of course now we all know that the consistent demand for the next narrow gauge engine is Sir Handel.  But after how Peter Sam just happened to get announced not too long after Rusty arrived at dealers two years since he was announced, I have a feeling the next engine announcement will be a while.  Nothing wrong with at least having hopes up for brake vans once the coaches get released in the meantime.

Either way, these "special announcements" really did do their justice and it certainly gives me some more hope for the future, all while making me anticipate these exciting new models as I'm sure it did for many others.  It goes without saying, Bachmann truly outdid themselves today in more ways than one.  Well done Bachmann.

Daisy got approved due to a mix of she is in the cgi series and was highly demanded, not just cause of the high demand from fans.

Hopefully the shops will have them for pre-order soon.

If they make another NG steam locomotive I really am hoping for Sir Handel or Peter Sam as I would love to see one of them made or both of them.

Quote from: Sparks on May 14, 2018, 09:56:06 PM
Its been about a month since the discussion ignited, but I think more or less the sentiment is the same. Stepney is just as hard as ever to get, consistently selling on eBay every time one emerges. I really think there's a nice "nostalgia" market for Bachmann to tap into. Duck and Oliver have already proven it, as has the Hornby Stepney.

But Duck and Oliver are also in the CGI seasons, Stepney HAS NOT. Bachmann are only doing characters that reappeared in the CGI seasons so you guys can rule out: Stepney, Boco, Bertram, Duke, Mighty-Mac, Molly, Neville, Murdoch, and Fearless Freddie as they never appeared when the ahow went full CGI.

Quote from: Plow Bender on February 20, 2018, 12:57:26 PM

Quote from: Griffin on February 19, 2018, 06:30:05 PM
Wow. "For the time being"? What sort of sense does that make? LS collectors have had enough trouble with new models already and then Bachmann goes and pulls a move like this? Crazy how the Thomas range as a whole is being treated atm. I don't claim to know everything about what goes on behind-the-scenes with Mattel, production delays, etc. but I do think it's ridiculous that there is not more communication between buyer and seller.

On that note: (in no way is this a knock against you Chaz) why on Earth did Bachmann only reveal this info through a private email? Are they thinking that we somehow won't notice or that it doesn't deserve to be publicly addressed? Jesse even created a whole separate thread which a Bachmann employee could've easily responded to. Just seems to me like something is going on that the GP doesn't know about, and Bachmann certainly isn't sharing. Hopefully this isn't coming across as rude, just words from a frustrated customer.

As I said in a previous post, Bachmann may have stepped back on Diesel considering the minimal number of sales diesels in large scale have had over the years, and it's a possibility that after having second thoughts, Diesel wasn't a risk the company wanted to take, at least not at this time.  Also, I wouldn't really say that Bachmann only reveal Diesel's cancelation through a private email, as the model clearly wasn't in the 2018 catalogue.  It's a simple matter of putting two and two together to figure that out.  In addition to that, bashing the Bachmann Company isn't going to change things.

What I feel most of you are failing to understand is that it's not just large scale, but the whole hobby across the spectrum is down.  As I've found out over the years, large scale is niche market of a niche market.  Model railroading in general is a niche of the overall hobby market and large scale is a niche of that.  When you look at sales within the last 10 years, numbers have gone down not just for large scale, but for model railroading all together.  The big issue is that model railroaders are dying off and not being replaced.  Then you've got a generation these days that want instant gratification, of which model railroading is not.  Throw in the kids who would rather spend countless hours sitting on the couch playing on their tablet or game stations and the hobby is basically struck down with the overriding question: "What is so interesting about model trains?".

Then you have the cost of model railroading which has gone completely out of control.  Manufacturers these days have been shrinking production runs and this is a contributor to the price increase, but as a result to fewer numbers of models produced.  The more models you produce, the more you can spread out the cost of tooling, thus keep the cost per item low.  It wasn't such a big deal in yesteryears when you only had a few manufactures releasing products, but these days everyone has the option to chose between dozens of manufactures and/or scales.  Put simply, why produce models that won't sell?

Many have said that the 2nd-hand market is also a big contributor to the low number of sales for new products as well.  Modelers have a lot to chose from and at better prices.  Some people are also selling off new-in-box items from collections that the original owners never even ran. These put a spanner in the works on the sale of new products from the manufacturers, and they sell for much lower prices. You've also got the younger generation coming into the hobby who are much more tech savvy, and can navigate sales in a digital world.

These days there's not a lot of new stuff being made by any of the large scale manufactures.  Piko and LGB are the only ones I've seen (aside from Bachmann) having new products announced every year, which don't include just repaints.  Other manufactures like Accurcraft are producing new stuff as well, but their locomotives aren't mass-produced.  Then you have Aristo-Craft which went under years back and is no more.  Even though we've lost a couple of manufacturers, and several of the larger distributors, those remaining are cautious about how much they invest. I've only been into large scale for going on 8 years now and in that time I've seen this play out.

There are also those that say HO is more popular and that's why is sells better than large scale, but this is more of an opinion rather than fact.  You've got some people out there who feel you get more bang for your buck by going to a smaller scale, and in most cases it depends on the individual.  Large scale isn't really something for the younger generation because of its high cost.  True I started out young when I got into it, but that's because I had a good paying job and I do my homework when shopping around.  Large scale is more of a scale for the wealthy dentist or the retired carpenter rather than little Timmy Sullivan in the 8th grade.  Still if you're young and you can afford it, nothing beats having a large scale railroad in your front yard.

As I've said before, it's not just the Thomas & Friends line that is suffering this fait.  The last several years I've watched Bachmann discontinue many products from their large scale range.  Last year we lost only Thomas in that range, but the Spectrum and Big Haulers line lost a few locomotives and a handful of rolling stock.  I was disappointed to see for 2018 the same thing, but Bachmann also discontinued several train sets and have begun thinning out the C-19's.  Even the iconic Bachmann Ten-Wheelers have yet again been discontinued.  I'll also say that although Bachmann hasn't come out and said it, the 1:20.3 line is dead.

So to wrap things up, Diesel's cancelation may be a disappointment and/or a surprise to many, but is (believe it or not) understandable in my books.  It may not be what people wanted to happen, but everyone needs to understand the position that Bachmann themselves is in at the moment when it comes to large scale.  That's my thoughts and my perspective on the hobby as a whole and where I believe it is headed.  If others want to provide their thoughts on where things are going, feel free to do so.  The pendulum may eventually start swinging back to where manufacturers feel safe bringing new stuff to market again, but till then it's a waiting game.

-Rusty

Not everyone in the current generation or the one I'm part of want instant gratification, so using the generation card is kinda wrongful in my opinion, but I'm actually okay with the narrow gauge announcements this year being the coaches so I'm not disaapointed about this year.

They have an official image of Rheneas on the store site now.

Quote from: Metal on August 21, 2017, 07:11:32 PM
My bet is that Peter Sam is the next NG engine.

As with Duke, I could honestly see Luke, or Victor happening before Duke simply because they have a much wider appeal. In other words, what Luke is to the NG engines seems to be like what Emily is to the Steam Team.

Also may I dare to say that the CGI renders for the NG Engines look much better than both their S4 small scale models, as well as their S5-12 Large Scale counterparts.(except for Duncan's CGI render)

As I have said before, Duke is not going to appear as he is NOT in the CGI seasons so no model of him.

Quote from: SmokeyNSteamer on August 21, 2017, 02:16:03 AM
Here's an idea:

If they make Peter Sam and Sir Handel, then they should package with them a set of alternate nameplates, held onto the sides of the saddletanks by magnets (not sure if that would interfere with the motor, though), of their ex-Mid-Sodor monikers, Stewart and Falcon.

Likewise they could package an alternate funnel for Peter Sam, so people can alternate between Peter Sam's original funnel and his Giesel funnel.

You and a llt of people are wishing for stuff that won't happen mainly due to these thing NOT happening in the CGI seasons, which are the seasons being used now for the basis of the models.

Quote from: JLK2707 on August 18, 2017, 06:26:07 AM

Quote from: TrainFan97 on August 17, 2017, 08:22:07 PM
Sidney might be the last Class 08 character to be made in HO Scale.

Bridlington diesels and Splodge would have to be obtained through modelling. Several modellers have made Splatter and Dodge. As for a Bridlington diesel, you'd have to paint the stepladders white, and it would be tricky to get the hazard stripes under the stepladders.

What makes you think that Sidney might be the final Class 08 character to be made in HO Scale?

Because he's the last main character in the series that is based on the Class 08.

You mean Porter? Also, it looks like most of the releases are going to be of the British locomotive characters as of right now, plus it looks like they also want to release the BR Class 08 based characters for now, plus it wpuld be smarter to release Sir Handel or Peter Sam next for the narrow gauge line in my opinion.

Quote from: Plow Bender on August 05, 2017, 09:12:32 AM
Although I'm not collecting the Bachmann narrow gauge range (YET) I must say that after seeing these photos, I'm very excited for when Rheneas is finally released.  I thought Skarloey was good, but Rheneas looks even better in my opinion.  Kind of has me anxious to see what Rusty looks like when we finally get a photo of him.  Needless to say, I don't think he'll be a disappointment either.

All that being said, Rheneas (along with Skarloey and maybe Rusty) is definitely going on my Christmas list.  Hopefully in the upcoming months I can get around to getting materials and starting a HOn30 layout this winter.  Considering I'm selling off my 4x12 HO scale layout later this month, I'll have plenty more room and some extra cash to spend.

-Rusty

Rusty will more than likely come out next year, the pattern for the Bachmann Thmas narrow gauge is release around holiday time the year after they get announced.

That doesn't have any Thomas related stuff in it by the way, so I think this thread needs moving.

Quote from: douglas on August 04, 2017, 02:45:31 PM
This is really starting to get to me. I backordered Rheneas in September of last year, only to be told multiple times that he was on further backorder. Right now he's available for backorder at TrainWorld for $99, yet the item page says it is due to be in stock as of July 31.
ALL I WANT IS MY MODEL, BACHMANN. Please get Rheneas out there soon!

I emailed Bachmann about it, they said that they were hoping by Christmas this year.

I honestly hope it won't be too much longer and I hope they also get another shipment of Skarloey as I missed the chance to get him.

Quote from: Trainboy100 on June 25, 2017, 01:30:50 PM

Quote from: DucktheGWREngine08 on June 25, 2017, 12:12:53 PM
I really think that listening to suggestions that won't fit the current pattern of how Bachmann releases their Thomas models is getting very tiresome, as Bachmann ONLY make the TV Series characters, now only the CGI characters, non of the Railway Series characters that aren't in the show right now are going to show up. Honestly, unless Bachmann make the tooling for Norman, Den, Dart, Samson, Portor, Timothy, Connor, Caitlin, Hiro, or Hugo then they'll only announce Sidney next for HO.

but Rex, Mike, & Bert are in the show.

But they'd have to do a gauge different for the Skarloey Railway characters, so it'll be a while before then.