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...).

Chaz, let me start off by saying I adore your Stepney model. BlueBells5529 also made my Percy and Oliver customs I showcased in the "Custom Models" thread. Small world!

My two cents:

As far as a new engine tooling, outside of Whiff and Nia -- who both appear in AEG, everyone else are forgotten relics of the past. I'm personally leaning more towards Whiff myself. Not because I prefer him as a character to Nia, but also the fact that Nia has a rather intricate design with a lot of small details. If Ryan and now Rebecca are anything to go by, every last tiny detail on Nia would need to be replicated. If Rebecca's RRP is high, then I can only imagine what Nia's would be. And she's only a tank engine! Whiff is much less detailed as a result, and in fact, his CGI render is almost a 1:1 of his Season 11 prop.

Norman literally just existed. Yes, a ready-to-run model of his basis would technically have a market for kitbashing, but even that isn't enough to warrant Bachmann making the tooling for a character who only spoke a handful of times and was mostly relegated to background appearances. As a result of this, a lot of people wouldn't know who Norman is.

Charlie did play a heavy role in the Miller era, but after Season 18 was also relegated to the background. From my memory, Charlie wasn't well liked by fans, and was mostly tolerated in his Season 17 and 18 appearances. While he's got an attractive color palette, it isn't enough to produce a character that wasn't liked, then faded into the background.

Stanley, yes, came and went in terms of appearances, mostly being the station pilot, but he had The Great Discovery to warrant enough demand. That special was well loved and still is 15 years later. I myself already have his model on pre-order at TrainWorld, the first time I preordered an HO engine without flinching.

Philip is divided in the fandom. I personally tolerate him. It could cut either way with a Bachmann model of him, but I don't think it'd be wise.

Out of all of these, I'd prefer Whiff and gladly have Stanley on preorder.

One final thing: I rewatched Tale Of The Brave last night, and while it'd be awesome seeing as I liked him, I think Gator has just as slim of a chance of having a Bachmann model produced as Norman does.

Thought I'd showcase two custom models that I commissioned a friend to do for me last year.

First, we have Percy. I'm not the biggest fan of the regular Bachmann Percy, so I asked my friend to recycle the chassis on top of a new bodyshell. I couldn't be happier with the results!



Here's Oliver. Same story as Percy:



Meanwhile, engines 1-5 plus Donald & Douglas had some custom faces added to their models, which I think improve the looks greatly:








I also have Toby, Duck, Emily, Bill & Ben, Diesel, Daisy, Mavis, Salty, Red Rosie, Ryan and the narrow gauge engines, but nothing has been done to them, they're just fine the way they are.

I'm quite proud of my collection. Even though my models are display pieces, if I get the opportunity to run them, you bet I would!

Hope you all enjoy!

Great suggestions here, Chaz! Adding Henry to the range will also complete the original Tomix quartet alongside Thomas, Percy and James. Edward and Duck are also strong suggestions. Mavis' issue is that she did not appear much in CGI following her episode with Den and Dart. Oliver has appeared more consistently, so that's the second reason I'd choose him over Mavis, the first being that his sidekick Toad is already out there.

Definitely in 100% agreement about the red coaches and original green coal wagon. The red coaches will be great for James and Percy to pull. In addition to the coal wagon, I'd personally also like to see the red and blue open wagons join the range. On the subject of brake vans, I think Bachmann could get away with them being track cleaning like in HO, and not necessarily market them as Thomas products. They're colorful and are generic rolling stock that don't need a face to sell. Same liveries as the HO counterparts, too.

Bertie and Harold would also be fun additions. Both were staples of the show all 24 seasons and appeared consistently. Cranky might be  a bit of a stretch due to his size and being delicate at such a small scale.

Either way, solid suggestions, and couldn't have come up with better ones myself!

If this year having no new Thomas products is the case, then I'm all for it. Mulfred kindly took time a few posts back of making a detailed list of everything Bachmann has in the works right now (thanks again, mate!). To boil it down even further, we have a whopping total of 36 products, that begin dating back two years following their announcement(s) and 19 new toolings spreading across three different scales. Not to mention the HO DCC and Sound Thomas & Percy models and the Salty reissue, that's been delayed again, much longer than intended. They need to catch up this year, especially with expectations of products for the 80th anniversary next year.

Quote from: Mulfred100 on February 04, 2024, 03:22:15 PMWhen you think about how much is still being worked on or not yet released
HO
Beau (fully painted)
Rebecca (sample ready)
Stanley
12 Ton vans
Open carriage
Bulgy
Sir Topham Hatt's car
Figure packs (sample ready)
009
Sir Handel
Duncan
Narrow Gauge Gondolas
Gunpowder vans
Narrow Gauge High-Side Wagons
N
Gordon (fully painted)
Emily (fully painted)
Diesel
Paxton
Henrietta (sample ready)
Express coaches
Emily's Coaches (fully painted)
I mean that's 9 individual items for N Scale outstanding, 16 for HO and 11 for 009
That's quite alot still being worked on.
I'm sure when the catalogue is announced there will be some new products. Maybe nothing groundbreaking but as I say there's alot on the way. Plus lately the February announcements are usually quite small and the bigger (new tooling) announcements are in the summer

I was going to do a list/inventory, but you saved me the trouble. Thanks, Mulfred!

Yes, that seems to be the case.

2019 we saw Red Rosie in February, then out of nowhere, we got Daisy and Peter Sam for that year's NMRA
2020 we saw Busy Bee James in February, and once it was pointed out that it should've been Origin James, Bachmann put things right at NMRA. It's a miracle we got anything announced that summer because pandemic. Meanwhile, N James is announced
2021 we saw Ryan and N Toby both in February. Large Scale finally got their Red Coaches announced at NMRA, which I imagine was a big deal for them
2022 Sir Handel is announced in February and while all had seemed lost for N Gordon when out of nowhere, he's announced for NMRA
2023 didn't have too much of anything in February, then for NMRA Stanley and N Diesel and Paxton are announced

I guess it's anyone's guess at this point. 2022 was the last time a big announcement came in February, but 2019 was the first year we got an exciting announcement at NMRA. All will be revealed soon...

Before the catalog launch tomorrow, I'm going to post not necessarily what I think will happen, but moreso what I'd like to see, and trying to keep expectations in check at the same time.

HO/OO:
'Arry & Bert reissue - reason I say them is because with Rebecca and possibly Stanley in production currently, Bachmann should play catch up on the two new toolings. Reissuing 'Arry & Bert, whose toolings still exist at the production factory, can get a jump. If changing the physical facial expression is too much for them, then here's my suggestion: give 'Arry no stubble on his chin and give it all to Bert. That would be an easy way for people to tell them apart without having to create entirely new face plates

Tar Tanker reissue - the Tar Tanker has been discontinued for at least 15 years. Since it appeared in CGI during Season 23, that'd be an easy way to bring back a fan favorite piece of rolling stock. Yes, there will also be TAR lettering decals on the front/back of the wagon, but since one of the tankers was like that all the way back in Season 1 (40 years ago, mind you!), it'd be a win-win

I personally think James and Gordon with DCC and sound would be fun to see, considering Thomas and Percy were announced two years ago and we've yet to hear anything on them, I'd understand why they wouldn't be too quick to announce James and Gordon just yet.

Narrow Gauge:

SKIP - With Sir Handel appearing to be in production, Duncan yet to have a price determined and two different new toolings for wagons also being worked on (both without prices as far as I know), I'd be okay with them skipping narrow gauge all together to play catch up, if you will.

N Scale:

Gordon set - Chaz brings up a good point here. The only issue I have is that we've yet to see what the Express Coaches look like, and they don't appear to have a price yet, as far as I know

Henry - pretty much explains himself. It'd be great to see him, but at the same time, I understand if they want to wait till August to announce him and focus on getting Gordon on the shelves and making some headway on Emily first

ORIGINAL Coal Wagon with Load and/or Red Open Wagon - now's the time where they can start having some fun with the 7 plank open wagon tooling! These two are favorites of mine that are (as far as I know) still doing well in HO/OO. They can bring back the blue, but considering it's been retired in that scale for a while, I can understand why they wouldn't

Track cleaning brake vans - HEAR ME OUT. The Graham Farish brake van tooling will look fine here, but considering that I know of a healthy amount of Thomas fans who've bought the HO/OO variants, I'm wondering if this should happen in N. Tooling would pretty much be there, and it'd be a fun way to have some normal looking brake vans in the range.

Large Scale
SKIP - maybe they can do one last hurrah and bring out Edward and Henrietta for 2025, the 80th anniversary as a grand finale to that range and keep it stagnant till the end of time

Not that well versed in LS, personally, so don't want to start spouting opinions as facts

...and that's all I got. All will be revealed sooner than we think...

I'm wondering if the Nakayoshi Cranky will fit in?



It seems to be the perfect blend of the detailing that the Capsule Plarail toy has and the needed height of the ERTL. Unfortunately, I do not have it, but have been on the trail for one for about a year now.

As an added note: the Nakayoshi Bulstrode is PERFECT for the N scale Thomas stuff, granted your friend knows about him.

Awesome review, Chaz! I'll admit, I was skeptical of these at first, but they all turned out quite nicely. Out of the three, I like the Brendam Bay van the best and am now tempted to pick one up.

Awesome review and photos as per usual, Chaz! I'm now all jazzed up to get my N Scale Toad.

The OO model is quite frustrating, and now with the release of the N Scale model, it seems to be clear as to why. It appears that not a lot of effort was put into it (the UK version tries to rectify this, somewhat) for all the reasons you stated, but also for the fact that the grey for the body is much too light and makes it look like a cheap knockoff. It seems Bachmann themselves realized this and decided to put things right and make a dedicated new tooling for the N scale model. I'm looking forward to running him behind Percy and maybe James. It's obvious why James because of "Toad's Adventure", but I also feel he and Percy would get along quite well for some reason.

Yes, considering how fast they moved on Toad, let's hope Emily's coaches are next! Now those will look pretty rad behind James until Emily is out, for sure.

Quote from: Chaz on July 22, 2023, 08:02:31 PMHonestly; I agree.  The consistency of the Trainworld streams being at the beginning of the month always gives fans a better idea of when to expect updates.  Plus we will have the NMRA later next month, making the early stream in September all the exciting to go over if there are any major announcements. Heres hoping for now anyway.

On that note, my box vans arrived in the mail earlier.  There isn't too much to say about these other than the fact that I love the fact Bachmann went the full mile with these and used a new more show accurate tooling over the Graham Farish toolings.  They look fantastic with the rest of the engines and rolling stock and are built in exceptional quality.  I also appreciate how they used the single vent tooling as per the large scale range instead of just sticking with the double vent like HO.


I also want to talk about the liveries.  The ice cream van is a surprising one they went with since both the HO and large scale models both got discontinued.  I was never a fan of the Hit era but I figured I could repaint this one to a more classic era style van for fun later.

The fruits and vegetables can is one I think is all right overall.  I love the dark green livery and the decal they used for it doesn't look too bad either.  Might keep this one as is.

The best for last though is the great western box van.  This one has always been a favorite, both for its show accurate livery and a homage to the GWR (despite not being in GWR colors, but it's the thought it counts).  Might pick up more of these down the road.  Hopefully one day further down the road we can see some great western engines in N scale like Duck and Oliver!

Normally I'd send pics of engines pulling these around but not today... currently in the middle of an interesting mod on my four N scale engines as of now.  Hopefully they'll be ready by the time Toad is in stock!

Another outstanding review, Chaz! The dedicated single vent van tooling was indeed the way to go, and I wish it could make a comeback appearance in HO/OO.

I agree with you on the Ice Cream Van. Having been discontinued in both HO/OO and G, I'm a little perplexed why they introduced it in N, but there you go. The Fruit and Veg van is starting to grow on me, the dark green looks so slick. I agree with you 100%, the GWR van is my favorite of the three. The chocolate brown is probably the most accurate to what's seen in all eras of the show and it is based on a real-life box van. It ticks all the boxes.

All I can to Bachmann is: Bring on Toad, Mr. Bach-Man!

Now, I'm itching to see the mods you're performing on your N scale engines!

Another great review, Chaz! Your pictures are great as always, too!

I agree that even though it took a long time for this batch of stock to come out, it was certainly worth the long wait. They look amazing, especially on your setup. The scaling is perfect, the colors pop and blend in nicely with the coaches. I agree that some light brown variants of both need to be announced sooner rather than later so as to give a contrast to the brightly colored versions.

I feel Sir Handel will be another case of "It took a long time, but ws well worth the wait". We'll just have to wait and see...

You make some excellent points here, Chaz. Considering the Percy set is doing quite well in N scale, it does make sense to bring it back for HO. Since the Thomas and the Troublesome Trucks set was introduced for the 75th anniversary, and the 80th almost two years, put the Troublesome Trucks (and the ore loads, just to give people a reason to get the set if nothing else) back with Percy and think of something fun for the 80th. It always baffled me why they ever discontinued it to begin with.

The DCC Thomas and Percy set sounds like a lot of fun. It wouldn't be too far off from and a great throwback to the old Hornby Thomas and Percy set from back in the day. Heck, even have the same rolling stock/consists!



As much as I question a lot of the things Hornby did in their over 30 year run, this set was one of my favorite things they ever did.

Next is the Narrow Gauge starter set. Again, I'm surprised this wasn't done when the range was first announced! I think if it were to be done, I think Skarloey is an excellent idea, considering that he's the face of the Narrow Gauge engines. Perhaps a small consist of two slate trucks, the new red box van and the red brake van would be perfect. The slate trucks are a no-brainer since Skarloey was primarily stationed at the Blue Mountain Quarry during the CGI series, but the box van and brake van break (see what I did there?) up the monotony of just having three slate tracks and no brake van. My only concern about a NG starter set is the fact that considering these models are specifically aimed at adults, parents who 40 and younger may make the mistake of giving one to their child with a lot of small parts that could be easily broken off or swallowed. Plus, the fact that the NG range is small, this same demographic of parents would buy with the mindset that it "is so tiny and cute".

Moving onto the N scale Gordon set. The HO set was one of my favorites, and I was sad when it was discontinued. I felt a big engine like Gordon and his long coaches would mean more track, fueling inspiration to build a larger layout. Gordon is up there with Thomas, Percy and James as one of the most popular characters and a set with him in it always felt like "deluxe" and "prestigious". Bringing that set idea into N scale, the same principals would apply. I'm all for it!

As for bringing back the large scale Thomas set, I'm quite surprised they ever discontinued the Thomas set to begin with. It seems like a no-brainer to bring it back. I'm not that versed in large scale, so please take what I say with a container of Iodized Sea Salt, but I do think that bringing back as one of the only Bachmann large scale starter sets seems like a perfect way to acknowledge the Thomas line with a large scale starter sets. Plus, I seem to recall Bachmann saying somewhere that starter sets with Thomas seem to do well.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Welcome to the forums, Kelson! Glad to have you aboard. And what a way to make a good first impression! I adore your Sodor Line Caboose. Your lettering is crisp and clean, and honestly, looks like a "what if" fantasy prop from the show.

Looking forward to seeing what you've got in store for us!

You make some excellent points here, Chaz.

I honestly was indifferent to Yellow Rheneas. I thought it was better suited to the likes of Wooden Railway and Take N Play (which was exactly that when Blue Mountain Mystery came out), both of which had that variety of so many things to choose from. The livery turned out great, but sadly, both the announcement and release model had horrible timing.

I am surprised that Busy Bee James and to a lesser extent, both versions of Rosie and Diesel are both pretty solid. I'd have thought pink Rosie and Happy Diesel would've been discontinued by now, but the variety in HO Standard gauge is what's making them do well, I suppose.

I also agree with you on the subject of recolors in N scale. Henry and Edward (maybe Diesel and Paxton, too? That might be wishing a little too much...) need to be announced before the LBSC Thomas and Origin James recolors can be on the radar for the 80th Anniversary. Variety is the key. Tomy Plarail were able to do face variants and later, recolors, because they already had a vast amount of things to choose from.

I guess the big takeaway here is that recolors and to a degree, face variants (although, so far, only Diesel seems to be the only engine to have received this treatment) succeed when there's a good variety of products to choose from. If there are limited products, then all it will do is just sit around as shelf/peg warmers before prices must be slashed.