I think that it's more of a logical deduction; if Douglas is still out of service and basically in pieces, then it isn't exactly in the ideal condition to be measured, scanned or photographed for any model train company that would have interest in making a model of Douglas. Not much to add to that discussion until it returns to service.

The only scale left I can see Bachmann having any interest in acquiring is O Scale, and that's entirely dependent on the kind of contract Lionel currently has.

I think the majority of fans would agree that having the correct rectangular lining would be an improvement to the model. It baffled everyone when the Fowler tender lining was used in the show.

I made a slight prediction to this in the Everything Thomas thread before it met its size limit, but I brushed it off under the assumption that Bachmann wouldn't do Flying Scotsman before Hiro. It seems I was wrong though. I'm really not sure how to feel about this, as I feel like Hiro is one of the most popular engines in the CGI era, and yet he keeps getting shafted for other engines.

Quote from: Awesometrain77 on July 15, 2025, 10:17:58 PMArry and Bert . They have described this announcement in both plural and not plural terms. Non-plural terms it could just be talking about the big locomotive announcement, which is like the big thing. Considering the costs of carrots, it could very much well be these items, but I'm not entirely sure. However, given the current circumstances. Having to already designed the product products, just brought back into the range. Would be super easy . And considering terrifs and affordability . These are cheap already designed  with a CGI reference unlike salty . If they do then I'd imagine it would only be iron arry and iron Bert and no additional rolling stock .

I have my doubts they would be hyping up re-releases.

Quote from: DustyMarie53! on June 26, 2025, 11:29:19 PMAdding on, they've highlighted the reason they didn't want to do the RWS Thomas face change is because it is a single run product and doing a new mold for that wouldn't be feasible. This, of course, wouldn't apply to James. I feel like the main thing holding them back to redesigning him is the fact there are now 4 different variations in productions (I'm counting the UK line) which would make a unified modification a harder sell, how does that get sold/marketed, etc. They are aware James especially is a flawed model, having redesigned him in the past with cosmetic tweaks, but even those hit production snags. New molding I could see being a worry taking multiple of one of their most popular characters of the market. I think it'll be worth it in the long run, but I also think it'd be smarter to gauge interest with someone less risky, rather than taking one of their more popular models off the market for an unknown amount of time. Depending on how Sidney or Mainland Diesel is done a Paxton redo could work wonders for this role, or even Spencer with some cosmetic changes since there's only one of him as well but this wouldn't be an exact test. I'd also suggest Percy, but he'd need the most work done and probably wouldn't be the most viable to take it off the market. Thinking about it doing an updated Henrietta in a similar vein would be smart as well. Relaunch her with her face, helps to troubleshoot any potential worries about a transition period/product confusion and then see how things work out. This went off on a bit of a tangent so apologies. Overall, I think promoting redesigns of old stuff is definitely a good move, just unsure if James is the most logical first choice even if he'd be the easiest of the 3 who arguably need it the most.

I wouldn't say James should be the first one either; I made this thread because I think he requires less extreme changes than Thomas and Percy do, who would better benefit from starting entirely over. I'd much rather see them done first, if given the choice.

Changing toolings can be expensive, but I wonder if it would be feasible to do James in gradual phases, so that his model isn't taken out of production for very long. One run would have an updated cab for example, while the next run would have an updated face, etc. Doesn't have to be those specifically or in any particular order, but just an example. That way, the Bee James and Origins James could also gradually get each upgrade as well until James is fully "up to date."

It's a hypothetical though, not sure how practical it would actually be. I do agree though that the quality of the range has gone up tremendously in recent years, that it only makes sense fans want the original trio to be higher quality now too. I don't think the demand will go quiet anytime soon.

I also agree that repaints and gimmicky products could help absorb costs that would go into redesigns. The Mainland Diesels could certainly help with that, as well as a new Henrietta. Maybe even a "classic" Arry and Bert limited run, some BWBA Class 08s, or Splatter and Dodge. The "Thomas" class 08 tooling has a lot of mileage.

Quote from: Mulfred100 on June 26, 2025, 10:17:15 AMI'm gonna be real. This likely won't happen for many reasons.

Firstly the time it'll take to make the new tooling and assembly. Its not as simple as just switching a few parts over especially if you want a new running board and buffer beam. More opened cab design. While yes it would look great and be more accurate to the CGI era. All those adjustments would take time and then thats time fixing a model thats already available rather then working on something new. We've seen in recent years how backed up things can get and how some projects which on paper sound extremely simple like DCC Thomas and Percy, Reintroduce Salty still aren't available after being introduced years ago. Likelihood would be if they did redesign James then any potential new tooling for an engine would be out the window for that year. Which I could see potential back lash against.

Another factor is the money side of things, this would likely result in a higher price point for the extra money they spent resigning him. Then there's the fact James is also available in the UK market which is another market they'll have to distribute too and make sure his model is up to standards that means in the UK it can be sold to ages 3+ (not 8+)

Then there's recent announcements of the 80th anniversary set. I'm sorry to say if they aren't gonna make a new face for Thomas for an anniversary set which lets face it fans would have ate up and had the perfect excuse to do so. They aren't gonna make one for James.

Lastly then there's the current James model. Do Bachmann introduce the redesign under a new code and product?do they wait for the current stock to sell out? Then redesign him? What about Origins James and Busy Bee James? Plus there's the Bachmann UK version as well.

Add into all of this the uncertainty around tarrifs and recent price increases on Bachmann Thomas Items. Theres alot to consider in this. Its not as simple as saying to someone in a factory use this part and not that one.

Like I say if he was redesigned to the standard shown in your illustration then that'll likely comes with extra cost and at the expense of new tooling being developed. Which if thats something people are ok with then fair enough. By all means go for it.

No disrespect to you Mulfred, but we're both enough of Bachmann Thomas veterans here to know that all of those factors should go without saying. The insight is understandable and within reason, but I think these days the consumers need to challenge them a bit more than accepting them as just-is. Any sort of redesign is matter of gauging up consumer interest within the Thomas fandom to see if Bachmann would consider these factors worth the time, resources and investment and having Bachmann understand why the demand for retoolings is increasing over the years.

I think the only obstacle I hadn't thought of would be the UK market range, which would probably rule out the more accurate couplers.

I also was inspired to make this thread partially because of how the 80th Anniversary Thomas has been poorly received by the fandom, which shows there is a growing shift in demands and expectations of the Thomas brand.

Recently I was thinking about how people have often requested Thomas, Percy and James get redesigns to bring them up to par to the newer engines in the Bachmann range. This led me to a conclusion that I am curious to see if people will agree with: while the Bachmann Thomas and Percy could use a complete overhaul, James only needs modifications here and there to bring him up to speed. I've made an illustration before to detail out each detail I think could be updated to make him more accurate.


 What do you guys think?

I'm gonna go out on a guess and say that Duncan was cancelled not only because there's a lot of divide over his CGI model, but I also speculate that Bachmann is using the reception to Sir Handel/Haydn to determine if they will do Duncan in the same manner.

If this is the case, I think it's a smart move; there's a lot of subtle design differences between Sir Handel's CGI model and the real Sir Haydn, but at the core of it all, Sir Haydn is still the Sir Handel fans know and love. I think the same will be applicable to Duncan, as he's been all sorts of shapes and sizes throughout the books, model era and even merchandise.

One final salute to Doug and his many years of service to the Bachmann brand; here's to retirement!

Norman and Dennis is a pair I have vouched for before, and I still hold to the idea that they would be a smart investment on Bachmann's end, and even more-so now that we know there isn't a formal mandate. Dennis has slightly less detail than Norman does, but I don't think fans would mind if those details were included on a Dennis model; the only major difference is the triangular bits on Norman's buffer beam. I definitely feel like if Bachmann wants to do another tooling engine after Stanley that can get a lot of return on their investment, Dennis/Norman is the way to go next.

It's always good to get clarification on these kinds of rumors, now that theory can be put to rest. Mandates are a popular speculative topic among fandoms and it's not always easy for people working for respective companies to verify if they're true or not.

That said, I think this opens up another interesting topic: What -is- relevant to kids nowadays within the Thomas brand? All Engines Go has been going on for several seasons now, and BWBA was the last CGI related content the show got. My nephew also began watching Thomas recently and has been hooked, so the accessibility of Thomas content has been on my mind. With that said...

It seems there's two "easily accessible" avenues to watch Thomas: Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. Amazon Prime Video is what my nephew has been watching, and that started him right off at Season 1, goes up to Season 7, Season 16, and then 18 to 22. Most CGI era specials are also available on Prime. Netflix continues behind that with the BWBA seasons and specials, as well ass AEG.

There's no doubt that the most recent content is on Netflix so that Mattel can get their moneys worth out of the investment, but once AEG took over the brand, most of BWBA just kind of melted into the rest of the CGI era. I don't think there's a whole lot of BWBA era characters that would be a worthy on return investment for a new tooling, given how mixed their reception was to fans young and old.

Rebecca is already in the Bachmann range now, and between her and Nia, seemed the safer choice of BWBA representation. Any other BWBA characters tend to be a combination of too niche and too expensive to warrant making a new tooling of. If Bachmann were to make anything else from the BWBA era, I feel like Nia is the only one that would get a new tooling, with Gina not far behind her; any other character would need to be something that can be repurposed from an old Bachmann USA tooling or one of the Class 08 repaints.

From there, you're left with two branches of engine picks for the range: CGI era in general, and "nostalgia" picks. There's still a lot of characters in both categories, and I feel like we might get a better gauge on what to predict next after Monday.

While it would be a novel idea, I think something like that in an OO scale Thomas branded range would be astronomical in cost and difficult to make working to those specifications.

Quote from: Mulfred100 on February 15, 2025, 03:05:50 PMYes but there's still reference metaerial for the slate trucks, I can find it on the wiki. It's not like Troublesome truck 3 or 4 or 5 had ruler photos to work off.

I know there's references of the regular slate trucks, I believe both Season 4 and the HiT era had some. It's just a matter of a "troublesome" variant, which are less common, and as stated before, would be a bit of trouble to design with a face in mind. I think the coal truck tooling would be better suited for "troublesome" narrow gauge wagons.

Quote from: Mulfred100 on February 15, 2025, 03:05:50 PMAnd well I apologise but that's the impression I got based on your response. If I'm wrong I'm willing to admit it. I'm not arguing I'm simply saying there's a case to made for them, reference photos are available and how many of us Thomas modellers would eat them up. Sorry if I offended you. I didn't mean to I was just pointing out they aren't redundant.

Apology accepted but please don't assume something if I haven't directly stated it; I would personally like narrow gauge troublesome trucks and I think they would be fun additions to the range, it's just a matter of picking the right wagon tooling, and I don't think the model-era slate trucks would be a good choice manufacturing wise due to the size of the scale and the slate wagons design. The coal trucks would probably be a better fit with those factors in mind for manufacturing.

Quote from: Mulfred100 on February 15, 2025, 02:48:36 PMNeither were the blue coaches, D-fusit, blue brake-van, box vans. Didn't stop Bachmann making them... in terms of rolling stock with a face. Well there's non in CGI and no current tooling out there that would have a face, so regardless it's gonna be newly tooled... it's just the fact it doesn't appeal to YOU. You haven't argued people wouldn't buy it. I know I'd prefer a Troublesome slate truck that was model series styled. I'd buy a rake of them. Many other modellers would too.

I feel the main difference is all of those had photo references Bachmann has received over the years. The narrow gauge troublesome trucks never had any sort of reference material taken in any era of the show, so they'd only have photos from the show itself to go by. All they would need is to use a narrow gauge wagon that has a flat, solid surface for one of its sides.

Quote from: Mulfred100 on February 15, 2025, 02:48:36 PMit's just the fact it doesn't appeal to YOU. You haven't argued people wouldn't buy it. I know I'd prefer a Troublesome slate truck that was model series styled. I'd buy a rake of them. Many other modellers would too.

I don't really appreciate you making up assumptions about my stance in the discussion that not only have I made no indication is my opinion, but that you boldly state them as though they were. This was a very aggressive, out of left-field accusation to make, and I don't wish to continue discussing this topic with you if this is how you are going to approach peoples responses.