Thanks everyone for the strong feedback! I'm glad everyone seems to be on the same page when it comes to the engine choices and the non-rail characters too. Undeniably, I think those the five I mentioned earlier (and possibly Spencer) are easily the more popular requests that I have seen, hence why I mentioned them. I agree that there's a lot more of an urgency for Henry and Edward due to their classic main character stance, in addition to Duck and Oliver to an extent because of Toad's release. That being said, there are a few things I want to respond to in particular.
Regarding the brake vans, as I mentioned earlier, there are different livery options out there Bachmann could use for the N scale range, or even HO if they really wanted to. I think introducing a set of brake vans in a new tooling and various liveries would be the best way to go. Seeing as how Bachmann has shifted for more industrial colors like gray and brown, I would like to see these find their way to the N scale brake vans once they are announced. If there's any new rolling stock tooling that we get announced this year, I hope this will be the one. Track-cleaning stock wouldn't be a bad idea of usage of the brake van tooling either.
As for Mavis' lack of usage since season 19, I think that's a moot point since while her usage hasn't been as frequent as she used to be, she would be one of the easier choices for a new locomotive design. The class 08 repaints do get tiring after a while, and I think Diesel and Paxton are just the right amount for the time being. Mavis would offer some nice diversity in terms of diesels in N scale, and would reuse the same motor and chassis as Toby which is a win-win of it's own. That already puts Mavis a few steps above the likes of other diesels in the range such as Salty or even Daisy, so I'm all for it.
Spencer on the other hand I think has a higher shot than most of us might give him credit for since he's had a better track record from Bachmann in terms of sales. He was also introduced pretty early in HO (he came even got announced before Edward), so I wouldn't rule him out from being introduced soon too. The only reason why I didn't mention him or the likes of Donald and Douglas or Daisy is because I feel like there is a lot more of an urgency to the characters I mentioned earlier. I think the five engines I mentioned in my last post might make better candidates first based on the reasons I mentioned earlier, but I think it's worthy of an honorable mention too. He definitely fits comfortably in a "tier 2" list as mentioned earlier, so there's that much going for him.
As for the cattle wagon, I'm all for it. Like Spencer though, I left that one out since there's some rolling stock additions I feel have a stronger sense of urgency like brake vans or the red coaches or even the mail car. I think we will see demand for cattle wagons increase once Edward eventually gets introduced in N scale.
I wouldn't mind LBSC Thomas or Origin James in N scale either, but in my opinion I think it's a little too early for Bachmann to be considering those, especially considering Henry and Edward haven't been announced yet. Maybe much later down the road once more characters get introduced. Sidney meanwhile I think could work if they absolutely had to reuse the class 08 tooling anytime soon, but I feel like adding a third so soon after Diesel and Paxton is a little excessive.
Regarding the brake vans, as I mentioned earlier, there are different livery options out there Bachmann could use for the N scale range, or even HO if they really wanted to. I think introducing a set of brake vans in a new tooling and various liveries would be the best way to go. Seeing as how Bachmann has shifted for more industrial colors like gray and brown, I would like to see these find their way to the N scale brake vans once they are announced. If there's any new rolling stock tooling that we get announced this year, I hope this will be the one. Track-cleaning stock wouldn't be a bad idea of usage of the brake van tooling either.
As for Mavis' lack of usage since season 19, I think that's a moot point since while her usage hasn't been as frequent as she used to be, she would be one of the easier choices for a new locomotive design. The class 08 repaints do get tiring after a while, and I think Diesel and Paxton are just the right amount for the time being. Mavis would offer some nice diversity in terms of diesels in N scale, and would reuse the same motor and chassis as Toby which is a win-win of it's own. That already puts Mavis a few steps above the likes of other diesels in the range such as Salty or even Daisy, so I'm all for it.
Spencer on the other hand I think has a higher shot than most of us might give him credit for since he's had a better track record from Bachmann in terms of sales. He was also introduced pretty early in HO (he came even got announced before Edward), so I wouldn't rule him out from being introduced soon too. The only reason why I didn't mention him or the likes of Donald and Douglas or Daisy is because I feel like there is a lot more of an urgency to the characters I mentioned earlier. I think the five engines I mentioned in my last post might make better candidates first based on the reasons I mentioned earlier, but I think it's worthy of an honorable mention too. He definitely fits comfortably in a "tier 2" list as mentioned earlier, so there's that much going for him.
As for the cattle wagon, I'm all for it. Like Spencer though, I left that one out since there's some rolling stock additions I feel have a stronger sense of urgency like brake vans or the red coaches or even the mail car. I think we will see demand for cattle wagons increase once Edward eventually gets introduced in N scale.
I wouldn't mind LBSC Thomas or Origin James in N scale either, but in my opinion I think it's a little too early for Bachmann to be considering those, especially considering Henry and Edward haven't been announced yet. Maybe much later down the road once more characters get introduced. Sidney meanwhile I think could work if they absolutely had to reuse the class 08 tooling anytime soon, but I feel like adding a third so soon after Diesel and Paxton is a little excessive.