Quote from: thomasj219 on February 26, 2024, 05:31:34 PMIt's really not your place to post that man.

Seeing as you leaked the announcements back in 2021 I would think you'd be more careful.

Unless of course you simply don't care.

He doesn't care. He got banned the other day for ranting about other shops doing preorders, yet he unapologetically leaks announcements before Bachmann does themselves?  If that's not hypocritical then I don't know what is.

Sir Handel is currently available for preorder on a select few websites.  There are no updates on a release date as of yet since production has been a lot slower as of late, especially since we haven't seen an unpainted sample of him.  I'd recommend keeping an eye on Bachmann or Trainworld's social media profiles for updates.

In the stream, Doug commented that this year really is going to be the catch-up year for Bachmann, so I probably wouldn't count on much happening in the catalog this year.  We're at least getting a large scale Thomas set reintroduction, which is something.  As I said earlier, I'm personally okay with them catching up on getting more previously announced projects released first before announcing even more projects. 

If anything, I'm more willing to bet that (apart from an N scale Henry announcement at the NMRA this summer), any other announcement this year will probably be either some rolling stock announcements in HO, N and possibly large scale.  Then in 2025, during the brand's 80th anniversary, I'd be a lot more willing to bet we will see a higher number of new announcements by then.  The only reason why I'm still confident in an N Henry announcement this summer is because it seems fairly likely that N scale Gordon will be out fairly soon and Henry seems like the perfect follow-up to Gordon.  After that, Bachmann can then save an N scale Edward announcement for 2025 for the anniversary once Emily gets released, which will hopefully be by the end of this year.

Either way, 2024 being a light year for newly announced products is probably in Bachmann's best interest this year anyway.  They announced a lot of projects over the last two years or so with most of them still not being out yet, (or three if you want to include the DCC and sound Thomas and Percy models (which is in its own muddle due to the semiconductor shortage)).  So if it means getting those out or allowing us to have more updates on previously announced projects (Sir Handel in particular), then I'm all for this year being the catch-up year for Bachmann.

Nice seeing the official images of the N scale Emily's coaches as well as getting another look at N scale Emily and the Henrietta samples earlier. 

For what it's worth, it seems Bachmann is reintroducing their Thomas starter set in large scale, the product number is different from that of the original (90068 was the original, this one is 90089).

https://www.walthers.com/thomas-w-annie-clarabel-160-90089

The price though is pretty steep, but I guess that's expected of large scale especially considering Walthers usually lists products with Bachmann's RRP and not have them around at a lower cost like other shops like Trainworld. 

Couldn't find anything else while searching Walthers, so either the things that are getting announced this month still don't have a price yet, or maybe they want to take it slow this year and catch up on previously announced products (which I'm personally okay with if that's the case). It's anyone's guess at this point, honestly.

Well, as much as I prefer the Awdry characters the N scale Emily won me over.  I love how she turned out fully painted. Between her open windows and tender frames, this is a very steep improvement over the HO model.  I'm very curious to see how the model will run.  I'm looking forward to picking her up, as well as her coaches.  Might be replacing the face though.

As for Henrietta having a face, honestly I don't really mind.  It's kind of a win-win on both ends if you ask me.  It's a welcome addition to those who wanted it, and for those who weren't for it can remove it with a hobby knife if they want.  Either way, I'm grateful they still bothered with Henrietta at all in N scale, which can be more than said for large scale...

Either way, things are really looking great for the N scale range.  Hopefully we will see some exciting additions for that line this year like Henry, a brake van and some wagon repaints like the coal wagon with load in particular.

Quote from: Awesometrain77 on January 23, 2024, 03:48:40 PMThe catalogue should becoming out in about 2 weeks everyone get ready put your final predictions here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU3tTU55uO0

The catalog/announcements will be posted this weekend.

The N scale Henrietta sample has been teased on Bachmann's social media and it looks great so far! Can't wait to see it fully painted.

Definitely some really solid suggestions, Terencethetractor525.  I definitely echo a lot of the same points that have been discussed earlier like 'Arry and Bert's reintroduction to the range and especially an N scale Henry announcement.  Hiro and the works unit coach would also be great followups to previously announced projects once released.  Hopefully the works unit coach can be considered once the 12 ton vans and the open carriage are released since there are a lot of repaint options for Bachmann to choose from.

The ice cream van being released as a 12 ton van is something I never thought of, but I think it's a really good idea considering how Bachmann did the same approach with the narrow gauge box vans.  The tar tanker would also make a nice re-introduction announcement as well.  They could even announce it alongside the toffee tanker and the chocolate syrup tanker, which strangely have still not been released in HO scale yet.

Probably the most interesting thing you brought up in your post, in addition to several other users recently, is Whiff.  Considering the recent introduction of Stanley into the range, in addition to other frequently used side characters like Rosie and Paxton, I feel like Whiff would be a very natural next step for Bachmann after Stanley.  Though, I'm not entirely sure how Bachmann would tackle the glasses on Whiff.  I feel like they would either mold the glasses on his face like how some previous merchandise lines have done with Whiff, or they would go the direction the prop from the show did and have the frames of Whiff's glasses attached to Whiff's face. 

I don't really have any comment on the large scale range at this point, considering they didn't announce anything last year and the Museum coaches are still not out yet, (strangely).  But hopefully they can get around to adding a new tooling again either with Edward, or at the very least Henrietta.  If not, I'd be very surprised if none of the 12 ton van liveries from last summer's HO announcements don't find their way in the large scale range this year.

I remember at the time when 'Arry and Bert were announced and even after they were released, not too many people were excited for those two.  They were not popular sellers, despite being inevitable additions after Diesel's release a few years prior.  It was inevitable that they were going to be discontinued since not only were they not popular characters in the show, but also because both models shared the exact same face with the only difference being Bert having slightly more stubble than 'Arry.  I don't blame Bachmann for cutting them off, I'm surprised if it didn't happen sooner if I'm being honest.

That being said, like most things that get discontinued over time, the Bachmann 'Arry and Bert models have really gone up in value as mentioned earlier.  I think 'Arry and Bert being released is a great idea in theory, but in order for these two to warrant their return they need to have new faces to help differentiate the twins and not keep it so subtle like they did with their previous release.  Otherwise after the first year or so, history is only going to repeat itself and they will end up getting dropped again, unless if Bachmann wants to have these as a potential limited release similar to Beau (which I wouldn't be opposed to either).

It's a good idea for next year for sure though since not a lot of previously announced products have been released between the summer NMRA announcements and now (the two HO vent vans and N scale Toad).  Although release dates are always subject to change, it's been stated that Beau and Salty are expected to be released sometime earlier next year.  Since those are both repaints, I think really solid follow-up announcements for both of them next summer at the NMRA would be a reintroduction to 'Arry and Bert since they would be easy enough for Bachmann to pull off while still working on the several projects Bachmann needs to catch up on.  Seeing their reintroduction in the summer 2024 announcements alongside N scale Henry (once Gordon is released early next year too) would make for a pretty fun lineup of new engine announcements if you ask me. 

Quote from: N Scale Sudrian on December 01, 2023, 08:54:22 PMSadly not able to provide a photo due to my layout being in boxes at the moment, but I find the Capsule Plarail toy to be a decent stand-in. I think it might be slightly small compared to his appearance in the show, but it looks fine on its own merits. Unfortunately in N Scale, there's not a lot of viable 'stand-in' options for Cranky or any other tower crane-type character at this size outside of Capsule Plarail toys, since most of their toys in the other toy ranges are far too big to fit well in an N Scale setting.

No worries regarding the photo, and thanks for the reply/feedback!  I like the detailing from the capsule Cranky a lot more, but the ERTL one seems to be better in scaling with the Bachmann N scale models, at least from what I gathered from some photos another modeler was able to share in a Facebook group I'm a member of. 

Any other options you or anyone else can think of, I'm all ears.

A bit of a different post, but tonight I want to take a look at the three vent vans that were released this year, including the explosives van, Brendam Bay Shipping, and Mr. Jolly's chocolate factory van.  I won't go into the toolings themselves since they are repaints of the double vent van, but moreso the liveries and the decals that were selected for these. 


Let's start things off with a literal "bang" with the explosives van.  I remember when the large scale range first introduced some really nice box van repaints one year, and only some of them made it in HO the following year, with the explosives van being the odd one out.  Despite that, several fans really wanted to see this out in HO for so many years and now that it's here I must admit that it's pretty cool seeing that finally addressed in the flesh.  The paintjob and the decals selected look pretty good, and while it's not accurate to what was used on the show, it works pretty well for fans who want to recreate episodes involving the fireworks vans used during the Hit model era.


The second one I want to talk about is the Brendam Bay Shipping van.  I'll be honest, I didn't think much of this one when it was announced with the Mr. Jolly's Chocolate Factory van, but I appreciate how like the explosives van, the dark navy blue livery works really well with the rest of the Sodor-themed rolling stock currently in the range.  I also like how the decal matches that of the Trackmaster toys quite well too.  I know in the past I've gone on rants about Bachmann using liveries/decals not used on the show, but I feel like this one blends nicely with the rest of the rolling stock and might make for a nice additional flying kipper van for fans who want to recreate this episode with their Bachmann Thomas models.


Lastly, the Chocolate Factory van.  This one has to be my favorite, solely for the nostalgia towards the model era.  Like the museum coaches, it's nice seeing Bachmann still producing rolling stock that was used exclusively from the model era.  The livery looks great as well, but for some reason the decal looks a little more cartoony than what was used on the show.  Not sure if there was some more recent merch/promo that Mattel had Bachmann use as a reference.  Either way, I say Bachmann has a winner with this one.  I know in general, Bachmann's been leaning more towards CGI  as of late, especially with engines, but it's always special seeing Bachmann still acknowledging the series' past every now and again, however subtle it might be. 


Overall, I really like these vent vans, and it's nice seeing some recolors that fit the Sodor universe quite nicely.  However, I'm even happier knowing that we will be finally getting a new single vent van tooling in HO with some exclusive liveries in HO.  It's nice seeing the HO line get this special treatment in the rolling stock department.  If for some reason they choose to stick with the single vent van toolings in HO going forward and not the double vent van toolings, I'm not even mad.  These make for a nice finale to the double vent van toolings we've had for a while now and I'm looking forward to seeing more creative choices with these new vans going forward, and (hopefully) one of these will be a new troublesome truck!


Thanks Bachmann for bringing in these vent van repaints into the range Bachmann, in addition to another great year in 2023.  I'm looking forward to seeing more updates and what new announcements 2024 has to offer.  Hopefully 2024 will be the year of N scale Henry.

I'm definitely a fan of the newly announced 12 ton vans, especially because they are likely going to be new toolings.  I've always liked the vans in N and large scale, so it'll be nice to see a similar equivalent to that with HO with some liveries and decals that were not present in any of the other scales prior.

In terms of Troublesome Truck #7, while I wouldn't rule out the 12 ton van being the the tooling they use, I do think a model era face would be nice.  Not only are model era faces more expressive but they're also more distinctive from each other.  The CGI faces all look almost exactly the same from each other, with even more minor differences. 

While I do think them going the CGI route is inevitable, I feel that the faces that were shared earlier are much better candidates.  Given that Mattel seems to care more for CGI designs as of late though, I'm not going to get my hopes up. 

Then again, if Mattel approved a season 4 face on one of the Trackmaster toys a few years ago, then what do I know.  I'd love to be proven wrong.

Hello all, a quick question for all N scale Thomas modelers:

A former student of mine and his dad are building an N scale Thomas layout.  They'd really like to add Cranky onto their layout, but obviously Bachmann has no plans to do Cranky in N anytime soon. So I'd like help finding alternatives for them in the meantime.  What would you guys recommend? And if possible, I'd love to see a side by side comparison of Cranky next to the Bachmann N scale Thomas (not Tomix, please).  This could be either the ERTL, capsule plarail or any other brand that has made Cranky that could work with N scale.

Thanks in advance!

https://twitter.com/trainworld/status/1722723396969017647?s=46&t=P-yyOHfS2jVlFTUMzHYGLg

With Trainworld posting Sir Handel up for preorder, I figured now was as good of a time to make a new thread exclusive to Sir Handel where fans can discuss updates on this highly anticipated model.

Anyone else excited to finally preorder Sir Handel?