Quick random thought: With the new N Scale line, anyone who has the skills can replace the chassis on the Narrow Gauge Box Vans and repaint them and make the old vans from the episode "Fish" and the truck with a face in Edward's train from "A Close Shave For Duck" for the N Scale line since that won't get made as a Standard Gauge truck because it breaches NMRA standards.

I have an analog Thomas engine that has a built-in 'chug' sound. Can this easily be switched off?

The model doesn't have the ability to turn off sound. That's more of a DCC thing, I think.

I'd love to see the CGI Troublesome Trucks given some love, preferably replacing the current Troublesome Truck #1 and#2.

And as much as I hate to say it, I'm sure it is only a matter of time before we see Nia and Rebecca introduced into the line. Given that they have been fully integrated into the main cast it is almost odd that Bachmann has not been compelled by Mattel to produce them, and their absence from the HO line (at the least! N scale Nia and Rebecca, anyone?) is notable and will surely be addressed in the (near?) future.

1: CGI series should never replace Model Series. Replacing Troublesome Truck #1 and #2 is a good way to lose money.

2: Oh God, please don't suggest that. We know that Bachmann's more than likely aware of everyone's disdain of those characters, thus why they haven't made them.

I don’t understand what my post has to do with yours, unless you’re saying that no one commented on yours because of mine which is ridiculous. And that’s the thing about wants, many of them are unrealistic.

But don’t worry, now I’m sure now you can expect a flood of comments in response to your amazing list.

Oh, and no offense if you’re reading this. 

Who ae you talking to? And why are you treating someone badly for no good reason? Clearly you mean to offend.

I especially like that the Troublesome Trucks come with loads that were painted brown to represent ore loads, as Bachmann could have easily just used the black coal loads again.

The loads are black, thus why there's a coal hopper included. It is coal loads.

Rodimus, that's the same photo I was already alluding to in the quote. I'm referring to a Tomix Thomas specifically. I get the intent, but I was hoping for something with more visual clarity, which we'll have to wait a bit on.

I know it's already been seen, but we already know it's smaller. Here's a Tomix Thomas next to 3 other British N gauge locomotives:

https://jnsforum.com/community/topic/15419-new-n-gauge-thomas-and-friends-by-bachmann-us/

You can fairly well infer the difference between the two from these pictures.

I'm still wondering how these models are going to scale up compared to the Tomix equipment. We've seen pictures of them on N Scale track and next to some Japanese N Scale equipment, but no photos alongside Tomix itself yet.

Yes we have seen their scale:

https://twitter.com/sylvaniantab/status/1223044959076605952?s=20

Bachmann made them in British N gauge, and it's been known that Tomix made theirs oversized. So Bachmann's are smaller.

So this year, the Toy Fair is later than usual, which means the announcements may not get posted until Friday the 21st, one week after Valentines Day.

That's what I said.

[HO Scale:]

I'm glad Bachmann announced an N Scale Thomas Starter Set, so I'll have a convenient way to begin my N Scale Thomas collection. Once that becomes available, I can pick one up.

I still hope that someday, Bachmann would announce a Narrow Gauge Starter Set with Skarloey, so as to provide a more convenient way to begin a Narrow Gauge collection. Don't know if a Narrow Gauge set would be that important or not. We haven't even got brake vans yet.

Updating my predictions list again with more possible products:

HO Scale:
Thomas - Green
James - Black (possibly)
Ventilated Van - Explosives
Tar Tanker
Express Coach - Red
Express Brake Coach - Red

Narrow Gauge:
Guard's Van - Blue
Guard's Van - Red
Guard's Van - Brown
Carriage - Green

N Scale:
James
Various Rolling Stock

Looking forward to the announcements next Friday, which is also Valentines Day. I didn't list an engine with a new tooling in HO Scale this time because Bachmann is currently working on Daisy. It's possible we may see Daisy's image in the 2020 catalog. Hoping for Daisy to get released sometime this year.

Toy Fair doesn't start until February 22nd this year. Either we'll get the announcements then, or the day before since some companies do some announcements the day before, usually during a breakfast event.

All I am doing just making an observation of why I feel they were not shown in the video, it’s possible that them weren’t there but it’s also possible too that the person recording the video accidentally skipped them again given by the fact that there is very clearly another Bachmann sign right by Thomas as I explained to you twice in my last two posts.  The fact is, is that we don’t know unless if we see the full display, which again we didn’t since the video clearly missed something that was right there besides Thomas.  

Regardless, you really need to calm down, especially when this is not that big of a deal.  We’ll probably have pictures of the whole range posted by Bachmann sometime later this month once the catalog is out, by then I would imagine we would have a good look at Annie and Clarabel by then.

What you're explaining doesn't make sense. If they were there, then the guy recording would have to be pretty dumb to not see them sitting right next to Thomas or sitting anywhere nearby if they weren't on the shelf. I was already stating that they weren't there, but you seem to be arguing the same exact point. The only difference between what you're saying and what I'm saying is that I'm speculating and hoping that maybe Bachmann are reworking their scale so that they're not so big, but you're skipping over that part. It seems you're trying to argue the exact same thing I'm trying to say. The only person who needs to "calm down" here is you.

[or for some reason they weren’t there.]

Then why did the guy that took this video not show them? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGg7k3egXhM

Probably because he either missed them or for some reason they weren’t there.  There is clearly another Bachmann sign to the right of the image of Thomas as shown here:



So my best guess is, the person filming probably just accidentally skipped Annie and Clarabel while filming.

...That's exactly what I was saying. That they weren't there. And if they were there, he wouldn't have missed them if they were right there in front of him.

My feeling with Annie and Clarabel is that they were on display but whoever was there did not get a chance to record them.  They were probably behind Thomas like how the trucks were behind Percy.  If you look at the picture of Thomas on display you can see part of another Bachmann sign.  Personally I think that might have been the sign for the two coaches.

Then why did the guy that took this video not show them? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGg7k3egXhM

I just realized something. N Scale Thomas, Percy, Troublesome Truck #1, and Troublesome Truck #2 were all on display and in full color, but N Scale Annie and Clarabel were not. Maybe Bachmann also realizes that they were WAY to big, and are redesigning them to be properly scaled? I sure hope so.

It’s humorous how the faces on Thomas and Percy got swapped during production, I’m sure these will be fixed during the final production stages before they are released, as well as getting the correct eyebrows too.  Though the pupils on the Percy face do look a tad too big for my liking.  Otherwise the only major flaw I see with these are the chunky side rods on them.  I also found it odd how Thomas’ whistle is molded but Percy’s is separately fitted so I’m not sure why they went that route.

Overall while I’ll admit these models didn’t really meet my expectations I think once the faces are swapped to the correct models, I imagine these will sell all right when first released.  The video posted on Twitter shows the Thomas model running very smoothly which is always a plus.  I’m debating on whether or not I will be collecting this range since I’m going to work on a OO9 setup soon.  If they do announce a starter set though that would make collecting this new range much easier.

As far as future engines go, there’s no doubt in my mind that we will see James join the range next.  Possibly Toby sometime after that as well.  With how thick they made the siderods on Thomas and Percy it does make me a little concerned with how they would tackle larger engines like Gordon and Henry (if we even get them that is).  For now though I think the future of this range will really depend on sales of these models before anything else.

There's a video of Thomas running? Link?

Sorry to go off topic, does anyone know what date is Toy Fair?

February 22nd-25th/26th.

Mattel owns the brand, they control everything. If Bachmann was given free reign to do whatever they wanted with the rolling stock, we wouldn't be getting these lazy, mediocre/outright ugly repaints. I have no idea where you guys are getting that Mattel doesn't/can't tell Bachmann what to do with the rolling stock, but they can with the engines. 

Pretty sure most of the repaints where Bachmann's decisions to get the most out of the molds and not Mattel's? Why would Mattel request things like the Water tanker, the scrap wagon, the logging flatbed, etc. Just doesn't make much sense really. Obviously Mattel does have some influence, but I don't think blaming them for the repaints, or at least most of them, is the right call.

because Bachmann brought those to Mattel first? And Mattel okayed it because Bachmann was able to convince them they'd sell? After dealing with Mattel back when they still had the license to produce DC Comics collectible figures, I and many others can tell you that Mattel is tone deaf towards demand and doesn't care what is being said, they will do things that are the exact opposite of what the buyers want. Mattel is more at fault for things than people think.

Guys, Mattel owns Thomas and Friends, it should be almost a given if not expected that they have an impact on what gets announced and what doesn’t.  Even if Bachmann announces products that come through the request of fans they still have to go by Mattel because they own the Thomas and Friends brand.  This applies to both engines, rolling stock and any other accessories or sets they produce.  Someone argued the opposite before last year and it baffles me that some people act like Mattel doesn’t have as much influence on Bachmann, when it’s almost obvious that they do.

Exactly. Why people can learn the information we have about how this process works and then turn around and say the opposite is beyond me. Bachmann knows good and well that their buyers are mostly if not completely people who, to some extent, grew up on the model series. Making random repaints of rolling stock that no one asked for isn't what they'd do, but it is what Mattel would do. Bachmann knows what their consumer base wants.

Another thing to consider: Honestly, kids aren't going to notice the difference in the face designs, I know none of us really noticed or cared back during the Model Series era that the promotional art and generic designs used for different types of merchandise had face designs that didn't match the show. Heck, the show wasn't 100% exact to the Railway Series either. Changing Model faces to CGI faces isn't necessary, and from what I've seen, most people either don't want that change, or they aren't bothered by a change like that not happening. Bachmann knows that they could make more Model Series product, and keep the Model Era faces, and the stock would sell insanely well. Mattel just doesn't see that.

Honestly, I WISH there were a Mattel Representative on these boards, as I'd like to explain to someone with influence that the buyers don't want a lot of the things they tell Bachmann they want made and why certain things just don't sell.