Now that the Harwick duo exists in HO Scale (both Ryan and Daisy), what should be the next duo of engines to be made in HO Scale? There's the Waste Dump duo which has Whiff and Scruff, and the Dieselworks duo which has Den and Dart. All of them require new toolings.

Whiff would be about as long as Ryan, and they would have to make his front wheels powered; a similar thing to Emily. If Whiff's glasses were to have lenses, they can be clear plastic, like windows. The glasses being a feature unique to him. If we do get Whiff, Scruff would become inevitable to complete the Waste Dump duo. If rubbish trucks were to be introduced as rolling stock, they can have a new trash bag load.

Den would be a great choice for the next newly-tooled diesel in HO Scale, who originated from the CGI series. Has had considerably more speaking roles than Norman, another diesel that would require a new tooling. Dart would have Natalie (a one-off character like Beau from the same film) as a potential recolor. The only issue with Dart would be his small size, but he could be scaled up just a little, like Oliver was.

With the Harwick duo now out of the way, should we have trash pickup or diesel repair next? I know the demand for Hiro has skyrocketed since Rebecca's announcement, and he definitely should be the next tender engine for HO Scale. Definitely one of, if not the most popular character to originate from the CGI series. This post is about which pair of characters should be next. If Hiro isn't feasible at this time, there are other options.

I would definitely prefer Whiff & Scruff. For starters, Whiff is a character I remember from my childhood, and the glasses would be a unique feature, especially with moving eyes. As a medium sized tank engine, I could see Bachmann giving him an open cab too. Most importantly, I think that Whiff would do very well with non-Thomas modelers, as there is no ready to run model of his basis in the market at the moment. Scruff is also one of the more simpler designs, so I could see Bachmann giving that a nod as far as cost is concerned.

Out of the four mentioned, I would like to see Whiff first.

However, if they are going to release duos, could they announce Porter seeing as Salty is getting a rerelease?

Quote from: Zekeism on May 25, 2023, 08:13:21 PMOut of the four mentioned, I would like to see Whiff first.

However, if they are going to release duos, could they announce Porter seeing as Salty is getting a rerelease?

I too would like to see Porter in HO Scale, but one big issue is his scaling. He is considerably scaled down to where trucks tower over him. His scaling is even more problematic than Oliver's. It could take a miracle for Bachmann to pull off.

Looks like Whiff and Scruff, the Waste Dump duo, would be a more popular choice than the Dieselworks duo. Whiff is the only one of them to appear in the model series, and he would be a popular seller from Bachmann. A good piece of rolling stock to compliment Whiff would be a rubbish truck, with a new trash bag load. Scruff would be a smaller and simpler model for Bachmann, and has a unique design and livery; a boxy lime green tank engine with stripes. Whiff is the best choice for the next larger tank engine like Ryan. Not quite as heavily detailed, but no ready-to-run model of Aerolite exists. With moving eyes, the glasses would definitely be a feature unique to Whiff. Bachmann used to make sunglasses, according to Doug Blaine. They would then be making glasses for Whiff. Molded to his face, of course.

I'm gonna throw a wild card out here that would turn an already existing Duo into a Trio and that's Timothy. He's an American basis which I think could possibly go down well with non Thomas fans and maybe even adapted into a standard Bachmann engine in time. He's paired up with Bill and Ben. He's a small 0-4-0. He's a perfect engine to add into the range if we are going off pairing characters up. Plus BoCo has very slim chances so might aswell give the twins someone to work alongside. Yeah he has an open cab that being boxed in wouldn't be as great as an open cab but maybe they could do what they have with Ryan or even Peter sam. Plus Timothy is very unique being an oil burning engine.

I don't think explicit duo characters are something that Bachmann would necessarily be in the market to create right now. This is not an indictment of duos as a concept, moreso Bachmann's constantly rising prices for model trains. For example the price of purchasing both Bill and Ben is higher than buying a big engine like Spencer on its own. And for such small engines as Bill and Ben, even if they are excellent models, it is a poor value for money even compared to an ugly model like Spencer. This is likely one of the many reasons the Iron Twins got discontinued as well, seeing as they were more expensive than Bill and Ben.

The currently available twins (the Scots and the SCC saddle-tanks) in the range are likely only still here thanks to their classic notoriety, and with Donald and Douglas specifically they are not only bigger engines that better justify their price as a duo but also are not a 'mandatory pair' in the same way Bill and Ben or 'Arry and Bert are. Many stories feature one Scottish twin on his own, so having only one of them on a layout is less 'out of place' compared to just Ben or just 'Arry. Likewise, the 'Harwick Duo' are much the same way. While Daisy and Ryan do work together on that branch, Daisy has historically been a Ffarquhar Branch loco in the old stories, and Ryan is a pretty adaptable engine that can go just about anywhere if the modeller so desires. They are more flexible in use cases and will be more successful individually as a result.

I think out of all the characters mentioned in this thread Whiff is the most likely to be made. As far as I'm aware he's been a fairly consistent tertiary character in merchandising and whatnot. In terms of what is most likely to be the next new tool for HO, I'd say he's a solid 3rd place, right behind Nia (who would make sense as a follow-up to Rebecca) and Stanley (consistent request and also modestly popular). That said, I don't think Bachmann "needs" to make Scruff to go alongside Whiff if they do decide to make him. Unless he's significantly cheap, which he likely would not be given Bachmann's recent absurd prices for new train-set-quality tools, I think Scruff would be a pretty poor performer sales-wise. These two are also a bit of a 'one-way pair', since Whiff used to operate as a lone engine (and currently does operate alone in the 2D reboot). So, Whiff does not need to rely on Scruff to sell, but Scruff will rely on Whiff. This means that if Whiff bombs, Scruff will too.

Den and Dart would be nice additions to the range, but are fairly married to each other appearance-wise. So unless they can fix the pricing problem with duos, they might not be especially viable. Which I find a shame to be honest, as they're the ones I like the most out of the characters discussed so far. As for other options suggested such as Porter with Salty or Timothy with Bill and Ben, it's more or less the same case with Scruff. They are also 'one-way pairs', and Porter specifically is hinging his fate on a character who has already been discontinued once. And as illustrated earlier with Bill and Ben vs. Spencer alone pricing, adding a third loco to the Bill and Ben package would not make that value comparison any more favorable, ha ha.

I guess duos of characters aren't really practical anymore simply because price increases on even small engines have gotten out of control, and the hobby is barely affordable anymore. Constant price increases are just out of control. HO Scale engines are costing as much as Large Scale engines used to. 'Arry and Bert got discontinued because they didn't sell very well. The only thing keeping Bill and Ben as well as Donald and Douglas on the market is the fact that they're classic characters with a nostalgia factor. Now, I can't even get Donald and Douglas unless I have over $200 to cough up, even as a discounted price on other sites. I still haven't gotten any Narrow Gauge products yet. I'll definitely need a bigger bank account to really start collecting those.

That being said, the most likely character mentioned is definitely Whiff, who used to work alone until Scruff was introduced, and still works alone in the reboot. While many, including myself, don't care for Nia, she would make sense following Rebecca. Stanley has also been a consistent request for Bachmann who has appeared in both model and CGI. The only issue with Den and Dart is that you HAVE to have both, since they almost always work together. Porter would just be joining alongside a previously discontinued character like Salty.

I guess the most-likely newly-tooled diesel would be Norman. Although he never had an official episode dedicated to him, and was severely underused, he can still work alone, and originated from the CGI series.

I would like to see all of these duos (Whiff and Scruff, Den and Dart, and Porter for Salty). However, If I had to guess, my suspicion would go with the Dieselworks duo Den and Dart first. Indeed, they are featured a bit more than Whiff and Scruff in the series, and there are already a lot of characters in Bachmann's range currently that Den and Dart have interacted with, like Paxton, Diesel, Salty, Mavis, and Daisy. In addition to that, in the TV series the duo of Den and Dart have also frequently been upgraded to a trio with the addition of Paxton, like in the Great Race, and seeing that Bachmann already has Paxton out, Den and Dart might be the logical next step.

However, like I said, I would like to see all of those character duos mentioned get a Bachmann Model.

Whiff and then Scruff.

I think it's gonna be the ulstead crew because the coach got announced already Stephen and Millie seem like the next bet.

However to stay on topic whiff appears in the reboot and has been in the show since the models . So he will have more of an appeal then den or dart . And if you do whiff you got to make scruff