I am absolutely sure the engine in that particular photo has plastic siderods and is not an annie.
It also has the thick plastic grab-ring on the front of the nose, which annies have never had, but the Gen-5 does.
It also has the air-tank under the running boards with no piping, which Gen5 big haulers have, but annies do not.
It also has the more crude electric generator, (right in front of the cab) which Gen 5 big haulers have but annies do not..
there are about 10 obvious spotting differences that prove the engine in that photo is a Gen 5.
no question.
Now..since Sam's sets have had annies the last 3 years, absolutely proven and known for a fact,
then there are a few possibilities:
1. The box is old data and says metal siderods, assuming the sam's Christmas sets would always be annies, and for some reason they were switched to Gen 5's this year. not enough annies available? but plenty of Gen5's?
who knows...
2. Perhaps the 2007 set is supposed to have annies, and somehow a few Gen 5's snuck into the early-release sets, perhaps due to shipping deadlines (no annies available when the sets had to ship to make it before Christmas) and maybe some sets will be Gen 5's and some will later be Annies...unlikely IMO, but possible.
I think for some reason they had to slip Gen 5's into the set this year, and the box couldnt be changed in time..
based on the photo in that one ebay auction, the engine is absolutely not an annie, even though the box says "metal siderods"...in that one case, the box is wrong..
A little something I just whipped up..
hopefully this will be anough to convince you all!
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u45/scottychaos/gen5-vs-annie.jpgIMO, none of this is really a big deal..
yes, we had Annies in the Sam's sets the last 3 years, btu not this year..
its Bachman's right to change engines in a new set if they want to..
the Gen 5 is still a fine engine..
and traditionally Gen 5's are always in the other Bachman sets, not annies..
(only Sams and Boscovs Christmas sets have contained Annies in years past..all other Big Hauler sets have never contained annies..)
the only genuine complaint is the wording on the box..it is technically wrong if in fact all the engines end up being Gen 5's..
and we have one more piece of evidence that proves these are not annies..people have already SEEN them in person, posted in this thread, and confirmed, via personal actual observation, that they have plastic side rods!

case closed...Annie myth busted.
Scot