Bachmann Thomas & Friends in 2020

[Streak]

Well, not everyone makes customs. Not everyone who collects Bachmann Thomas are serious hardcore modelers. Some just want things like Red Rosie, Nia, and Rebecca because they just like those characters and they want those as models. Smudger or Yellow Rheneas would be cool. Considering how Red Rosie's practically done, it's clear that some of these recolors are very easy for Bachmann to make. There really isn't that much harm in them. I do hope they continue making new molded characters (maybe recolors alongside new molds) but right now I'm fine with it.

[TrainFan97]

I know everyone's getting tired of Class 08 recolors, but I think Sidney is starting to feel overdue. The reason not many people have made customs of Sidney is because he's never had a Trackmaster model, so it's not easy to get his face in proper HO Scale size. If someone on Shapeways was to sell 3D-printed Sidney faces, people might start making customs of him. If Bachmann eventually does make Sidney, he will need a painted border around his face to hide his eye mechanism, just like Paxton.

Sidney, Green Thomas, and Black James are the only HO Scale engine recolors left that I can think of from the top of my head that actually make sense. As I've stated before, Bachmann can't make Splatter and Dodge for relevance reasons, being completely obscure one-off characters, and they can't make the Mainland Diesels since they don't have actual personalities, or names (except for Ulli, but he still doesn't have a personality). Paxton has a character, and a name, which is why he was made.

Red Rosie should be in stock this summer, along with the new HO rolling stock. Rusty should also arrive soon.

[Ronniethe14xxx]

To me, red Rosie was inevitable for this year for more than just because the tooling was already there, but I think it might also come down to the fact that maybe the sales for Rosie were so minimal compared to Oliver or Skarloey and Rheneas that maybe they felt they could justify her tooling cost a little more by creating an alternative model for those who preferred her modern livery?  Bachmann does like going for characters that they know are going to sell well and Rosie wasn’t that much of a hit compared to other releases.  She clearly had her fans, but never made it on the bestsellers list when it was still around.  I’m sure that the lavender model will probably find its way out of the range in the same way Arry and Bert did once the new supply of Rosie models that just arrived will sell out in the next couple of years so the red one would be the only option left. 

I’m sure Mattel wanted Bachmann to update her in red too, and something tells me if they made her red in the first place and pushed Rosie back another year like they did with Oliver and Rusty then her sales would have been slightly better than what they made out of the lavender one. 

Either way if Rosie clearly didn’t win that many people over, that’s definitely going to say something about how Nia and Rebecca models would do (no matter how much Mattel may push for them), which is one reason why I feel Bachmann are better off avoiding those two altogether if the sales aren’t going to be there. 

I feel like people didn't buy Rosie because they were waiting for Red Rosie, and Nia and Rebecca wouldn't have that problem. Rebecca especially Rebecca as she is super popular with the fandom

What are we calling super popular? Largely indifference, followed by ridicule of her shoehorned insertion, and then a select few fans going "Rebecca is my wife for life" on Twitter? Nia and Rebecca are absolutely not "popular" in a strong good way, especially compared to classics like Oliver, Rosie or Paxton.

I haven't ever seen anyone hating on Rebecca, most people, especially those super anti-BWBA seem to like her personality. Sure she's not on the levels of Oliver, but she's probably going to have a similar following as the other cgi characters and Rosie.

[TerencetheTractor525]

Either way, they won’t be making Rebecca due to how expensive she would be to make. If they are going to make a new HO engine with a new tooling, I’m sure that they would choose the most popular candidates, which are Stepney and Daisy (both of which are much cheaper to make too). But my money is still on the Green LBSC Thomas, since they are trying to use existing toolings.

I'm well aware of those customs, and I feel the fact that you are reiterating that only about.. 3 have been made, only supports my point more. It would have to be a -very- limited run, and then that run would have to cost enough to warrant the manufacturing costs, as well as a small tooling for a new faceplate.

It's also why I'm surprised we got Red Rosie so soon; there were customs going around in the fandom, but they were small in numbers. Either Bachmann has strong confidence in Red Rosie, or it was a Mattel mandate.

I certainly understand that, but the reason there have only been three custom Smudgers is probably due to the fact that Rheneas has not been out for that long, and that making a custom model of him requires a higher attention to detail than making something like a custom Spiteful Brake Van.

At the end of the day, it would be nice to see something get announced for narrow gauge rather than absolutely nothing.

[Ronniethe14xxx]

Yeah, I have a feeling we wouldn't get Nia or Rebecca unless Mattel forced Bachmann to. However we know Mattel does have input on what Bachmann makes so it's hard to say whether they would be made or not

[Toad139]

Yeah, I have a feeling we wouldn't get Nia or Rebecca unless Mattel forced Bachmann to. However we know Mattel does have input on what Bachmann makes so it's hard to say whether they would be made or not

They can’t force them to make something that isn’t economically viable. Bachmann hasn’t made a tender engine in almost 10 years, and I doubt they would start again with a character like Rebecca.

[SeanrailAnimations]

Yeah, I have a feeling we wouldn't get Nia or Rebecca unless Mattel forced Bachmann to. However we know Mattel does have input on what Bachmann makes so it's hard to say whether they would be made or not

They can’t force them to make something that isn’t economically viable. Bachmann hasn’t made a tender engine in almost 10 years, and I doubt they would start again with a character like Rebecca.

If they do a tender engine in 2020, recommend either Flying Scotsman, being economical in reusing parts from Spencer and Gordon, or Hiro as he's become quite a popular character, especially in Japan.

[Toad139]

If they do a tender engine in 2020, recommend either Flying Scotsman, being economical in reusing parts from Spencer and Gordon, or Hiro as he's become quite a popular character, especially in Japan.

I’ve actually been thinking the same thing. They would just have to slightly alter Gordon’s tooling and make a new tender mold. This will still probably be pretty expensive though, so I doubt Bachmann would go along with it. You never know what could happen in the future though, hopefully they will be able to make new toolings again within the next few years
.

[Chaz]

They can’t force them to make something that isn’t economically viable. Bachmann hasn’t made a tender engine in almost 10 years, and I doubt they would start again with a character like Rebecca.

Bingo.  Rebecca is easily safe to rule out since there is no way she would fit in Bachmann’s budget.  I would argue the same for Nia because of how long and complicated her design would be from their standpoint.  They would sooner do smaller tank engines like Stepney or even Stanley because they would be easier to make and would likely fit their budget no differently than Oliver would.

Regardless of what few on here think, (while also clearly just saying things on here just to be contrarian), Nia and Rebecca are very impractical additions from Bachmann.  Their minor popularity with the fanbase and their equally mediocre sales would not justify the production and tooling cost for these models.

[Ronniethe14xxx]

They can’t force them to make something that isn’t economically viable. Bachmann hasn’t made a tender engine in almost 10 years, and I doubt they would start again with a character like Rebecca.

Bingo.  Rebecca is easily safe to rule out since there is no way she would fit in Bachmann’s budget.  I would argue the same for Nia because of how long and complicated her design would be from their standpoint.  They would sooner do smaller tank engines like Stepney or even Stanley because they would be easier to make and would likely fit their budget no differently than Oliver would.

Regardless of what few on here think, (while also clearly just saying things on here just to be contrarian), Nia and Rebecca are very impractical additions from Bachmann.  Their minor popularity with the fanbase and their equally mediocre sales would not justify the production and tooling cost for these models.

Well Mattel probably would rather have Bachmann make characters that are in the current show, so Stepney is pretty unlikely. If we were to get any new molds for the HO range, I honestly think Stanley, Daisy, and Ryan are the only likely canidates for the time being. Maybe Nia just because shes a main character now, but she isn't the most economically safe character.

[Cheeky_ULP]

Mattel, from what I heard, does have a mandate somewhere along those lines. At the same time I believe that if there is enough fan demand for a character, Mattel could be convinced by Bachmann to make an exception (especially since unlike the other toy ranges where I heard this mandate comes from such as Wood and Trackmaster, Bachmann is a nostalgia driven range). In the long run, Stepneys demand is very much up to the fans, and persistence is key here.

You want Stepney? Keep asking for him, logics be darned.

[Ronniethe14xxx]

Mattel, from what I heard, does have a mandate somewhere along those lines. At the same time I believe that if there is enough fan demand for a character, Mattel could be convinced by Bachmann to make an exception (especially since unlike the other toy ranges where I heard this mandate comes from such as Wood and Trackmaster, Bachmann is a nostalgia driven range). In the long run, Stepneys demand is very much up to the fans, and persistence is key here.

You want Stepney? Keep asking for him, logics be darned.

That's true, Bachmann did make Bill, Ben, and The Scottish Twins when they weren't in the show. But then again Mattel wasn't in control yet, and we haven't had an engine from the classic series who hasn't returned in cgi introduced since Mattel took over.

[Chaz]

But then again Mattel wasn't in control yet, and we haven't had an engine from the classic series introduced since Mattel took over.

Tell that to Oliver, Skarloey, Rheneas, Rusty and ‘Arry and Bert...

[Ronniethe14xxx]

But then again Mattel wasn't in control yet, and we haven't had an engine from the classic series introduced since Mattel took over.

Tell that to Oliver, Skarloey, Rheneas, Rusty and ‘Arry and Bert...

I meant classic characters who haven't returned to the cgi series yet

[angelob6660]

I don't believe that Nia is a main character since she appeared less than Rebecca.