Considering that Chaz promptly posted his detailed thoughts on the Black James and Narrow Gauge Sir Handel, I thought that it would be appropriate for me to share my thoughts on the locomotive that I greatly believe should enter the HO Thomas Line next: Stepney the Bluebell Engine!
So, why should Stepney, an engine who has not been present in recent episodes of the television series, plus seem like a generic 0-6-0 tank engine at first glance be introduced next instead of engines such as Nia, Rebecca, Phillip, Stanley, or even Ryan?
Firstly, the demand for him is definitely worth noting. Stepney has constantly been the most popular new engine suggestion by a landslide, not only through the Bachmann Forum, but through other branches of social media as well. Specifically, through the forum, threads such as the Stepney or Ryan Thread, as well as the Bachmann Thomas in 2019 and 2020 Threads have shown Stepney’s popularity to a great extent, while multiple Bachmann Forum users have even stated how much they would love to see Stepney made in the signature section of their personal accounts. Through platforms such as Twitter, multiple polls have been conducted on ranking Bachmann’s next engine too, and Stepney has constantly been at the top.
In terms of various brands of Thomas merchandise, Stepney has done very well with sales. For instance, when the Take-n-Play model was released in 2014, Stepney’s model constantly sold out. In addition, Hornby made an HO/OO scale model of Stepney, which was first discontinued in 2010, but re-released in 2012 for a limited time due to popularity. It really is a shame that the Hornby model is now discontinued, as there has been and still is great demand for him, and the model is incredibly hard to come across for a decent price nowadays.
As someone who was lucky enough to purchase a Hornby Stepney many years ago, two questions that I have been asked numerous times from many Thomas fans are: Where can I find a Hornby Stepney? Do you ever plan on selling your Hornby Stepney? While replying, I always feel guilty for stating that I do not plan on selling my Stepney model, and that eBay is really the only place to find one these days. This just goes to show that a character does not need to be in current CGI episodes to be a popular request. It is crystal clear that fans want an HO Stepney.
Even so, considering that Stepney still may seem like a generic 0-6-0 tank engine, one may then ask: what makes Stepney so popular? For starters, he is one of the last engines introduced in the classic model series that has not been made by Bachmann, plus is an Awdry character. In addition, when looking at past sales, classic engines such as Duck have done very well. It would be no different with Stepney as well as the upcoming Daisy model for the same reason.
Moreover, fans see Stepney as a natural addition to the line, as he would go wonderfully with engines such as Duck, rolling stock such as the red branchline coaches, and most notably, Rusty, since he is the one who saved Stepney from scrap in a fan-favorite episode of all time: Rusty to the Rescue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MbpwBfrrxY. Stepney even goes wonderfully with the newer engines in the line: Rosie and Paxton, since Stepney played a part in an episode with Rosie: Rosie’s Carnival Special
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYgTOayoJd8, and Paxton could be utilized as one of the scrap diesels seen in the background of Rusty to the Rescue.
Other episodes that can explain Stepney’s popularity are Thomas and Stepney:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-yHoSMEf2M, and Stepney Gets Lost:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPGQtz1lvZU. Also, it is interesting to note that Stepney is the only engine mentioned in the classic song, Little Engines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wesCEBy1TE, that Bachmann has not made yet.
In real-life, let’s remember that Stepney is even a symbol of railway heritage (The Bluebell Railway), and his real life basis is also called “Stepney”. With the Bachmann Thomas line now entering the UK, a Bachmann Stepney could be sold at the Bluebell Railway Giftshop. This would, without a doubt, introduce more people to the Bachmann Thomas line, as well as give children who are already interested in Thomas a gateway to real-world locomotives. In fact, one Thomas fan made an extraordinary documentary on the history of Stepney, which once again, shows how popular of an engine he really is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGmpr52R2FY
As far as Stepney’s design is concerned, a new tooling would be needed, but since Stepney is an 0-6-0 tank engine, his small new tooling is something that Bachmann could definitely work with. His goldenrod color scheme is also something worth noting, as there is currently no engine with the same livery, something that the licensor should certainly be on board with. In addition, one specific thing to note is that Stepney’s red side rods should actually be plastic, and not metal, which would definitely help Bachmann, considering that many of Bachmann’s most recent models such as Rosie and the narrow gauge engines have plastic bits for the side rods to save money.
Finally, some fans refer to Stepney as a ticking clock because the longer that Bachmann waits to announce Stepney, the higher the chance that Mattel will bring back Stepney to the television series. Hence, Bachmann would have to base Stepney on his CGI design. Although there have been some good CGI renders such as Daisy, other CGI renders such as Oliver missed the mark by a long shot. Thus, Stepney may suffer from the same fate if he returns in CGI. Therefore, what would be most ideal for Stepney is what happened with Duck. Bachmann announced him in 2012, right before his CGI render was revealed. Therefore, Bachmann Duck was based on the classic model series design, which fans were ecstatic about. And, just like Duck, Stepney’s model era face is extremely nostalgic and has a unique charm of its own that I hope to see on the Bachmann model over any sort of CGI face.
Overall, I have zero doubt that Stepney is the best candidate for Bachmann to announce next as far as new toolings are concerned. To add, because it is the 75th Anniversary, I think that Stepney, a classic engine that has not been in the current show for a while, should take priority over any other new tooling in any scale of the Thomas line including a Narrow Gauge Sir Handel.
I truly hope that someone from Bachmann can pass this message along, as seeing Stepney announced would not only make fans extremely happy, but would greatly help Bachmann with very strong sales.
Now, for some questions:
Would you buy a Bachmann Stepney?
How popular do you think that a Bachmann Stepney would be?
After reading this, is there any other HO engine you could see as a better suggestion than Stepney and why?
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this long post. I look forward to seeing everyone’s thoughts, and with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, I hope that everyone is well and stays safe.
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