Future suggestions/predictions thread

[JacobSK]

Before the catalog launch tomorrow, I'm going to post not necessarily what I think will happen, but moreso what I'd like to see, and trying to keep expectations in check at the same time.

HO/OO:
'Arry & Bert reissue - reason I say them is because with Rebecca and possibly Stanley in production currently, Bachmann should play catch up on the two new toolings. Reissuing 'Arry & Bert, whose toolings still exist at the production factory, can get a jump. If changing the physical facial expression is too much for them, then here's my suggestion: give 'Arry no stubble on his chin and give it all to Bert. That would be an easy way for people to tell them apart without having to create entirely new face plates

Tar Tanker reissue - the Tar Tanker has been discontinued for at least 15 years. Since it appeared in CGI during Season 23, that'd be an easy way to bring back a fan favorite piece of rolling stock. Yes, there will also be TAR lettering decals on the front/back of the wagon, but since one of the tankers was like that all the way back in Season 1 (40 years ago, mind you!), it'd be a win-win

I personally think James and Gordon with DCC and sound would be fun to see, considering Thomas and Percy were announced two years ago and we've yet to hear anything on them, I'd understand why they wouldn't be too quick to announce James and Gordon just yet.

Narrow Gauge:

SKIP - With Sir Handel appearing to be in production, Duncan yet to have a price determined and two different new toolings for wagons also being worked on (both without prices as far as I know), I'd be okay with them skipping narrow gauge all together to play catch up, if you will.

N Scale:

Gordon set - Chaz brings up a good point here. The only issue I have is that we've yet to see what the Express Coaches look like, and they don't appear to have a price yet, as far as I know

Henry - pretty much explains himself. It'd be great to see him, but at the same time, I understand if they want to wait till August to announce him and focus on getting Gordon on the shelves and making some headway on Emily first

ORIGINAL Coal Wagon with Load and/or Red Open Wagon - now's the time where they can start having some fun with the 7 plank open wagon tooling! These two are favorites of mine that are (as far as I know) still doing well in HO/OO. They can bring back the blue, but considering it's been retired in that scale for a while, I can understand why they wouldn't

Track cleaning brake vans - HEAR ME OUT. The Graham Farish brake van tooling will look fine here, but considering that I know of a healthy amount of Thomas fans who've bought the HO/OO variants, I'm wondering if this should happen in N. Tooling would pretty much be there, and it'd be a fun way to have some normal looking brake vans in the range.

Large Scale
SKIP - maybe they can do one last hurrah and bring out Edward and Henrietta for 2025, the 80th anniversary as a grand finale to that range and keep it stagnant till the end of time

Not that well versed in LS, personally, so don't want to start spouting opinions as facts

...and that's all I got. All will be revealed sooner than we think...

[Awesometrain77]

Ok here is my final predictions for the announcements tommorow

G scale
Toad

HO scale
Arry
Bert
Troublesome truck 7
LNER 12 ton ice cream van
slip coach

Trevor


Narrow gauge
Open coach red
Open coach blue
V tipper wagon orange
V tipper wagon gray

N scale
Henry
Red brachline coaches
Museum coaches
Container wagons
Gordon express set
Thomas saves Santa's sleight
Tidmoth sheds


 

[TrainFan97]

I was wrong. The announcements will be tomorrow. Not tonight. Hope we don't have to wait a few more weeks if it's strictly non-Thomas stuff.

[Kemptown Branch]

I hope they'll be tomorrow if they don't drop at some point tonight, but I think last year, the video came out on January 28th, then we had to wait until February 3rd to see the Thomas Announcements. Either way, we should see them within the next couple of weeks!

[Kemptown Branch]

Actually, we might still be able to see the new Thomas Announcements tomorrow if anyone's going to the show. Or maybe they'll put the catalog online at the same time?

[Awesometrain77]

Ok I feel like we will see the catalog in full if that's the case or at least the new products for everything like they do at the NMRA. The never seen before samples makes me interested I feel like Sir Handel , narrow gauge rolling stock , and the figures could be seen here maybe even a painted Rebecca .

[DustyMarie53!]

I don't use the forum much anymore but I do have a few thoughts I wanted to share.

I think this year we will get both Nia and an 08, Idk which one. I do not think we will get the iron twins just yet, their demand has just shot up again recently. So unlikely to happen immediately. Hopefully one would have a grumpy face, since the different weathering they have in CGI is not something Bachmann is likely to do. Idk if they would be in the same catalog but I am expecting both. Mirrors the Beau and Rebecca release, and since both are coming this year, this makes sense. For the same reason I'm expecting Charlie in 2025. Like Stanley serves as a smaller new tool between the complex bigger tools. Then probably Whiff the following year.

For rolling stock, tar tanker reintroduction, easy, makes sense, give it the cgi deco. A troublesome truck #7 using the new vans would be cool, but maybe give it a year between them before doing more vans. We'll see. I'd also like to see recolors of the Bradford type of brakevan. There's a bunch of liveries to justify a new mold + the character. Those are the only specific rolling stock predictions I have right now.

Road vehicles, Butch and Trevor this year hopefully. I could see both frankly. I want both anyway.

N scale: Henry, and some non-faceless 7 planks make the most sense. I have a bit of a pipedream we also get Edward this year to keep the theme of 2 engine per year going. Will that happen? Probably not but I can dream.

Narrow gauge: probably nothing major. Just the grey and brown recolors of the existing van types if anything.


Large Scale: Probably some of the newly announced vans making a jump. But I want to say my bold prediction. I think they are going to announce a new engine this year, and then a recolor next year. But they both release next year to tie into the anniversary. Just like Paxton and Diesel's dual announcement. Because of my prediction I doubt they would do Edward yet. (Plus, he's a bit riskier so they probably want another smaller engine to test the market.) While Rosie is the easier guess, two liveries and all. I'm going to propose something else. Mavis announced this year, and then green Thomas next year. A nice simple engine, plus an anniversary recolor. A smart pair in my opinion. The only reasons I think they might be against this is because they just did a black and green engine last time. So again, Rosie is safer, I think Mavis and green Thomas would be better in my opinion.

These are just my last-minute thoughts, feel free to disagree or share your thoughts as well. Hopefully the catalog gets uploaded digitally this weekend.

[Kemptown Branch]

Well, Bachmann have responded to enquiries about the catalog. Looks like we won't know all of the announcements until February. I don't think they would put the Thomas announcements in the video tomorrow, because they haven't for the last few years.

[TrainFan97]

That's a bit disappointing. The full catalog isn't ready yet. We may not know any Thomas announcements for another week or two.

All we can hope is that unpainted samples of Sir Handel and Narrow Gauge rolling stock could be there, as well as fully painted samples of HO Scale Rebecca and N Scale Emily. It may be a while before we see unpainted samples of HO Scale Stanley, Duncan, N Scale Diesel or the Express Coaches, as those aren't even up for pre-order yet, nor do they have prices.

[Awesometrain77]

The video had nothing

[Mulfred100]

The video had nothing

Video had nothing but there's a photo on x/twitter of N Scale Emily (fully painted)

[RailsByRick]

It's great to finally see a painted sample of N scale Emily (and her coaches).

I saw a few pics of Bachmann's booth at the show, and once again Salty is nowhere to be seen. Doug said in November's Thomas Tuesday stream that Salty is on "indefinite hold." I remember seeing elsewhere that they were having issues with Salty's drivetrain, but it just doesn't make sense to me since it's a rerelease of an already existing tooling.

Just a bit concerning. Hope the rerelease is still on its way.

[TrainFan97]

N Scale Henrietta was confirmed to have a face. With that, Hannah is possible in N Scale using the same tooling. If that was to happen, that will be Hannah's first ever piece of merchandise. Much needed rolling stock for N Scale are non-troublesome variants of the 7-Plank wagons, especially the Coal Wagon w/ Load. A generic brake van would very much be appreciated. We still don't know if N Scale Henry is coming yet, since we have to wait a little longer before the full catalog becomes available.

They still don't have HO Scale Rebecca fully painted yet, or an unpainted sample of the Open Carriage. Still no sign of Sir Handel either, or any of the Narrow Gauge rolling stock that's been left in the dust. They did announce Talyllyn coaches to go with HOn30 Scale Talyllyn. For HO Scale, the only rolling stock recolors that come to mind are the Chocolate Syrup and Toffee Tankers, which are still exclusive to Large Scale, and Troublesome Truck #7, which can be a 12-Ton Van. The best new tooling for rolling stock would be the Works Unit Coach. For engines, we still have Rebecca and Stanley on the backburner, and the latter isn't even up for pre-order yet. If any new tooling, Whiff would be the best choice, since he's the last that has appeared in both model and CGI that doesn't feature gimmicks. For recolors, Sidney is the best choice, since he had been requested for many years. One thing holding him back is the eye mechanism, unless that can be fixed. One other choice to use Diesel's tooling is Fernando. Salty's reintroduction is still on hold, which doesn't make any sense.

[Awesometrain77]

It could be tommorow here is my last call 
G scale
Toad

HO scale
Troublesome truck 7
ice cream van
Dexter the classroom coach 
 
Trevor

Narrow gauge
Red open coach
Blue open coach

N scale
Henry
Red branchline coaches
Museum coaches
Sodor scrap wagon
Sodor coal wagon
Blue wagon with coal load 
Gordon express set

[TrainFan97]

I guess the catalog won't be available this week either. Looks like next Friday for sure.