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Bachmann Europe to bring Thomas to the UK & Ireland


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  • 2 weeks later...

The first prototypes for the UK release of the models have been revealed. Thomas himself has thicker lamp irons, thicker dummy couplings(which are now painted black), and thicker eyebrows. They also reportedly run smoother than their US equivalents and now have 18 pin DCC sockets, so yes, they’re DCC ready now.

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5 hours ago, eldomtom2 said:

Apparently the Thomas range is in the 2020 catalogue - could someone who has it post what models are listed?

 

Thomas, Percy, Gordon, James, Toby.

Annie, Clarabel, Henrietta, Toad.

Gordon's express coaches

James' coaches

Troublesome trucks 

Milk and Sodor Tar (from memory)

 

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It seems the Bachmann website is up and running again, with a few details remaining to be ironed out. Very well done, Bachmann! The new site has all the usability of the old and is once more a useful source of information; pleasant to use.

 

Being greedy, I would like to request a couple of things. First is a simple thing, shared by many retailers. “Out of stock” should not be used to describe items which have never been in stock. “Under development” would be more appropriate. Second, perhaps Bachmann in the fullness of time would indulge us with bigger pictures of models, not to replace the small pictures in the main listings but the ones which appear when the small picture is clicked. Third (of my two points) is that the type of DCC socket fitted would be a useful feature of the old site to perpetuate.

 

Once again, thank you, Bachmann, for listening and taking action.

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Those prices on the Bachmann website seem somewhat excessive. Even considering the licence fee, £75 for a basic 0-4-0 with detail on a par with Hornby's Railroad 0-4-0s is seriously pushing it. Not to mention £50 for the express coaches, which are repainted Mainline Period 1 coaches that typically sell for £5-£8 second-hand.

Edited by HonestTom
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1 minute ago, HonestTom said:

Those prices on the Bachmann website seem somewhat excessive. Even considering the licence fee, £75 for a basic 0-4-0 with detail on a par with Hornby's Railroad 0-4-0s is seriously pushing it. Not to mention £50 for the express coaches, which are repainted Mainline Period 1 coaches that typically sell for £5-£8 second-hand.

 

The price is what it is (less any retailer offers) so can we just leave that old chestnut alone?

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8 minutes ago, HonestTom said:

the express coaches, which are repainted Mainline Period 1 coaches that typically sell for £5-£8 second-hand.

 

I thought we'd been told that the mold for one of the LMS Period 1 carriages - the composite? - was broken so no more could be made? But I may have dreamed this.

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It's not for me, but I can see Bachmanns angle  with this. Why have a bunch of moaning old bu33ers  (like me) when there is a whole new market to work with?  Lets face it, the older people have a exponentially diminishing market, so it makes good commercial business to tap into another, younger market. 

 

It's an easier market to work in, as well. Fidelity to type goes straight out of the window. No costs there, with rivets being 5 thou out. The emphasis is towards 'playability'. A toy train is just as likely to stay on the floor, as it is on a grown ups layout. It needs to be tough, simple, and reasonably conforms to type. 

 

I can see a lot of inventive people buying up old Triang Jinties, and doing some pretty accurate Thomas conversions. With fidelity removed, and a bit of private artistic licence applied, anything is possible.

 

I forsee the future....  A 2am knock at the door.... "Open up! It's the Bachmann Detector van! We have reports that you are harbouring a Mainline pannier, done up as Duck!"

 

The Plump Controller.

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9 hours ago, tomparryharry said:

Lets face it, the older people have a exponentially diminishing market, so it makes good commercial business to tap into another, younger market. 

 

Fear not. Unless there's a sudden decline in life expectancy as a consequence of deteriorating economic and environmental conditions, the supply of old people won't dry up.

Edited by Compound2632
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11 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

I thought we'd been told that the mold for one of the LMS Period 1 carriages - the composite? - was broken so no more could be made? But I may have dreamed this.

The Thomas composite is definitely the Mainline LMS coach instead of the Maunsell it should be.

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I managed to pick up a US Bachmann Henrietta for a lot less than Bachmann UK are proposing charging for what I presume is the exact same model?

 

The Toad is welcome though, the prices on Ebay for the Hornby one is eye wateringly insane although small beer compared with what some lunatics are shelling out for Oliver!!!

 

Will the restrictions on importing/selling the other Bachmann Thomas items now no longer apply?

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12 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Fear not. Unless there's a sudden decline in life expectancy as a consequence of deteriorating economic and environmental conditions, the supply of old people won't dry up.

No, but the supply of old people with decent final-salary pensions that leave enough over to spend on hobbies may well do so.

 

John

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8 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

No, but the supply of old people with decent final-salary pensions that leave enough over to spend on hobbies may well do so.

 

 

The consequent geriatric revolution will usher in free kits for all and compulsory whitemetal soldering classes at KS4.

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22 hours ago, tomparryharry said:

It's not for me, but I can see Bachmanns angle  with this. Why have a bunch of moaning old bu33ers  (like me) when there is a whole new market to work with?  Lets face it, the older people have a exponentially diminishing market, so it makes good commercial business to tap into another, younger market. 

 

It's an easier market to work in, as well. Fidelity to type goes straight out of the window. No costs there, with rivets being 5 thou out. The emphasis is towards 'playability'. A toy train is just as likely to stay on the floor, as it is on a grown ups layout. It needs to be tough, simple, and reasonably conforms to type. 

 

 

 

 

 

Weird, ain't it, aiming toys at kids.

 

What a genius it must have taken to dream up such a revolutionary marketing concept.

 

As for "fidelity". To what? The books, or one of the TV series. For kids it'll have to keep up with all the new/restyled characters or it's dead.

 

John

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2 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

 

Weird, ain't it, aiming toys at kids.

 

What a genius it must have taken to dream up such a revolutionary marketing concept.

 

As for "fidelity". To what? The books, or one of the TV series. For kids it'll have to keep up with all the new/restyled characters or it's dead.

 

John

 

For the phrase 'revolutionary marketing concept', replace with 'Excellent Sales Opportunity'.For the term 'Fidelity', replace with 'Reasonably good likeness, as conforms to the television characters'. You can bet your bottom dollar that the latest models will conform remarkably similar to the television portrayals. Why? Because little things like legally drawn-up contracts & licences will prevail, that's why.  

 

Otherwise John, you're not far off the money. Little Johnny will have a James for Christmas, because the purchasing power by the parents, aunts & uncles, Granny & Grandad, etc will serve to satisfy the demand of the legions of young 'wanters' who are plonked in front of the telly, whilst the parents concerned get on with their busy days. 

 

This supposed 'backlog' of new Bachmann models aren't for Branchline releases: If I was running a business like this, I too, would be gearing up for the Thomas franchise work. It's not a moan, per se; it's a recognition that larger market forces are at play,  and you & I are very much in the 'marginal' element of what is going on. 

 

Finally, for the phrase 'Thomas The Tank Engine', replace with 'Gravy Train'.

 

Have a great weekend, folks.

 

Ian.

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1 hour ago, tomparryharry said:

 

For the phrase 'revolutionary marketing concept', replace with 'Excellent Sales Opportunity'.For the term 'Fidelity', replace with 'Reasonably good likeness, as conforms to the television characters'. You can bet your bottom dollar that the latest models will conform remarkably similar to the television portrayals. Why? Because little things like legally drawn-up contracts & licences will prevail, that's why.  

 

Otherwise John, you're not far off the money. Little Johnny will have a James for Christmas, because the purchasing power by the parents, aunts & uncles, Granny & Grandad, etc will serve to satisfy the demand of the legions of young 'wanters' who are plonked in front of the telly, whilst the parents concerned get on with their busy days. 

 

This supposed 'backlog' of new Bachmann models aren't for Branchline releases: If I was running a business like this, I too, would be gearing up for the Thomas franchise work. It's not a moan, per se; it's a recognition that larger market forces are at play,  and you & I are very much in the 'marginal' element of what is going on. 

 

Finally, for the phrase 'Thomas The Tank Engine', replace with 'Gravy Train'.

 

Have a great weekend, folks.

 

Ian.

As a Southern modeller, I became accustomed to "being very much in the marginal element" of Bachmann's activities very early on.

 

TBH the Thomas stuff has always left me cold other than as potential hacking material and I've dismembered more than one Bachmann Not-Percy.

 

IMHO they are products for childhood and, not having grand-kids, whether that's my first or second doesn't really matter. Yet:jester:

 

Off to Southampton Show tomorrow so, on past form, it should be a good weekend.

 

John

Edited by Dunsignalling
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On 23/01/2020 at 12:03, tomparryharry said:

"Open up! It's the Bachmann Detector van! We have reports that you are harbouring a Mainline pannier, done up as Duck!"

 

"This is not a Duck, it's my Hamster"

"Then tell me sir, why your Hamster is running on a Model Train Layout, following the Tracks, with Coaches behind him, coupled with his butt hole?"

"Ehm..."

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Its odd though... my Youngest foster-daughter wanted a model railway at age 5, but outright declined Thomas the Tank Engine models, and actually requested a Smokey Joe and replicas of what runs on our local line, the KWVR.  I had planned to let her use my old 80's Hornby Thomas models but she announced she really didn't like the new "Thomas cartoons", and in the end the Railroad range came to the rescue, along with some ancient Triang models picked up second-hand (and an Atlas 0-8-0 which is being gradually turned into a reasonable (if you squint) version of the Worth Valley S160 "Big Jim".

 

That said, I might invest in a Bachmann Mavis just for myself when that one becomes available, as she was my favourite character from the original books.  Odd that my railway-mad child who ought to be in the target audience couldn't give a stuff, but old-enough-to-know-better me might be throwing Bachmann some money.

 

And then I made the mistake of showing the kids a picture of that G-Scale Hogwarts Express toy Hornby are going to import... ;) oh dear

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6 hours ago, tomparryharry said:

This supposed 'backlog' of new Bachmann models aren't for Branchline releases: If I was running a business like this, I too, would be gearing up for the Thomas franchise work. It's not a moan, per se; it's a recognition that larger market forces are at play,  and you & I are very much in the 'marginal' element of what is going on. 

I feel as  though that's a horribly melancholic view on the matter. It seems pretty obvious to me that there are indeed a lot of high fidelity models in backlog. Besides, the Thomas range is pretty much just being carried over from the US line with DCC sockets installed. It never really affected too much what the Bachmann US branch was able to put out, it only supplemented it. Talking to the reps at shows, they've said that the range helps fund new tooling items in the other scales as well. I don't think releasing a bunch of already-tooled models in the UK are going to take too much away from their standard line.

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5 minutes ago, TrainMan2001 said:

I feel as  though that's a horribly melancholic view on the matter. It seems pretty obvious to me that there are indeed a lot of high fidelity models in backlog. Besides, the Thomas range is pretty much just being carried over from the US line with DCC sockets installed. It never really affected too much what the Bachmann US branch was able to put out, it only supplemented it. Talking to the reps at shows, they've said that the range helps fund new tooling items in the other scales as well. I don't think releasing a bunch of already-tooled models in the UK are going to take too much away from their standard line.

 

Oh dear! I hope I'm not too melancholic! But I'm a hard-bitten pragmatist, and sometimes a cynic as well. Any business worth its salt will always be on the lookout for new markets to tap. I certainly wouldn't blame Bachmann for doing that; after all, that's what they do! If they have limited production  slots within their set-up, it'll always go to to that with the best, most robust, financial returns. 

 

Life's like that, you know....

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