• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Bachmann OO Thomas & Friends range

Status
Not open for further replies.

David Goddard

Established Member
Joined
8 Aug 2011
Messages
1,502
Location
Reading
I see that the new Bachmann Thomas & Friends range has started to arrive in the shops, with a number of models now showing in stock.
Pleased that they are now here, filling the gap in the market since Hornby stopped, however I was somewhat surprised to see that they are using single use plastic packaging for all of them- the type with a piece of card at the back onto which the model is laid and then a two piece plastic shell, heat crimped together, is used to encase it. Although aimed at the younger modeller they look very much like "pocket money" toys than motorised scale models, and will certainly not hold any value as the packaging is useless once opened. Anyone else think this is a bad move for this range?
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Peter C

Established Member
Joined
13 Oct 2018
Messages
4,514
Location
GWR land
I see that the new Bachmann Thomas & Friends range has started to arrive in the shops, with a number of models now showing in stock.
Pleased that they are now here, filling the gap in the market since Hornby stopped, however I was somewhat surprised to see that they are using single use plastic packaging for all of them- the type with a piece of card at the back onto which the model is laid and then a two piece plastic shell, heat crimped together, is used to encase it. Although aimed at the younger modeller they look very much like "pocket money" toys than motorised scale models, and will certainly not hold any value as the packaging is useless once opened. Anyone else think this is a bad move for this range?
Bachmann have been producing HO gauge models for the Thomas & Friends range for many years now and they've always come in that kind of packaging, designed to be put on the pegs in shops (the ones where you can have several products one behind the other). I believe a lot of model shops across the pond, where the range has come from, use this way of displaying products so it's probably a wise choice from that point of view. I've not been following this at all but having looked at Bachmann's page for this range (https://www.bachmann.co.uk/category/model-railway/thomas_and_friends), the models seem to be near identical to the HO versions which have, as I say, been around for ages. They're definitely aimed at children and don't have any of the detail you'd expect from a modern model.
From an 'accuracy' standpoint, they're much more accurate to the models seen on TV than the Hornby versions; this has made them very popular with those wanting more accurate models of the engines and I'm sure it will be a popular range over here as beforehand, the main way of getting those models over in the UK was to buy them from America IIRC.

-Peter
 

SCH117X

Established Member
Joined
27 Nov 2015
Messages
1,543
The range is not HO - or at least a lot of is not, if any. Gordon's Express coaches are the LMS coaches originally produced by Kader for Palitoy (Mainline Railways) in 1977. Both Percy and Thomas were sold by Bachmann in the UK in 2004/5 as Junior locos - Percy as Greg and GW 311, and Thomas as Billy, Stuart and 2005.
 

Peter C

Established Member
Joined
13 Oct 2018
Messages
4,514
Location
GWR land
The range is not HO - or at least a lot of is not, if any. Gordon's Express coaches are the LMS coaches originally produced by Kader for Palitoy (Mainline Railways) in 1977. Both Percy and Thomas were sold by Bachmann in the UK in 2004/5 as Junior locos - Percy as Greg and GW 311, and Thomas as Billy, Stuart and 2005.
Ah OK - never knew that: thanks for the info. I always assumed they were HO.

-Peter
 

Peter C

Established Member
Joined
13 Oct 2018
Messages
4,514
Location
GWR land
Here's a philosophical thought: What is the greatest value, something in perfect condition with perfect packaging, or something with which a child had great fun and enjoyment?
In my opinion, it would be the latter: it annoys me when people buy models, etc., just to keep in boxes or on shelves and never run them in order to keep them in perfect condition.*

-Peter

*There's a distinction to be made between people who don't run models because they want to make sure they're perfect and those who don't run models because they can't (e.g. they don't have a layout yet; they can't justify a layout but have been given some old models, etc.).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top