Logan

It's been too long since my last post, and it seems coincidental that both of them were character focused.

This character confuses me. I understand why he exists: he's basically the guinea pig for Mattel's new marketing strategy. What confuses me is why he got such a big build up. Basically, he's now on the official site's Engine Depot. Why? Railway Series exclusive characters don't get that treatment, and they deserve it a lot more!

And then there's the face... Many fans have mocked it, others have theorised what it looks like (my personal favourite is a comparison with handsome Squidward). Me? I'm just going to say it looks... unique? I want to say that it looks ugly, but it wouldn't seem fair. They're trying new facial designs and I'm personally all for it... to an extent. If Logan is only seen in that one off book bundled with his Wooden Railway counterpart, then it won't bother me too much as I can just ignore it. If he made it onto TV, I might have a stronger opinion on it.

Overall though, I'm all for him. Apart from the questionable face, he looks really good. And if this marketing strategy takes off, it could mean that the TV writers don't have to include as many new characters on screen. That, in turn, might possibly lead to more returnees and maybe even some Railway Series characters joining the fray? Although that's more wishful thinking than anything.

In all seriousness though, I do hope this new strategy takes off and kids take to Logan despite him not being seen on TV beforehand. Hopefully that means there'll be less pressure on the TV series producers and writers to include new characters solely for the merchandise.

That said, will this endeavour branch out? The advantage of adding characters to the TV series was that every brand (Trackmaster, Take-n-Play and Wooden) benefited from it, so there was a toy to suit all tastes. But here, it seems like two thirds of toy collecting fans who have their own preference will miss out unless they convert to the Wooden Railway system. I'm sure Mattel know what they're doing (they wouldn't be one of the largest toy makers in the world if they didn't), but I do hope that, although the Wooden Railway has a huge legacy that they want to continue to push, other brands aren't left out in the cold.