Yesterday, Bachmann announced their lineup for 2018. To say it’s disappointing is an understatement. Honestly, I’d go so far as to say it’s legitimately terrible and incredibly lazy. Granted, we still have Rusty and Paxton yet to be released. So if those two are taken into account, it’s not as bad. But they were announced last year...
The first announcement was Grumpy Diesel. Not a new diesel character, just Devious Diesel with a face they should’ve produced when he was made a few years ago. Yes, they’ve literally just changed a face and pretended it’s something new... Why they couldn’t have just released the face as a separate item to keep costs low, I’ve no idea.
Then we have the cream and green (or Gordon’s) express coaches. They’re... literally the same coaches they discontinued. So why the hell they dropped them for a few years, I’ll never know. Heck, I’ve no idea why they were dropped at all considering their importance on the show.
Next up is the Spiteful Brake Van... so they’re just slapping a face on a brake van. To be fair, this one isn’t their fault. But they most likely chose it because it’s something easy to produce.
Then there’s two tankers: Sodor Diesel Co. and Water. Not much to say about these. One will be yellow, the other blue. Oh, and they’ll have words on the sides rather than symbols. So if you’re one of those fans still pissy about that change from the model to CG era, these will make you happy.
Large scale, meanwhile, has it worse. That range only gets three tankers: Water, Chocolate Syrup and, weirdly, Toffee (that one from Sticky Toffee Thomas). Again, nothing to say about these.
While the narrow gauge range didn’t get much either, only red and blue coaches, at least they’re completely new and original moulds.
Overall, this is the worst year for Bachmann so far. Fans have already defended them by saying “they’re a business. They have to satisfy investors. They must only have a limited budget.” Yet those exact same excuses could apply to everything that Mattel has done with the franchise and merchandise over the past year. It hasn’t stopped fans tearing them apart.
To counter that argument, I’ll end by offering up a similar question to the one Jim Sterling asked EA with regards to Star Wars Battlefront 2’s loot boxes: should Bachmann really keep ranges going if they can’t afford to keep them going?
Large scale, meanwhile, has it worse. That range only gets three tankers: Water, Chocolate Syrup and, weirdly, Toffee (that one from Sticky Toffee Thomas). Again, nothing to say about these.
While the narrow gauge range didn’t get much either, only red and blue coaches, at least they’re completely new and original moulds.
Overall, this is the worst year for Bachmann so far. Fans have already defended them by saying “they’re a business. They have to satisfy investors. They must only have a limited budget.” Yet those exact same excuses could apply to everything that Mattel has done with the franchise and merchandise over the past year. It hasn’t stopped fans tearing them apart.
To counter that argument, I’ll end by offering up a similar question to the one Jim Sterling asked EA with regards to Star Wars Battlefront 2’s loot boxes: should Bachmann really keep ranges going if they can’t afford to keep them going?
Sources:
Well, have you ever tried e-mailing them or something?
ReplyDeleteThey can’t really do anything since the only products they sell in the UK are Large Scale. And I’m not interested in that range as they’re far too expensive.
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