Thomas & Friends merchandise
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These were full-colour printed cardboard kits whose pieces could be pressed out, folded, and glued together to make fairly realistic models.
The range comprised Thomas, Percy, James, Toby, Annie, Clarabel, Bertie the Bus and Harold the Helicopter.
In 1967, Meccano Ltd released a train set featuring a clockwork model of Percy the Small Engine with some trucks—a yellow open wagon and a red closed van—and a circle of blue track.
The box featured special artwork by Peter Edwards and included the title, "Percy the Small Engine, brought to life by Meccano".
Percy, Toby, Annie and Clarabel, and Bertie followed in late 1985, with updated versions of Thomas, Henry, and James with red buffer beams to replace the older white ones.
The products were from the Thomas Engine Collection Series made in Japan by Bandai only with coupling rods being removed.
A Remote Control Thomas and a Personalized Money Box was also released in 1985, similar in design to the Motorized version.
featuring pullback versions of Thomas, Percy, Toby, and Bertie were released under Shining Time Station.
The range mainly utilised modified versions of existing Hornby engines, rolling stock and lineside accessories.
New sets were also made using a themed radio control operating system and a Trak-Mat system that sets in Hornby's existing lines used, were customers are encouraged to buy additional track packs, scenery packs, and other scenic materials to create the full printed layout.
Several pieces of rolling stock, most seen in Season 8 were also introduced, including a circus series with a total of twelve wagons, as well as three tents and stalls.
The sets were redesigned using the regular analogue controllers, and a range of resin buildings seen in the television series designed for adult collectors were introduced.
New items were introduced during the next three years to tie in with recent seasons of the television series and the special, The Great Discovery.
The range was retired in 2014, but was relaunched in December 2015, albeit with only Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, and Percy as locos, and limited rolling stock consisting of Troublesome Trucks, Annie and Clarabel, freight wagons, and James and Gordon's coaches.
The models are designed for somewhat older children than most Thomas toys, as placing them correctly on the rails requires a certain degree of dexterity, and the plastic-bodied rolling stock may break if dropped.
However, the level of detail is more basic than the 'real' models produced by the company, with the result that the trains can be handled safely by inexperienced hands without fear of damaging delicate parts.
A new range was then released featuring Thomas, Percy, Toby, Bill and Ben, Annie and Clarabel, and Troublesome Trucks, which ran on red track.
The line features new engine models with more accurate designs, increased levels of detail, and stronger durability.
[citation needed] Take-n-Play (formerly Take Along) is a series of die-cast 'Thomas' models made by Learning Curve and designed for preschool children.
The models are more complex than the basic ones, their eyes move, and they speak familiar phrases from the original stock narrations of Ringo Starr and Michael Angelis.
A large number of die-cast vehicles released resembled the "Gold Rail" models made by Ertl.
Other than this Bandai had made small plastic toys (as big as an index finger) labeled "Pocket Thomas."
There is another series where plastic models (as big as the die-casts) are sold mostly at convenience stores along with candy such as mints and feature more minor characters such as the Mailvan.
In 1993, Lionel Trains USA produced a range of Thomas & Friends models in O-scale for the US and Canada markets.
In 2002, Bachmann USA too also made their own HO-scale electric Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends range for the US and Canada markets as well.
In 2015, Bachmann announced a line of Narrow Gauge HOn30-Scale (also known as OO9 in the UK) trains based on characters from the Skarloey Railway.
Märklin, a German model train maker, released a limited range of Thomas & Friends merchandise in HO-scale.
In 2017, Mega Bloks made larger versions of Diesel, Thomas, Percy, James and a few others in their attempt of "preschoolizing" the toys.
[18] A number of different educational software packages and video games, all based on a 'Thomas' theme, have been released for a variety of different computer platforms.
