The Thomas Tank Collectables Blog

Sunday, 19 May 2013

Railway Mischief - New Narrator

One of the biggest developments of the last month is the release of the DVD Railway Mischief. Not only does this DVD feature a brand new narrator but it is also the premier for Arc new CGI. This is also the first time since Ringo Starr that both the UK and US have the same narrator.

Mark much like his predecessors' is a Liverpudlian continuing the age old tradition. Mark has been in a number of well known programs such as Holby City, Heartbeat, Doctors but he best known for his part in Harry Enfield in Chums back in the 1990's. Marks involvement with Thomas was first confirmed in November 2012 when Vocal booth uploaded a picture of him in the studio, recording for Thomas and Friends.

However with the beginning of a new narrator comes the end to another. Michael Angelis in the UK and Michael Brandon in the US have now departed from Thomas and Friends, they have both been the longest serving narrators ever for the series. Michael Angelis started in 1991 with Series 3, he was full of energy and a really enthralling narrator, in latter years he lost his enthusiasm and was criticised for appearing almost bored. However he has been a fantastic asset to the series for twenty one years and will be missed by many. So farewell Michael Angelis and thank you for everything you have done for Thomas and his Friends.

You can now view all of the episodes from US DVD Railway Mischief on Youtube and they seem to have got positive comments from the youtubers! If you haven't had the chance to watch the episodes click below to see them all, enjoy! The brand new seventeenth series of Thomas & Friends marks its world premier on Channel 5 milkshake! in the UK on June 3rd 2013.

Watch the full DVD here!

Full Coverage of Mark's takeover below (Thanks to the Roll Along Thomas Blog)

ITV

Monday, 1 April 2013

Merchandise Updates!

In the last month we have seen a collection of new merchandise come out. So lets take a look!

Take 'n' Play

On the 13th of March SteamTeam posted the picture below revealing Connor and Caitlin's Take 'n' Play models! By this point we had already seen Stephen, so it was exciting to see these two!

They will be on shelves by Autumn, so that is something to look forward too!

That is not all for Take 'n' Play however. They have released, for the first time in the UK - Surprise eggs.

Yes you can now purchase Take 'n' Play eggs, with a range of Characters: Thomas, Percy, Stanley, Salty Scruff, Sir Tophman's car Diesel, Mavis and Toby.

Wooden Railway

There have been a couple of developments for wooden railway, the most exciting being the release, or should we say re-release of Flying Scotsman. Josh Louvier has uploaded a fantastic video saying more than we could on the beautifully crafted and detailed locomotive.

With thanks to Josh for allowing us to use his video.

Another exciting development is the Wooden Railway yearbook. This gave us an insight into what the King of the Railway engines are going to look like, but then Josh managed to get hold of a copy of a catalogue designed specifically for retailers. This showed some engines which are clearly prototypes. Take note of Connor, looking more like Spencer than Caitlin, and Stephen having two designs! Stephens coaches look really impressive! What do you guys think?

With thanks to Josh for allowing us to use his video.

Bachmann

Yes Bachmann Duck has become a topic for conversation yet again! WholeSale have estimated that Duck should be released by the 10th of July, however the key word here is estimated. We have had estimates of arrival that have been shattered before, so don't be devastated if this deadline is pushed back yet again!

On a more positive note related to Duck: it has been confirmed that our old Great Western will be returning in Series 17. This is fantastic news for fans everywhere, we have been requesting his return for years and now it is a reality! Duck's last appearance (four in the whole series!) was some five years ago in series twelve. If you take a look through Duck's appearances on the Thomas Wikia, all you see is "cameo", "cameo", "does not speak" "does not speak" etc. etc. His last proper role as a regular character was back in series 3 (1991) twenty-two years ago!

King of the Railway Updates

As expected King of the Railway will be screened in Vue cinemas in the United Kingdom before its DVD release. This was confirmed by the Thomas and Friends UK Facebook page after a user inquired about the release date.

"King of the Railway will be screening across UK VUE cinemas late August and will be released on DVD in September!"

Although an exact date wasn't released, it is expected to be the weekend of Saturday 24th August, a date for your diary!

Now, have you ever seen the Last of the Summer Wine? You may be wondering why we are asking you such an odd question, well the answer is simple; a cast member of the aforementioned program will be joining the voice cast of King of the Railway.

The BBC program Last of the Summer Wine ran from 1973 until 2010 and aired almost 300 episodes, it was officially declared the longest running television sitcom. Mike Grady joined the program in 1986, In this year Thomas the Tank Engine was in his second series, narrated by Ringo Starr) as Barry Wilkinson and appeared in over 160 episodes, until the shows inevitable demise in 2010.

Last of the Summer Wine

Mike Grady

Mike's online CV

King of the Railway

Nitrogen Reveals Models

It was a shame when HiT made the difficult decision to move away from the model making legacy and make the leap to CGI, changing the course of history for Thomas & Friends. The models that a generation of fans had grown up with, and grown to adore; were carted off to Drayton Manor to spend their retirement, static in a glass prison.

Nitrogen Studios had the difficult task of bringing Thomas to life in a whole new form to a dubious generation of older fans whilst still having plenty of appeal for the younger target audience. As we know now, they achieved this leaving little to be asked for. Despite how much many fans may have not liked these changes Nitrogen integrated them in the best way possible. Starting with just CGI faces upon models before the final full conversion. The rest is history.

Nitrogen revealed that an even greater number of models than those in Thomas Land reside at their Vancouver based studios. Engines such as Molly, Rheneas, Spencer, Duck, Murdoch and others are currently stored in cabinets for display purposes only. Arc Productions are taking over animation from Nitrogen and they have a lot to live up to.

Anyway, take a look at the video here and post your comments. Excuse the cheesy music!

Saturday, 9 March 2013

Second King of the Railway Trailer

Found on the new Go Go Thomas! US DVD is the brand new King of the Railway trailer. It gives us a much better look at new characters Connor and Caitlin and includes scenes from the original trailer that we saw a few weeks ago.

As well as getting an alternative view of the castle we also see that Stephen finds his way to the docks and the Blue Mountain quarry, so some new locations to what we knew previously. The quality of this trilaer is much better, but many still regard the CGI as unfinished, but we shall have to wait and see.

King of the railway is due to premier in the UK, US, Germany and Australia this September.

Watch the video below and see what you think, please leave comments or start chatting!

Tuesday, 5 March 2013

Bachmann Duck Delays

It seemed that it was full speed ahead for Duck, he was coasting down the hill, running easily with the wind whistling past, suddenly there was a delay. Duck's release time was moved back, now yet again it has been moved back further!

The much anticipated Duck was Initially due to be released in January, he was then pushed back to the 28th of February. A rumoured estimate of the 31st of March appeared, but that was not true.

A release date will be released when Bachmann are ready so for now we are just going to have to wait...again!

Lionel's 2013 Range

Much like Bachmann a couple of weeks ago, Lionel have released their online catalogue for 2013 and much like Bachmann it contains a couple of surprises! Thomas and his coaches are decorated ready for Christmas, a bit early perhaps, but nonetheless they are ready to puff round your tree! Thomas has three interchangeable faces as well.

Turning the page we see that James, Percy and Diesel are also available in remote control. As well as three updated CGI interchangeable faces they also have sound affects, could be a good thing, equally could be painfully annoying. Some of the trucks are painted with Sodor locations which is good to see.

Click below to view the online catalogue, really nice setup, with the wooden table in the background. If you want to zoom in just click. It is a shame though that most companies just release their brochures as online files. I don't know about you, but I always enjoy flicking through a brochure, also can't really add an online one to your collection!

These items are due to be in American shop later this year.

Click here to view online catalogue!

Pages 10 to 15 for Thomas.