Vulli Motorised Train Set - Thomas the Tank Engine

As usual we are going to be travelling back in time to have a look at yet another Thomas the Tank Engine merchandise oddity. This is the 1984 Vulli Motorised Train Set. I tried to find out as much as I could about this set, even resorting to signing up to French toy forums, sadly my searches were almost fruitless. 

A ThomasTankCollectables mock-up of the original box! 

The set comprises of an interesting selection of track, a station, bridge, level crossing (of sorts), a signal, some bushes, The Fat Controller, a guard, Thomas and a really rather odd little carriage. Thomas is powered by a double A battery and his tiny carriage is unpowered and coupled to Thomas at all times. The battery is actually loaded by removing Thomas's face, he is turned on by moving his face into the straight position. This allows two contacts to meet and the circuit to be formed.

Vulli Thomas compared to an ERTL Thomas from the same year. 

As you will see in the video my Thomas isn't particularly sprightly and he frequently needs a nudge or two, especially to get around the bends. The face is almost identical to the one we are all familiar with on the ERTL sticker face Thomas and you will see a little comparison in the video. 

Vulli is a French toy company, perhaps most well known for their magic tree-house and giraffe teething toy. I don't think they make all that many licensed toys, so we were lucky to get a Thomas the Tank Engine set. I tried asking about the set on a couple of French toy forums and they didn't seem to know of its existence.

I contacted Vulli to try and find out more about this intriguing piece of Thomas the Tank Engine history. They very kindly went back through their archives and managed to find that the set was listed in the British Vulli catalogue for 1984. They also checked previous and subsequent catalogues, but it was not listed in these. So it appears this train set was only available in the UK for one year. The contact I was talking to said they most likely lost the licence for Thomas the Tank Engine, which is hardly surprising. Given the success of the TV series, it is likely that the price of the licence dramatically increased for 1985. 

1984 Vulli Catalogue, with thanks to Nht Pirate for giving me permission to use these images. You can view the whole catalogue on Flickr. 

Thomas the Tank Engine centre-fold, what more could you ask for? I love the artwork above the train set, I have not seen this used elsewhere so I expect it was done for this catalogue specifically. Also note the 'NEW!' and 'EXCLUSIVE' boxes on the left, very 1980s. The most important thing you will notice here is that the actual set is very different from the one featured in my video. The Thomas is completely different, the station is more old fashioned, yet the signal is more modern. The track is completely different colours and there are some extra accessories such as the fence. I suggested that this might be a prototype to the Vulli representative I was emailing and he agreed. 

The actual set is completely different to what was released! 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that little history lesson. If you haven't already, you can watch the video below. As always you are more than welcome to contact me via any of the mediums ThomasTankCollectables is on, but I would recommend email or twitter for a fast response! 

Email: thomastankcollectables@hotmail.co.uk

Twitter: Twitter.com/TTCollectables

Vulli Motorised Train Set - ThomasTankCollectables YouTube Channel

The Early Days of ERTL

I have to say I really enjoyed making this video and I can only hope some of you enjoyed watching it! ERTL was one of the first brands to start making Thomas the Tank Engine merchandise and went on to be one of the longest lasting ranges. From 1984 to 2004 (in the UK, 2002 in the US and elsewhere) ERTL made high quality die-cast models of Thomas and his many friends, primarily in the 1/64 scale although they did make several different variants over the years.  That means that there are 20 years' worth of models to collect and some of them are becoming increasingly harder to find. 

Sticker Face 

When you start collecting ERTL one of the first terms you will most likely come across is "sticker face", to anyone other than a Thomas fan this really won't mean anything! But to nearly everyone in the Thomas community this has just become a standard term. 

When ERTL first started producing Thomas The Tank Engine models or toys they were made with a paper sticker face. This method of applying a face was soon replaced in 1990 with plastic moulded faces. The paper faces were prone to falling off and getting damaged. Engines 1-7 and Bertie were the only characters released in this original format and as a result all of these characters now have both a sticker face and a 3D moulded face version. This was the basis for the video, a comparison between the original sticker face line-up and their replacements.

Thomas was the only engine released with a decal sheet. 

Interestingly Thomas was the only engine released with a decal sheet. This sheet included his buffer stickers and an alternative face, clearly based on an illustration from Thomas's Train. I have always wanted to take this decal sheet out and scan it, but there is no way I could bring myself to open a packaged ERTL Thomas from 1984! Thankfully SkarloeyFan recently got a packaged Thomas where the decal sheet was right near the edge of the package and he very carefully managed to extract and photograph the decal sheet. He has very kindly allowed me to show it here.

Oh dear Thomas saw Bachmann 2018 list and isn't happy. pic.twitter.com/3xK5jvy7WE

— SkarloeyFan (@RWS_Collection) February 17, 2018

With thanks to @ThomasTankMerch for supplying this picture of a very rare ERTL misprint of Thomas featuring the sad face

All of the sticker faces are quite clearly based on the Railway Series illustrations and although the drawings are quite simple they really capture each character. I personally think the sticker faces have much more character than the later moulded face engines. I feel the moulded faces don't have all that much detail and the facial features are somewhat lessened in the plastic form. The later ERTL models had painted faces and although these were very prone to chipping they were much more detailed. I would be interested to hear your opinions on the sticker faces compared to the plastic faces.

White Running Boards

Another thing that quickly becomes apparent with the early ERTL models is the use of white running boards. By this I don't mean the usual splash of white on an otherwise red running board, I mean literally the whole running board is white, then the red was painted on afterwards! It seems like a bit of a backwards way to do it, but again this was soon dropped in favour of all red running boards for all engines. The only engines that were released with a white running board where Thomas, James and Henry. This makes sense as these were the first three engines released in 1984. Toby, Percy and Bertie were released in 1985, then Edward and Gordon followed in 1988. 

Unfortunately I don't have an unboxed version of James with a white running board! 

Differences

There were quite a few minor differences between the first ERTL models and the later releases beyond just the face. The most prominent to me is the differences in the detailing of Percy's whistle and dome. They are quite a lot smaller on the later release. RWS_Collection also pointed out that there are some differences with how far the running boards and side tanks stick out on Thomas. I don't personally know of any other differences, but you are more than welcome to contact me if you do.

Track Systems

I started this video with pictures of the first ERTL Playset. This was a cardboard set that popped out and could be constructed into a little layout. Surprisingly for a company producing trains ERTL didn't actually settle on a track system until as late in 1993. So ERTL had been producing trains without a proper train set for almost 10 years. That shows you just how successful the toys were, they could be sold without even having a track! I can't think of any other Thomas The Tank Engine ranges that have been released without a proper track system.

You can see more pictures of this rare #ERTL set here: https://t.co/EKSUw1FNZm @ThomasTankMerch pic.twitter.com/A9JvxrSxNU

— ThomasCollectables (@TTCollectables) February 14, 2018

So the first attempt at a track system came in the form of a illustrated couple of pieces of cardboard. ERTL planned to release a wooden track system, as seen in the 1990 Catalogue, but this was cancelled. In 1994, a moulded plastic track playset was released, before settling on the grey track we know and don't really love today. This was also given a face lift in 2002 to make it more colourful. It had decal track and the plastic was green. I have never been a fan of the ERTL track system, I think it is too wide and makes the engines look very narrow. It is quite clunky to put together as well. I do like the later green track, especially some of the viaducts and bridges. Sometimes you will see job lots on eBay where ERTL models are included with track from other sets, often Hornby Playtrains red track.

🤔 pic.twitter.com/6urDr2aO99

— Thomas Merchandise (@ThomasTankMerch) February 15, 2018

I hope you enjoyed seeing all of the original 1/64 ERTL models in all their glory. I also tried to include the ERTL sets and merchandise I have from the 1980s. I really loved looking through all the original models and sets, they are all so good looking. I may have got a little carried away with all the pictures! 

A big thank you to @RWS_Collection for the use of his decal sheet photograph and discussing the ERTL models in preparation of this blog. I would also like to say a big thank you to @ThomasTankMerch for proof reading this and adding some extra details! 

As always you can contact me via Twitter or email: thomastankcollectables@hotmail.co.uk

You may also like: 

http://ttte.wikia.com/wiki/Ertl_Company 

ERTL Personalised Money Box: https://youtu.be/BHanzlYnjkI

ERTL Haul: https://youtu.be/YXfVEICOdag

Thomas Merchandise on SiF: http://www.sodor-island.net/merchandise.html

ERTL Personalised Thomas Money Box - Signed by Ringo Starr

This was a bit of a birthday present for myself and what a present it was! Today we are going to be having a look at an ERTL Thomas money box signed by the then narrator of the TV series Ringo Starr.

Image Credit: Thomas Wikia (Why is his flag black though?) 

Ringo Starr is better known as the drummer of The Beatles, but to us Thomas fans he is known as the first narrator of the Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends TV series. Despite only narrating two seasons he has had a lasting impact on Thomas the Tank Engine. For example in the UK the series has always had a Liverpudlian narrator since the debut of Ringo Starr. Beyond that many Thomas fans grew up with his voice as the first two season's episodes were featured on so many of the compilation video tapes we all had and probably still have! I know I do. He also provided the narration for the Ladybird audio cassettes. You can read more about Ringo Starr in an article from the Radio Times.

I have been collecting Thomas the Tank Engine and Railway Series merchandise for a long time now and I can't say I have ever come across any merchandise signed by Ringo Starr. I am sure it does exist, but it is certainly a rarity, especially now that he has stopped autographing merchandise for fans. So I was incredibly excited when I came across this fantastic piece of Thomas history. Ringo has signed the actual toy itself on the side and, perhaps because it was rather faint, he has also signed the top of the box.

The Model

No, this isn't a reference to a Kraftwerk song! I have never actually owned the ERTL Thomas money box before, I have seen it in old advertisements though. I don't think it comes up all that often. It was released in 1985 and as you can imagine it is a basic retooling of the Remote Control Thomas from the time or vice versa. The only differences being the lack of traction tyre, guide wheel and obviously wired control. It comes with a simple piece of brown track that you can 'personalise' by writing your name on the front.

On the back of the box it mentions two toys, the remote control Thomas and a "Radio Controlled" Thomas. Was the Radio controlled one ever released? I can't say I recall ever seeing one. I imagine it would be a noisy back and forth affair, much like the RC one, just without the cable to trip over! 

The Comparison

In the video I have provided a brief comparison of the model/toy (no need to get triggered) to the other Thomas's in the ERTL range at that time. These are the Remote Control, Motorised and standing 'free-rolling- die-cast. To clarify there are three RC Thomas's included in the video, two un-boxed (one with remote control, one without) and one boxed. I deliberately selected the versions with the white running boards, despite those not necessarily being the best condition. I have also provided some picture of an old RC Thomas I found still in box. The boxed one was so shiny! You can literally see the signed one reflected on the side. It has a British address, but the packaging is more like Shining Time? Did the British range use the 'Shining Time' packaging at the time (1992)?

As always, if you spot any inaccuracies please feel free to comment or attack me on twitter (@TTCollectables).

Email: thomastankcollectables@hotmail.co.uk 

Thomas the Tank Engine ERTL Haul

I was delighted to find a large job lot of ERTL models in a charity shop recently. It is so rare these days to find collections such as this, especially given that the range was discontinued back in 2004. I actually saw them in the morning and came back later in the day to buy them as I didn't have my money with me the first time! I knew they wouldn't sell and I was right. The whole lot cost me £24.50 ($31.66USD, $39.82AUSD). As many of you will already know I put together a video showing what came in the job lot. 

I bought these to swap out the better condition ones with my own collection and add a bit more rolling stock and track to my collection. Out of all the engines and vehicles the only one I didn't personally own was Bulgy. So I was very pleased to finally add him to my collection. I was also surprised to see that the models were in remarkably good condition for their age, especially the gems of the lot - Emily and Spencer. As many of you will know, the models released in the latter years of the series are particularly difficult to find and frequently fetch quite hefty sums of money on online auctions. 

Above are the three main treasures from the 'haul', Spencer, Emily and Bulgy. All in wonderful condition, they really are splendid models or toys?! For those of you wondering, I sold off all the doubles, so hopefully they will bring as much joy to someone else as they did to me. If you bought any ERTLs recently they may well have been featured in my video!

I really enjoyed doing the simplistic remake shots, the ERTL models look so good that you don't even need scenery. The quality of the models speaks for themselves really. I think they sacrificed playability (wheels, track, couplings; see below) for quality and accuracy, which is not really a problem to me. 

Snapshot Review

I am not going to do a full review of the ERTL range, but here are some of my thoughts. I personally think they are some of the closest models to the TV series and I think they have a nostalgic connection to a great number of people in the community. But, they are certainly not without their faults. 

The Good

• Appearance - they look very much like the TV series models and they are very photogenic. 
• Nostalgia - they are the go-to classic range for all collectors! 
• Quality - they are made of good quality die-cast metal with very little plastic. 

The Bad

• Couplings - the couplings frequently snap, the more modern couplings are not always compatible with older rolling stock and often snap as well. Sometimes the engines will have very small female couplers, which can prove troublesome, furthermore the male couplers are often missing. 
• Track - maybe it is just me, but I think the track is too wide and the engines just don't look very good on it. 
• Wheels - the wheels are frequently wonky and are too small in my opinion. 
• Faces - I think some of the faces lack detail, especially the earlier models. 

Believe it or not, I really do love ERTL! 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little post and the video. Please feel to post your comments below or on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube. 

Watch the video above! 

Edgar Hodges Jigsaws

First of all apologies for the lack of videos in recent months, I have had all of my final year exams for University. With those out of the way I now have some time to rediscover my Thomas the Tank Engine Collection. This time we are going to be having a look at some lovely Railway Series merchandise dating back to 1980. 

Edgar Hodges was an illustrator used by Kaye & Ward for a brief period between around 1979 and 1980. He provided illustrations primarily for the two annuals released in 1979 and 1980. Surprisingly there were no further annuals released until the dawn of the TV series, so between 1981 and 1984 there were no Railway Series/Thomas the Tank Engine annuals. Both the 1979 and 1980 annuals feature Thomas in the cover giving some indication to the central role he would take in the later TV series. In addition to the two annuals Edgar also provided illustrations for the Famous Engines colouring books and the three jigsaws shown in my most recent video. 

Two of the jigsaws featured in the video are essentially recreations of existing Railway Series illustrations by John T. Kenny, with both being from the 17th book of the Railway Series - Gallant Old Engine (1962). Edgar is faithful to the original illustrations but expands the scenes a bit and adds some more passengers. It is quite interesting to compare how the two artists differ, a comparison is provided in the video. The final jigsaw depicts the Skarloey Railway engines along with Nancy the Guard's daughter. Nancy first appeared in Gallant old Engine, but the illustration by Edgar Hodges may also be based on an earlier illustration provided by John T. Kenney for The Little Old Engine. 

But have a look for yourself and see what you think! Please feel free to leave comments below or on the video. 

With thanks to the Thomas Wikia for information. 

Twelve Happy Engines

Here is a little treat for your Sunday, a look back at a lovely Nestle promotional item from over 40 years ago! 

Picture: ThomasTankCollectables Archives 2017

Nestle released Twelve Happy Engines back in 1970 as a promotional item in conjunction with then publishers Kaye & Ward Ltd. You had to cut out little pictures from chocolate bar wrappers and glue them into your book. The book features an introduction by the Rev. W. Awdry along with profiles of a seemingly random selection of engines. There is an engine from each part of the railway, mainline (Henry, Douglas) branchline (Edward, Thomas, Toby, Daisy), quarry (Bill), small railway (Bert), Skarloey railway (Skarloey, Sir Handel, Duncan and the mountain railway (Culdee, although the picture provided shows Alaric!). 

If you are missing any pictures from your album just send off a stamped and self-addressed envelope, along with a Railway Series promotional wrapper and the serial number(s) of the picture(s) you require. 

Here are the original wrappers, thanks to eBay: 

ThomasTankCollectables Facebook Page 

Head over to our Magazine Archive and look under 'Other Publications' to read the whole book. Pictures will also be added to the Thomas Wikia by myself, please do not use the images provided elsewhere. 

As always, if you have any publications that you think should be added to the Thomas Magazine Archive, please feel free to email us. You will be credited for any publications you provide. 

thomastankcollectables@hotmail.co.uk 

Leicester Mercury - William Middleton

I came across this article quite a while ago but completely forgot to post it here. The title incorrectly proclaims that William Middleton was the first to illustrate Thomas the Tank Engine but, as well all know, this was actually done by Reginald Payne. You can read our previous article on him here. 

ThomasTankCollectables Archives 2014

Rev T Robin Martin wrote into the Leicester Mercury to share a lovely little anecdote involving the highly mysterious artist William Middleton. Unfortunately very little is know about William Middleton or his successor Reginald Payne. Each of them illustrated books that were improved by C. Reginald Dalby shortly after publication. Furthermore they were not credited for the illustrations they provided. Nicholas Jones, producer of "The Thomas the Tank Engine Man" Bookmark documentary (1995), told me that they tried to research both Mr. Payne and Mr. Middleton to no avail. 

Anyway the anecdote shared by Rev T Robin Martin is provided below, thanks to the Leicester Mercury. 

"My uncle, the late Gordon Tipping, whom many will remember as the dapper station master at Rothley, Loughborough Central and the first station master at Leicester North, told me the following story.The very first illustrator of the Thomas the Tank Engines stories was a William (Bill) Middleton, had his studio from before the war and into the 1950s on Halford Street." 

He is of course referring to the Railway Series here, William Middleton only provided illustrations for The Three Railway Engines, which did not feature Thomas the Tank Engine.

"As he was my grandfather's friend, I knew him as 'Uncle Bill' and remember visiting his place of work on upper floors, over a shop, about halfway down from Dunn's hat shop, now a Café Nero. Bill was given the job of the drawings for The Three Railway Engines and Thomas, but, as he thought stories of what were, by then, dirty old locomotives would not be a success, he didn't try very hard over the illustrations." 

Again, Thomas did not feature in this book! 

"I remember them, as my younger cousin Henry had the very first in the series and I read them. The locomotives were somewhat crudely illustrated, with flat faces on the smoke box doors. The stories were, of course, a great success, so Ward Locke, dissatisfied with Bill's attempts, gave the commission to whom I now know to have been Reggie Dalby. This was for the subsequent books and reprints of the earlier ones. If anyone still has a first edition illustrated by Bill Middleton, they will see what I mean."

The commission was in fact given to Reginald Payne for the next book Thomas the Tank Engine (1946). Reginald Payne was not available to illustrate the next book (James the Red Engine), this is the point at which C. Reginald Dalby was employed. 

This anecdote gives us a tantalising insight into the man we all know so little about. It would be great to see a picture of William Middleton or find out some more about him. 

You can read the full article on the Leicester Mercury website here: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/city-artist-illustrate-thomas-tank-engine/story-26820311-detail/story.html 

You can see the original illustrations of the Three Railway Engines by William Middleton on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtGilLqROo3vASDVWeJ_EVR6W8r89RtiF 

You can read our original blog post on William Middleton  here: http://thomastankcollectablesblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/the-three-railway-engines-william.html 

If you have any corrections or comments, please feel free to comment below or send us an email: thomastankcollectables@hotmail.co.uk