Thomas & Troll Friends City Toy Hunt 2023 New TWR & TOMY Takara GoGo Adult Japanese Trains 😳

Just before Christmas 2023 I go to two major retailers in Sydney to Toy Hunt and inspect the Thomas & Friends stock. The Myer City store has a whole top level devoted to Toys and Hobbies. In the past Thomas And Friends had a large Thomas The Tank display area. But as I find out in 2023 Thomas has been kicked to the back of the toy department into no mans land. Thomas & Friends now has Trolls as a neighbouring brand. This was well away from the most popular toy brand which is Bluey.
I did find some of the new / old Thomas Wooden Railway and purchased two Diesels at a discounted 15% off price reduction.
Next I go to a famous Toy / Collectable / Hobby store called Hobbyco and it's in the Queen Victoria Building. Historically Hobbyco has been a go to place to find unusual Thomas & Friends characters, Hornby & Bachmann Thomas train sets and anything that's normally difficult to find anywhere else. I was pleased to see after a few very difficult years the Thomas Toys have returned and what was on offer was good. The AEG Metal Engine (Push Along) Thomas toys are difficult to find anywhere, but there was lots of AEG Motorized twin packs and a lot of the new / old Thomas Wooden Railway. In fact this is the first time I have seen amount of this TWR toys. As always Hobbyco was fantastic to look around, the model railway display looked amazing and the trains are is now managed by a fantastic staffer.
In doing the research for this video I stumbled upon the TOMY Takara website. They hold the Asian license for the Thomas & Friends toys. Looking at TOMY's version of Thomas All Engines Go that they call Go Go Thomas revealed to me how their styling of the characters hasn't upset the size balance of their Plarail trains or track system. Looking deeper I see all the TOMY glory of how Motorized Thomas trains should be. It's all incredibly beautiful and in a way not that unchanged from the much earlier Thomas toys. This is so different Vs a company like Mattel who seem to alter the Thomas toys at any time they can.
I then find on the TOMY Takara website a new higher detailed Plarail Train system called TOMY Plarail Real Class. This is a product like aimed at adults who are looking for realistic trains that can run like a toy train system. It's a very curious bend on doing model railways. A new more realistic track system has been developed that still connects to the classic TOMY Blue Plarail track system. I think it looks amazing but I can't afford it.
Web Links :
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattel
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomy
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plarail
www.takaratomy.co.jp/products...
www.takaratomy.co.jp/products...
www.takaratomy.co.jp/products...

[@s.btracktales4995]

I found the hobbyco flashback portion of the video to be the most interesting when you pointed out just how many changes have happened in what is essentially a very short period of time. If we go back to the early merch lines like ertl, that range basically stayed the same from its conception for over 10 years, then if we go up to take along, that again basically stayed the same for over 10 years with very minimal changes and a name change, they when we go to 2012, that's when we get to a period when most merch lines can't seem to go more than 2 years without some major design change, hot wheels pin wheelaxles, dumb magnets, squashed cabs, plastic hooks, smaller trackmaster and now the AEG metal engines and something interesting to note is that all these constant changes have only happened since Mattel stepped as the full owner of the Thomas brand rather when they were just the manufacturer. It really feels like Mattel has had no real long-term plan with brand and just seem to be throwing stuff at the wall and hope something sticks which has lead to where we are today. It will be interesting to see where this brand goes from here and whether these toys lines are gonna stay the same or are we gonna get another massive redesign ore are we even possibly gonna see Mattel regret this and switch and go back to the older designs that so many people are a lot more familiar with.

[@leokimvideo]

These changes make us the consumers buy more stuff, poor backwards compatibility by changing couplers, tracks, train sizes all part of the game. So much for saving the environment, profits come first. Then again there is no law against making a profit. TOMY have a very stable Thomas train environment.

[@s.btracktales4995]

@@leokimvideo I suppose that is the fundamental purpose of a business, just very interesting how now it's all about constantly redesigning what came before rather than starting off with a base and adding on to it over time

[@leokimvideo]

The business model for lots of stuff now is make stuff that only lasts a few years. It's seeping into everything we buy now and it's going to be the end of us. The KZbinr Louis Rossman is very keyed into whats going on especially with media companies and tech companies. Amazon now just promoted the lower end products. It's all a race to the bottom as massive all controlling companies reap record profits

[@leokimvideo]

Before the 'trolls' hit let me explain the thumbnail which IS related to the video. It was done in Adobe Photoshop using the 'Patch Tool'. I roughly drew around Diesel then selected 'Generative Fill'. There is a AI keyword option to generate a new image. I used these words, (pink troll train with eyes). This generated 6 different options that were all very different. I chose the silliest 'clown' looking one. Of course the options are endless depending on what you type. It's fast & powerful but Adobe stuff comes with a high price. I'm certainly given ZERO from these BIG companies.

[@tanjoy0205]

Hey Leo,loved the video very nostalgic for me to see such change in the last 6 years .Keep on making videos !Missed the old vids where you reviewed the stuff from the charity shops . Q:Do you still collect stuff from the charity shops ?

[@scallopeater43]

Ah thats tremendously silly, It's funny because that looks like a Dark Side nightmare.

[@antonio_but_really]

Says a lot when the best-selling toy line is the one that's had the least amount of change.

[@leokimvideo]

Amen, yeah it's just so weird how Mattel treat the buying public with the Thomas toys. It's just a game for them.

[@fionakearns1544]

The naughty elf stole your new wooden Railway Thomas and your rubber chickens and your pointer and the naughty elf is going to destroy your new wooden railway Thomas and it wasn’t you who run the show is the naughty elf that’s why the naughty elf wants revenge on you leokimvideo

[@jackknife593]

Glad to be part of the 2%!

[@leokimvideo]

And I'm not kidding about that when I said it, the TicToc generation get twitchy after 10 seconds

[@FireMan-km4cm]

I don’t watch TikTok so I wouldn’t know

[@TobyOliverHenryFan]

The only way to save Thomas is if a good and respectable company buys Thomas and brings us the glory days back. But I don't see that happening soon.

[@antonio_but_really]

Rest in peace, Teddy. ❤❤❤

[@anthonystrikcani3840]

This never gets old leo

[@TheTrainspotterFromTauranga]

I always try to watch right to the end, especially when the video's genuinely interesting. Those shots of the masses of Thomas stock in Hobbyco reminded me of the good old days, when it was easy to get a good amount of Thomas stock in the shops. I just wish New Zealand still had shops that were as well-stocked as Hobbyco. I reckon my favourite Thomas toy lines from the classic era are Trackmaster 1 and the early-2000s era Thomas Wooden Railway. They're the toys I most fondly remember playing with around 15 years ago.

[@harrisonallen651]

Seeing signs of the old Wooden Railway and Take Along ranges really takes me back to much simpler times in my life.

[@FlyingDuckMan360]

@harrisonallen651 When Learning Curve had the Thomas license. They did a really good job with it. Mattel actually did a good job handling the Thomas license until late 2017, when they started making decisions like pulling Thomas' TV show from PBS, making DVD releases more scarce, replacing Thomas Wooden Railway with Thomas Wood, and pulling Edward and Henry from the Steam Team. This year alone, they seem more intent on sending Thomas to the scrapyard.

[@leokimvideo]

Yep, that was a very good time with the Thomas line. It's incredibly sad how much it's drifted

[@TheOrangeTractorOffical]

I’ve had quite similar experiences. I went into my local Big W recently and went to look at the Thomas and friend stuff to see if there would be any good items, (news flash, there wasn’t) but what was really jarring was that the aisle had been shrunk for Thomas yet again, now the aisle is no more then two of the Push Along sets long with about 10cm of space left over. And if we go back to 2013-2017 half the aisle was full of thomas. And when a Thomas movie released thomas would,be everywhere from the front of the shop to down random aisles. Something else I have noticed is that around late 2021 Push Along Thomas disappeared from Coles and Woolies. How ever much of that was the All Engine Goes effect or whatever I’ll never know, but I do recall them slowly fazing them out after Adventures got replaced with Push Along. By the way Leo, have a Merry Christmas

[@TobyOliverHenryFan]

12:03 Why Is Thomas The Christmas Tree Star?!😂

[@angelplayz02]

I keep forgetting it’s summer in Australia 😅

[@leokimvideo]

Just had the EQUINOX on the 22nd December so that means WINTER IS COMING

[@fernando_medina9669]

Brother, how glad I am to find this channel again. you were literally part of my childhood!!! I never missed your videos back then and you watch them over and over again. I wish you much success and happy holidays ❤

[@natedaboi1608]

over in the u.s there’s a book store called Barnes and noble, which has a lot of the new wooden railway things, unfortunately it’s not available in Australia but if there’s an Australian book store that has a section for kids there could be some there

[@LegoBob4123]

We didn't know how good we had it until we lost it. I live in Florida, in the US, and my local Walmart and Target (I don't know if Australia has those stores) has about a third of a "cell" as defined in one of the previous videos, for Thomas. A single large set (currently motorized Talking Cranky set) a little display box thing holding the 3-packs, and a tray thing for Push Alongs. It's sad how the mighty toy brand that used to take a whole aisle be reduced to what it is now.

[@Steamenginesunited3456]

Oh what I would give in order to go back to the eras when Thomas toys were good.

[@TaigueMo]

wow thomas and friends toys are so different! they changed so much in 5 years

[@leokimvideo]

Yes, BUT WHY. And still no one has ever explained why Thomas Adventures was dumped like a Hot Potato.

[@TaigueMo]

@@leokimvideo Thomas adventures were actually really good 2 I only have a Thomas a talking salty , like and James I'm sad they stopped it

[@rustbloodeclipse]

I'd honestly be all over those Plarail Real Class things if they were sold here in the US. I like the idea of it being better-detailed and real-life based. What would primarily sell it for me is that it's a thousand times easier to set up, take down, and change the layout than something wired like an HO scale train. Since they're only two-axle trains, the curve radius can be a lot tighter than most other types of toy trains and I think the overall flexibility of being able to easily assemble, disassemble, move around and expand on the tracks would make them a good buy for someone like me who likes electrical model train layouts, but also wants something easier to move around and set up wherever.

[@leokimvideo]

I only found the TOMY Real Class by pure accident. Just sad the promo video for that system is seen as a blasted Kids Video. That's going to really restrict the discovery of the video.

[@teenagefc]

My favourite type of Thomas will always be the blue track Tomy trains. Possible bcoz I got so much of it when my son was younger and into Thomas. We still have it all. I picked up many, many of those Tomy 3 pack trains in the long boxes in the back street Hong Kong toy shops on holidays. We were there earlier this year and there is still plenty of Tomy Thomas in those stores. Have also bought some on holidays in Japan. Mega department store chain BIC Camera always have huge Tomy displays and selections. Both Thomas and the Plarail system. They even used to have 3 pack long boxes of Chuggington engines … that franchise is now in the ‘where are they now’ files.

[@toystoryreenactmentsandmuc3128]

Hey Leo loved the video , heres a tip for your comsumer affairs section of your videos you could implement GBP sterling to better inform the auidience and widen your demographic , as you talk mostly about Thomas a British property this could attract a more general auidience 😊

[@PaulRestorer]

Great presentation . Best wishes👍

[@tweetytye]

I found 3 push alongs engines at kmart lake haven yesterday

[@Ajn_animation]

Yay! more amazing content!!! Keep up the good work Leo!!!

[@DeepdishBK]

Wow, is it just me or has Leo been uploading a lot more recently? Maybe it’s just cuz Christmas is toy season, idk.

[@Fanoflarryboy97]

Leo, I just wanna thank you for introducing me to your favorite childhood show, and that of course, is thunderbirds. After watching the series, I can greatly see the inspiration for the Mad Bomber series. For example, the bomb being placed on the turntable would be something The Hood would do to get International Rescues attention to expose there secrets, or even the direct reference to thunderbirds when Thomas is in Thunderbird 2. I greatly thank you and hope you can inspire other filmmakers with miniature pyrotechnics and modeling. 😊👍

[@ezekiel09]

9:54 factory error Frankie in the top left corner, missing her middle wheel(s)

[@ExploringPennsylvania]

Great video leo

[@silentbird2705]

Awesome video. Very thorough and well written.

[@Reddy4Leisure2003]

Great to see the NEW TWR has hit more stores over in Australia. I run a eBay store in the uk selling the newest Thomas goodies and one of our best sellers is the new wooden railway properly due to Mattel not supplying them to UK Retailers which i find wired considering Thomas is British so we have to have them imported threw a USA Supplier. Our best sellers are The main man himself Thomas Gordon Henry Edward and diesel. They are always flying of our shelf’s quickly. Percy tends to hang around though we see very few of him leave the shelf. 😂

[@azuma892]

Tomy has already released two waves of the Real Class range, I dare say it's doing quite well. I have all three types they have released so far, still debating on whether they should be opened or kept new in box as future investment. As for the Thomas range, it wasn't what it used to be, the new CGI Edward and Henry models look terrible, and they don't do as much characters anymore ever since they lost the international license. Some of their more recent CGI characters, like Ryan and Gina, look even worse than their Trackmaster 2 counterparts. Also, they have resorted to using a cheaper kind of plastic for most of their range. The new troublesome trucks flex much more easily when you put a little pressure on their sides, and under strong light they look very transparent, it's hard to explain unless you got the thing in your hands, it just feels a lot less quality compared to the classic stuff. This drop in quality started around 2020.

[@leokimvideo]

Just on the forums I was reading the issue with Real Class is the price point. It's expensive. And there's an argument point to compare it to Japanese N scale which didn't compute with me. The new track system is still in it's baby steps, no points or double track and bla bla bla. The compatibility going under some track stanchions is also an issue. The pantographs are getting hooked up. The 'toy' version of Plarail had a sprung loaded ducking system to get under low clearances. I didn't know about the lowering of quality going on. The few newer TOMY items I have purchased have been beautiful and like looking back in time.

[@lemuelanastacio2071]

Nice

[@XtremeTrainz]

Confirmed that Myer did have about 2-3x more stock when I was there, but still not Thomas! I was in HobbyCo last week and it was packed out - but lovely stock levels, I'm not sure what's going on with metal engines. They seems to be flying off the shelves when new ones come in, but the older engines are peg sitting at stores like Big W. I've never seen that adult version of the Playrail - I think I'll be falling into the rabbit hole to see more about this system!

[@leokimvideo]

A constant I have seen in the TWR line in store is sure the stock is now there but Thomas is always missing. Maybe explains why mine was stolen from my workshop. It's a highly desirable model train. I have had a few Japanese viewers explain the Plarail range has had a cheapening going on since 2020. Different cheaper plastic used and some sets coming with decals you now have to stick on yourself and that wasn't received well. Plarail is a huge and complex train system to get your head around, so much history and variations in what's been offered up. When TOMY lost the international Thomas licence it heavily affected the number of characters and incredible playsets that were being made. But I sort of knew that. Back in 2016 ish BigW here did have TOMY Plarail train sets and track packs but sadly it didn't last very long. Weird because from what I saw it did sell out very quickly. That TOMY adult Plarail line would really suit doing that elevated commuter train in Chicago called 'L'. Or Imagine the glory of some Sydney Trains, TOMY Red Rattlers or S Sets. My God it would be unreal but surely i'm dreaming.

[@TracksideManiac]

I kinda fall into the category of thinking the realistic Tomy track looks cool, but then again, you can never go wrong with Classic Blue Track.

[@jaimeespitia9112]

the legend has returned nice to see you havent lefr KZbin beat you leo i was just watching your mad bomber series how far you become since those days

[@birdgaming2169]

WOW I didn't know you can use presents instead of coal!! finally a cleaner source of power.

[@trainboy7]

This is definitely a more positive look on the Thomas stock situation than in the last video. Sure the stock in that one store was sadly pushed back. But at least the hobby store you just went to has a better stock and variety. And just in time for Christmas too! Also of note, Tomy is doing the most wisest decision of keeping both classic and AEG toys on the market. Which is something Mattel should’ve done in the first place. On the plus side we still have the Bachmann Thomas range which still obtains the look and feel of the little blue train we know and love.

[@leokimvideo]

One thing I'm really starting to understand is when a toy company owns a brand it's never good for the brand. It works far better when there is separation. The Disney diecast Cars character line is a classic example. It's stayed fairly rigid in it's format for a long time now except for the McQueen downsize. I did a study on that and the video was demonetized. Exposing that may have hit a very raw toy industry nerve. My gut feeling fo the change was to get McQueen to work on standard Hot Wheels track. But no one has ever confirmed or denied this. Anyway I saw it as a totally unnecessary downsize and the OG diecast McQueen looked far more awesome.

[@trainboy7]

@@leokimvideo I see what you mean. I honestly haven’t seen the difference between the current Lighting McQueen die cast car compared to the original.

[@ObjectGuy]

This is amazing

[@superstepno835]

I collecting Thomas and friends ever since 2015 me and my daddy purchased collectible railway Gordon that I mustaken for Thomas

[@CSSTPMedia]

I do like the 'Trolls' franchise, based on the naked dolls with funny hair.

[@fosterbaird6055]

I definitely do agree We need the old Thomas stuff back Because when I was 3 years old I remember getting The classic Thomas and friends Tomy road and rail Stuff

[@antonio_but_really]

Says a lot when the best-selling toy line is the one that's had the least change.

[@mr.slowking_64]

I have no idea who at Mattel keeps thinking us Thomas fans want cheaply produced garbage that only stays in production for 2-3 years before it’s replaced with something totally different The 2022 Thomas wooden railway has not had a new item for over a year and it’s very frustrating that the one good range is most likely going to be shafted for more AEG toys, it’s an honest shame.

[@gabrielquinones3343]

Wow

[@jaimeespitia9112]

but yes i can agree thomas has changed for the worse i do miss having my collectuon of tomy i do regret giving those up

[@frogmouth2]

I’m wondering what Mattel will do with the Thomas brand after all engines go. Maybe they’ll just sell the IP or vault it. I don’t see Mattel trying to make another appeal to the online fanbase.

[@AxelWedstar411]

Almost bought one of those Minecraft swords a few years back - I think it was around the time Toys"R"Us was going defunct.

[@tancoplays3502]

It's always been very interesting seeing how the Thomas stock in the Australian market differs from here in the American market the interesting thing is in the past the best place to get Thomas stuff was at target but they haven't been carrying much Thomas stuff lately I've noticed that at Walmart the 3 packs seem to be well stocked as well as the diecast push along stuff but they never seem to have the individual motorized engines but yeah it's always interesting to see how stock is in different countries

[@Mr.JackGiles1089]

Hey Leo merry Christmas

[@Euanplushstudios]

It’s great to see Australia finally getting the newer wooden railway stock, they are still yet to land in the UK, come on Mattel, it’s nearly 2024 and we still don’t have stock we should have had almost 2 years ago

[@robohuntero1828]

dam a hornby flying Scotsman you know I have a Thomas wooden railway flying Scotsman now worth about 100 USD

[@sydneytrainsmania]

I’d love to see some Sydney double deckers introduced into the Plarail Real Class that was mentioned.. or even better, the Red Rattlers. They’re a unique design compared to the rest of the world after all.

[@leokimvideo]

The elevated train transit system in Chicago called 'L' came to mind with me. London Underground would work as well.

[@Razer_-fe9mo]

That wooden track pack's price was astonishing! I know stuff can be expensive in Australia but that seems outrageous. The Tomy real class trains look excellent. I'd like to see some shinkansen trains added to the range.

[@tumblinloco2106]

Sorry if this is very long comment, my hometown still sell plenty of those blue tracks called "Plarail", but don't get too excited, because they don't sell TOMY Thomas anymore, but you can still find millions of what Mattel will never make. Speaking of Mattel, our local store has a similar problem as yours. Mattel's distributor just simply forget how to stock the shelves: It's either "Quantity over Variety" or "A Sahara".

[@leokimvideo]

I honestly think once Toys R Us collapsed that really hurt the way Mattel get product out to stores. It feels like they are still struggling to set up reliable networks to get product into shops before Christmas. Too often I have seen the stock turn up after Christmas.

[@thepurplemyth]

9:27-9:53 brings me so much nostalgia now looking back. I remember always going to toys r us to get some take n play or wooden or even my local target, the Thomas stock was massive and dominated the whole isle. Now my local target's thomas stock is pathetic. At this rate the Thomas stock will be gone and leave no trace that it was ever there.

[@roboticrainbow]

I am not really familiar with what toy shops over here stock, but as a private English teacher I see lots of toys in my students' homes. Unfortunately, most of it is of the darkside since I live in Hong Kong and the cheap price is what seems to draw in the customers. However, I do still see some legit toys purchased from toys'r'us or shopping centres- mostly lego and display models. A lot of my adult students have awesome display cases full of their favorite anime characters/sanrio collection/Disney figurines so people here do still care about quality it is just they give so many toys to their kids that it'd be impossible to afford for a normal family if they don't supplement with cheap fakes. Thanks for another entertaining video. Although I'm not a Thomas fan myself, I still enjoy watching your content no matter the topic!

[@SpudsAreGreat]

Trying to by things this close to Christmas is extremely hard especially in Australia

[@SonicJrandSarah]

5:08 $89.99? What a rip-off!

[@natedaboi1608]

Geez

[@swiftmusic.13]

6:45 its crazy to see that HobbyCo still has TWR and TA signs 20 years later.

[@Lurania]

I'd love to be in your place. I'm stuck here in Mexico, which is a market that is neglected and as a result all I see in store is the stock standard AEG trains with some playsets here and there, much less the new wooden railway stuff. Toy stores aren't really a popular outside major cities either, and even in those there's a lack of Thomas.

[@leokimvideo]

Hey, you have that great 3 piece band called The Warning. Three awesome Mexican girls who are amazing

[@islesofforeignrails7917]

Merry Christmas! Sorry about the lackluster distribution of the range in 2023.

[@brocomotive]

Hey Leo, Merry Christmas! Fantastic video as always, I love your observations on the rapidly changing market of thomas toys over the years and share a lot of your opinions, it's also interesting to see what else is happening on the toy market. I actually went to Japan earlier this year! I may get round to making a video about it next year, but man, that metaphor of "forbidden fruit" couldn't be truer. Plarail is a huge toy over there, and it was like heaven seeing walls of plarail stock right before my eyes, and so affordable too. These toys are so much better when you don't have to contend with shipping and import fees - consider the price of $45 aud to import a standard plarail thomas pack to Australia vs the roughly $22aud price conversion when you find it at the right place over there. Where we have an array of ranges like motorised, wood, push along, etc, it seems that plarail thomas is the big thomas toy line that they have. I've seen photos on twitter showing the new wooden railway stuff over there, but I didn't see it at any of the retailers I visited, one of which was a toys'r'us in Tokyo. Felt it was appropriate to share, feel free to ask if you want to know more about my observations!

[@leokimvideo]

I have been watching a KZbinr who repairs old busted up TOMY Thomas stuff and he explains the resale value is high because that's what the market is prepared to pay. I think anyone paying $50 plus for say a old TOMY Gordon is getting ripped off. But he never says you can bring it into Oz for cheaper than the rogue eBay sellers pushing old used Thomas toys. It gets back to a fool and their money are always easily parted. I did buy some of the TOMY Streamlining Thomas's from Japan but it was packed so poorly (only wrapped in brown paper) many of the boxes were damaged. I just don't understand eBay sellers doing rubbish packaging and then they beg you for a positive sale verbal. TOMY Tomica train sets were being sold in BigW's back around 2016. There were trains and track packs and it sold out really fast. Sadly it never returned. Sure I bought what was on offer but I can't review it because of the KZbin Kids clampdown. Just on Thomas stock in stores I have watched some American Thomas fans showing what they see in store in the lead up to Christmas and what I saw was far better Vs what I see. Lots of books, Thomas merch (toothbrushes, bla, bla) but what was missing was the AEG colour changing range. I couldn't tell what part of the US the videos were generated from many Thomas fans are super secret squirrel when it comes to location.

[@Thomaslightningmcqueensonic]

5:53 what’s even worse is that there were a select amount of Thomas stuff there.

[@gustavomartinez-wi8kh]

😮😮😮😮

[@totallytidmouth]

It's so strange growing up watching your videos, and you ragging on take along, to you loving it, as a big fan of HiT Trackmaster & Take Along, it makes me very happy hearing those be your favorites lol EDIT: Hey Leo! Amazon has a handful of Plarail Thomas trains for pretty decently prices, I don't know how Amazon is in Australia but it's nice getting super high quality thomas trains from Japan easily.

[@Yourlocalsudricboi1215]

Same

[@natedaboi1608]

We don’t get many of the push along sets in America as well

[@FireMan-km4cm]

The old trackmaster (hit toys) and fisher price were good for me

[@mayohoskotwrandttte]

I’m part of the 2%. i've been on record saying that TOMY should offer to buy the TTTE franchise from Mattel

[@TroublesomeJunction]

Man seeing those older Thomas lines on the shelves makes me wish I could go back in time. I miss the days of being excited to go into a store to see what new stock are lining the walls but now it feels like all the available lines are so empty and uninspired. It’s also worth noting how it seems like Mattel hasn’t done much new with their lines. Like even with the new TWR toys I don’t think they’ve made a new character for the line since they dropped. Once having decided isles and displays to pushed in corners. At the rate it’s going by 2025 all Thomas merch will be reserved for the check out section! (Ha, then they’ll ALL be check-out Thomas’s). On one hand I’m glad you have archived footage of the older stuff back in its prime but on the other hand it is sad to see how the mighty have fallen.

[@thomasnwrengine4936]

I do remember last year after Christmas Day at the National Toy Train Museum near Strasburg Railroad, they had some TWR track and a couple of TWR engines from the early-2000s, so it just felt nice to me just holding a 20-year old Wooden Railway Thomas.

[@claudiapintomaldonado9421]

there was a percy in 052

[@azuma892]

In the past 2 years or so Plarail has introduced a new range called the "ES シリーズ" which is basically just shortened versions of popular trains in their standard range, and you have to stick the supplied decals on it yourself, the train is a bare chunk of plastic from the factory. Needless to say, this didn't go down well, so they are now putting the ES series stuff into their starter sets instead of selling them separately.

[@leokimvideo]

I noticed on their Japanese website the Chuggington Plarail range has gone. And so many people were telling me Chuggington was making a comeback.

[@LegoBob4123]

@@leokimvideo Chuggington, now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. Maybe it is making a comeback show-wise, (I haven't kept up) but I haven't seen a single toy of it on shelves since the original Chuggington "era" (ending around 2015)

[@misssmokes1434]

I really miss the old days (2008-2012) when you could get very good quality Thomas and friends classic trackmaster sets I really miss those days because they where simpler times before Mattel had made some really really dumb design changes.

[@teeterblx9665]

Blue bell

[@garionbishop]

Leo, I have been watching you for an extremely long time, and through your videos I have been able to see how these joyous toys have devolved into fragile plastic waste junk and it really is sad that something so perfect was reduced into what looks completely different to what we have known. I really think the whole history of this line is a tragedy of money hungry companies worried about how many more pennies they can squeeze out of a piece of plastic rather than wondering how they can make the consumer happy. It's just sad. Anyway rant over, keep up the good work Leo love your kids as always also so sorry to hear about teddy, my condolences

[@yayuksugiarti771]

Weeeeee

[@kito_zeslungger]

Watching this video makes me realise how the Thomas related stock in countries like America and Australia are really, really bad.. Countries in other regions are getting alot of new AEG Push Along characters such as Whiff, Toby and Edward, I'm not too sure if you know about them, it's abit sad to see since the countries where Thomas is VERY popular just don't have anything new or very, very poor stock. And the new Plarail Thomas stock isn't as good as before, alot of characters are missing and the detailing on some characters fall flat. They replaced characters like Ryan and Connor(?) for more "gimmicky" related stuff such as the Monkey Thomas and Bee Stung James

[@alexpanda6314]

IVE SEEN THAT THOMAS 12:08

[@PNate_KTrainVer.]

Yea just to let you know plarail real is already out

[@1471SirFrederickBanbury]

It would probably end up benefitting everyone if Mattel gave tiny the international license back, but it’s far too good of a decision for Mattel to even consider. The one thing that could be incorporated into modern Thomas toys that would improve sales is having easy to swap faces and selling faces and engines copied from different eras of the brand. People 3d printing faces already have a lot of traction, so if Mattel took the plunge I don’t see a reason it wouldn’t be an instant hit. Thinking about it, that was the one thing I hoped for when I was a child. It would be so appealing to have all the variations of the characters, based on different illustrators and series of the show. However, we all now that Mattel don’t like making logically sound decisions, it pains them.

[@crypticallly]

I think Thomas will ever die out in a few years or they will try to revie the old Thomas back to before aeg

[@Kublai1969]

The hobbyco scenes of present day, despite looking impressive, are somewhat of a letdown for me compared to what was there in the past. It ends up feeling stocked and unstocked at the same time. Mattel really did trade out variety for quantity, but whether this was the right or wrong move is hard to determine. What I will say is there are a people raking in the big bucks on eBay selling releases of these 'obscure' characters.

[@leokimvideo]

Yes I agree with you, but we have just gone through 3 years of basically NO Thomas & Friends stock during the Plandemic. And sure there was a time when the Thomas area took up a whole aisle and was at least 4 times bigger Vs what I saw the other day. But what I saw was better than nothing.

[@awesometrain77]

Please review real class range you’d likely be the first person to release in English and you seem really interested in it

[@t00nverseYT]

How did teddy died? He was young

[@wizardstopmotions5562]

From memory, it was being hit by a car.

[@FlyingDuckMan360]

I cut ties with Mattel in 2023 due to their horrid mistreatment of Thomas the Tank Engine. They disassociated themselves from the very community that watches Thomas' show and buys his merchandise, disrespected Britt Allcroft's wishes to keep the spirit of the classic series alive by blocking uploads of Classic Thomas and Shining Time Station episodes from KZbin, and only released one new model for the Thomas Wooden Railway line; the Day Out With Thomas model. If I were running the Thomas Wooden Railway line, I'd have had new models of characters like Duck, Donald, Douglas, Oliver, and Toad released in early 2023. I feel that Thomas' quality can only improve if another company, like Orbrium, which makes their products specifically with Thomas Wooden Railway in mind, acquires the license.

[@leokimvideo]

Cutting ties with Mattel's Thomas line is very sensible. Just stick with the TOMY glory. It's all incredibly beautiful and not trying to endlessly re-invent the same toy over and over.

[@mation-w]

vegemite, what are you doing with my wife!? oh wait. that's marmite.

[@WarGhostsquad]

Leo we need more spider stuff always loved a good spider content

[@FamilyEntertainmentStudios]

As Much As I Dislike All Engines Go, The Merchandise Is Actually Good Especially Compared To The Garbage We Had Before.

[@Pokeharmonygtag]

I am actually crying right now because to see how much the Thomas and friends take’n play has gone the designs are different ngl tho the new wooden train designs look amazing. But I hate all engines go. They made the designs look crappy and for 4 year olds and in normal stores you can’t find stuff like the old versions. I wanna get Mattel to change the designs back but they probably won’t because they think it’s doing better than normal Thomas. But honestly they aren’t doing good in business right now.

[@joeythecat7482]

If Plarail RealClass gets steam engines, I wonder if the rods or Valve Gear will be like regular Plarails or more realistic like an HO/OO Scale train.

[@BDSFormula1]

all my favorite channels hate KZbin’s policies

[@edenreyes4747]

Mattel ruined Thomas and I still wish tomy still had the international rights for merchandise

[@user-zd2hh3xw5x]

Do Thomas problema seu mas você destrói todos os brinquedos eu acho daí sem educação porque não tem criança que não tem nenhum brinquedo

[@bigbuffersproductions]

Hey Leo would I be Abel to contact you by email about somthing? If so would I be Abel to get your email? Or message you through Twitter?

[@user-bg8ip9vv7q]

Usually people comment in short sentences or regular sentences. But here they're making paragraphs .🫸👁👄👁🫷

[@Yourlocalsudricboi1215]

Nice