Take Along Thomas & Friends - Thomas

Product Information

Target exclusive assortment. Includes: Sir Handel and Fearless Freddie, Rheneas and Culdee, Mighty Mac and Dennis, Billy and Whiff, or Toby and Percy. In 2009, this line was affected by the takeover of the Thomas franchise by Mattel's preschool division Fisher-Price. Now, this line was creating the new characters from the CGI series, and re-releases of the originals with CGI faces. Learning Curve (RC2) got acquired by Tomy, who continued making the line until they gave up the rights to Fisher-Price.

Thomas and Friends". megabloks.com. Jan 1, 2017. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017 . Retrieved November 4, 2017. In 2013, the production of the Take-n-Play models was relocated to Thailand (whereas all prior models were manufactured in China, as were the Ertl range models). Coinciding with the move, further changes were made to the models, including redesigned wheels, updated faces that more closely resemble those of the CGI series rather than the model series, and other additional changes. In 2019, Bachmann announced that the Thomas range will officially see distribution in the european side of the atlantic, following the permanent discontinuation of Hornby's Thomas range.An Interview with Roy Wilson, Creator of Thomas Wooden Railway (Uncut). Rob. 13 January 2016. Archived from the original ( YouTube) on 2016-02-28.

Target exclusive. Includes gold dusted Thomas, Magic Cargo Car, Movie Car with photos from the episode, and Cargo Car with treasure cargo.Thomas & Friends ranked number one in the preschool toys category in the U.S. and made the top 10 for the entire U.S. toy industry in 2010. In January 2011, Thomas & Friends ranked as the number-one preschool toy property in the U.K. for the 11th year in a row. Thomas is also a top-selling toy property in Australia, Germany, Japan, and Korea. While the total traditional toy industry in the United States increased 1.9 per cent in 2010, overall Thomas & Friends toy sales increased over 47.1 per cent. [1] In 2010, Take-Along was bought by Mattel and became a Fisher-Price line, and renamed Take-n-Play. New characters were released and the old models were re-released with upgraded paints and faces.

The models at this time were made from painted wood, with plastic being added for the wheels and faces. Metal was used for the magnets and axles. W. Awdry; Ken Stott (September 1987). Thomas the Tank Engine Press-out Model Book. Heinemann Young Books. ISBN 978-0-434-92758-6.

The range originally launched as a Target exclusive from 2002 until 2005, after which the range started being sold to other retailers. It essentially served as a successor to Ertl Company's 1:64 Scale Die-cast range. In late 2009, the range was discontinued and sold to Mattel, who launched a revamped version of the merchandise under their subsidiary, Fisher-Price. It was renamed Take-n-Play, which would begin distribution in 2010. The Take Along toys are still compatible with the new Take-n-Play range.

The Talking Knapford Station set was compatible with the Lights and Sounds engines via ID technology; the raised station platform would recognise the code on the Lights and Sounds engine’s chassis and would give said engine a special message. Includes Holiday Percy and Holiday Caboose, which is a Musical Caboose with the electronics removed.In 2006, two playsets called Train Yard Set and Working Hard Set were introduced. These were much bigger than other playsets, being more than 1×1 meters. Original sets were less than 30×30 centimeters. In 1997, Tomy made a range of wind-up models that 'have an action when you wind them up'. The range was small and included only a few of the 'major' characters.