Happy belated New Year! I hope everyone is having a good year so far. Since there isn't any new Thomas DVD released yet in the UK and since Mattel had announced via twitter that they aren't planning any DVDs for the US anytime soon, here is the first post for 2019 about the new range that will be replacing 'Adventures' this year and beyond (maybe). Anyway, here is my review on the new range and here is usual warning:
TRACKMASTER PUSH ALONG
This is their literal logo. The push along name is on the bottom let hand corner.
Back in 2018, 'Tootally Thomas' had announced that Mattel were cancelling their Adventures range due to poor sales. To me this was an unexpected and disheartening surprise. Considering that these days the toys that Mattel had released under the Thomas banner have been given mixed reception among parents and fans, Adventures, to me, at least had some quality added to it despite the squat cabs and large dimension. Plus it is strange how Mattel cancelled the line in just a year since its debut, but I guess because it was a new range and a new range means buying the same characters and sets again because its incompatible with the previous range before it, which I get from the consumer side.
Anyway, when the new Trackmaster Push Along pictures came to surface on the internet, there was some mixed reception. I honestly try and defend some of Mattel's products such as Trackmaster and Wood, yeah I don't think Wood was that bad. Heck even when they introduced the large magnets in the Take-N-Play range, I defended that strongly because they are a magnet! But after seeing some, some of the character's modelling was off putting like Belle, Gordon, Henry and James look more like monster trucks rather than engines. However there are some good ones that I consider buying such as Rebecca, Rajiv, Rosie, Shane etc. as they look more better compare to the other ones.
I bought the Thomas model just recently as of writing this and to be honest he looks good but the toy isn't really that different expect for the slight height and the Trackmaster coupling. They can couple up to the Adventure toys. It's really not any different compare to their previous range and that's it really.
But my main gripe is the name of it all. Why call it 'Trackmaster'? Did Mattel do some market research and found that their main seller is the Trackmaster range or did they pull that out of their head at the last minute? To me the name can be quite confusing for the consumer considering that the packaging looks vastly similar to one another. What would happen if their's a character that a child wants in Trackmaster battery form and it turns out to be from this range and when they get home they realise it doesn't take batteries at all. Nothing is really distinct. What Mattel could've done was keeping the range as 'Adventures' but tool it up to make it compatible to both (Trackmaster/Adventures) tracks or better yet, leave the Adventures range alone and actually make tracks and sets like the Super Station! Cause if parents collect different ranges all together why not make one whole track system that can work?
The Super Station set had been given an award in 2017 by the 'Oppenheim Toy Portfolio' and was a popular selling toy too, you think with that success Mattel might want to try and create more sets for that and it would make sense too considering that all of the Thomas toys released by Mattel can fit all on that one track. I don't know what Mattel's idea was for the Super Station, but I believe they had many complaints from parents how, in all honesty, that the various Thomas toys don't work on track that are not really compatible.
The sets for this new range however seem rather lazy with the wagon it's provided. I mean, it sticks out like a sore thumb and what they could've done instead was reuse the wagons and carriages from the 'Adventures' range. If Mattel are cost cutting things why not reuse those toys and save parents the trouble on buying new sets and toys? In the end, the range looks OK but considering that Adventures went under the knife due to poor sales most likely because parents have to buy the same characters again for compatibility, I don't see this range lasting well. If there are any parents reading this, I suggest maybe buy characters that your children don't have and not worry about buying the sets if you have 'Adventures'. If their are parents who child are just getting into Thomas, I think their isn't much option unless who may have a family member or a friend who are willing to give away their lot if their kid had grown out of Thomas or eBay if someone is selling sets, toys and accessories. If not, like I said before, there isn't any other as some stores have very little to make way for this range.
'Trackmaster Push Along' Thomas with 'Adventures' Ace
on 'Adventures' track.
The sets for this new range however seem rather lazy with the wagon it's provided. I mean, it sticks out like a sore thumb and what they could've done instead was reuse the wagons and carriages from the 'Adventures' range. If Mattel are cost cutting things why not reuse those toys and save parents the trouble on buying new sets and toys? In the end, the range looks OK but considering that Adventures went under the knife due to poor sales most likely because parents have to buy the same characters again for compatibility, I don't see this range lasting well. If there are any parents reading this, I suggest maybe buy characters that your children don't have and not worry about buying the sets if you have 'Adventures'. If their are parents who child are just getting into Thomas, I think their isn't much option unless who may have a family member or a friend who are willing to give away their lot if their kid had grown out of Thomas or eBay if someone is selling sets, toys and accessories. If not, like I said before, there isn't any other as some stores have very little to make way for this range.
Rating: 3.5/10
