thomas and friends mini series

As much as I'd like to see them return, I'll be shocked if the weights ever come back. Unless it immediately and directly impacts sales, a cost-saving measure like taking the weights out isn't going to be undone. I assume it would require a change (i.e. upfront $$ that doesn't get recouped in sales) to the assembly line and moldings: that's something you only do once, to *remove* something expensive that will pay for the change after you sell enough.

Weighted?

The first couple years, minis had little weights in them. See this older post from Reivax to see the difference.