The end of Thomas and friends from Plarail?

Yes. I don't think Plarail would be able to continue producing their current models with how the new season will look like without a complete redesign

They seem to be aiming for a younger audience with the Paw Patrol/ Bubble Guppies style animation. I’m sure that’ll (NOT) go over well with the fandom!

I wouldn’t get too worked up about the demise of the Plarail license just yet. Mattel also has to completely retool their various lines and the two companies have cooperative licensing agreements well beyond just Thomas. It may turn out that this yet another attempt at a retool is yet another stepping on a rake. My kids are starting to age out of the target market for Thomas fandom but they’re somewhat ambivalent about the changes made in recent years. It hasn’t helped that Mattel decided to move from PBS to Nickelodeon here in the US at the time that many people like us have discontinued or scaled way back on cable TV subscriptions. I can’t really see either of them getting excited about a 2D, Nick Jr-style Nelvana reboot or buying toys that reflect a more cartoon-like appearance. Whether Plarail Thomas continues may be the least worrisome aspect of this for diehard fans.

Bachmann has already said the new series and design will not affect their models, hopefully Plarail can continue as well. Even if they redesign the engines again I honestly won't mind that much, I'm more interested in 90s and 2000s Thomas Plarail then the stuff from the last five years anyway

Yeah, I wouldn't think Plarail would ever listen to Mattel. They'll likely keep them as is as even the new redesigns involve new characters, they'll release them anyways. Like I said, I hope Plarail continues production of their Thomas line. If they tempt to keep their current models, they'll just maie them for nostalgic reasons.

[Super]

T-Boy...what is the source of your information or is this just a 'feeling' you have?

Well Super the Series went to looking from this:


To This:


The first photo is how the Series looks currently (and what Plarail basis its models off) and the 2nd one is how it will look from now. It will now be in 2d format, not 3d like before This change leads me to believe Plarail will need to make a major redesign of their Thomas Trains in order to fit the current series

Well Super the Series went to looking from this:


To This:


The first photo is how the Series looks currently (and what Plarail basis its models off) and the 2nd one is how it will look from now. It will now be in 2d format, not 3d like before This change leads me to believe Plarail will need to make a major redesign of their Thomas Trains in order to fit the current series

[Super]

So there is no official word on " Mattel might plan on pulling the plug on the Plarail lineup " as T-Boy alluded to...right?

Mattel can't just "pull the plug" on a license contract, and anyway I can't imagine that Mattel would think it feasible to take on the Japanese appetite for Thomas stuff themselves.  It would however be interesting to know how long Takara Tomy's Thomas license has to run. I wonder if this information is in the public domain?

..This change leads me to believe Plarail will need to make a major redesign of their Thomas Trains in order to fit the current series

I don't get your thinking on this. Neither Plarail Thomas nor Mattel's 'Motorized' range (and all its predecessors) have ever made any pretense at accurate representation of the originals in the Railway Series books, TV series or Movies, except in a very general sort of way - very approximate shapes in particular, plus colouration and faces. Why would they need to re-design now?  They can hardly make them 2D can they?