2014 Trackmaster redesign

liking that the "tender" is no longer attached with wiring... something that should have been done from the start way back with the tomy magic talking range. trying to imagine the battery consumption between talking and going up the steep inclines.

So far, they don't seem to have made any passenger coaches / carriages. There's no station for the trains to stop at and I haven't seen a stop - go ramp either !
This is a disaster in my view, as many people will, by now, have bought some of the new track with a view to running the older trains on it.
In effect, with the connector track being included, as standard, in the new 2014 sets, Fisher Price obviously realise many customers, are likely to have some of the earlier items.
I think instead of starting off, all the new sets with gimmicks, they should have released one set, that has more typical train features, inside the packaging.
The new range is a bit too "clever" in some ways and in one of the youtube videos I saw recently, a helping hand is required to get the locomotives, up the hill that they were supposedly designed for !!

I know that message is a month old but I hadn't noticed it previously. Unfortunately coaches would be too boring for kids since they're just boxes on wheels while they can have more fun with switching loads on trucks. Although the coaches and vans that were made in the last few years have been good surprises when they use features like the See-Inside range.

I don't know if anyone saw or knew about this but a message from the Thomas AUS Facebook page talks about the reasons for changing the track. I have no idea how this page got its information though since the stuff at Fisher-Price would be US based.

Quote:We made the changes because people were often telling us that children had difficulty keeping the track level on uneven surfaces like carpet, resulting in the track pieces separating. We enhanced the track connectors by making them stronger and more realistic with spacings between the railroad ties. However, the track pieces are harder to assemble than we would like. Our designers are aware of the issue and are working to resolve it.

Oh yes, I got so sick of searching for the Muddy Gordon and Muddy Spencer online that I don't know when they were actually listed. They actually share the same cars as their snowy counterpart? Pathetic, but then again we've been used to that standard for a long time.

http://www.toysrus.co.uk/Toys-R-Us/Toys/...0148118%29

http://www.toysrus.co.uk/Toys-R-Us/Toys/...0148117%29

I have a funny feeling that "quote" has a lot of white lies twisted into it to make an excuse for cheaper made products. And I built a layout ALL the time with Trackmaster Classic and NEVER had said problem occur!!! You could've at least kept making the old style trains!!!!

Quote:Our designers are aware of the issue and are working to resolve it.

Ah...sorry but a conscientious company would have made sure of this before releasing the product. Do they really think that the answer to children having difficulty keeping the track level would be to make the tracks harder to connect? Don't they have anyone testing these toys for a period of time including children before they release them? I think someone should send them a copy of the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks.

i admit ive had issues with classic trackmaster, but that was when using the blue track adapaters with the large christmas buildings. due to the height difference, the blue would drop down below level, causing trains to get stuck. fixed with a bit of cardboard to hold things in place, lol.

yeh, fisher-price screwed up majorly. we can only hope they scrap this new rubbish sooner rather than later and make something that actually works.
i do like the idea behind the tracks, but no way is any of it "more realistic."
when was the last time you saw a steam engine go over a curved bridge where half of it was missing?? or went up a hill and rode a piece of track across the gap?

how would we all feel if fisher-price quit making trackmaster all together? as in, kept the other ranges except what we use?

I seem to keep coming back here for this particular conversation, but I think this one is slightly pertinent to the entire TrackMaster 2.0 line.

Pricing.

I thought these TrackMaster 1.0s were expensive, but this is the retail listing, with tax, where I live for 3 major retailers in the U.S.A.:

Wal-Mart: $12.97 + tax = $14.04
Target: $16.99 + tax = $18.39
Toys'R'Us: $14.99 + tax = 16.23

I've got three more Gators today from Toys'R'Us, just to see that I ended up saving a whopping $13.00 U.S. when I compared the purchase for three of the exact same at Target! Why did I get more you ask?

Well, some of these have two of the clear plastic bands that hold down the crates and tarpaulin, and I like using them to secure loads on flatbeds; more realism, and I like the cars. I'd buy more of Timothy, but I'd be paying way too much for a micro-bolster wagon, China Clay cargo, and two clear rubber bands.

I think the cost is just a bit too much; the Wal-Mart one would be a bargain if they included three pieces of half-straights with these "Introducing ______!" sets, but Target's pricing is just outrageous. Toys'R'Us usually is the most expensive, but it seems that the tides have turned on Target.

Aren't there cheaper options than buying a whole train for clear rubberbands Like THIS example?

(12-31-2014, 10:01 PM)Super Wrote: Aren't there cheaper options than buying a whole train for clear rubberbands Like THIS example?

I'd say, "Yes", Super, but I enjoy adding to my rolling stock collection, and find these to be much more readily available when I need them for filming instead of having to wait for a bulk lot to come in from another country; case in point, my "The Flying Kipper" remake was on hold for 2 months while I waited for a Plarail Gordon to come in from Japan.

What we need there on the designing department is a couple of people that actually care about the kids. Because I could see if Trackmaster ACTUALLY wanted faster locomotives, they would've put a upgraded motor in all the Trackmaster trains like the tomy thomas and the jet engine set.