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Just Who are the Thomas Manufactuers - Powerful Gordon Mike - 02-25-2025
Can someone here produce a short and concise essay on the history of the "Manufactuers Only" of the Thomas plastic toy lines, i.e. Tomy, Hit Toys, Trackmaster, Mattel, Plarail, Tomica World and the ones I don't know about enough to name.
Spelling out and with a sharp focus on the who sold what, the when and the where. Keeping in mind, I'm not speaking about the individual named locos, just who made them.
And to keep it of a short nature, I'm really only interested in the battery operated plastic lines and not the electric or medal ones. Thank you for filling in the blanks of my knowleadge in this hobby.
RE: Just Who are the Thomas Manufactuers - MrKirby48 - 02-25-2025
Here's a rough timeline based on my knowledge:
TOMY: 1992-2006
*Note that TOMY is still producing for Thomas on Japan only.
HiT Toy Company: 2006-2009
Fisher-Price: 2010-2014
MATTEL: 2014-Present
Hope it helps. If I'm wrong let me know!
RE: Just Who are the Thomas Manufactuers - DalaGStanator - 02-26-2025
Fisher-Price is Mattel, so it would actually be (Late) 2009-present.
RE: Just Who are the Thomas Manufactuers - Powerful Gordon Mike - 02-26-2025
Thanks guys.... but what about Plarail and Tomica and what countries were these all these different loco maunfactuers sold in?
RE: Just Who are the Thomas Manufactuers - DalaGStanator - 02-26-2025
Plarail is the name of TOMY's (main) toy train system as a whole, not a manufacturer. Oddly, it seems TOMY never actually used it outside East Asia; not even on non-Thomas releases. Both Tomica World (late '90s-early 2000s) and Tomica Hypercity (early 2010s) were European-American-Australian releases of Plarail. Tomica is also a brand of plastic/die-cast vehicles with their own road parts and accessories, which were also included with Plarail trains in Tomica Hypercity playsets.
RE: Just Who are the Thomas Manufactuers - Powerful Gordon Mike - 02-26-2025
(02-26-2025, 06:59 PM)DalaGStanator Wrote: Plarail is the name of TOMY's (main) toy train system as a whole, not a manufacturer. Oddly, it seems TOMY never actually used it outside East Asia; not even on non-Thomas releases. Both Tomica World (late '90s-early 2000s) and Tomica Hypercity (early 2010s) were European-American-Australian releases of Plarail. Tomica is also a brand of plastic/die-cast vehicles with their own road parts and accessories, which were also included with Plarail trains in Tomica Hypercity playsets.
Was Hit Toys the manufacturer of the Trackmaster Thomas line in both US and UK?
Was any Thomas line products avaliable in the US in 1992? If so, how manufactuered them?
RE: Just Who are the Thomas Manufactuers - Destination Realization - 02-27-2025
For the 1st half of the Second question, Wooden Railway, ERTL, Tomy Train, Plarail Tomy, Hornby, and Lionel (I think)
RE: Just Who are the Thomas Manufactuers - Powerful Gordon Mike - 02-27-2025
(02-27-2025, 12:01 AM)Destination Realization Wrote: For the 1st half of the Second question, Wooden Railway, ERTL, Tomy Train, Plarail Tomy, Hornby, and Lionel (I think)
Thanks for answer, but I'm focus on the plastic battery line only... so are you saying that Tomy Plarail sold the Thomas line in the US in 1992?
RE: Just Who are the Thomas Manufactuers - MrKirby48 - 02-27-2025
(02-26-2025, 11:39 PM)Powerful Gordon Mike Wrote:(02-26-2025, 06:59 PM)DalaGStanator Wrote: Plarail is the name of TOMY's (main) toy train system as a whole, not a manufacturer. Oddly, it seems TOMY never actually used it outside East Asia; not even on non-Thomas releases. Both Tomica World (late '90s-early 2000s) and Tomica Hypercity (early 2010s) were European-American-Australian releases of Plarail. Tomica is also a brand of plastic/die-cast vehicles with their own road parts and accessories, which were also included with Plarail trains in Tomica Hypercity playsets.
Was Hit Toys the manufacturer of the Trackmaster Thomas line in both US and UK?
Was any Thomas line products avaliable in the US in 1992? If so, how manufactuered them?
For the first question, yes. Take note TOMY still has the Thomas rights in Europe at the time, so the Trackmaster toys from Europe wear the TOMY logo until the toy range was bought by MATTEL in late 2009.
For the second question, the short answer is no. Before 1997 or so, there used to exist a range called TOMY Trains which featured the dark blue track system.
RE: Just Who are the Thomas Manufactuers - Powerful Gordon Mike - 02-27-2025
Ok... for me, this is getting twisted. So let me simplify my question:
In 1992, who was the manufacturer of the plastic battery Thomas line in:
UK - ?
US - ?
Japan - ?