The "stunt trains" controversy.

chris, can these damaged tyres be successfully replaced the normal ones, or is the groove not deep enough?

[Super]

That sucks...

The trackmaster, TnP & wooden range was targeted for cost cutting as soon as Mattel bought HiT and took control of Thomas, remember on trackmaster 1 when they added those dark grey tires that are glued to the wheels? (2012) when I did a packup and cleanup of the trains on the layout I noticed many of these glued grey tires were nearly all brittle cracked and destroyed in many places even on a 2013 Gordon, many of them were split and I know they weren't stored in sunlight but the shed where they are stored is subject to extreme temperature fluctuations between hot and cold. It's naive to think that mattel doesn't know this was going to occur and hence switched to the solid wheels of trackmaster 2, they are an expert in plastics and rubbers. So anyway if these engines (2012-2014) are stored out in the open please check the traction tires. I was horrified I tell you!

Oh god... this has actually given me new respect for the hard tires of TM2.
I'm sorry but I disagree about Mattel cutting costs on Wooden. TNP and TM certainly, but those didn't go to the extremes with the cost cutting until their respective redesigns. Around that time, Wooden just so happened to become the best it had been in 10 years. I think they've been improving Wooden because WR has always been Thomas' "flagship" toyline, and Mattel made those higher-end Sodor Story Collection sets that are as high quality as the old Learning Curve stuff (Learning Curve's wooden stuff was dipping in quality by 2006). They're listening to the Wooden consumers, which is good because I'm a bit more of a Wooden Railway guy than a Tomy/Trackmaster person, but I do wish they would put as much quality and effort into Trackmaster as they do into Wooden nowadays. I figure that the lowered costs for TNP and TM were put toward Wooden Railway, hence its recent quality spike.

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from my perspective, the stunt trains, and their tracks, are an issue because the tracks arent not easily incorporated into a larger layout.
this means, once youve watched thomas leap the impossible gap however many times, theres not much else you can do with it.

the old tomy special pieces, like roller coaster mountain, the terence logging set and others, were all able to slot into a space without much thought required. ok, you still had to think it out, but it was always possible.

Yeah honestly my issue with the stunt concept isn't its unrealism (the show isn't as realistic as it used to be nowadays but IMO it's currently the best it's ever been), but rather the difficulty incorporating the large pieces into layouts. For example, that Wild Water Rescue set with Harold and Percy takes up both ends of a loop, so your only real option is to have a half circle to loop back around. It's not about the realism (these are primarily toys, not models), it's about the limitations, at least to me.

The trackmaster, TnP & wooden range was targeted for cost cutting as soon as Mattel bought HiT and took control of Thomas, remember on trackmaster 1 when they added those dark grey tires that are glued to the wheels? (2012) when I did a packup and cleanup of the trains on the layout I noticed many of these glued grey tires were nearly all brittle cracked and destroyed in many places even on a 2013 Gordon, many of them were split and I know they weren't stored in sunlight but the shed where they are stored is subject to extreme temperature fluctuations between hot and cold. It's naive to think that mattel doesn't know this was going to occur and hence switched to the solid wheels of trackmaster 2, they are an expert in plastics and rubbers. So anyway if these engines (2012-2014) are stored out in the open please check the traction tires. I was horrified I tell you!

I've checked out most all the 2012 TrackMasters that we have had out and opened...many have been out on the shelf for many years, and though none have the extreme cracking and damage, they do seem to be flattening out and might have begun to have a chemical reaction happening, as the hard plastic wheels are spotting with milky areas where it is in contact with the rubberized traction rubber. :/
Our trains have only ever sat on unfinished redwood planks, and now pine...I am guessing the composition of whatever they are resting on might also be a contributing faction as well??