Trackmaster and questions about general old stuff

Hi everyone,

I've been handling Plarail for many years (15+) and I also only deal with Plarail. Although I know of the new Trackmaster series (be it the old or the new series), I have never actually taken a close look at them because they seemed too much of a problem to integrate into what I already have. Hence, I have almost no knowledge of the series and would like to know a little more about it and what others here think about it as well.

First of all, as far as I understand, after Plarail (Tomica World) got discontinued in the English-speaking countries, it transitioned to Trackmaster. Products included special parts and adapters to help the market transition from Plarail to Trackmaster. What were these products specifically? Are any of them still in high demand? I saw one of those adapters for USD$12 on eBay. That seems a bit expensive for just an adapter. Do any of you use these things a lot?

After Trackmaster, they went to the second generation of Trackmaster and also tried selling Plarail again as Tomica a few years ago. What are the main differences between the second generation Trackmaster and the first generation?

I hear people talking about the new Trackmaster Revolution series as being terrible. Is the Trackmaster Revolution series the second generation Trackmaster or is it a third generation? Besides the bad quality of the new toys, what is it that they are missing? How are they different? They seem compatible with the old Plarail tracks even though I have not tried them because I don't own any Trackmaster Revolution train sets. Are replacement parts for Plarail compatible with the new Revolution series? Has Tomy or whomever is responsible for the new series tried to make things so that they are compatible with the old track master or Plarail series?

That's it for my Trackmaster questions for now.

It would be very helpful if someone can help.

Thank you!

-plarnold

Hi everyone,

I've been handling Plarail for many years (15+) and I also only deal with Plarail. Although I know of the new Trackmaster series (be it the old or the new series), I have never actually taken a close look at them because they seemed too much of a problem to integrate into what I already have. Hence, I have almost no knowledge of the series and would like to know a little more about it and what others here think about it as well.

First of all, as far as I understand, after Plarail (Tomica World) got discontinued in the English-speaking countries, it transitioned to Trackmaster. Products included special parts and adapters to help the market transition from Plarail to Trackmaster. What were these products specifically? Are any of them still in high demand? I saw one of those adapters for USD$12 on eBay. That seems a bit expensive for just an adapter. Do any of you use these things a lot?

After Trackmaster, they went to the second generation of Trackmaster and also tried selling Plarail again as Tomica a few years ago. What are the main differences between the second generation Trackmaster and the first generation?

I hear people talking about the new Trackmaster Revolution series as being terrible. Is the Trackmaster Revolution series the second generation Trackmaster or is it a third generation? Besides the bad quality of the new toys, what is it that they are missing? How are they different? They seem compatible with the old Plarail tracks even though I have not tried them because I don't own any Trackmaster Revolution train sets. Are replacement parts for Plarail compatible with the new Revolution series? Has Tomy or whomever is responsible for the new series tried to make things so that they are compatible with the old track master or Plarail series?

That's it for my Trackmaster questions for now.

It would be very helpful if someone can help.

Thank you!

-plarnold

i dont use adapters
the second generation has different track and does not run on the brown track- also has different chassis
the second gen is actually third gen.
but second gen didn't change much
plarial parts are not compatible with the new trackmaster 2
tomy has not done anything to help (i think)
-magicalportal

The adaptors were sold in TrackMaster sets and expansion packs from 2007-2009, but depending on where you lived at the time, you could order extra adaptors direct from HiT Toy Company in the US/AUS or Tomy in Europe.

The Thomas TrackMaster range (which people often misspell as Trackmaster) was made by HiT Toy Company (though Tomy made it for Europe in 2008-09), then by Fisher-Price since late 2009. The ranges were mostly the same except when Fisher-Price produced it, notably the engines recieved minor updates, the products were made a lot safer under Fisher-Price's standards, the adaptors were gone, and the packaging changed from a light blue and yellow colour scheme to dark blue and red. HiT Toy Company's TrackMaster also had a motorized road system which Fisher-Price scrapped. The differences become more clearer from 2012 when engines got redesigned, and the quality changed.

Some people, I believe it caught on from Ucwepn, have called TrackMaster Revolution as TrackMaster 2 or 2.0. If that is the case, then I persume TrackMaster (HiT Toy Company) is TrackMaster 1, and TrackMaster (2009-14 Fisher-Price) is TrackMaster 1.5.

People just don't really like drastic changes. The compatibility is limited, since the old TrackMaster engines won't go on the new slopes, the new ones don't precisely couple up to the old trucks, there are not many old destinations the new ones can use, and the new ones have trouble on Motor Road and Rail track. However Motor Road and Rail has been gone for so long now, I don't except the new things to work with that system. People also find the track too light, flimsy, and a little hard to put together. I don't think anyone complained when the Tomy Trains range become Tomica World, and there are a lot of drastic changes there. TrackMaster (Revolution) is actually alright if you forget what you used to know about TrackMaster.

[Super]

After Trackmaster, they went to the second generation of Trackmaster and also tried selling Plarail again as Tomica a few years ago.

Which trains where those? I didn't realize it wasn't so long ago or was it Tomica in the UK?

Yes, you are right Super. From 2010-2013.

jdogman,

Please tell me if I got this right.

The things came out in this order:
1. Tomy Thomas (the ones with dark blue tracks and larger carriages)
2. Tomica World (Motorised Road and Rail) (Plarail)
3. TrackMaster (HiT)
4. TrackMaster (Fisher-Price)
4a. Tomica (Tomy) (Plarail)
5. TrackMaster Revolution

What do you mean the couplings don't work? I saw the new couplings for TrackMaster Revolution. They are just a different colour.

What do you mean that the new TrackMaster Revolution don't run on Plarail? They look like the same scale.

Is there any way to convert the new ones to be compatible with Plarail or the 1st generation TrackMaster? E.g. I saw some wheel swapping.

-plarnold

i dont use adapters
the second generation has different track and does not run on the brown track- also has different chassis
the second gen is actually third gen.
but second gen didn't change much
plarial parts are not compatible with the new trackmaster 2
tomy has not done anything to help (i think)
-magicalportal

The second gen runs on the old track fine; not as well as it could have, I admit, but it runs fine

Yes that is the right order, though Plarail pretty much co-exists by itself. The Thomas Motorized Railway also goes between 4a and 5. That range is sold in parts of Asia and Europe instead of TrackMaster (Revolution), but I have a feeling it will be discontinued soon. The track is very similar to the Revolution track, and the system is build for smaller hands.

The couplings do work, but I've seen TrackMaster (Revolution) and TrackMaster (Fisher-Price) vehicles only couple up rather loosely.

They are the same scale, but the spoked wheels don't grip as well on the Motor Road and Rail's track grip in certain track configurements.

Yes, there are a few more videos out there. Others on here would know more about it.

[Ucwepn]

The problems with Trackmaster revolution running on older track are as follows:

1) The activation/locking tab hangs too low.
2) The hard plastic gear like tires provide very poor grip on older track types.
3) There are no weights in Trackmaster revolution making them far too lightweight.
4) The silver couplings are too flexible and the train can often "break away" without warning.

Plarnold, do you need any of these adapters? I have a few that you can just have, I'll be happy to send you. I do not have any plarail, i got the adapters in a box of hodge podge trackmaster stuff I bought.