Oh, I don't think the mystery is over yet. Too many unanswered questions to close the book.
One is, that through all my looking around I can't find a set that included these whether it be with Thomas, another character or Annie and Clarabel sold separately. But that doesn't mean there isn't one that has eluded me.
Two: If they are factory seconds, which I could believe, but how would the face stickers be the same color? I could see if they were clear like the name stickers but they don't look to be.
With the question of them being factory seconds...seconds for what since from looking inside the shell it seems that the plastic could be the normal colored Annie and Clarabel, why would it be blonde on the outside unless.......this is how they prepped them before applying the gold plating for the 60th Anniversary Thomas set??? Could it be that the gold plating looked better with a blonde backing rather that a darker brown or that this is some kind of bonding agent for the plating?? Could a whole batch of these somehow bypassed the plating on the production line or could they have been experimental pieces for testing the gold plating? I could believe some of this if it weren't for those darn blonde face stickers though. I would be curious to know if the inside of the shells for the gold plated 60th Anniversary Annie & Clarabels's are regular brown plastic.
The mystery of them being real could be solved but The Mystery is still afoot of where and why. Come on Detectives...keep digging!
One is, that through all my looking around I can't find a set that included these whether it be with Thomas, another character or Annie and Clarabel sold separately. But that doesn't mean there isn't one that has eluded me.
Two: If they are factory seconds, which I could believe, but how would the face stickers be the same color? I could see if they were clear like the name stickers but they don't look to be.
With the question of them being factory seconds...seconds for what since from looking inside the shell it seems that the plastic could be the normal colored Annie and Clarabel, why would it be blonde on the outside unless.......this is how they prepped them before applying the gold plating for the 60th Anniversary Thomas set??? Could it be that the gold plating looked better with a blonde backing rather that a darker brown or that this is some kind of bonding agent for the plating?? Could a whole batch of these somehow bypassed the plating on the production line or could they have been experimental pieces for testing the gold plating? I could believe some of this if it weren't for those darn blonde face stickers though. I would be curious to know if the inside of the shells for the gold plated 60th Anniversary Annie & Clarabels's are regular brown plastic.
The mystery of them being real could be solved but The Mystery is still afoot of where and why. Come on Detectives...keep digging!
![[Image: 7071.gif]](https://www.allsmileys.com/files/sweetim-texticons/7071.gif)
![[-]](https://www.blueplastictracks.org/images/collapse.png)