Goodbye and Hello

You guys might have heard that with the New Thomas movie that they're getting rid of Henry, Edward and Toby, and replacing them with Rebecca and Nia. What's your opinion?

[Super]

Getting Rid of? Are they killing them off?

Seems about par with the rest of the world...Same agenda as with the Star Wars franchise, along with the Boy Scouts too...
Seems boys just can't be boys anymore.

Getting Rid of? Are they killing them off?

No clue, I'm only the messenger. I'll put the link to the article in the chat

I know they kicked Edward and Henry off the sheds, but not Toby- they still need their "token old character" in the show haha

But how much do we really see Toby anymore....?
It's sad to see how Mattel needs to shove stuff like this in the faces of fans and children around the world.

[Ucwepn]

Can't say I'm very happy about it, losing classic characters Edward and Henry is a tragedy, they changed all the bio information on the back of the wood cards too and totally changed all the engine's personalities to basically all be helpful and kind, even James

Guess I better buy a couple of each pretty soon then! And no, I’m not especially happy about it because it seems to be a cynical marketing tactic that removes well known characters from a beloved 70+ year old children’s series. There’s probably some attempt to pass this off as “diverse and inclusive, reaching a wider audience” and that sort of thing but it’s mostly a ham-fisted attempt to sell toys. I suspect that this is all backed up by the usual market research and focus groups but these three characters are also woefully underserved in the series and in merchandise too. I can’t remember the last time I saw a Trackmaster 2 Edward or Henry in a big chain retail store and they are kind of lackluster designs anyway, especially Edward.

FWIW, I’m not even a fan, other than having watched countless hours of Thomas with my kids the last few years. But my daughter and one of my nieces are both big Thomas fans and neither of them seem bothered by any apparent lack of gender diversity. Heck, my daughter actually counts Henry as among her favorite engines! If they want more prominent female characters to appeal to young girls, why then overlook popular characters like Ashima in the Trackmaster line?

Can't say I'm very happy about it, losing classic characters Edward and Henry is a tragedy, they changed all the bio information on the back of the wood cards too and totally changed all the engine's personalities to basically all be helpful and kind, even James

That's about the worst thing I think too!!
One of the reasons I chose this genre was that each character was based on every negative type human personality trait!! Lol Every lesson on navigating human relationships and dealing with all the various types of people there are in this world was played out though trains interacting with one another. The characters did not practice politically correctness, rather they exposed their flaws, and in doing so taught lessons about how not to behave and what the consequences might be if one did.

[Super]

Well since I am not into the line and have no personal investment I can see the introduction of new characters and phasing out others as nothing terribly bad as all of these have been in many generations now and for a series to keep going change is inevitable and has to be made. Just take a look at other toy lines that faded away because they stayed the same and didn't try to bring new interest. That all being said just listening to all of you how about a different angle....if this is true and more and more new characters are introduced, isn't it more likely that the chances of seeing more new Plarail (not Trackmaster) trains in the series with the new faces? Now that would excite me especially with so much talk of wanting more Plarail and seeing the possibilities (of defacing) oops lol. Just a different perspective. Now I am not defending whoever owns those show rights and their decisions but what I see is a very good chance to see more Plarail models and isn't that what we all have been hoping for? Making the same train over and over again in different sets is getting old as far as I am concerned. Lets change it up