Hasbro to Takeover Mattel?

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What do you think will happen to the Thomas trains if the rumored takeover by Hasbro of the Mattel corporation who owns Fisher Price who owns Thomas & Friends Trackmaster takes place? A good thing, a bad? What about all the other toys, how will it affect them other than GI Joe (Hasbro) beating up Ken (Mattel) and hooking up with Barbie?

I think this could be a good thing, maybe they can introduce the original trackmaster again.

It would be brilliant if they somehow managed to reintroduce the 'Tomica World' line in the UK and US (not sure if it was anywhere else) with new british steam locomotives and rolling stock such as the Black Five (Shouldn't be too difficult as it's a resprayed Henry with Gordon's tender, my first custom idea!) and a 9f (another resprayed Thomas character, this time Murdoch, another custom idea!).

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Was Tomica World part of Trackmaster back then Chrizzly?

As far as the near future, I don’t believe you’d see any real changes in the marketing of Thomas or the toy lines. Hasbro DOES have a much friendlier relationship with Takara Tomy but how that would play out for us as customers can’t be known.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that these rumors have circulated before and in fact, I think these companies have actually considered a merger at least once in the last 15 years or so. To be honest, I would rather see them remain separate competitors than join into some mega corporate juggernaut. In the long run, I think it fosters a healthier market and more innovation.

It depends if they absorb the Mattel outfit into Hasbro or leave it to run as a separate subsidary, if they decide to take it over properly then maybe the quality will improve which can only be a good thing.

As for how it would affect Tomy/Tomica, who knows maybe they'll be bidding for them soon as well, the 'penny pinching' we've been seeing lately (like stickers instead of printing on trains) and discontinuation of lines like PlaRail Advance may be signs of an ailing company open to a takeover bid...

Takara Tomy is fine. Although they are a small company, they have a solid presence in Japan.

Plarail Advance was a good idea executed poorly.

-plarnold

(not sure if it was anywhere else)

We had it in NZ too

Was Tomica World part of Trackmaster back then Chrizzly?

Tomica World was a rebranded Plarail that preceded Thomas Motor Road and Rail, which in turn preceded Trackmaster. It included Real trains including British/European/American designs, and a couple of renamed and rebranded Plarail designs crept in as well. The Amtrak F-Unit is a Tomica World exclusive design, as is (I believe) the Hitachi e653, which I own in its Gray and Red livery. Theseare just 2 among many. Thomas and Friends gradually became more popular, and the real trains were discontinued, and the range was rebranded 'Thomas Motor Road and Rail'. The comercials can still be found on YouTube today.


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iGzXL4yb7c

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It would be brilliant if they somehow managed to reintroduce the 'Tomica World' line in the UK and US

The reason I asked you the question was...we were discussing the takeover of Mattel, owner of Fisher Price and Trackmaster and the way you worded the response "if they somehow managed to reintroduce the 'Tomica World'". Not being one to know the whole story of where these trains came from I thought by "reintroduce" you meant that Tomica World was somehow connected to Trackmaster back then.