what trackmaster is best?

TrackMaster Hit Toys

TrackMaster Fisher Price

Trackmaster 2 (trackmaster motorized railway




I chose these to see your opinions on trackmaster throughout the years.

Fisher price (before the redisign) and HIT where the best of Trackmaster in my opinion

[HankAmericanEngine]

I'm actually going to do live-streams about these companies, as I've gotten this question several times in the past.

I would love to see that happen Hank. I really liked that blog you wrote on the wikia about the subject last year. It is an overtalked about subject, but I still like hearing other people's views and there is of course going to be no "right" or definate answer.

I think I really do like the earlier years of Thomas TrackMaster when Fisher-Price started making it. The updated details they added on to the first engines were just great little touches that made them stand out that little bit more, and even though it was a shame that you had to get a screwdriver to insert batteries in them, I can understand why it had to be done. The 2012 redesigns were okay, a couple of things I wished they didn't really have to do, the faces were well moulded but just a little creepy, and it was good that some stickers were removed so the new designed details could last. The only really bad thing now is that we have to be used to all our vehicles having those distracting holes in the wheels from being fixed to their boxes differently. It's been great to see the range developing slowly over these years with Trucks and Tracks moving to Cargo and Cars, we got the See-Inside Cars, and by the way, all these cars were so much nicer and well thought out than the stock standard cars, these packs were pretty much the premium cars. The R/C Engines went from being improved copies of their original to a basic R/C for small engines and a 3 Speed setting for tender engines, which really gave it that extra something, although we can see why the original R/C engines needed that second car when we saw just how squished up the new versions looked. The sets went in a new direction as well with more cleverly functioning features like the Zip, Zoom Logging Adventure zip line to Tidmouth Sheds automatically spinning turntable, and a towering functioning Cranky, we got more track in those generous sized track packs of Deluxe Expansion, 5-in-1, Junction Journey, and Sodor Sounds which provided great layouts on their own, we got themed track from glowing in the dark to being in the snow, on Misty Island, or at Blue Mountain. Plus I really loved the packaging this year with its illustrations on the boxes, the flashy white text on a red background, and the cardboard base with rail details. And while the range became a little bit disapointing in the later years with some money-making repaints such as the same basic starter sets and including Thomas too much, we still got some little treats such as some special packs or some clever sets with unexpected exclusives. Another downside was that there were too many US exclusives.

Now on to the other ranges. The TrackMaster range by HiT Toy Company did a great start paving the way for what was to come. It was a little bit inconsistant in the way its product range was layed out and it seems like the company was experimenting a lot. New releases of engines kept on changing from two to three packs or vice versa, track was taken away from engines (which I think was a good thing as having extra half straights get in the way of the engine a little). Sometimes it struggled a little bit with creativity with the endless brakevan repaints, but most of the Trucks and Track packs were still really well made and cleverly thought of. I do like how there were more add-on destinations which has surely lacked a lot from today's range (we miss you Knapford Station!), and the early sets had their Flip-Face engines and later, talking engines, a clever function which looked great. The roadway system was surely a bit of a hinderance and you can tell that HiT Toy Company tried to use it but they just found it too difficult to run alongside the track system, even though it was great to see battery operated versions of characters which hadn't done it previously, and the most inconsistant use of it is when it looked like it had been given up making the whole of The Pack and the rest of the machines were reduced to die-cast like models. Mind you I thought Nelson at the Quarry was one of the more interesting sets during this time. The sets had much nicer representations of buildings such as Maron Station, and Action Canyon and Spin and Fix Thomas' Sodor Steamworks were some of the more unusual destinations which we've seen develop and become a usual thing with the annual DVD special tie-in set. This is also down to personal opinion as while the individual track pieces were handy, I think they made things a little bit harder if you wanted to create a bigger layout and you weren't sure what or how much of the pieces to get, so I am glad that's gone. Thank goodness that adaptors to Motor Road and Rail track were made as well. Another downside to the range was that it was mainly a US range, and even though it did go worldwide one to two years after its original release, we didn't get very much of it, and that adds to its inconsistencies.

With the other two ranges it's hard for me to talk about being a few months old and not being available worldwide. With the grey track TrackMaster, I do see the engines have improved in terms of speed and strength on their own track, and I can understand the cost-cutting measures and convenience of having the same body used, but it's a shame that to get that power they need two batteries, and some areas of the engines to achieve its shape do look a bit awkward with blank spaces. I think it was good though that the proportions are accurate and I think this is the only time "more detail" is applied with the tenders and trucks being smaller than the engines. Their strength however certainly has gone when they pull up to five cars. I know that's not "meant" to happen and I don't do it myself, but it's a shame that it's not even possible. The buildings do look pretty good and wild, but I don't like the look of that track and it does look hard to put together.

I can understand why the Motorized Railway was done and parts of it look alright, but I think that this sort of range really can't be toned down for much younger children. I would love to see this range connected to the current TrackMaster range just to see how/if they work together.

[HankAmericanEngine]

I'm making each a separate video jdogman. There's plenty of good, bad, and ugly with each one, so plenty of things to talk about.

[Ucwepn]

Will be a great series! All have good and bad points.

Looking forward to it. I do like all the ranges in their own way so I can't really pick a specific favourite. It's amazing how broad it can looked at from with blue track vs. brown track, to being precise (Plarail vs Tomy Trains vs Tomica World vs Thomas Motor Road and Rail vs Thomas TrackMaster by HiT Toy Company vs Thomas TrackMaster brown by Fisher-Price vs Tomica vs Thomas Motorized Railway vs Thomas TrackMaster grey).

I'd love to see someone make an argument for Tomy Trains being the best range overall. I can't believe I hadn't subscribed to your channel before, Hank. Better reserve my comments for when it comes!

I prefer TrackMaster Hit Toys. I can repair them easily whereas the later versions feature triangle screws. I had to order a triangle screw driver just to repair them.

TrackMaster Hit Toys

TrackMaster Fisher Price

Trackmaster 2 (trackmaster motorized railway




I chose these to see your opinions on trackmaster throughout the years.

You missed out Trackmaster made by Tomy in 2009. The Thomas & Friends Trackmaster Wikia also ignores this product line but I have several engines and one set (Super Sodor) which are made by Tomy and carry the Trackmaster logo!

I think Tomy and HiT Toys circa 2009 are the best Trackmaster products out there. That is when I started buying these toys for my youngest son and also bought several Tomy Motor Road & Rail engines that were still in stock, which are identical to the Trackmaster engines that followed.

I did not have any HiT Toy products originally but recently manged to find new old stock Bertram & Duke in the US. Excellent runners and much better than the Fisher Price Duke that followed. If you run them side by side the HiT Toys version is much quieter, faster and fuel efficient. Battery life is much extended. Cheers.

Dan

Technically that is the same as the TrackMaster range by HiT Toy Company, but it was only for the UK and other parts of Europe made by Tomy in 2008-2009. Nearly all the engines are identical from Motor Road and Rail, and there was a limited amount of destinations and sets, but it is the same premise. By the way, that wikia does mention it with one sentence.