DalaGStanator's Collections

Note to moderators: Please do not move this thread to the Trading Zone. Some of the items don't fit in the boards there, and I wish for it to remain visible when logged out for as long as possible. Thank you.

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Well, here we are! I know it's been a whole month since the last update, but I haven't forgotten to keep my promises. The announcement made me more eager than ever to open this thread due to the size of my collections and what's in them. Rather than waiting until after I've fixed them up and increase the time gap even further, I thought I'll show the rest of the items in their current states before they could be revisited. Many of them have been in good condition since they were bought, while others have had to put up with poor customization attempts, childhood mistreatment and exposure to sunlight (things that such toys normally tend to experience). I initially thought about displaying them outside the shed for better lighting but ended up following the style of the cabinet photos, so excuse the shadow of the one door that stays shut. I also have other ones I chose not to mention for the time being (many of which are still stored in the room). Without further a do, let's get into it.
 
TOMY/TrackMaster Engines


 

• TOMY Thomas (1992)*
  
• TrackMaster Thomas (2009)
  
• TOMY Edward (1996)
  
• TrackMaster Edward (2012)*
  
• TrackMaster Talking Gordon
  
• TrackMaster Talking James (FP, 2009)
  
• TOMY Percy (1994)
  
• TrackMaster Toby (2009)
  
• TOMY Ben*
  
• TrackMaster Talking Salty*
  
• TOMY Emily
  
• TOMY Spencer*
  

* Only remaining example that's fully intact; All the others were turned into shoddy customs, the bulk of which were *gasp* thrown out all because they couldn't be reverted.
* Bought in the UK to "replace" the TOMY one, which had been aesthetically ruined in a failed attempt to add accurate detail.
* Dismantled for parts; chassis partially broken, but the drive unit is only missing a few components and should still be able to run when they're added. Expected to be repurposed for numerous scratch built engines and short power units, all of which would allow it to be inserted and taken back out (like Plarail Merlin). Because Bill was not sold in Israel, I never had a real use for Ben as a character.
* The white running board was done with office labels to avoid mistakes with paint/correction fluid. Three years later, he was converted into a "semi regular" version using a normal Flat drive.
* Currently disguised as Henry, though he can be turned back into Spencer with little to no effort.

Take Along/Take 'n Play Engines


 

• Thomas
  
• Edward
  
• Henry*
  
• Gordon
  
• James*
  
• Percy
  
• Toby
  
• Duck
  
• Mavis
  
• Lady
  
• Salty
  
• Harvey
  
• Fergus
  
• Arthur
  
• Spencer
  

* Only Take 'n Play; Bought in the UK.
* Black and gold version (first available in sets before being sold individually).

TOMY/TrackMaster Rolling Stock


 

• TOMY Annie
  
• TOMY Clarabel
  
• TOMY Powered Annie*
  
• TOMY Long Clarabel*
  
• TOMY Emily's Coach
  
• TOMY Spencer's Coach
  
• TOMY S.C. Ruffey*
  
• Other TOMY Troublesome Trucks (10x)
  
• TrackMaster Flipping Coal Trucks (2x)
  
• TOMY Brake Van (BR 20 Ton)
  
• TOMY Troublesome Van
  
• TrackMaster Blue Van*
  

* From the Steam Along Thomas. The poor loco was thrown out after being forcibly removed, and the remains of the wire coupling were discarded. Annie still ran with all three batteries until the 2x AA pack got disconnected, and the wire that held it in place will have to be resoldered. Due to its wonderful potential, I hope to use the chassis for an even bigger fleet of custom shells depicting diesels, electric engines, railcars, coaches and large trucks (not necessarily from TTTE). One downfall is the battery pack will limit what shapes I'll be able to use. If I knew how to reduce it to one battery on top and still get it to run, I could've had a bigger variety of design options. Along with Clarabel, the original shell is now painted as a green Express Coach. When there's nothing coupled in front of it, the hook from the Emily tender can be taken out.
* Previously repainted as a coach for Koko (despite being too short in height and clearly mismatched). The paintjob was near impossible to remove before this photo was taken.
* Brown version (based on rebuild).
* From the 2012 Thomas bought in the UK; The chassis with the punched wheels was replaced with one from a TOMY truck and the roof was repainted black.

Take Along Rolling Stock


 

• Sodor Line Caboose
  
• Milk Tanker
  
• Chinese Dragon
  
• Coal Hopper
  
• Scented Orange Barrel Car
  

TOMY/TrackMaster Non Rail Characters


 

• TOMY Terence (small)
  
• TOMY Trevor
  
• TOMY Harold (small)
  
• TrackMaster HiT Toys Harold
  
• TOMY Harold (Cargo Delivery)*
  
• TOMY Caroline
  
• TOMY Bulstrode
  
• TOMY Cranky*
  
• TrackMaster Boulder*
  
• TOMY Elizabeth
  
• TOMY Jeremy
  

* I used acetone to remove the yellowing, but it ended up wiping off his name and facial features (which I couldn't recreate). Good thing it wasn't the small Harold. I'm hoping to obtain hydrogen peroxide because I've heard it's much more recommended, though I'm not sure what it would do to anything that's not white or grey.
* Repainted green to reflect his actual colour as well as later versions (with black for the spaces). I have no idea why the first merchandise of him was grey. I used the wrong shade for him, so I'm hoping to redo the paintjob someday.
* Repainted brown since he was incorrectly blue (not even grey like in the end of the episode).

Take Along/Take 'n Play Vehicles


 

• Terence
  
• Bertie*
  
• Trevor
  
• George*
  
• Butch
  
• Elizabeth
  

* Only Take 'n Play. Bought in the UK.

* His original face was out of character, so I initially tried to draw on it. After that didn't go well, I blacked out the plastic face and put a cut out of his TV one over it. I have since cut it off and made a better one with the hot melt glue method.

Big Loader Shells


 

• Thomas
  
• Percy*
  
• Terence
  

* About the correction fluid: I once had the idea to repaint the shell to resemble Stanley when The Great Discovery was new. I never proceeded with this and only recently tried to revert the smokebox to black.

Mega Bloks


 

• Thomas
  
• Edward
  
• James
  
• Toby
  
• Light Blue Truck
  
• Sir Topham Hatt (2x)*
  

* The second one came from Edward All Around (most likely in my LEGO parts box with the rest of the set), and the first from the 2-in-1 Buildable Thomas (not pictured). Shame he's too big for my preferred scale, though.

TOMY Pull Back Engines


 

• Thomas
  
• James*
  
• Percy
  

* Taken apart so I could see how the eye mechanism worked. He wasn't screwed back together very well and the motor retainer piece was substituted.

Customs


 

• Henrietta - Made from one of my first Annies/Clarabels with the ends blacked out and railings made of labels cut into strips.
  
• Dark Green Van - Repaint of one of my two Troublesome Vans (from Edward or this set).
  
• Scrap Engine - Made from the body of my Flip Face James around the time I got the Talking one. Might be reverted for a custom alternative James (with the original tender and/or other parts, albeit with the battery in the loco).
  
• Ivor the Engine V1 - Repaint of Stepney's shell for a 90% reversible custom that featured in a remake of the first episode.
  
• Ivor the Engine V2 - Made from the UK-bought 2012 Thomas to get a more accurate result (and in hopes of redoing the remake).
  
• Sir Topham Hatt's Car - Repaint of a Majorette VW Beetle.
  
• Jack - Repaint of a Mighty Wheels backhoe loader that had lost its backhoe. He was my first use of hot melt glue for custom faces made to look like they are sculpted instead of just paper cutouts. It had more of a snowplough instead of an actual bucket, so I used another front loader as a reference for the shape (but made it narrower). The bucket was made of three pieces of cardboard, and the plough was cut and reduced to a bracket to attach and support it.
  
• Alfie - Mostly a cardboard "shroud" over a Mighty Wheels telehandler, with an arm from a lorry mounted excavator glued on the side.
  
• Byron - Partial repaint of a Mighty Wheels bulldozer.
  

Chuggington and Cars

 

• Motorised Brewster
  
• Motorised Wilson
  
• Motorised Koko
  
• Lightning McQueen and Mater (friction powered)*
  

These Chuggers were from an obscure battery powered range that was sold in countries where the Interactive Railway wasn't. They were made shortly before they appeared in Plarail and reused the shells, track and accessories from the Interactive line, but they don't talk/interact and only play sound effects. Until I could get Koko (who was no longer available in my city back then), I used the Mega Bloks version as a substitute. In addition to other detail, I also gave them glow in the dark headlights like I did with the 2009 Thomas. Had I still cared about the show, I would've been happy to trade them for their Plarail counterparts.

* I've never watched the Cars films, but I bought these for a remake of Thomas the Unstoppable Tank Engine. Despite how short the scene with Lightning and Mater was, I insisted that they actually be there. I thought I was getting them in one of the countless regular ranges, only to find they had friction motors when I took them out. I can't remember the name of this particular range, but they're both dated 2012. They run perfectly on the TOMY road system and even go up slopes without problems. Mater also changes direction and spins when revved backwards (in reference to being the "world's best backwards driver").
 

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So, that's it for the (noteworthy) items in the Backyard Tidmouth. I don't know if I'll show the ones in the room or not, because the majority of them are from the TOMY and HiT "preschool" (under 3) range and the RC/Flip Face Thomas is not fit to be seen. Being able to reveal them properly for the first time was quite fun, and I hope it was worth the wait (then again, I didn't have proper access to the bulk during the previous decade). As promised, be on the lookout for everything else I mentioned.

[Super]

Very nice Da-lag

Who might this character be?

I like the idea of making a Big Loader with Stanley - Having recently gone on a Big Loader spree and ending up with 8 Thomas Big, Big Big, and Mail loaders of varying vintage, I think a Stanley version around the time of the Great Discovery would have been a great idea

Super, that's Terence, in a somewhat distorted form.



I suppose it's not as strange looking as Lorry in the Big Big loader though

[Super]

Thats Terrence??? Doesn't look anything like him. Is this some regeneration of him in some episode?

It's just the Big Loader version, not based on anything elsewhere.

[Super]

Well that makes a little more sense. I was viewing him as the same size as the motorized Terrence but he is much bigger as the Big Loader. Thanks Dr Chris.

I like the idea of making a Big Loader with Stanley - Having recently gone on a Big Loader spree and ending up with 8 Thomas Big, Big Big, and Mail loaders of varying vintage, I think a Stanley version around the time of the Great Discovery would have been a great idea

I somehow thought they made Percy's smokebox more flat bottomed than Thomas', even though both had the same shape. It didn't help that his saddle tank looked too flat compared to other versions of him. That was the real reason why I almost did it.

Eight Thomas Big Loader sets? Imagine the potential for customs with all those tops (maybe even the first known ones ever). The more abstract shapes would surely make them easier to modify to resemble other characters. For instance, James or Edward could be made from Thomas without the side tanks. My set is complete except for the balls, but the power unit is so corroded I doubt I'd be able to restore it. If there'd be a way to do so, I might revisit the conversion to Stanley (if not just repaint Percy to hide the signs). Alternatively, he could also be Duke or Bertram instead. The main problem is I'd much rather put my effort into the other systems, meaning it's not something I'll definitely look into.

Yeah, eight lol, originally I wanted to get one, then I wanted one in the box, discovered they were slightly different moldings, then I wanted one with the older box, then I discovered there's a version where the wheels still have the molded treads, and on and on. Got the Mail and Big Big loader versions too...

In case they're of interest, I thought I'll add the other ones anyway so they wouldn't be left out. Given their purpose compared to the commonly accepted (3+) ranges, they don't quite have the same appeal to them (in my opinion). Unless I would need good close up shots like in the filmed series, I've developed a general preference for much smaller scales to do anything with.


 

• RC Steam & Sounds Thomas*
  
• Musical Bubble Thomas (2x)*
  
• Musical Thomas (2004)
  
• Whistle & Go Thomas*
  
• (Easy Go) RC Thomas
  

* Unfortunately no longer works. The battery cover got stuck to the bunker (perhaps due to corrosion) and its screw got stripped, making it impossible to open to begin with. Possible water damage as well due to remnants or lack of distilled water. One set of wheels can still roll freely, but the other side causes him to get stuck. Given it uses all wheel drive on each side, there might be an issue with the gearing.
* The first MBT is currently in the shed, so this one is my second. It was bought after the other was once dropped by accident (it didn't break, but the soundchip suffered the hard impact and I have no idea if the motor still works).
* Sound sensitivity reduced (perhaps due to age). Original whistle in shed.

Connect & Sounds Thomas

 

• Troublesome Truck
  
• Annie
  
• Jet Engine
  

The engine no longer exists and only the rolling stock remains. Due to their height, I've thought about using Annie and the truck with the motorised Chuggers (either with magnets on the Chuggers' couplings or the magnetic couplings replaced).

Not pictured are the TOMY Activity Island (in shed), TOMY Bathtime Squirters (Bertie in shed; not sure where Thomas, Percy and James are) and the Mega Bloks 2-in-1 Buildable Thomas (disassembled, in LEGO parts box).

[Super]

Thats the first I have heard of the 'RC Steam & Sounds Thomas' that is so cool and I bet a child would love it.