Thomas & Friends KNOCKOFFS

Lately we've discussed Chinese counterfeits (knockoffs; unlicensed products) in various threads. So I thought it would be nice to have a fresh new thread just for them, for sharing experiences with those engines/trains.

Generally speaking, I do not endorse manufacturing and selling counterfeit products, and I don't support the manufacturers of such products by buying their products. That being said, I admit I made an exception and bought some of these Chinese TM knockoffs. Why? Let me explain...

I found them on eBay, and they are rather cheap (some are selling for just 10 USD!). Some of them you can find on AliExpress too. I think we should value their looks and performances according to their prices. They are not spectacular, but they are good runners, and they look OK. Colours may vary a bit, there could be some "overspraying" of colour here and there, but nothing too bad. In any case they are not (and I don't think they'll ever be)  Plarail-quality engines, by no means. But they are ok. 

The other thing, which is very important, is that there are some engines that are really hard to find, and „Chinese TrackMaster“ offers those engines "new in box". Where else could I buy NiB Rheneas for US $13.01? 

Moreover, if you have a „blue tracks layout“ (as I do), new TrackMaster engines (with spiky wheels) are almost completely useless; they don't run on blue tracks. Chinese conterfeits do. Therefore I hope they'll find some way to go legit. That would be awesome: a whole series of engines without the silly Mattel's games with ugly spiky wheels that run only on their special tracks. And in mentioned price-range…!






I really wanted (among others) the "Skarloey Railway" narrow gauge engines. Rev. Awdry's Railway Series Book No. 10 "Four Little Engines" is one of my favorites in the whole series. Originals are hard to find in most cases (NiB - almost impossible), so I bought these counterfeits (except Skarloey himself - he is Plarail original). Here are they in action:



They come in boxes, some come loose. In some cases, you can choose: do you want them in the box (for a few Dollars more) or without the box (loose). 




My latest „Chinese TrackMasters“ – Red & Green Salty – came without their boxes (but they were bubble-wrapped in a tight and sturdy little package):

Nice post! Have you (or others that have also bought some of these trains) noticed that some of them have pretty goofy googly eyes? I have at least one bash/dash (and I think a Rheneas) that have completely off-centered eyes. I would be upset if I had to pay top dollar for them, but instead I think they're just funny and the price you pay for getting a pretty inexpensive new "old" train.

In my eyes, it’s sort of sad that these counterfeit trains are, in their own right, of a higher quality than what is currently being sold in the TrackMaster toy line. Glad they’re around, certain characters have become much more obtainable thanks to these.

-MagicRail

I own a Chinese Charlie. You can see that his whole body shell including the footplate are all one piece, just like Peter Sam, and Donald & Douglas

This cute little Charlie is on my buying list for quite some time now...

I own some of these chinese Trackmasters as well. Duncan pretty much remains the same with a couple minor changes and Freddie gets a redesign. 

I also own these two Chinese Trackmasters:


Duncan



Fearless Freddie

The switch on that Freddie though . Why is it so far in that hole? Would it be difficult to turn it on?

if you have big fingers, it's prtty hard, not too hard for me though.

MisterNo,

Thank you for for this post! I appreciate the effort of consolidating all this information. Very helpful for the uneducated, like me

I liked your train runners video too. You have quite the layout! The knockoffs do seem to fit right in as very useful engines.

The knockoffs do seem to fit right in as very useful engines.

Exactly. That's the point. When originals are hard or impossible to find, or too expensive (even when sold as "used"), and when there is no chance you'll complete some collection (like mine "Four Little Engines" from Rev. Awdry's book) - there are the knockoffs! And - bam! - there they are, for a few bucks. 
I said it before, I'm saying it again: I'm not endorsing counterfeit goods and manufacturing of knockoffs. But in such cases there is simply no other way out!