Just Who are the Thomas Manufactuers

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Can someone here produce a short and concise essay on the history of the "Manufactuers Only" of the Thomas plastic toy lines, i.e.  Tomy, Hit Toys, Trackmaster, Mattel, Plarail, Tomica World and the ones I don't know about enough to name.

Spelling out and with a sharp focus on the who sold what, the when and the where. Keeping in mind, I'm not speaking about the individual named locos,  just who made them. 

And to keep it of a short nature, I'm really only interested in the battery operated plastic lines and not the electric or medal ones.  Thank you for filling in the blanks of my knowleadge in this hobby.
Mike Arnett Customthomas
[-] The following 1 user Likes Powerful Gordon Mike's post:
  • MrKirby48
Here's a rough timeline based on my knowledge:
TOMY: 1992-2006
*Note that TOMY is still producing for Thomas on Japan only.
HiT Toy Company: 2006-2009
Fisher-Price: 2010-2014
MATTEL: 2014-Present

Hope it helps. If I'm wrong let me know!
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  • DalaGStanator
Fisher-Price is Mattel, so it would actually be (Late) 2009-present.
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Thanks guys.... but what about Plarail and Tomica and what countries were these all these different loco maunfactuers sold in?
Mike Arnett Customthomas
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  • DalaGStanator
Plarail is the name of TOMY's (main) toy train system as a whole, not a manufacturer. Oddly, it seems TOMY never actually used it outside East Asia; not even on non-Thomas releases. Both Tomica World (late '90s-early 2000s) and Tomica Hypercity (early 2010s) were European-American-Australian releases of Plarail. Tomica is also a brand of plastic/die-cast vehicles with their own road parts and accessories, which were also included with Plarail trains in Tomica Hypercity playsets.
(This post was last modified: 02-26-2025, 07:14 PM by DalaGStanator.)
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  • MrKirby48
(02-26-2025, 06:59 PM)DalaGStanator Wrote: Plarail is the name of TOMY's (main) toy train system as a whole, not a manufacturer. Oddly, it seems TOMY never actually used it outside East Asia; not even on non-Thomas releases. Both Tomica World (late '90s-early 2000s) and Tomica Hypercity (early 2010s) were European-American-Australian releases of Plarail. Tomica is also a brand of plastic/die-cast vehicles with their own road parts and accessories, which were also included with Plarail trains in Tomica Hypercity playsets.

Was Hit Toys  the manufacturer of the Trackmaster Thomas line in both US and UK?

Was any Thomas line products avaliable in the US in 1992?  If so, how manufactuered them?
Mike Arnett Customthomas
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  • Destination Realization, MrKirby48
For the 1st half of the Second question, Wooden Railway, ERTL, Tomy Train, Plarail Tomy, Hornby, and Lionel (I think)
Hi! you can call me D-Real, I’ve Been A collector since 2011, and Remember: Anything’s Possible when you have Dedication!! Smile
(02-27-2025, 12:01 AM)Destination Realization Wrote: For the 1st half of the Second question, Wooden Railway, ERTL, Tomy Train, Plarail Tomy, Hornby, and Lionel (I think)

Thanks for answer, but I'm focus on the plastic battery line only... so are you saying that Tomy Plarail sold the Thomas line in the US in 1992?
Mike Arnett Customthomas
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  • Destination Realization
(02-26-2025, 11:39 PM)Powerful Gordon Mike Wrote:
(02-26-2025, 06:59 PM)DalaGStanator Wrote: Plarail is the name of TOMY's (main) toy train system as a whole, not a manufacturer. Oddly, it seems TOMY never actually used it outside East Asia; not even on non-Thomas releases. Both Tomica World (late '90s-early 2000s) and Tomica Hypercity (early 2010s) were European-American-Australian releases of Plarail. Tomica is also a brand of plastic/die-cast vehicles with their own road parts and accessories, which were also included with Plarail trains in Tomica Hypercity playsets.

Was Hit Toys  the manufacturer of the Trackmaster Thomas line in both US and UK?

Was any Thomas line products avaliable in the US in 1992?  If so, how manufactuered them?

For the first question, yes. Take note TOMY still has the Thomas rights in Europe at the time, so the Trackmaster toys from Europe wear the TOMY logo until the toy range was bought by MATTEL in late 2009.

For the second question, the short answer is no. Before 1997 or so, there used to exist a range called TOMY Trains which featured the dark blue track system.
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  • Destination Realization
Ok...  for me, this is getting twisted.  So let me simplify my question:

In 1992, who was the manufacturer of the plastic battery Thomas line in:

UK - ?
US - ?
Japan - ?
Mike Arnett Customthomas
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