Blue Plastic Tracks

I remember when the toby revelation came out there was a lot of traction about it, maybe that does mean it's not a true variation considering the lack of attention...?

I do own one of the light brown tna tobys, and I can tell why in 2002 the switch to a darker brown as it doesn't match the regular Toby I have

I’m sorry Diamond I’ve been meaning to investigate this for you, but I’ve literally haven’t had a minute lately…
I peeked around a bit today at what I have on the shelve, but to my eyes they all seemed the same shade. The Japanese version is brand new and seems brighter, but it’s nothing to the contrasts of the two you’ve shown.
Both of the American, and British version look identical, but I only have one British version to compare the others too.
The rest are the Japanese versions in boxes, and I’ve not been able to get to look at them yet, though I’m not sure that would help you, as yours are the British versions?

Also, I think that the TnA Toby variation got more “traction” because it’s clearly a deliberate and intentional multiple color change, not only in the color of the plastic, but also the color of the painted roof.
The variables that could allow for a dye to be off a shade or two by an isolated factory (like the 2 light/dark variants of motorized Bertie) could easily be explained as human error or laziness.
Sun, smoke, and nicotine also cause chemical reactions within the plastic that can effect its shade, and red is a particularly sensitive color.
If it’s not smoke or sun, then I think it may have come from that same goofy messed up rogue factory somewhere that is responsible for producing the hot red motorized Bertie and also the Red Bulgy w/service window variation.
….Whoever the Tomy Executive in charge of “quality control and product continuity for the color red” ought to have his toenails painted.

Thanks Muddy Man 👍

(11-11-2022, 04:52 PM)TheDiamondDalek Wrote: [ -> ]Hi all, I've no idea if this has been documented before but I recieved a new talk n action james today in the mail and it's a different colour compared to the other ones in my collection, (see photo below for comparison of both UK models I own, one is this new variant) so the question I have is, could this be a variant in the same way as talk n action toby? I noted most of the model, not just the red, is darker than on the other models, what do you guys think? Note: One side is sun-faded on this darker model but the darker colouration is consistent over the entirety of the model, the underside, tender etc

It's neat to see I'm not the only one whose noticed this with their TnA James'. Although the color difference between my JP James and UK James is so subtle, it hardly comes through on camera. (Minus the sticker on the UK one, which is just sun faded)