Plarail TOMY Thomas NEW RELEASES

This isn’t much help but it looks like the translation is Spring 2018 (April, I believe):

Ok...so the only one that is a motorized Plarail train coming in April is Hurricane...right??? Just from the blurry picture he already looks 10 times better than the Trackmaster version and the same goes for the trailing smelter pot car so I do get how one could say that Mattel has won this round OTR or am I missing something?

Merlin looks like he's got a power switch in one part of the picture but the other he doesn't. How strange!

Super thrilled about Frankie and Theo, though Frankie is going to need a mod or two.

The all-metal shiny silver Thomas is a nice nod to one of the musical numbers. That's a pretty cool looking one, imo

Great find!

(12-29-2017, 01:27 AM)Super Wrote: Ok...so the only one that is a motorized Plarail train coming in April is Hurricane...right??? Just from the blurry picture he already looks 10 times better than the Trackmaster version and the same goes for the trailing smelter pot car so I do get how one could say that Mattel has won this round OTR or am I missing something?

In my defense, I was looking at the pics of Hurricane on my phone and without my reading glasses, so I didn’t realize the he was the powered engine in a set with Frankie and the ladle car (is that what the car is called?). I was working on the assumption that I was seeing Tekoro engines but since that’s not the case, this set is much more interesting to me now.

On the other hand, the play set with Thomas and Merlin is kind of underwhelming. My son got the Scrapyard Escape set for Christmas and it was honestly pretty impressive.

I’m pretty ambivalent about Trackmaster 2 stuff, since it often seems like a step down from Plarail or TM1. And while I’m sure a Plarail Hurricane or powered Merlin will probably be nicer than the Trackmaster versions, I’ll concede that Mattel did a decent job on their Journey Beyond Sodor line. It’s actually above average for them nowadays. Of course, they managed to get back to normal with the new version of Stephen that’s in the same assortment as Lexi! What in the holy heck happened there?

(12-28-2017, 05:01 PM)Super Wrote: Just released...
Plarail JR Kyushu Sweet Train Aru Ressha(2-Car Set)
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10511641

I really do like this train and especially the real one inside and out. Its gold finish reminds me of Willy Wonkas Golden Ticket, after all they do serve Gourmet Sweets (like the Chocolate Factory) on this train hence its name. The detail and all that gold makes for a sweet looking train...get it?.....do ya see what I did there?...did ya see?

I'm really scared for the future of plarail thomas. Come on, Hurricane doesn't even have painted buffers!

At least he has buffers that could easily be painted unlike those 'flat dots' that Trackmaster II trys to pass off at buffers.

Not as 'gold' as I thought or it should have been. Thats a first that I remember seeing, a coach with the small wheels. Thats also a new way to open the see inside coach that I have seen.

The new clear stations... J-26 Platform Screen Door Station

Anyone have pics or names for that just-announced set with a CGI-faced Thomas? Supposedly it comes with Owen and Cranky, too, but all I have is a tweet with a cropped screenshot with only Thomas. There's also supposed to be a silver metallic limited edition Thomas with Annie and Clarabel according to the same tweet.