JLKhalaf2707 Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 I saw this on the chuffers website in the Thomas and friends range for 2013 in December. They had then said that this was the last of it and that it is discontinued!:_( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The son of Triangman Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 This is a tricky one. If you check the Hornby shop you will see there are some new products added to the range, but the range doesn't feature in the catalouge. We were told the range was finished as from December 2013 as well. So it's anyones guess at the moment. I would say Hornby are just using up surplus stocks and offering a few token new models. The Thomas fad has run it's course I think, kids are less interested in it and the CGI programmes on tv haven't helped. There was more interest when the tv series had models rather than CGI. The high licence costs are probably a factor as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkbate22 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Ah right so that is why Hornby Thomas and Friends range was discontinued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyCube Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Thomas still seems quite popular amongst the target audience for the TV show, i.e. the under 5s. But I'm not surprised the Hornby range doesn't sell too well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetstream Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I would be interested to know what percentage costs Hornby had to pay in licence fee's to produce a Thomas model, I don't think it would have been cheap which could have contributed to its downfall. The Thomas models have been going on for around 25+ years, and I think there would always have been space for a cheeky Thomas model on a layout for the kids, so I am sup prised to see the whole range has been pulled….which kind of points to a fall out with the parent company... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDR Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Obviously it is a great pity when an old favourite is discontinued, but for all the reasons mentioned above I am not at all surprised. The 'Thomas' stories on TV were getting silly with an ever expanding cast of locomotives and dubious unrailwaylike plots so it is probably appropriate that it is laid to rest. I still enjoy looking at the original series of books written by the Reverend, who was a knowledgeable railway enthusiast, but it is obvious that the scriptwriters employed more recently had not got a clue about railways. I was also brought up on 'Clara Chuff' on BBC radio Children's Hour and 'Sammy the Shunter' published by Ian Allan, both of which had far fetched plots, but at least were British. A long time ago an O gauge layout shown at the Railway Exhibition at Central Hall Westminster had a 'Sammy' model that used to pop out from time to time to disrupt the operations, stealing trucks and the like. The man operating it would tell 'Sammy' off and then if he persisted in his naughtiness he would punish Sammy with a whack with a newspaper! All very silly but the kids loved it. I did! Perhaps the time is right to cater for the very junior end with Hornby's own 'characters'? These would be free of licence fees. Do Ian Allan still own the rights to 'Sammy' for example, and what about 'Ivor'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornbyfan1000 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 If the thomas range is discontinued doesn't that mean they will remove these forums? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyCube Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Not necessarily. The Live Steam forum is still here, and that's been discontinued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornbyfan1000 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 I don't think the thomas range has been discontinued but someone from hornby said the range was under review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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