Thomas & friends ertl range
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the thomas & friends ertl range is a toy lineup of the characters from Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. the original set consisted of only the main characters, but now they have almost all the characters.
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[edit] Brief Description
Ertl created their thomas model in 1984. he came with a sticker sheet. this was so you could alter thomas' face to make him a different expression. also released this year was a larger, motorised version of thomas.
later during the year, james and henry were released. they featured only their happy face. the ertl range has made new engines nearly every year from then, tallying up to over 100 models, until the range was replaced by take along.
During the range's popularity, they made miniature models of the engines, Gold rail models, and also they made these models in america: Thomas with annie and clarabel, percy and the foolish freight cars, as well as toby, henrietta and a truck. these were qute big, and had a bit of a lack in detail, but they were very fun to play with.
many people who collected the models have over 100. (I do). many people still play with their ertl models.
[edit] the range
[edit] september 1984
only thomas was released this month. he came with a sticker sheet. this was so you could alter thomas' face to make him happy or sad. also released this year was a large pull-back-and-go thomas.
[edit] december/november 1984
now no alternate faces were featured. these were the engines:
- thomas (updated)
- james
- Henry
[edit] 1985
now no decal sheets were included, and thomas, james and henry were all given red buffer beams to replace the earlier white ones. new models were released, although now the faces resembled those of the TV series rather than those of the railway series:
[edit] Diecast
- percy
- toby
- bertie
- Terrance
- Annie and clarabel (could only be released in a 3-pack with thomas until 1993)
[edit] Others
- Moneybox thomas
- Remote controlled Thomas
- Pullback large percy
[edit] 1988
two new engines were introduced
- edward
- gordon
[edit] 1990
thomas had now puffed all the way to the USA. the ertl models were released in "Shining time station" themed packaging in the USA. meanwhile, in the UK, they were making more models. this year the engines' faces were replaced with plastic faces. probably Because the sticker faces were prone to falling off.:
- duck
- diesel
- trevor
- Sir topham hatt with a porter
- the troublesome trucks.
- Very Very rare brown troublesome trucks
- Harold
[edit] 1992
more engines were being released. the 2 sets of twins were included. these are the models they made:
- bill
- ben
- Donald
- Douglas
- Henrietta
- Mavis
- Class 2 coaches
- Express Coaches
[edit] 1993
the ertl brand was now given a re-vamp. the packaging changed. A few models were introduced:
- Oliver
- Daisy
- BoCo
- City of truro
- Sodor canal boat
- sodor soft-side truck
[edit] 1995
this was the first use of a non-TV series character. these were the models:
- 199 diesel
- Scrap trevor on a flatbed
- toad
- Golden 50 year thomas
[edit] 1996
series 4 had now fully aired. a lot of narrow gauge engines were introduced:
- Skarloey
- Rheneas
- Sir handel
- Peter Sam
- Rusty
- Duncan
- Duke
- Culdee
- Godred
- Patrick
[edit] 1997
a small handful of models were introduced:
- Stepney
- The Diesel D261
[edit] 1998
this was the year that the metallic engines came out. some of these were made before others.
- Bluebell
- Defusit
- Chinese Dragon
- Metallic Thomas
- Metallic Percy
- Metallic Rheneas
- Metallic Duncan
- S.C.Ruffey and a truck
- Wilbert
- Sixteen
- Bulstrode
[edit] 1999
Season 5 had now fully aired. the packaging changed AGAIN. this one is rather bland. Just blue with the character's name in yellow. these are the engines made:
- 'arry
- Bert
- Lorry 3
- Lorry 2
- Metallic Duke
- Metallic Sir Handel
- Metallic Rusty
- Metallic Patrick
[edit] 2000
This was the year of the melennium, and what better way to welcome Y2K than new ertl models?
- Silver melennium Thomas
- Lady
- Diesel 10
- Bertram
- Cranky
- Derek
- Old SlowCoach
- Splatter
- Dodge
[edit] 2001
New models were released. these ones are indeed bright and cheerful, but quite detailed as well
- Sodor Flat truck
- Sodor crane
- Pump Trolley
- Narrow Gauge slate trucks
- Flying Scotsman
- Smudger
[edit] 2002
America had now stopped making models, and australia are having difficulty getting any new models, but the UK are still making them this year. The packaging Changed again. the packaging is now the engine's name in red, with a little cartoon of the character in the top right-hand corner. The coupling style now changed from the basic "Hook and eye" style to a U-hook. it is believed to be sturdier, and lasts longer. these models were made in 2002.
- Harvey
- Frank
- Salty
- Elizabeth
- Niel
- the silly trucks
- Spiteful Brakevan
[edit] 2003
The series was now on its 7th series, and still being shrank to TT scale in the UK!
- Emily
- Spencer
- D7101 "Bear"
- Isabel
- Catherine the mountain coach
[edit] 2004
These were the last set of models made anywhere. the ertl thomas range was replaced by take-along the same year as these engines came out:
- Arthur
- Jock
- Jack
- Alfie
- Murdoch
- Fergus
No more models.
[edit] Thomas Miniatures
in around 1991, the ertl company made a miniature sub-range of thomas featuring the more well-known characters. The engines would come in either packs of 3 or with playsets. these were soon out of production. in 1996, the range came back for a short while. however, they were now a keyring range, and did not feature annie, clarabel, or the troublesome trucks. In 2001, after 10 years of not being in production, the miniatures came back in new packaging, with new models like henry and Mavis.
[edit] Gold Rail
These rare series came around 1995. They were about the size of a HO scale train, and they were extremely similar to the Bandai thomas range. the series suprisingly had bill and ben, but omitted henry. these are what they made:
- Thomas
- Edward
- Gordon
- James
- Percy
- Annie
- Clarabel
- Troublesome Truck
- Foolish Freight-car
- Toby
- Bertie
[edit] See also
Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends merchandise
