Thomas & friends ertl range

The Thomas & Friends Ertl range was a toy lineup of the characters from the TV series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. The original set consisted of only the main characters, but eventually almost all the characters were released.

Brief Description

Ertl created their Thomas model in 1984. It came with a sticker sheet so you could alter Thomas' face to make him have a different facial expression. This year they also released 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 since 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 each engine, as well as Gold rail models. Some were only released in America (Thomas Bandai line in Japan) These were quite big.

The Range

September, 1984

Thomas was the first character released. He came with a sticker sheet so you could alter his face to make him happy or sad. Also released this year was a large pull-back-and-go Thomas.

November-December, 1984

Several new engines were created:

Thomas (updated)
James
Henry

1985

Decal sheets were no longer included. 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:

Diecast

Percy
Toby
Bertie
Terence
Annie and Clarabel (could only be released in a 3-pack with Thomas or Percy until 1993)

1988

Two new engines were introduced:

Edward
Gordon

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 (Grey)
Very rare troublesome trucks (Brown)
Harold

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
Old coaches
Express Coaches

1993

The Ertl brand was now given a re-vamp. The packaging changed. A few models were introduced:

Oliver
Daisy
Boco
City of truro

1995

This was the first use of a non-TV series character. These were the models:

D199
Scrap Trevor on flatbed
Toad
Gold Anniversary Thomas

1996

Series 4 had now fully aired. The narrow gauge engines were introduced.

Rheneas
Sir handel
Peter Sam
Rusty
Duncan
Culdee
Godred

1997

A small handful of models were introduced:

Lord Harry
Duke
Skarloey
Stepney
The Diesel D261
Caroline

1998

This was the year that the metallic engines were released.

Bluebell
De-fusit (Gunpowder Wagons)
Chinese Dragon
Metallic Thomas
Metallic Percy
Metallic Rheneas
Metallic Duncan
Wilbert
Sixteen
Bulstrode
Henry`s Log Car
Sodor canal boat
Sodor soft-side truck
Sodor Mail Van
Crane

1999

As the packaging stayed the same, more models came out.

'Arry
Bert
Lorry 3
Lorry 2
Bi-Plane
Derek
Metallic Duke
Metallic Sir Handel
Metallic Rusty
Metallic Lord Harry

2000

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:

Bertram
Cranky
Old Slow Coach
Thumper
Lady
Diesel 10
Splatter
Dodge
Silver Millenium Thomas

2001

New models were released. these ones are indeed bright and cheerful, but quite detailed as well

Dyson Low Loader
Pump Truck
Slate trucks
Flying Scotsman
Smudger
Sir Topham hatt & Lady Hatt
Lorry 1
Sodor taxi

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.

Harvey
Falcon
Frank
Salty
Elizabeth
Neil
The Silly Trucks
Spiteful Brakevan

2003

The series was now on its 7th series, and still being shrunk to TT scale in the UK!

Emily
Spencer
Murdoch
D7101 "Bear"
Isabel
Catherine the mountain coach

2004

Arthur
Jock
Jack
Alfie
Fergus

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.

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 surprisingly 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
Bill
Ben

External links