You know, Sam, you could’ve given that digestible paper to Bullman. He’s a loyal companion to your railway and deserves a tasty treat for being pushed and pulled around the track as much as he is.
yeah, but the n scale one does its job better. The 00 James face has eye holes that are too big, a smile that would impress the Joker, and cheeks that have a bit too much Botox.
I'm an HO enthusiast but I can appreciate N scale. I did tune into the TV show a couple of times to see Ringo at his new gig, but I can't say who is who as far as the locomotives and characters. With that being said I relinquish my opinion of the look of James to your expertise, but I do think it is a good runner so great review. Happy Holidays, Jersey Bill
Wishing you a merry Christmas Sam! Can't believe you actually posted on Christmas Day. Also, I was recommended your video on Bachmann vs. Hornby models from 4 years ago today. Maybe you should do a comprehensive breakdown of all the manufacturers today, because we have come a very long way since that video was made, and Hornby and Bachmann (ESPECIALLY Hornby) have changed a lot.
Hi Sam, I really think it is about time you bought and reviewed the "300 page Full Color Combined Bachmann & Williams Catalog", if only to once and for all, cure yourself of your debilitating affliction 🙂
Hi Sam, what do you usually use to clean loco wheels? Recently I've discovered the Tomix track cleaner I'm using can take the silver coating off the wheels and expose the brass underneath, that can't be good... Thanks.
Sam . Try a 4F Fowler . I have one and it’s proper good Tender pickups All wheel drive Nice detail Sturdy Can reverse Runs smooth Good quality Nice printed detail Lots of separate details In short it’s a really good model to own . Got it today for Christmas thanks to my grandad and it runs perfectly . If I could recomend a model it’s this one Grahamfarish N scale it is . I got mine from eBay brand new I think there is still another on there if you want to get one . Good James review . Also amazing overall ! There’s my model suggestion for you too !
Other than the big side rods and the face, I think this is one of the best N Scale Thomas engines (totally not biased) but I prefer the Tomix N Gauge James a little more. Would like to see some Tomix reviews in the future along with other N Scale Thomas stuff. Good video and Merry Christmas!
By now, I accept that Bachman does a good TVS James, with the Hornby James being closer to the RWS in comparison. This is a further improvement over the 00 gauge Bachman, good review and Merry Holidays and Happy New Year to you and yours, Sam
Merry Christmas,Sam,and may you,and yours,have a splendid New Year ✨️! Side note,when I saw James,I thought he was,a renegade GWR Aberdare,as that type of wheel arrangement! One can be wrong,once in a while!! Merry Christmas! Thank you 😇 😊!
Several years ago I bought the Tomix version brand new from Japan for £200 pounds. They look pretty much the same to me, but I have not opened them up to see. They still run beautifully. I wonder if Bachmann bought the tooling for this. The difference between what I bought from Japan is it included James and two coaches, Thomas with Annie and Clarabel, Gordon and coaches and Percy with troublesome trucks, all for £200! It just shows how much in cost these have risen. The grandchildren love them and certainly they are robust as long they are treated as a model and not a toy!
I can't wait to see gordon, percy, Emily and toby reviewed My tip, get both Emily's coaches for her, and get a henrietta for Toby as it's their specific rolling stock Also as for other things that would make a good review, dapol make a pack of 4 maunsell coaches, and would be great for your larger engines, anyways, great review as always!
My guess on the flywheel problem in the HO/OO models is because they decided to put an eye mechanism in, seen a few people put custom faces on them and they look so much better
Have you ever looked at one of the catalogues? I guess not. I have ordered many thousands of dollars of items from it, the hyperdetailing options are amazing. Nothing quite like it in the UK sadly :(
Hope you can get to reviewing Percy, Gordon, Emily, Toby, Diesel and Paxton when you get around to them. But hopefully by then, you’ll be just in time to catch the next N-Scale release from the range. Following Gordon is my boy HENRY!!! And while I’m at it, I know I have to quote this since this is exactly what James would say whenever he is to haul goods: “DIRTY trucks from DIRTY sidings!!!”
for the HO models they used old promotional drawings as a basis for Thomas, Percy, James and some rolling stock such as Annie and Clarabel and as a result really need some updates
Decent review Sam, didn’t think you would be uploading today with it being Christmas, it looks like a decent model, for me James was always a weird character especially when it came to his real life basis and how it was just an 0-6-0, it is though more reasonable when you know that James description says he is an experimental loco.
Trainworld is the best place for N scale Thomas! And as far as I know the N scale range is identical in the UK and USA. No differences like with the 00 range
🔴🎵🎶 "He's the really splendid engine with a bright red coat!" 🎶🎵🔴 I've always loved James. He's such an entertaining character with an excellent design, and he's from Lancashire just like me, so I'm definitely a little biased.
You know what they say, the more they use the molds, the cheeped the products become, I hope that’ll happen with the N scale Thomas range, just so it’s more available to even more people who just want something nice to have for the hell of it.
James' T&F model didn't have a lamp except when he was running at night. Only Thomas and Percy have them permanently, and Percy's model only got his lamp permanently in Season 6, although has it most of Season 5.
Bachmanns HO eye mechanisms usually ruin the faces due to the design restraints. If they just ditch those and replaced those with weight, that would improve the whole range by miles.
While I fully agree with you on *most* of your critiques (of which were Really Useful as I don't own the model myself), I feel like criticizing it on not being DCC ready is a little unfair. While they do seem to be leaning more into quality serious models with the N Gauge range, the models are still directly based on a franchise aimed at children. The most likely scenario these models are going to be in is either collections by long time fans of the show, or to pop up on pre-existing N Gauge layouts for the owner's children. DCC just wasn't exactly a priority. Although I do agree, the tender is just wasted opportunity.
Great video, Sam 👍. James is definitely one of the Bachmann N scale Thomas range's best models. I would recommend that you look at Percy next along with the Troublesome Trucks. Spoiler alert, Percy continues the trend of being an amazing runner. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 🎄.
I beg to differ … I got a Percy today for Christmas from my mom … From a official seller not eBay and brand new too . He ran for about a hour and a half before stopping … picked him up of the rails and checked him … everything in check and all dandy on the outside and brand new so didn’t have anything wrong looks wise … and he can’t be damaged cuz he was brand new I place him back on the rails and he moves a bit fowards and stops … from there the same in reverse I don’t quite know what’s up with the model but I don’t think it’s anything good .
@MaxwellTheTrainFan It sounds like you have been unlucky in that you have a bad model. It sometimes happens. The best advice I can offer is that you get it replaced. The model should still be under warranty, so it shouldn't be a problem to get a replacement. I've had my N scale Percy since Bachmann released him and Thomas together, and both run as smooth as the first time I ran them. Good luck with your Percy 👍.
@@RG-Models86 oh … well that’s the plan then ! I mean I have a tomix Thomas and he runs perfectly … had him for a year now … So I guess a Percy replacement is in order ! Thanks for the advice
Not an n scale dan myself, but this is really cool to be fair! Btw sam, I got the accurascale 66, it's incredible but I found a problem- the kinematics coupling didn't work properly and so wagons derailed - did you have any issues with it? Awesome video sam!
Merry Christmas Sam, to you and your family, i love Thomas and his friends, even at my age but if you had told me before this review and the previous one that n gauge would be better than the oo one's, i don't know if i would have believed you.🤔
N scale is almost half the size of OO/ HO scale, which is ironic considering the OO scale Thomas and Friends models aren't even half as good as the N scale counterparts. While this one didn't do quite as well as the Thomas version, I still think it's a better model than the OO gauge versions.
Hello Sam - I've got James The Red Engine, by Hornby - The OO Version - he is Tender Driven version thou...but sadly - he doesn't work for some reason why??? 🙁 But on the Plus side - his does appear in every Video that I do - just like your Bullman appears in your every Video!!! 🙂🚂🚂🚂
Don't forget to include the cost of licensing a popular IP when evaluating the value. Sure, licensing some "Type 7" locomotive isn't free, but licensing Thomas-branded stuff from Mattel is ($$$). The faces are actually licensed separately from the design itself. Most of the popular characters numbered 10 or less are "original" Audrey creations. People say Thomas is an E2 (he's not), or a Jinty (he's not), or a... (he's not.) Edward is a "heavily modified" K2, Henry's original shape is a hodgepodge, later revisions are a Stanier Black Five, (the former is much more expensive to license.) After Audrey got fed up with his first two artists (especially with how they kept butchering Percy), he committed to using real life bases for all future characters. I'm pretty sure Donald and Douglas were the first to do this. That's why, when you build Oliver, Duck, D&D, Bill and Ben., you just license the faces and the names from Mattel and the actual locos from various holding companies that don't charge much. The major exception is Gordon, who's an A1... though his "brother", the Flying Scotsman is an A3 so... who knows?
Thomas has weight in the tanks, James doesn't. Thomas can have a metal filled cab space because he has a bunker, James can't because it is open. Seems pretty expected James would not be heavier just because he's longer.
I still can't tell if these are new models, or a rebrand of the Japan Tomix models. Apparently the tomix stuff is oversized for british N scale locomotives
The best thing for the future of the hobby is to make sure that Train Sets and especially Thomas and other trains geared toward children perform flawlessly! Cheap sets with bad track and bad models only frustrate children and their parents and implant forever the idea that they are just toys meant to be thrown away in a few months. Other than the price, this is really good for the hobby. Bachmann is investing in the future by putting quality mechanisms in these models. Are you listening Hornby? Or are you still just interested in squeezing every penny out of the hobby you are complicit in killing off?
Regarding the faces of James, I have to disagree with Sam about the N gauge face being more accurate. To my memory of the original seasons pre-any CGI, James' face is better represented in the OO model here.
Bachman need to just redo the models especially their faces and get them exactly as seen. Maybe a better eye mechanism that you can control? Especially turn on and off. I would also branch out and do a Gauge 1 line.
You know, Sam, you could’ve given that digestible paper to Bullman. He’s a loyal companion to your railway and deserves a tasty treat for being pushed and pulled around the track as much as he is.
One thing to note about the faces Sam is that the OO James has the model series face while the N scale has the CGI face. Great video as always.
i think it is the other way round
yeah, but the n scale one does its job better. The 00 James face has eye holes that are too big, a smile that would impress the Joker, and cheeks that have a bit too much Botox.
@@flipschwipp6572came here to say that too
N scaler here since the days of Lone Star 000 scale. Glad to see you looking at the "Normal" scale!
I'm an HO enthusiast but I can appreciate N scale. I did tune into the TV show a couple of times to see Ringo at his new gig, but I can't say who is who as far as the locomotives and characters. With that being said I relinquish my opinion of the look of James to your expertise, but I do think it is a good runner so great review. Happy Holidays, Jersey Bill
Are you a time traveller?
I just got my first HO locomotive For Christmas today.
Referring to thomas as "Ringo's new gig" in 2024 is crazy😂
@@superbrown8315 No but I am OLD.
@@SJO-e5n Well, I was there in my formattable years during his first gig.
Wishing you a merry Christmas Sam! Can't believe you actually posted on Christmas Day.
Also, I was recommended your video on Bachmann vs. Hornby models from 4 years ago today. Maybe you should do a comprehensive breakdown of all the manufacturers today, because we have come a very long way since that video was made, and Hornby and Bachmann (ESPECIALLY Hornby) have changed a lot.
Hi Sam, I really think it is about time you bought and reviewed the "300 page Full Color Combined Bachmann & Williams Catalog", if only to once and for all, cure yourself of your debilitating affliction 🙂
I've never been so early to the video. Keep up the good videos man👍🏾
Thomas and friends wouldn't be complete without our one and only James.
Merry Christmas Sam.
Honestly the n scale thomas line is really well done, and I think it deserves even more attention!
Awesome video Sam merry Christmas to you and Chloe
Hi Sam, what do you usually use to clean loco wheels? Recently I've discovered the Tomix track cleaner I'm using can take the silver coating off the wheels and expose the brass underneath, that can't be good... Thanks.
Awesome video today Sam wasn’t expecting the Bachmann n scale James what a wonderful modle and merry Christmas to you and your family and chole
This Bachmann n scale James is amazing
Merry Christmas, Sam. Lovely review to watch on Christmas Day. Thank you.
Sam, happy holidays to you and your loved ones. For me this Christmas is the dullest one in memory, at least I have you haha. :)
Merry Christmas Sam, I’ve been looking forward to this review!
Merry Christmas Sam! 🎅🎄🎁
Sam . Try a 4F Fowler . I have one and it’s proper good
Tender pickups
All wheel drive
Nice detail
Sturdy
Can reverse
Runs smooth
Good quality
Nice printed detail
Lots of separate details
In short it’s a really good model to own . Got it today for Christmas thanks to my grandad and it runs perfectly . If I could recomend a model it’s this one
Grahamfarish N scale it is . I got mine from eBay brand new I think there is still another on there if you want to get one .
Good James review . Also amazing overall ! There’s my model suggestion for you too !
HO/OO Or N?
Other than the big side rods and the face, I think this is one of the best N Scale Thomas engines (totally not biased) but I prefer the Tomix N Gauge James a little more. Would like to see some Tomix reviews in the future along with other N Scale Thomas stuff. Good video and Merry Christmas!
That motor is the reason this model runs so well!
By now, I accept that Bachman does a good TVS James, with the Hornby James being closer to the RWS in comparison. This is a further improvement over the 00 gauge Bachman, good review and Merry Holidays and Happy New Year to you and yours, Sam
Excellent! I will watch this on my iPad in bed tonight as right now I’m being festive! 🎄👍
Merry Christmas Sam, I hope your having a great one so far.
Merry Christmas from Jasper & Willow
Splendid red small engine :0
Merry christmas sam :D👍
Loving the N scale Sam, keep emm coming.
Merry Christmas Sam!. Hope you got everything you wanted.
Merry Christmas Sam and James
JAMES THE RED ENGINE: (WHISTLES) SPLENDID! HEEEEERE’S JAMES!
Merry Christmas,Sam,and may you,and yours,have a splendid New Year ✨️! Side note,when I saw James,I thought he was,a renegade GWR Aberdare,as that type of wheel arrangement! One can be wrong,once in a while!! Merry Christmas! Thank you 😇 😊!
This Bachmann James looks good bro
This looks nice I need this Bachmann n scale James
Several years ago I bought the Tomix version brand new from Japan for £200 pounds. They look pretty much the same to me, but I have not opened them up to see. They still run beautifully. I wonder if Bachmann bought the tooling for this. The difference between what I bought from Japan is it included James and two coaches, Thomas with Annie and Clarabel, Gordon and coaches and Percy with troublesome trucks, all for £200! It just shows how much in cost these have risen. The grandchildren love them and certainly they are robust as long they are treated as a model and not a toy!
The Tomix versions are completely different. They are also completely over scale. The bachmann version is 1:160
Nice Christmas review 😊
Here's James!!!
I can't wait to see gordon, percy, Emily and toby reviewed
My tip, get both Emily's coaches for her, and get a henrietta for Toby as it's their specific rolling stock
Also as for other things that would make a good review, dapol make a pack of 4 maunsell coaches, and would be great for your larger engines, anyways, great review as always!
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year
My guess on the flywheel problem in the HO/OO models is because they decided to put an eye mechanism in, seen a few people put custom faces on them and they look so much better
Merry Christmas Sam.
By the way, This Christmas, I got my own Model Locomotive (+ Rolling Stock + Track & Controller).
Merry Christmas Sam
Have you ever looked at one of the catalogues? I guess not. I have ordered many thousands of dollars of items from it, the hyperdetailing options are amazing. Nothing quite like it in the UK sadly :(
Hope you can get to reviewing Percy, Gordon, Emily, Toby, Diesel and Paxton when you get around to them. But hopefully by then, you’ll be just in time to catch the next N-Scale release from the range. Following Gordon is my boy HENRY!!!
And while I’m at it, I know I have to quote this since this is exactly what James would say whenever he is to haul goods:
“DIRTY trucks from DIRTY sidings!!!”
for the HO models they used old promotional drawings as a basis for Thomas, Percy, James and some rolling stock such as Annie and Clarabel and as a result really need some updates
Decent review Sam, didn’t think you would be uploading today with it being Christmas, it looks like a decent model, for me James was always a weird character especially when it came to his real life basis and how it was just an 0-6-0, it is though more reasonable when you know that James description says he is an experimental loco.
As a newbie to n scale i think he looks amazing!
Merry Christmas Sam! Id rather have a proper loco or set over the Brio travesty, so I hope this was the redemption of train Christmas for you!
You should incorporate some n scale lines with your big 00 scale layout!
Ahhhh yes, a splendid red engine joins Sam’s Train layout just in time for the holidays 🤩
The N scale Thomas models are so much better than the OO ones and James’ red livery is perfect considering this video came out on Christmas!
Trainworld is the best place for N scale Thomas! And as far as I know the N scale range is identical in the UK and USA. No differences like with the 00 range
🔴🎵🎶 "He's the really splendid engine with a bright red coat!" 🎶🎵🔴
I've always loved James. He's such an entertaining character with an excellent design, and he's from Lancashire just like me, so I'm definitely a little biased.
Great review Sam and merry Christmas next n scale model can you do Percy?
Hey Sam can you check out t gauge? It’s even smaller than N scale
You know what they say, the more they use the molds, the cheeped the products become, I hope that’ll happen with the N scale Thomas range, just so it’s more available to even more people who just want something nice to have for the hell of it.
James' T&F model didn't have a lamp except when he was running at night.
Only Thomas and Percy have them permanently, and Percy's model only got his lamp permanently in Season 6, although has it most of Season 5.
Are you going to do the new TT120 class 66 soon ??
Thank you sam!
the 00 Thomas Percy and James were Bachmann's first Thomas and friends models
Merry Christmas fellow train fans from the USA! 🇺🇸 🇬🇧 🎄
I'm trying not to buy any more N gauge models, Bachmann surely is making it difficult with their Thomas range! 😂
How are these models so good? Nice one Sam!
Sam, offer is still there to borrow the whole Tomix Thomas range to compare vs your Bachmann Thomas locos.
I think the face on the N gauge James looks more like the CGI version of James, but the OO James looks more like the model version.
Great review as usual. Do you know if the OO-9 Thomas engines are as good as the N gauge ones? Cheers Stu
Bachmanns HO eye mechanisms usually ruin the faces due to the design restraints.
If they just ditch those and replaced those with weight, that would improve the whole range by miles.
I would like to see a review on the n scale gordon in the future, just a suggestion, no rush
While I fully agree with you on *most* of your critiques (of which were Really Useful as I don't own the model myself), I feel like criticizing it on not being DCC ready is a little unfair. While they do seem to be leaning more into quality serious models with the N Gauge range, the models are still directly based on a franchise aimed at children. The most likely scenario these models are going to be in is either collections by long time fans of the show, or to pop up on pre-existing N Gauge layouts for the owner's children. DCC just wasn't exactly a priority. Although I do agree, the tender is just wasted opportunity.
Merry Christmas
I might try to get one of these Sam, although I wouldn't pay that much for him.
Merry Chrismas from Jasper & Willow
Great vid sam and happy christmas i love n scale but i cant stand the huge couplings
6:14 the OO or HO James has the model series face while the N scale has the CGI face
Great video, Sam 👍.
James is definitely one of the Bachmann N scale Thomas range's best models.
I would recommend that you look at Percy next along with the Troublesome Trucks.
Spoiler alert, Percy continues the trend of being an amazing runner.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 🎄.
I beg to differ …
I got a Percy today for Christmas from my mom …
From a official seller not eBay and brand new too .
He ran for about a hour and a half before stopping … picked him up of the rails and checked him … everything in check and all dandy on the outside and brand new so didn’t have anything wrong looks wise … and he can’t be damaged cuz he was brand new
I place him back on the rails and he moves a bit fowards and stops … from there the same in reverse
I don’t quite know what’s up with the model but I don’t think it’s anything good .
@MaxwellTheTrainFan It sounds like you have been unlucky in that you have a bad model. It sometimes happens.
The best advice I can offer is that you get it replaced. The model should still be under warranty, so it shouldn't be a problem to get a replacement.
I've had my N scale Percy since Bachmann released him and Thomas together, and both run as smooth as the first time I ran them.
Good luck with your Percy 👍.
@@RG-Models86 oh … well that’s the plan then !
I mean I have a tomix Thomas and he runs perfectly … had him for a year now …
So I guess a Percy replacement is in order !
Thanks for the advice
@@RG-Models86 new subscriber for helping me ! You deserve it .
@MaxwellTheTrainFan No problem. I'm glad I could be of some help.
Thanks for the subscription 👍.
Merry Christmas sam from new jersey
Not an n scale dan myself, but this is really cool to be fair! Btw sam, I got the accurascale 66, it's incredible but I found a problem- the kinematics coupling didn't work properly and so wagons derailed - did you have any issues with it? Awesome video sam!
Merry Christmas Sam, to you and your family, i love Thomas and his friends, even at my age but if you had told me before this review and the previous one that n gauge would be better than the oo one's, i don't know if i would have believed you.🤔
Having watched shed 17, cant look at them the same now
N scale is almost half the size of OO/ HO scale, which is ironic considering the OO scale Thomas and Friends models aren't even half as good as the N scale counterparts.
While this one didn't do quite as well as the Thomas version, I still think it's a better model than the OO gauge versions.
Hello Sam - I've got James The Red Engine, by Hornby - The OO Version - he is Tender Driven version thou...but sadly - he doesn't work for some reason why??? 🙁 But on the Plus side - his does appear in every Video that I do - just like your Bullman appears in your every Video!!! 🙂🚂🚂🚂
Funny how when I got my n scale James you make a video on him
Are both the US and UK models at the same scale? If 1:160 then itll look small against uk stock.
I got mine for 154 aud which is 76 pounds so the prices seem to be a lot better in Australia and could you review Emily and Gordon please
How would you rate the digest size of that card now that you ripped it apart instead?
Don't forget to include the cost of licensing a popular IP when evaluating the value.
Sure, licensing some "Type 7" locomotive isn't free, but licensing Thomas-branded stuff from Mattel is ($$$).
The faces are actually licensed separately from the design itself.
Most of the popular characters numbered 10 or less are "original" Audrey creations. People say Thomas is an E2 (he's not), or a Jinty (he's not), or a... (he's not.)
Edward is a "heavily modified" K2, Henry's original shape is a hodgepodge, later revisions are a Stanier Black Five, (the former is much more expensive to license.)
After Audrey got fed up with his first two artists (especially with how they kept butchering Percy), he committed to using real life bases for all future characters. I'm pretty sure Donald and Douglas were the first to do this.
That's why, when you build Oliver, Duck, D&D, Bill and Ben., you just license the faces and the names from Mattel and the actual locos from various holding companies that don't charge much.
The major exception is Gordon, who's an A1... though his "brother", the Flying Scotsman is an A3 so... who knows?
Oh you should review Gordon n scale
Thomas has weight in the tanks, James doesn't. Thomas can have a metal filled cab space because he has a bunker, James can't because it is open. Seems pretty expected James would not be heavier just because he's longer.
3:30 Why!?
I will say that I like the ho version better but that's mainly because the faces are more similar to the model series but I could go either way
Sam you should get the Emily as you will have another for you top 5 worst models and get the Gordon
I still can't tell if these are new models, or a rebrand of the Japan Tomix models. Apparently the tomix stuff is oversized for british N scale locomotives
I think you're expecting too much for some of the locos in the Thomas the Tank Engine line to have features others don't, such as a DCC socket.
Maybe the disc wheel were for extra weight. Try to open your mind.
Wow!!! 🏆🚂
I wouldn't necessarily say you were harsh. It just seems to me that you liked the model a lot more than your score suggests
The best thing for the future of the hobby is to make sure that Train Sets and especially Thomas and other trains geared toward children perform flawlessly! Cheap sets with bad track and bad models only frustrate children and their parents and implant forever the idea that they are just toys meant to be thrown away in a few months. Other than the price, this is really good for the hobby. Bachmann is investing in the future by putting quality mechanisms in these models. Are you listening Hornby? Or are you still just interested in squeezing every penny out of the hobby you are complicit in killing off?
POV me opening presents from Santa 3:31
You should review tomics James
Regarding the faces of James, I have to disagree with Sam about the N gauge face being more accurate. To my memory of the original seasons pre-any CGI, James' face is better represented in the OO model here.
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Hopefully, James's paint won't be dirty
Smallest I go is HO, largest I go is G Scale.
Bachman need to just redo the models especially their faces and get them exactly as seen.
Maybe a better eye mechanism that you can control?
Especially turn on and off.
I would also branch out and do a Gauge 1 line.