#thomas 2026

"Toby had heard about the little narrow gauge engines for many years but had never seen them because their lines never passed each other. However he finally got his chance in 1938 when one of the older engines was sent to his small line to be safely stowed away in a shed at Upwell before the outbreak of war the next year. This engines name, was Skegness."

Like I'm not gonna come right out and say it's ai generated, cause looking at the footage I don't think so? but I think they probably referenced AI in the creation process cause it just feels so... Odd?

(I also wouldn't put it past Mattel to use AI in any sort of way, that is exactly what they would do, they are so comically evil they were the villains in the Barbie movie.)

And like I'm not one to hate on new Thomas, I love the CGI, I liked a good chunk of BwBA, I liked a lot of parts of AEG, and I will definitely give it a shot when a show comes out (And if they bring the people back, you know I'm all for it, they were the best part of BwBa for me.)

And at the very least, if nothing else, it's keeping these characters alive and in the memories of children. Some child somewhere is growing up/ has grown up with AEG and that has made them grow up to be a Thomas fan, or a rail fan, or grown up with more of an appreciation for railways, and I think that's amazing.

And that will happen with this show too, I'm sure of it.

I am a Modern Thomas defender, if New Thomas has no defenders I'm dead, etc.

From official statements from Mattel, we got confirmation that it is returning to using CGI animation. Which I'm admitting a little upset about, as it basically means the fanbrats discouraged Mattel from ever experimenting with 2d ever again. Which royally sucks...

It also appears that the engines will be doing actual Locomotive things again, which is cool :)

But if I may get on my soap for a sec:

I actually like that the bouncing is back.

It allows the characters to be more expressive, and yes fanbrats, it may be "unrealistic" for them to do that, but this show ain't for you. It's for the kids of 2026.

Imma get on the soap box again, and say:

I really don't care that the show isn't hyper realistic anymore.

Look, shows adapt to changing times. We all (or at least some of us more reasonable folk in the community) expect things to change.

And I'll be honest. I prefer the bouncing over them just.... Sitting there...

"MENACINGLY!!!!" OoO

Despite that I haven't seen any of the die-casts toys from the upcoming Thomas 2026 series in my area, they do remind me of the Pixar's Cars toyline a bit.