Notes from Olympia 2 (Toy Fair 2017)

Further notes from the 2017 Toy Fair. Returning to the Oxford stand the Golden Valley 0-6-0 Janus Diesel shunter was available to view in painted format. Bear in mind these models have been handled by production teams as well as visitors so they get a fair bit of handling, hence the missing buffer on this example. Release date is very close on this, with it likely to nudge into the second quarter. Two of the seven plank private owner wagons, accompanying this loco’s liveries were also on show.

Three livery versions of the carflat were displayed, the BR blue looked a little on the light shade. Weathered examples looks like an overspray, rather than some of the more complex printing styles that Bachmann have recently introduced. Release anticipated in the second quarter retailing at £29.95.

MK3 samples were shown in InterCity swallow liveries. The paint samples looked very good, opaque and clear legible printing with clearly defined edges. The colours looked about right as I recall seeing them. New liveries announced include Scotrail, Stobart Pullman and Virgin Trains West Coast livery. The internal lighting showed no evidence of flicker, pick up is through the bogies and electronics within each coach ‘smooth’ the current to minimise any flickering. Colour of lighting and glazing looked correctly subdued as did the internal detail. All types retail at £34.95
Livery delivery expectations as follows.
BR Blue Grey, FO/TSO expected second quarter, RUB fourth quarter.
Intercity Swallow, FO/TSO expected second quarter, RFM third quarter.
Scotrail, FO/TSO/CO third quarter.
Virgin West Coast, FO/TSO/RFM third quarter.
Stobart Pullman, FO fourth quarter.

Apologies for camera shake on this one! The Dean Good is released with a snowplough as part of the standard range and will be available with DCC sound fitted. Final design of snowplough fitting to the locomotive is yet to take place with discussion yesterday on the possibility of using the NEM socket as part of that assembly, allowing a purchaser to use the locomotive as normal roster stock without the plough. Snowplough fitted are expected third quarter, in time for the Daily Express to warn us of the coldest/hottest winter to come, ever!

The seven plank will get several new liveries including a re-run of the Weymouth CO-OP livery (numbered 9). The model has sold exceptionally well, and there are Coke variants for 2017, with two rails added as per the image. Body and chassis details remain as previous issues. New liveries/numbers also for the LNER 6 plank, 4 plank and LNER/NE cattle wagon. I didn’t look to see if any tooling changes had taken place on the cattle wagon, however none were mentioned.

Hornby had examples of the EP’s shown at Warley, the GWR/WR Toad being of particular interest for me. The stand was very busy throughout the day, but as at Warley the current team is definitely very interested in the product and its development. Last year Airfix were proposing a see through/cut away Q6 locomotive in their engineers range. Apparently this model is not in current plans to be produced. Bachmann with their expanded portfolio of companies were there too, but with no additional products from those announced earlier in the month. It was interesting to see that with the audience of Toy shop buyers who naturally go there, that the Bachmann range has potentially had a wider exposure to buyers from the high street who may not normally come across the product. It was an interesting day out and thank you to those trade representatives who tokk the time out of their day to talk about their products and plans, it was much appreciated.