Okay, so if you don't know me already, I'm YouTuber HankAmericanEngine. I've a slightly large collection of Motor Road and Rail, Plarail, and, of course, TrackMaster. I personally believe I've become notorious on YouTube for my lengthy, in-depth reviews about TAKARA TOMY Plarail, Motor Road and Rail, HiT Toys TrackMaster, and Fisher Price TrackMaster.
If you've stumbled upon one of my videos, and actually survived it's entirety, one, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and two, I'm happy you survived it! My videos are lengthy, unbiased as best as possible, and go indepth for a few reasons; these reasons are the following.
1.) I am a collector. I will collect certain Thomas & Friends characters and certain Plarail engines due to personal interests.
2.) I am a model railroader. I intend to build a permanent layout when I've sufficient space and funds to do so.
3.) I am a customer. There are plenty of fans of this system of all ages who look for only the best. I try to give my opinion as detail, to me, is everything.
4.)(OBVIOUSLY) I'm a filmmaker. I enjoy doing remakes, music videos, and my own little series to let my audience be taken into another world.
5.(NOT OBVIOUS AT ALL) I am an author. Should I want to include a certain engine, I can tell my audience that I do possess a model of it.
6.) It's always about the money. How much something should cost, or how much it's overcharged, I look at it from all financial angles.
7.) Well, I just like giving my opinion on the models.
Now, for the main topic at hand...
TAKARA TOMY PLARAIL vs. HiT Toys TrackMaster vs. Fisher-Price TrackMaster
Several questions I've gotten over the years, in addition to agreeing or disagreeing comments, on my videos(mainly reviews) are users, parents, Plarailers, or collectors trying to find their money's worth on these models. With my reviews, I give the good, the bad, and the ugly; despite the fact I'm from the States and in Texas, where the West is and that whole "good, bad, ugly" showdown stereotype is from, I aim to be as fair as possible from my personal views and beliefs.
One of the most favourite questions I've ever gotten was to compare all the lines of the TOMY & TrackMaster ranges; since no-one would probably watch the video, I figured I'll put it in a blog and, only if people want it vocalized around the world, would I consider filming it if it became popular.
Contender Number One is TAKARA TOMY Plarail.
Hands down, my most favourite out of the three. The detail festooning the engines and rolling stock is just downright amazing. Never before, with two models, have I ever been blown away and left in a speechless state because of how detailed they are to the real life locomotive while also remaining highly accurate to their, fictional, televised counterpart. Hiro and Victor are the two I am talking about. Anyone who owns either of the two will understand why. When I first opened the 'Thomas and Hiro at The Station' set, I never thought I would be left speechless at the detail for both the engine and tender; needless to say, I still am at times when examining either model. Whereas I have yet to procure Victor, due to financial issues, I have seen a three-hundred-sixty examination of him courtesy of YouTube user JD41796, and a Japanese user. The last time I was simply blown away with a model due to its detail and accuracy was through HiT Toys, which we will get to in due time.
Although only available, readily, through sellers overseas on eBay, prices are wild and outrageous as they try to fish out customers; having bought several items from various sellers repeatedly, I only encourage my viewers to shop at these online stores due to my great satisfaction in customer service and readily available supply of what I was looking for. The prices aren't always cheap, but they are cheaper than waiting years to pick up a possibly discontinued item later on down the road in life. Comparison shopping always helps, and it's one of the reasons why my loyalties fall to these certain sellers overseas-- I get the lowest possible expense on both the item and shipping, I always receive fantastic feedback, and I always get exactly what I paid for in the exact, or even better than imagined, condition.
The TAKARA TOMY Corporation's attention to detail on these engines and characters, even if they are aimed for children, is just simply stunning in my eyes; Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Emily, Arthur, Murdoch, Salty, Harvey, Molly, Neville, Dennis, Flynn, Victor, Hiro, Rosie, Rocky, Luke, Rheneas, Skarloey, Sir Handel, Duncan, Belle, Spencer, Stanley, Bash, Dash, Busy Bee James, Mighty Mac, Rusty, and Fearless Freddie are just stunning with the paint detail and decals that bring the engine and character to life. I have left out Toby, Mavis, Duck, Donald, Oliver, Diesel, Lady, Stepney, Dodge, Splatter, BoCo, Ben, and Diesel 10 as I pray that the corporation will begin to manufacture them in mass quantity as updated models from the sixth season of the show(e.g., white on the eyes on all engines, dark/light(not sure) grey running boards on some of the engines, Oliver having his wheels green to match his paintwork, silver hand rails, etc., etc.).
The motors on each engine vary in speed and strength, which I feel adds to their character; Edward is slow but steady, Gordon is the fastest out of the tender-battery holders, Henry is a decent speed with great strength, and James has decent speed and good looks(<-- Don't tell him I said that!) Each engine is unique in its own way, and only adds to the appeal of collecting each of them, and their boxes for storage; uniquely made to suit each character, I hope to collect each box for each Plarail engine with their model series counterpart. Sadly, I have failed with Stanley, but I will not lose hope so easily; anyone willing to send me their empty box in trade for a CGI Stanley one? (kidding)
To put it simply, the TAKARA TOMY Corporation is just simply stunning with what they manufacture in regards to the Plarail system, and I can only endorse their products with immense pride as I know it is worth the expense, and occasional wait, for their magnificent products. Very rarely do I ever receive a faulty motor, damaged engine, or scuffed paintwork.
To rate this corporation in regards to stars for customer satisfaction, service, product meeting its expectations, and just overall satisfaction, it's nothing less than five stars all the way.
TAKARA TOMY - 5 out of 5 stars. CLASS A. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, WELL WORTH THE EXPENSE AFTER COMPARING PRICES ON eBay, AND ALWAYS WONDERFUL PRODUCT QUALITY.
HiT Toys TrackMaster
With the loss of the TOMY line in the U.S. felt first, I was not very happy to say the least; I had just begun my collecting, and it seemed that this other company now wanted to stop me completely. I wasn't happy at all, and felt like giving up until I started seeing all these new engines, like the Iron Twins, Peter Sam, Hank, Flora, Billy, Whiff, and all these new ones that had never been made before. With bulky, and very much noisy, brown track replacing the thin, quieter blue track, I was hesitant at collecting all this track at all-- it was noisy, bulky, and just very unpleasant when filming with. It hardly ever stayed straight, and I couldn't get it just right for a certain shot or have a train go along without the slight nagging as I knew I would be cleaning up a derailment.
Asides from the track being a point of tension, it was the first time, in the United States, that Donald, Douglas, Splatter, Dodge, and BoCo were readily available on store shelves to be purchased; granted that it was a dollar bump up from the $10.00+ tax we paid for TOMY, it was very nice to see that these other engines, once only available overseas and through eBay, were now on U.S. soil, and easily found without much fuss. It also introduced the inclusion of TrackMaster road, popularized with small starter sets of Bertie, Elizabeth, and a green Bulgy as Madge, Terence, Caroline, Jack, Alfie, and Ned were also brought to the range due to an outcry for merchandise of the Sodor Construction Company vehicles; non-motorized vehicles of Oliver the excavator, Kelly the crane, Nelson the transporter, Byron the bulldozer, and Buster the steam roller were also found and readily available on store pegs or in two packs at local Wal-Mart stores.
Now, if you remember how I said I was hardly blown away with detail to an engine, back in the talk of the TAKARA TOMY Corporation, HiT Toys did just that with just one model-- obviously, many know who it is as I treat him as if he's worth more than gold. Hank the American Engine was the most detailed engine from the two ranges when HiT Toys began to manufacture the "TrackMaster" line, which remains completely compatible with the TOMY line. Hank was the very first engine I got as a birthday present, which is another reason why I take great care of him. The detail on the locomotive and tender completely made me ignore the red brakevan, which I lovingly call his caboose; I feel it suits him completely, and am never going to get rid of it; although this began to set in motion the usual laziness we, as consumers, see in Fisher-Price, it was all right with me. After all, with Hank and his tender taking up so much space in the packaging, that little caboose barely has any room to itself!! Although seen again in a yellow colour to match Flora and her tramway coach, and a cream coloured roof, I understood why they were in the two Greatest Moments packs- space was, heavily, limited on both which is why they were employed into these three packs that were $11.00+ tax.
What was also a "first" were the Truck and Track packs-- although only eleven were sold, they were all unique and worth the purchase in their own way. Toad and trucks featured a 3-D faced Toad with a Sodor Railways Post truck and a Great Western Railway vent van-- a high recommendation if anyone owns an Oliver model to have a more realistic, and slightly better detailed, Toad the brakevan. Another, titled "Farm Cars", featured a 3-D faced S.C. Ruffey with better detailing and milk churns as it included a detailed brown cattle van carrying crates of fruit with sliding doors and an updated tanker-- I've five of those cattle vans, with cargo and decals removed, and hope to procure more of the milk tankers. The next was "Mixed Freight", which included a standard 20-ton B.R. brakevan, hopper car, and ice cream truck- I only have the flatbed of the hopper car left, the hopper and rotating cargo now gone, and the brakevan in original condition. My personal favourite is the "Power Plant Cars" as it came with a yellow hybrid(not sure) brakevan, a blue detailed truck(with flipping cargo) and the red bolster wagon with a pallet of two spools of cables. I've ten or eleven of the bolster wagons, seven or eight of their payloads, two of the brakevans, and five of the blue trucks. By far, this is my personal favourite out of all eleven.
Moving on, we get the carriages and coaches pack; with Annie, Clarabel, and Henrietta, I felt it was a good way of getting the three branch line coaches out for Thomas and Toby to be reunited with their faithful coaches again. Next came Mr. Jolly's Chocolate factory with the "ice cream" box car repainted, the updated milk tanker repainted, and an updated truck with milk churns- all were painted to suit the chocolatey sweet theme of the pack, and the boxcar had decals with Mr. Jolly's face on them. After that came the carnival cars with a brown fireworks van, red slate truck with elephant, and a flatbed with a carnival game; the truck and track packs began to lose their thunder with the understandable blunder of putting narrow gauge rolling stock with standard gauge engines. Rosie's Fun Fair Special suffered the same issue with the Tea Shop coach being included with a circus tent on a flatbed and a circus van; more narrow guage with standard gauge. Following that came Farmer McColl's Farm with two slate trucks with sheep and cattle and a chicken truck; again, narrow gauge vs. standard gauge. It slowly became unrealistic with the Sodor Ice Cream truck and track pack with the updated tanker being clear and filled with "raspberry" syrup, an ice cream van, and a truck carrying brown barrels, signifying the hot fudge; anyone care for a sundae? The last truck and track pack was based on the special, "Hero of the Rails" and was called "Percy's Mail Trucks". The bolster wagon was recoloured green with three removable pieces of mail cargo, a mail van, and a "Speedy Sodor Mail" van, which was the red Sodor Post van recoloured. Each pack included three half-straights of track, and a pamphlet showcasing merchandise.
With HiT Toys, we, the consumers, collectors, and fans, were given new engines to add to our fleets- these engines included, and were not limited to, Billy, Flora, Whiff, Hank, Busy Bee James, Rosie, a motorized Rocky, Hector, Proteus, Iron 'Arry, Bert, and Peter Sam(If I missed any, please do let me know so I may correct this list). Some of my collection is compromised of HiT Toys engines, and I could not be happier about it. Iron Bert is fast and strong, as are the Scottish twins, and does not mind hard work one bit. Hector has undergone a few changes to carry loose cargo, and Hank is busily chauntering down the line with whatever work he is given with ease and good looks.
As there was this "transition" phase in which TOMY was slowly lost to TrackMaster, some TOMY engines could be purchased under the TrackMaster packaging; a case of this is my Rosie model. I had expected the HiT Toys logo, and was thoroughly surprised to find the TOMY logo, meaning she is the Plarail version. She is the only one I had ever purchased and had this pleasant surprise with; she is still perky and happy doing her work on my layout.
As much good as there was for this corporation, there were also some bad points of tension. When "Greatest Moments" (NEW FRIENDS!) packs came out of "Hiro Good As New", "Victor At The Steamworks", and "Helping Hook Kevin", all seemed to be difficult to locate in stores; as one store had plenty of one, another had few or none of that and plenty of another. All in all, it took me nearly three years just to find each and secure them for my collection. With Hiro having been replaced with his Plarail counterpart, it's just a minor debate with myself whether or not to sell the model or just keep it as for the sake of collecting. I will face the same problem with Victor in due time, so if anyone is interested, please let me know.
As is said, the track was something I was not particularly fond of for both the rail and road; the road, although realistic, much like the track, was bumpy, noisy, and bulky, much like the track. With a slight price increase, it was not too bad; the "Greatest Moments" two-and three-packs included two or three half-straights, and it was worth the extra increase of payment. The first four Truck and Track packs were definitely worth several purchases of certain ones, and the inclusion of new engines, in addition to ones previously unavailable, was stupendous. Yet, some things were still lacking.
When I purchased my first Hiro, the lever refused to operate the motor properly, which got me a replacement free of charge from the corporation; the same happened with a stock-standard Thomas from the beginner's set "Thomas' Busy Day", and a replacement Diesel with Tidmouth milk tanker to replace my faulty Splatter engine. Donald also faced a faulty motor, which brought me a new one with tender. I was slightly unhappy with this, but faced no other genuine problems otherwise.
All in all, slight price increases brought about plenty of new characters, engines, and models brought to their customers, it is very nice to see that HiT Toys had brought quite a variety to their customers, as well as stupendous customer service. Again, I can't vouch that I was particularly fond of the track and continual inclusion of Thomas in almost every set, but HiT Toys brought a new level of competition to the TAKARA TOMY Corporation.
Out of 5 stars, I give HiT Toys Company 4.5 out of 5 stars. It was stupendous of the company to pick up the reins from a wonderful corporation and only do them justice incredibly well, as well as giving the TAKARA TOMY Corporation some competition. I am not a fan of the track system, but adapters to combine both brown and blue track was found, but whatever happened to an adapter for the old TOMY road?! ^^;
Fisher-Price TrackMaster
The multibillion dollar corporation that bought out the bankrupt HiT Entertainment of Thomas & Friends now controls the Take-N-Play, TrackMaster, and Wooden Railway lines, including "Discovery Junction".
There are some pros to this buyout-- several engines were released with updated details(e.g., white on the eyes, silver hand rails, some decals painted onto the engine), and have been found far more easily in several stores. As far as I can see, there were few pros to the numerous cons I have found with this new corporation taking over a wonderful product line-- if you're a fan of Fisher-Price, please stop reading now; from here on out is my personal opinion, and I do not endorse it in any way, shape, or form.
Fisher-Price has done a good job with adding detail to engines who never had it before(e.g., Duck, Bill, Ben, BoCo, Diesel, Stepney, etc., etc.), but their desire to increase their profit margin has severely shown in its laziness.
Much like HiT Toys, Fisher-Price has put a stock standard Thomas in almost every single set they have manufactured, even though the little blue E2 has no real connection to the set! With several points of tension, I will simply make a numerical list for us all.
1.) Niches in the wheels. The old HiT Toys packaging was ideal for every customer to see the engine before the purchase, and it used some decent amount of plastic and cardboard; why is it all plastic covering and cardboard with string or sticks to hold the engines in thanks to the niches in their wheels? I don't mind it as much on black wheeled engines, but engines with any wheel colour but black looks simply horrific and distracting!
2.) Wheels with side rod spokes and niches. I've seen laziness before, but Fisher-Price is giving it a whole new level. Engines like Diesel, Paxton, Belle, Den, Dart, and several others whose wheels are covered or use a solid drive wheel now not only have the two annoying niches, but also possess a spoke for a side rod to be put in! What good does that do!? If they don't have moving side rods, don't give them that wheel!
3.) Sloppy paintwork. When I bought TrackMaster Connor and Stephen, they had paint where it should not have belonged, and that really irritated me. I paid nearly $19.00 U.S. for the two, and I got what appeared to be the best with what was in stock at my local super store. This shows it's all, "wham, bam, thank you ma'am"(thank you leokimvideo) with this corporation, and it's really getting on my nerves.
4.) Rolling stock identity crisis. Connor and Caitlin are supposed to come with a coach, but all collectors, customers,and fans know that their "coaches" are just boxcars with a sticker slapped on the sides and called a "coach". I'm not an idiot Fisher-Price, nor are your consumers. We want a coach, not some truck with stickers slapped all over it.
5.) Continual rehashing of old products. Fisher-Price does it again. And again. And again. And again. YouTube user etenks1 proves it with his videos of new TrackMaster merchandise, and the pattern is easily seen time and time again. Trucks with some cargo and no track for an obscene amount of money. Recoloured, renamed, and re-released again. And again. And again. And again.
6.) High pricing. All right, we get it. Thomas & Friends is one lucrative merchandise line, but if you're a multibillion dollar company owning almost all the main merchandise purchased in support of the show, why hike the prices so high that no-one is genuinely interested in purchasing them in the first place?! The economy is hard enough as it is, but we don't really enjoy paying such high prices for low quality products!
7.) Motor swaps. Almost all Fisher-Price engines are now loco-powered, with a flat-type double AA battery giving them power. These motors are noisy, slow, and just a nuisance since the flat terminal was replaced with a spring. It makes putting batteries in and removing them a pain, and it also does the same with the battery cover. I can see it's to help the consumer save money in buying only one type of battery, but when you cut out basic details like rear windows and add unnecessary plastic to hold down the battery cover, it really does look stupid. Also, it's a pain keeping track of which motor's failed, is barely working, or just wants to work on a full battery before claiming it's dead when there's 99% still left.
8.) Lack of details. Sticker decals don't seem to be a problem on tender engines for their tenders, but for cab windows, it's like they don't exist anymore, for any engine. Heck, Rosie looks awful, as do Arthur and Molly, without the light/dark grey paint on their running board!
9.) Overuse of plastic and cardboard for packaging. Cut down on your packaging Fisher-Price. Just look at my reviews of "Cranky and Flynn Save the Day" and "TrackMaster King of the Railway Greatest Moments Review". Look at all that plastic and cardboard that is senselessly used! That plastic would keep the wheels completely solid, and the cardboard could help you look far more green; those sticks would help too, but your new packaging shows just how lazy and unfriendly you are as a corporation to the environment.
10.) Lack of new characters in sets. Almost every set that Fisher-Price has cranked out, who has been in it? Thomas the tank engine. Look, we get the show started off as "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends" and then went to "Thomas & Friends", but we don't need so many Thomas' that we could, literally, have an army of the little blue E2 tank engine! Use characters that would suit the set, no matter how unlikely. Now that Fisher-Price is beginning to do that, I feel it's too little, too late.
11.) Lack of characters. Okay, I gave them props for circulating them. Now I'm taking off points for their LACK of circulation of characters. All I see when I go looking for engines are Thomas, Percy, James, Gordon, Henry, Diesel, and Flynn. Seriously? In the big state of Texas(2nd largest in the Union), shouldn't I be able to go to one store and find whoever I'm looking for without having to go out of state on a family vacation and find them in another state?!
12.) Plastic axles. Stephen and the Scottish twins face this; in my 'Douglas vs. Douglas' review, you see that I am nearly nauseated by the sight of plastic axles. Cheap, easily worn down and broken, plastic axles are no way, no how, safe for any kid. It ruins the quality of the engine and character, and it is just a stupid idea altogether.
13.) Useless rolling stock. This was brought up in the comments following the posting of my blog; this had slipped out of my mind when I was writing this a few days ago(it was nearly midnight, and I was falling asleep at the computer). Certain engines, sold with rolling stock or in the "Greatest Moments" three-packs, are given simply pointless rolling stock. All right, Bill and Arthur are standard gauge and come with a slate truck, which is NARROW gauge; Skarloey is a narrow gauge engine with a cattle van, which is STANDARD gauge(I already bashed Fisher-Price about Paxton's rolling stock in my video review on YouTube, and I will not bring that ranting and raving here). I know people will tell me that it can go either way, but it first came with the Motor Road and Rail James and the TOMY James, so it started, and has thus far stayed, STANDARD gauge in my eyes. It follows suit to these "throwaway" pieces of rolling stock that are included in certain "Greatest Moments" packs, like the neon orange boxcar with Den and red one with Luke. Seriously? We don't need any more of those.
14.) Unrealistic colouring. This applies to both engines and rolling stock. Seriously? Almost all the engines plastic colouring does not even match their predecessors or the televised counterparts. Also, why do we need neon, glow-in-the-dark coloured rolling stock? Unless it actually glows brightly in the dark, we don't need it, and I'm positive we don't want it.
15.) Laziness. I know. I already bashed them about it, but I'm doing it again. I hate their laziness. I absolutely loathe and despise it. Fisher-Price is supposed to make their predecessors look like they could have done better; it looks like HiT Toys could have one heck of a comeback if HiT Entertainment wasn't bankrupt and bought out! HiT Toys made TOMY look like they could have done a bit better, but they also were wise to incorporate free track adapters upon phone call/email request free of any charge whatsoever! Where are those adapters now Fisher-Price?!
14.) Customer service. When I bought one Fisher-Price engine, it's motor went dead within the month it was bought. No modifications, no blunt force trauma, no heavy hauls-- none of that. It just went dead. Instead of sending a replacement, what do they do? Mail a voucher for a certain amount of money flat, and a deadline to use it by before it expires. No offering to replace the engine free of charge, and the times that they do offer, they have none in their warehouse!
With all said and done, Fisher-Price is one of the "Big Three" for the TOMY/TrackMaster range that I find difficult to struggle to convince customers to go out and purchase their items. Their laziness really shows itself without hesitation, but it's a pity since they had such a good start; my TrackMaster Ferdinand review will show this, and I yearn for those days where Fisher-Price was actually making me reconsider that they were best. Now all they do is make me slightly nauseous when I hear a new set is coming out. Why? Because almost all consumers and fans know the engine who will be included-- THOMAS. We have enough of him, and he doesn't suit every single set you make. Fisher-Price's laziness often shows itself without fail, and it's sad that fans, consumers, and collectors alike are all agreeing that the quality is simply dropping off for this mulitbillion dollar corporation.
Out of 5 stars, Fisher-Price receives only .01 out of 5 stars. I can't really say I don't endorse them, but I can't say that they aren't the only ones making certain characters right now that customers, collectors, and fans want.
With this all said and done, I would like to know who agrees or disagrees with what I've said here; all of this is (c) Hank_American_Engine on this, and all, wiki, and is also (c) HankAmericanEngine of YouTube.com. Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear your thoughts and comments on the matter.
- AS OF 11:07 CENTRAL TIME ZONE OF AUGUST 10TH 2013****
I have written up a script to produce into a video for my YouTube channel; if you wish to see the revised scoring and opinions, please check back to my channel daily. Thank you very much.