Thomas Buy Out.

Jeff Ramsey · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2013 1:56 am

I am curious if this will affects so many railroad museum and tourist railroad's operations and fundraising? What is Mattel paying $688 mil to the owners of Thomas The Tank Engine for "his" rights.

See http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_2 ... eting-redo

k5ahudson · **Joined:** Tue Aug 24, 2004 6:30 am **Posts:** 773

This happened early last year. So far it has had little affect on our DOWT event. The only difference I noticed last year was some changes in the merchandise in the store and what company made them. So far this year, the same as always.

FLO · **Joined:** Tue Jan 25, 2011 2:07 am **Posts:** 328

A friend of mine is a mother of a 15-month-old boy who is already heavily into Thomas. This mom has a Good Job but she is nevertheless appalled by the prices of Thomas toys and accessories at the local chain toy stores. Several years ago some Thomas toys were recalled due to lead paint used by a Chinese toy maker. Possibly a few things that could hurt the Thomas brand down the road are overpricing of merchandise and another round of shady/shoddy manufacturing (ie. lead paint). For the sake of Day Out With Thomas, I HOPE the product line stays reputable and popular.

Photo source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/busin ... homas.html

Brian Norden · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2013 3:19 am

k5ahudson wrote:

This happened early last year. So far it has had little affect on our DOWT event. The only difference I noticed last year was some changes in the merchandise in the store and what company made them. So far this year, the same as always.

HIT Entertainment which licenses "Thomas the Tank Engine" and "Day out with Thomas" has been part of the Mattel organization since February 2011. It is managed under the Fisher-Price subsidiary. Press Release here

This year will be the first full year with the contracts done under the revised management/ownership.

More about HIT Entertainment:
www.hitentertainment.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIT_Entertainment

Emmo213 · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2013 11:26 am

I wish they'd bring back Shining Time Station, or at least release them on DVD. They're available on YouTube but it's not the same.

buzz_morris · **Joined:** Thu Feb 03, 2005 9:32 pm **Posts:** 344

I just love to hear the marketing guys working on preschoolers.

“Mattel’s global marketing, distribution and brand management…global programming and licensing expertise to accelerate growth of the combined portfolio”… momentum behind our innovative toys and consumer products in the marketplace.”

Makes me want to take a shower.