Take Along Thomas & Friends - Thomas

Product Information

Target exclusive assortment. Includes: Sir Handel and Fearless Freddie, Rheneas and Culdee, Mighty Mac and Dennis, Billy and Whiff, or Toby and Percy.

In 2009, TAKARA TOMY released its own Take Along range exclusively in Japan without the Take Along name. It included uniquely coloured boxes and character cards with different images to that of the rest of the world. This range had its own exclusive Thomas variations: a Blue Plated Thomas (which is almost identical to the metallic Thomas except for the wheel colour remaining unchanged from the normal model) and a Gold Plated Thomas. Hiro was the final character and the only character from the CGI Series released in the Take Along line. He was also the only character from the CGI series to have a character card. The range started in 1994 and was advertised for young infants who enjoyed the series. The models were safe for younger children to play with.Take Along was originally launched in September 2002 and started out as a Target exclusive until 2005 following the discontinuation of The ERTL Collection, after which the range began being sold in other retailers worldwide. In 2009, the range was discontinued and sold to Mattel, who launched a revamped version in of the merchandise under their subsidiary Fisher-Price. It was renamed Thomas Take-n-Play, which would begin distribution in 2010. The Take Along toys were still compatible with the Take-n-Play range. In 2009, Mega Bloks made buildable Thomas & Friends models such as Percy, Thomas and Diesel and sets too. This line was ended in 2017. The character card for Thomas uses one of his promotional images from Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

The talking engine models all use their moulds from the pre-2014 era of Take-n-Play, though their chassis are the same as their normal Adventures models. In 2006, two playsets called Train Yard Set and Working Hard Set were introduced. These were much bigger than other playsets, being more than 1×1 meters. Original sets were less than 30×30 centimeters. Miscellaneous Awdryania (Merchandising)". Pegnsean.net. 2007-12-23. Archived from the original on March 9, 2009 . Retrieved 2009-04-17. Adventures models for Iron Bert, Rajiv and Rebecca were planned to be released in late December, but were cancelled. The Ertl die-cast range was discontinued in the United States in 2002 and other parts of the world in 2004. It was effectively replaced by Learning Curve's Take-Along range.

Many of the tender engines have the red footplate ( chocolate for Emily or either colour for each engine) above their wheels, much like their Take-n-Play predecessors and unlike their Collectible Railway models which had the tender moulded onto the footplates themselves, which are the same colour as the tender itself. Thomas & Friends: Thomas Saves the Day is an adventure computer game developed by Stunt Puppy Entertainment, Inc. and published by Atari Interactive for the PC. It was released in 2003 and based on the Thomas & Friends television series. The most notable of the Ertl Company's Thomas ranges was a line of die-cast models and playsets. The range was very popular in the UK, and the nature of the subject matter encouraged collecting. Target exclusive. Includes chocolate covered Thomas, Ice Cream Tanker, and car with chocolate barrel cargo.