Bertie The Bus - Bandai TECS

I never was too happy with any of the ready made Bertie toys manufactured by the likes of Hornby, Bachmann and Ertl. All of them were flawed in major departments, and as such I really couldn't stand them. One I really did like was the "Bandai TECS" toy, which actually looked like the character in question. These were also sold into the US market* as the "Ertl Gold Rail" range of die-cast and plastic toys.

Now there are still a few issues I'm not happy with on the toy, although they aren't major. For a start, one of the windows is little more than a sticker, meaning it'll need opening up and filing to match the others. The opening to Bertie, with the steps leading into the body, is also solid, but cast in metal. A session with the hacksaw and bastard file should sort this issue out.

Bertie's body is moulded in two parts. Being made of plastic, the two simply clip together holding the face in position at the front of the body, where the radiator grill would normally sit. The chassis of the bust is cast metal, and holds the wheels in place. For a model with no given size, it matches up well with the Bachmann Thomas, so I'd stick his size to around 4mm scale or so.

For the price it cost me to buy it and then import, from Japan to the UK, I'd say it's a reasonable representation of Bertie himself. Not too bad, and certainly a lot better than the Hornby Bertie, something which seems to be closer to O gauge than the OO gauge it is marketed as.

Jack

The Fat Controller - Review

Anyone who has seen the range of wind-up "Thomas & Friends" toys produced by Tomy for the Japanese market will have seen several figures are made to match the engines. Of these, the one I am drawn to is Sir Topham Hatt, also known as the Fat Controller.

As you can see, he is a tad bright and glossy, but some work here and there does wonders. One thing to be addressed is the solid base he is cast on. Simply removing it improves the figure quite well, and as such makes for a nice addition to a layout.

Shown here with a standard 4mm scale figure, he fits right in. The car he is supplied with, however, does not. I'll be using either a Oxford Diecast or Pocketbond Classix model as his car, but I suppose this could pass on a layout, as long as it is carefully placed. Not shown is the carrier wagon that came with my example, but this is set for a conversion into a generic OO9 wagon.

To cap it up, quite a nice figure and worth getting, especially as it's the closest you'll ever get to a ready made HO/OO figure of the main man on Sodor.

Jack