The culmination of five years of research and collecting.
Some handy text info:
Made in Japan Thomas (1992-1994)
Marked made in Japan, old Tomy logo
All brass battery contacts
No middle wheel
Painted face
Usually, unless replaced by previous owner: old coupler and old grey traction tires
Wider axle caps on both sides of the axle
Made in Thailand 4 wheel (1995-1998)
Marked made in Thailand, old Tomy logo
Silver battery contacts
No middle wheel
Painted face
Smaller axle cap on one side of axle, other side is flat and permanently connected
Made in Thailand 6 wheel, old logo (1999-2002)
Marked made in Thailand, old Tomy logo
Silver battery contacts with partial covering
Middle wheel
Painted face
Plastic face (2003-2008)
Marked made in Thailand, new Tomy logo
Silver battery contacts with plastic covering
Middle wheel
Separately molded face
Available in some Plarail sets introduced before 2003 that were produced into 2003
White running board sticker sides (2003-2008)
Marked made in Thailand, new Tomy logo
Silver battery contacts with plastic covering
Middle wheel
Separately molded face
Side details are stickers (same as all models up to this point)
White running board printed sides (2009-2018)
Marked made in Thailand, new Tomy logo
Silver battery contacts with plastic covering
Middle wheel
Separately molded face
Side details are printed
CGI face (2018-present)
Marked made in Thailand, new Tomy logo
Silver battery contacts with plastic covering
Middle wheel
Separately molded CGI face
Side details are printed
Date sticker/stamp scheme:
Number is the year of production. Typically 1990s dates have only one number and 2000s will have two - 4 = 1994, 04=2004, 14=2014
Letter is month of production
a=January
b=February
c=March
d=April
e=May
f=June
g=July
h=August
i=September
j=October
k=November
l=December
BradyLikesTrains on Twitter owns a Tomica World era Thailand Thomas which came with an old style Japanese coupling.
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I have also seen early James that use it.
The Yujin Thomas and Percy also use this coupling.
Shoutout to TrackMaster BoCo on Twitter
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And a huge thank you to everyone over at BluePlasticTracks for always showing off new and interesting things I never knew about and being a great source of information.
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Music
Thomas the Tank Engine (SNES) Title theme, jigsaw puzzle, sliding puzzle
