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Thomas the Tank Engine Big Loader (1997)

First written May 2024

In 1997 the classic Tomy Big Loader toy was rethemed in a new Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends licensed form as several other older Tomy toys were in the late 1990s and early 2000s to take advantage of their Thomas the Tank Engine license. Thomas, Percy, and Terence the tractor cycle balls representing rocks around the same layout as the original from 20 years prior.

With the popularity of Thomas the Tank Engine in the late 1990s to 2000s alongside the ingenuity of the Big Loader the Thomas Big Loader was a big success, selling in multiple regions for years and receiving updates, its own recolored version of Big Big Loader, and a new Thomas Post Office Loader with fresh track layout and interactive destinations.

Thomas Big Loader (first U.S. box) (1997)


The Thomas Big Loader was first released in the United States in Tomy's 1997 American Thomas the Tank Engine range (catalogue #6563), most of which came in yellow boxes with blue borders as seen here. The box design has a very classic 1990s Thomas the Tank Engine feel with the old logo and Owen Bell artwork on the front.

The box shows the set with a grey chassis with treads molded into the large plastic wheels, a holdover from when the chassis was for the construction vehicles from the original Big Loader. The vast majority of Thomas Big Loaders released use a grey chassis with smooth wheels (although both styles have rubber traction tires, which are fit around the two rear plastic drive wheels), but very early U.S. and, I believe, U.K./European releases, do have grey chassis with molded tread. This was changed around 1998 when the Japanese domestic market version entered production, with future releases all using the round, more train-like wheels.


Set contents
Quantity
Item
Photo
1
Power chassis

1 Thomas shell
1 Percy shell
1
Terence shell
4
Straight track

3 Curve track
1 Switch track
1 Hopper track
1 Short track
1 Ramp track
1 Transfer ramp
1 Loading dock
1 Loading gate
1 Loading trough
1 Hopper
2 Hopper supports
1 Delivery chute
12 "Rocks"

Thomas takes the place of the dump truck in the original set with Percy taking the place of the skip loader, with their coal bunkers being hinged and located such that they interact with the playset similar to the original vehicles. Terence the tractor seems like a good choice for the scooping vehicle, as this would have probably seemed a bit odd on a train - he does have a scoop attachment that is occasionally shown in the series.

These older sets produced before the 2002 licensing update are dated 1997 inside the body shells. The power car with treaded wheels in this early copy is dated October 1997. Chassis put in sets up to the 2002 box refresh used a metal power switch riveted into the chassis plastic itself.

Being based off of the 1990s Thailand-produced Big Loaders, the set has many features seen on those sets like stickers on the buttons of the curve track and the updated switch track, Thailand markings, and fully-guarded slope track.

The set has several Thomas-specific stickers like the logo and labels for the different characters on the transfer ramps. One change for this version compared to previous Thailand-made versions is the use of a plastic guide rail for Terence's scoop, which was a formed metal wire in previous versions. A lot of the components of the set are fairly similarly colored to the 1977 original's colors - one prototype shown in the 1997 American Tomy dealer's catalogue shows a different color scheme with green components in place of red, which I think looks a little cooler. Interestingly, this prototype shows the chassis with smooth wheels, meaning at some point they were developed but the tooling was not changed until after some batches of treaded chassis were produced.

The instructions show how to put the layout together as well as where the different stickers are placed. The set can really be started from anywhere in its normal cycle but the suggested and easiest way to start is with all the characters in position, the rocks in the hopper, and the chassis pointing towards the rear of Thomas.


Click for video with sound!

The operation of Big Loader is mesmerizing. Part of the attraction of the toy is the sound, the whirring motor and gears and clanking, sliding plastic and the rolling and dropping ball rocks.

In 1998 International Playthings, Inc. of Parsippany, New Jersey began distributing Tomy's Tomica World series in the United States. International Playthings would also distribute later original-style box Thomas Big Loaders with their sticker on the rear of the box.

These sets use the later smooth-wheeled version of the chassis but otherwise are nearly identical to the earlier releases. These new chassis have a safety warning about the risk of entanglement if a child's hair gets into the spinning wheels.

The instructions in my copy of this set are a slightly later printing with a warning not to use a screw driver to try to install the batteries (presumably parents were accidentally opening the chassis instead of the battery compartment and dumping all the tiny gears all over the floor) that also has an International Playthings sticker over the Tomy Careline info. Presumably at some point in between these two releases Tomy-distributed sets used this updated manual without the sticker (although I am not sure if these versions would have had treaded or smooth wheels).

Later power cars, such as this smooth-wheeled example from December 2000, have a warning sticker about hair entanglement added to the top of the battery cover.

Grande Chargeuse Thomas Big Loader (first Canadian box) (1990s)

The first Canadian box for the Thomas big Loader was based on the 1997 Tomy U.S. one and was used from the late 1990s all the way to the mid 2000s in the case of this one imported by Walmart Canada which has an August 2005 production stamp on the back of the box. As it is marked for sale in Canada, it has both English and French text.

This means distribution of this set in this box spanned both the 1997-2001 production period and the 2002 updated production period, and my example, although missing its original chassis, would have included the chassis with new power switch and has all the marks and features discussed below.

Thomas and Friends Big Loader (first European/U.K. box) (1997)


Also around 1997, the Thomas Big Loader made its way to Europe and (probably primarily) the U.K. by way of Tomy Europe. The reversing buttons on the set pictured on the box has red buttons, but as far as I know no sets were ever actually released that way. This style of box was imported into Australia by JNH Toys Australia, later bought by Funtastic.

The European Thomas Big Loader release is, other than the box, the same as the U.S. one, including from what I can tell earlier circa 1997 production runs with treaded wheel chassis and later production runs without. Tomy used to recommend Duracell batteries around this time but rarely included batteries in sets - to me it would seem like including one of the batteries you are endorsing would really show your confidence in the product, but I assume that because these boxes were generally packaged for sale in any of Tomy's European markets complications with shipping batteries may have prevented this.

The example I have comes with a chassis dating from January 2000. The European release box was updated to a more modern blue style around 2002.

Thomas the Tank Engine Big Loader (first Japanese box) (1998)


In 1998 the Thomas the Tank Engine Big Loader (きかんしゃトーマスのビッグローダー) was released in Japan with a fresh sticker sheet and seemingly the smooth-wheeled chassis from the beginning.


The numbered panels on the box talk about the different actions that the set takes - Percy loading up with rocks, depositing them down the chute, Terence scooping them up into Thomas, and Thomas dumping them back into the hopper.


Set contents
Quantity
Item
Photo
1
Power chassis
1 Thomas shell
1 Percy shell
1
Terence shell
4
Straight track
3 Curve track
1 Switch track
1 Hopper track
1 Short track
1 Ramp track  
1 Transfer ramp
1 Loading dock
1 Loading gate
1 Loading trough
1 Hopper
2 Hopper supports
1 Delivery chute
12 "Rocks"
Traction tires 

I like some of the alternate stickers in this set - the hopper and trough stickers in particular I like more in this version than the wasp stripes used on the international version. Other than the changed stickers for the Japanese market, this set is the same as other Thomas Big Loaders. One really neat addition for this release is the inclusion of four extra traction tires, enough to change both the tires on the power car twice. This is really neat and very handy, especially because although they are 25 years old they still seem reasonably fine and served as perfectly fine replacements for some of the worn-out tires on some of my power cars.

My copy seems to be a fairly early Japanese-market example, being produced in June 1998.

The foldout instruction manual, which is fairly crumpled in my case, is also marked as printed in the summer of 1998.

I have not mentioned this thus far, but it is the case for all these Thomas loaders (and it is only mentioned here in particular because the photos were taken with the loading dock from this set) - the loading trough in the loading bay is shortened to deposit only at the rear of the docked vehicle because Thomas' bunker is a lot shorter than the regular Big Loader dump truck bed. A regular dump truck shell will also work fine on a Thomas set because the trough still lines up with the rear of its bed. The Thomas shell cannot be used in a loading dock with a dump truck-style trough, however, as that trough does not line up with Thomas' bunker at all.

Unfortunately, my copy of this set is the victim of a common sticker error - parents begin to apply the logo and angled stickers to the interchange piece without realizing that one side comes from the factory with Thomas and Percy stickers, and then do not realize until they can not find the other stickers on the sheet and then discover them on the "back" of what is really the front of the interchange that they just put stickers on the real rear of. The Thomas, Percy, and Terence marker stickers come applied from the factory because, it would seem, the production line was already set up to put the vehicle label stickers on previous versions of Big Loader that did not have as many other stickers. Thus, a few of the stickers come preapplied, and if a parent does not check both sides of the interchange piece before starting, it is easy to end up with an interchange with the Thomas and Percy stickers on one side and the other three stickers on the other.

This Big Loader can be seen hooked up to the original Japanese Thomas Big Big Loader on the Thomas Big Big Loader page.

Thomas Big Big Loader (1999)

In 1999 a Thomas-themed version of the Tomy Big Big Loader standalone expansion for the Big Loader was released as the Thomas the Tank Engine Connect Big Loader or Thomas Big Big Loader. This Big Big Loader can operate entirely on its own or in conjunction with a Big Loader to make a "Big Big Big Loader".

Thomas Big Loader (second U.S. box) (2002)




In 2002 Tomy renewed the Thomas the Tank Engine license and a lot of their packaging and products were updated around the world, both within and outside of the Thomas license. These new boxes fit into the design style that Thomas's licensers wanted to be used across all Thomas products. This 2000s version of Thomas Big Loader sold very well pretty much everywhere it was released and parts to these sets can regularly be found randomly mixed in with other Thomas toys. I remember seeing them at train shows and one of my friends had all three of the Thomas-themed Big Loaders. As this box came out after the American Thomas Big Big Loader, its compatibility is mentioned on the rear of the box.

Set contents
Quantity
Item
Photo
1
Power chassis
1 Thomas shell
1 Percy shell
1
Terence shell
4
Straight track
3 Curve track
1 Switch track
1 Hopper track
1 Short track
1 Ramp track
1 Transfer ramp
1 Loading dock
1 Loading gate
1 Loading trough
1 Hopper
2 Hopper supports
1 Delivery chute
12 "Rocks"

Licensing information inside the body shells was updated from 1997 to 2002. It was also with these refreshed sets that the hair entanglement warning began being printed on the top of the battery cover and the power switch changed from the metal type to the plastic off-the-shelf type. The chassis in my boxed example of this set is a fairly late example dating to 2006.

Interestingly, when the toolings were put into production for this set, an older style of curve rail (left) was put back into production. The style of curves used on previous Thomas Big Loaders, used since the late 1980s on Thailand-made regular Big Loaders, has a short rack to slow the chassis down as it approaches the static reverser. This is not in any way necessary for the toy to operate, and this rackless style of curve was in use from 1977 to the late 1980s and worked just fine on normal Big Loader, but it is an interesting reversion nonetheless.

The stickers on this version are somewhat lighter compared to the 1990s versions - the blacks are now greys and the yellow is a little lighter too. Despite the photo on the front of the box and the identity for the brand overall being updated with the new "Thomas & Friends" logo instead of "Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends" sets continued to come with stickers of the old logo for many years, like this example from the mid 2000s.

An example of one of these sets can be seen operating together with an original American Thomas Big Big Loader on the Thomas Big Big Loader page.

Thomas Big Loader (second European box) (2002)



Around the same time the multilingual European Thomas Big Loader box was updated to fit the 2000s brand style as well. Funnily enough, it seems the version of the Thomas Big Loader with reddish reversing buttons as seen on the original European box also appears here.

The components in my boxed example are seemingly a mix of older and newer components. The loading dock has the new logo while the hopper track has the old one, and the curves have short racks like the older style sets. The character shells are all dated 1997, and the power car is the new plastic switch type. My particular example has a chassis dating to October 2002, so it is possible that examples from 2002 have a mix of leftover older components as new production runs of the newer components came online and were packed into boxes, replacing whatever backstock was left of the older ones... or the previous owner had two copies of Big Loader and parts got swapped between them. It is hard to tell when collecting these things so many years later.

Thomas Big Loader (second Japanese box) (2002)

Like other regions, the Japanese Thomas Big Loader box was also updated circa 2002 to fit with the 2000s style of Thomas branding. The Thomas Big Big Loader also received a matching updated box around the same time, and the two were even sold together in a multipack at Toys "R" Us.

Thomas Big Loader (recolored European release) (2004)

In 2004 a recolored version of the Thomas Big Loader was released in Europe and the U.K. This recolor is similar to the original Thomas Big Loader but with yellow substituted for the white components as well as some updated stickers.

Thomas Big Loader (American HiT Toy Company release) (2006)



In the United States this recolored Thomas Big Loader was sold by HiT Toy Company as part of their distribution deal with Tomy and the Thomas license around this time. Although the box is marked HiT Toys and makes no mention of Tomy, the components inside are all Tomy-made.


Set contents
Quantity
Item
Photo
1
Power chassis
1 Thomas shell
1 Percy shell
1
Terence shell
4
Straight track
3 Curve track
1 Switch track
1 Hopper track
1 Short track
1 Ramp track
1 Transfer ramp
1 Loading dock
1 Loading gate
1 Loading trough  
1 Hopper
2 Hopper supports
1 Delivery chute
12 "Rocks"

This set uses the usual 2002-licensed shells and a later printed-warning chassis with updated battery compartment marks. The example seen here is a late example of this style from 2006 or so and thus has the CE mark and "do not dispose" marks which were added in the mid 2000s.

Components inside are still all marked TOMY. I quite like that the black round "rocks" were incorporated into the rocks on the sticker on the loading dock, and the rivets added to some of the stickers make them look a little more interesting than the previous versions of the wasp-stripes.

This was the last new version of the Thomas Big Loader to be released outside of Japan for more than a decade. Unfortunately, my copy is missing the yellow trough in the loading bay and is seen here with a white one.

Thomas Big Loader Terence's Quarry (Japanese recolor) (2008)

Around 2008 the Thomas Big Loader and Thomas Big Big Loader were both rereleased in new colors for the Japanese market. The Big Loader rerelease was called Thomas the Tank Engine Big Loader Terence's Quarry. These sets used updated light blue packaging. The updated Thomas Big Big Loader can be seen on the Thomas Big Big Loader page. The colors used for this Thomas Big Loader are similar to the 2018 version.

Thomas and Friends Big Loader (International release) (2018)




In 2018 after no Tomy Thomas toys had been released outside of parts of Asia for many years a new Mattel-sanctioned and licensed through HiT Entertainment version of the Thomas Big Loader was released with an updated chassis and new colors and stickers but the same classic layout. The set was also rereleased in a new box with the new chassis in Japan, where this colorway had been first released a decade prior. The full name of this version is the Thomas & Friends Big Loader Sodor Island Delivery Set.


Set contents
Quantity
Item
Photo
1
Power chassis
1 Thomas shell
1 Percy shell
1
Terence shell
4
Straight track
3 Curve track
1 Switch track
1 Hopper track
1 Short track
1 Ramp track
1 Transfer ramp
1 Loading dock
1 Loading gate  
1 Loading trough
1 Hopper
2 Hopper supports
1 Delivery chute
12 "Rocks"

This version (components on the right) has slightly different paint application on the character's faces and some differences in production and construction. The colors are a little bit different as well, particularly Terence, who also has a less spikey scoop, only retaining the slots necessary to straddle the rack in the loading dock track.

Licensing information was updated and some of the plastic clip-in joints were replaced with metal pins. It is not necessarily super common but also certainly not uncommon for a character to loose its bucket or scoop over time, and this keeps everything nicely together.


This set uses a new version of the power car that is more trapezoidal and has been designed to only ever fit the single AA battery, which is now behind a screw. The screws on the unpowered chassis wheels have also been replaced with harder-to-remove flat-topped pins.

This set comes with frankly almost unusable multilingual instructions. The diagrams are so tiny and it really don't feel like all this text was necessary... it is hard to follow no matter what language you need. I get that they wanted one set of instructions for all regions (outside Japan, anyway) but I do not think it is a very good set of instructions. The previous owner of my set gave up on putting the stickers on after just one!