fall inside a hole

B/O Tomica/Motor Tomica Bertie (1995)

First written May 20, 2024

Bertie the Bus is one of the supporting road characters in the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends T.V. show as well as the Railway Series books it is based on. Bertie is a red bus that operates near Thomas' branch line.

In the mid 1990s Tomy was heavily integrating their Tomica and Plarail ranges with B/O (Battery/Operated) Tomica, later renamed Motor Tomica. It was an obvious move to expand the range to include Thomas-series characters to compliment their Plarail Thomas series. Unlike most Motor Tomica, Bertie and most other Thomas characters use AAA batteries instead of N size batteries.

B/O Tomica Bertie (Japanese production) (1995/1996)

Bertie was first released in 1995 as part of the Thomas the Tank Engine and Bertie Set. Like other early B/O Tomica releases, Bertie was first produced in Japan.

Early examples of the Berties in these sets occasionally have chassis and body shells produced in different months.

Boxes were printed in Japan in 1995 for individual B/O Tomica Berties. Berties were produced in Japan into early 1996 and released in the B/O Tomica packaging in 1996.

The inside box flaps show the battery installation information. A cardboard frame holds Bertie in place inside the box.

In 1996 B/O Tomica production fully moved to Thailand (and China) and the range was renamed Motor Tomica for 1997 and on. The box shown here is a stickered variant of the box - under the sticker the box is printed with seemingly the same info and a red curvy Tomy logo. I am not entirely sure why the sticker was added, but I will have to eventually find one without it to compare.

Motor Tomica Bertie (Thailand production) (1997)

In 1997 when B/O Tomica had been renamed Motor Tomica Bertie received an updated box and new internal battery cover.

The inside box flaps have been updated to show the new battery installation instructions.

These Berties have an added internal battery cover with screw and were exported in early Thomas Battery Operated Rail System and Tomica World sets. Earlier examples of this chassis used the grey power switch like the earlier Japanese type while later ones use a black plastic switch.

In 1997 Motor Tomica Bulgys using the same chassis also began being made for the Thomas and Bulgy Set. The chassis would also be used for later Thomas-series vehicles.

7447 Bertie (Tomica World) (1998)

In 1998 Bertie was released as part of the Tomica World range in yellow hang-tag packaging. These Berties are the internal compartment type, with earlier examples being the grey switch type and later ones having the black power switch.

Motor Tomica Bertie (screwed body shell) (2002)

In 2001 new boxes were printed for the redesigned screwed body shell type construction which entered use in very late 2001 or 2002.

A screw now holds the body shell onto the chassis, holding the battery in place instead of the internal compartment. These body shells can not fit onto the older chassis.

These Berties were also exported for Tomica World and later Motor Road & Rail sets.

TC-01 Plaroad Bertie (2004)

In 2004 Motor Tomica was relaunched as Plaroad and several Thomas characters were released in Plaroad packaging including Bertie. These Berties have a screw holding the body shell to the chassis instead of the earlier internal battery cover.

Plaroad Bertie (set variant) (2008)

In the 2008 Thomas the Tank Engine and Bertie's Competition Set a slight set variant of the Plaroad Bertie included pained eyes. This is probably the nicest looking version of the Motor Tomica/Plaroad Berties if only because it is pretty much the only one with any additional detail, and it looks quite nice.