fall inside a hole

Henry (1993)

First written November 19, 2023

Henry the Green Engine is one of the main characters of the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends T.V. show as well as the Railway Series books it is based on. Henry is a large mixed-traffic tender engine on the fictional Island of Sodor. He pulls both the express passenger service as well as large freight trains.

As the Plarail Thomas 25th Anniversary Book reveals, Percy was actually the second character that Tomy tried to develop for the Plarail Thomas range, but they ran into some problems getting him to work properly and look how the Thomas merchandisers wanted. The blurb under the 1993 Henry Train Set reads, approximately: "Development Secret Story. Development was progressing with the aim of commercializing a locomotive with a different color than Thomas. It was difficult to develop Percy, who was smaller than Thomas, and Henry, a larger vehicle, was commercialized." Henry uses a C battery located in the tender with additional weights in the body shell to increase compatibility with accessories that rely on the near-universal weight distribution of a C battery over the wheels of the power car as used on the vast majority of Plarail vehicles up to this point. Mickey Poppo as well as the old (and, later, new) Benkei used a similar C battery in the tender arrangement.

Late stage prototypes before full production seen on some boxes have a slightly different face sculpt.

Plarail Henry (initial made in Japan release) (1993)

 

Plarail Henry (プラレールヘンリー) was released on March 25, 1993 and was the second engine in the Thomas series of Plarail sets, trains, and accessories. The three-pack release includes Henry with connected tender and grey recolors of the early 1970s short log car with logs and box van. The box shape used for the Thomas series in the 90s is similar to the regular sixth generation Plarail boxes with the first two units of the train visible even after regular Plarail releases transitioned to the seventh generation box with all three cars visible in 1994. The front of the box has the older 1980s "Kaye & Ward" Thomas logo. The rear of the box has battery installation information as well as a promo shot of the late prototype and a list of incompatible accessories.

The 1993 Henry was also released with the same consist in the Henry Train Set, which was only on sale in 1993.

Like most other Plarail Thomas trains made in the 90s, Henry's face is molded into the smokebox and painted grey. The small van in grey is a decent enough representation for salt vans and the log wagon also fits into the Thomas universe well enough. There are two print runs of this style of box. One print run of boxes was done in late 1992 ahead of the 1993 release as shown above, signified by the ST-2 mark on the rear. Henrys sold in these boxes were produced throughout 1993. Unlike most other Plarail engines new enough to have a production code sticker or stamp, the stamps on made in Japan Henrys (and Jameses) are stamped directly onto the underside of the black plastic coal load and are somewhat hard to read (and lost even more easily than the stickers placed inside the main body shell). Of the made in Japan Henrys I have with intact original battery covers, I have one produced in February 1993 before Henry went on sale and two produced in March 1993. Like made in Japan Thomases and Jameses, Henrys from 1993 and 1994 have brass battery contacts.

Henry's chassis is marked with 1993, made in Japan, and has 1993 licensing information. The two trucks, having already had their molds moved to Tomy's Thailand factory circa 1990, are made in Thailand and of the ~1993 revision that adds the "made in" text above the Thailand text, which is itself over were the molding previously said Japan. The tender drawbar, which was a new design for this release, is a solid plastic that is prone to breaking from regular play, unlike the later tough, flexible style. The Mickey Poppo previously used a semi-flexible drawbar design, but this coupling is longer and leaves more of a gap between the engine and tender. Interestingly, it seems a few different stamps were used during Henry's early production runs. Logs have small molding marks but no country of manufacture mark.

 

In 1994 before production of Henry and the other early Thomas-series characters that were released before 1995 shifted to Thailand an additional print run of boxes was done with the ST-4 mark. To the best of my knowledge, my 1994 print run box has never been opened. These Henrys ware identical in construction and contents other than the date on the production code stamps.

My only 1994 production run Henry with intact tender coal has an obscured stamp mark, but seems to read F4 signifying it was produced in July 1994.

Plarail Henry (Thailand rerelease) (1995)

In 1995 new Henrys began being made in Tomy's Thailand factory, which began producing Plarail in 1989. The first print run of boxes for Thailand-produced Henrys was printed in late 1994 and had minor changes like some additional battery information. This style of box also added the pull-out hang tag flap and is slightly shorter than the older designs. The hang tag was introduced on the redesigned three-window seventh generation boxes for normal Plarail releases, but the slanted sixth generation designed continued to be used for the Thomas series as it allowed for a large character portrait on the front of the box. This box shape was also used for the Tomica World range.

The hang tags starts tucked in behind the top box flap. The tag can be pulled out until it catches against the still-taped-shut top of the box and can then be used to hang the box on a hanging peg in a store. After the toy is purchased and the top of the box is opened it can be removed (and, typically at the time, discarded, along with the original box).

A new updated box that followed the new "Britt Allcroft" logo box design first used on the James was printed in 1995. This updated box added an additional safety warning box on the left side. In 1997 a new box with updated incompatibility list was also printed. I do not currently own either of these print runs of boxes, although the 1999 print run box shown below is almost identical to the 1997 box aside from the Tomy phone number on the back being bolded on the later box.

I do, however, have three 1995 production Henrys in the original Thailand box. All three of these Henrys have the original rubber band holding the logs in place and all three were produced in August 1995. Interestingly, one of the H5 stickers is in a different font from the other two. Two of these Henrys currently have broken power switches - the plastic on older Henrys and Gordons is starting to contract to the point that they split around the attached metal contact and become inoperable. When I get more of my materials together, I will expand the Plarail Repairs page with pictorial repair guides to fix this and other common Plarail problems.

Thailand-produced Henrys have silver battery contacts and Thailand-style production stickers. Henry's molding was updated to read made in Thailand, pushing the 1993 Tomy mark down under the cab. The slightly further apart treads on the mid 1990s traction tires can be seen, and the single split rear couplings were also changed to the modern strain-relief style. Tender drawbars were changed to the flexible style used for many years after.

Interestingly, logs from the all-Thailand production era are longer than earlier logs even though both styles were made in Thailand. They have similar molding marks to earlier logs.

In addition to the three early Thailand Henrys I also have an August 1998 Henry with original tender cover. These later 90s Henrys were the first version to be exported, first in the Battery Operated Rail System in 1997 and later Tomica World in 1998.

1374 Henry Accessory Set (Thomas Battery Operated Rail System) (1997)

The first overseas exporting of Thomas-series Plarail began with the Battery Operated Rail System replacements for the Tomy Train Thomas series in the United States. These accessory packs are fairly uncommon and were the only way to buy characters other than Thomas until the expanded Tomica World range in 1998. It is a little bit of a tease that the back of the boxes show so many cool pieces of rolling stock and Plarail accessories, some of which would later be exported under Tomica World but others, like the Bridge Rails with integrated supports, would never be exported to the States.

The Henry Accessory Set includes Henry and two straight and two half straight rails. The Henry in my set has had the eyes painted particularly low, overhanging the lower eyelids.

I bought this and the other two 1997 accessory sets unused and in very nice condition in 2021. The Henry was produced in June 1997 and has blue and yellow wires.

Henry (Capped axles) (1999)

In 1999 a new print run of boxes was done that were seemingly used until the brand refresh in 2002. This box is almost identical to the 1997 print run boxes except with the Tomy telephone number on the back bolded. The compatibility list is the same late 1996 one used on the 1997 print boxes.

These Henrys, produced between 1999 and 2002, have a few minor changes from the mid 1990s Thailand iteration. The middle and front axles on Henry now have metal "caps" fitted instead of being hammered down to retain the two wheels. These caps actually end up fouling on the coupling rods from time to time, and Tomy actually started fitting the wheels of tender engines directly to their axles years later.

In addition to being slightly lighter in color, the chassis for the trucks was modified to include axleboxes as well as additional support around the screw. Unlike some other older rolling stock, these stubby trucks kept using hammered axles

The tender has some updated battery information added to the molding. 1999 print boxes appear to have been the last batch of boxes produced for engines introduced before 1998.

Henry (Updated rerelease) (2003)

In 2003 the Thomas Plarail range was revamped and the main cast of characters received updated detailing. Running boards were painted in white and the tender stickers were replaced with painted graphics. The van and log car were replaced with a troublesome truck and troublesome van. At this point, the Plarail and international releases split ways, with international releases gaining the separately molded face but not the added white running board, tender paint application, or new rolling stock.