This is something I've seen a lot online, and honestly I don't blame old fans and new ones with their parents alike. I grew up with the original Wooden Railway, Ertl Die Cast, etc., so seeing this is a huge step down. Back when the show was still owned by the original creators Britt Allcroft and the late David Mitton, the merchandise was almost always fantastic.
It's funny because when the Thomas series was bad (2004-2012), the merchandise was still good. When Mattel/Fisher Price bought the franchise in 2013, the show got better again, but the merchandise slowly turned awful, eventually leading to the above Thomas Wood. I would imagine a company like Mattel, who has made great toys like the Hot Wheels line, would be thinking a bit more logically and ahead with a franchise like Thomas in the palm in their hands - Wooden Railway in particular, which has been around since late 1992, the longest running Thomas merchandise line in history.
But Thomas Wood is actually just the tip of the iceberg of some really perplexing decisions on Mattel's part. Characters like Daisy, Donald & Douglas, who have been used a lot in the current series have not gotten any toys to sell alongside their recent appearances on video and TV, but characters like Ferdinand who has not appeared in years or one off characters still get made by the masses.
