I will start this off by saying I never intended to go down this rabbit hole of Polar engines. In fact I never really wanted the engine until I had my son as I was content with a regular Berkshire pulling my scale Polar coaches. But seeing tons of videos online and how it made all types of sounds from the movie I figured what the heck. So I purchased the new polar engine and was excited to get it on the track and start messing with the sound set. Much to my disappointment Lionel totally changed the sound set in the engine, and by changing I mean subtracting. Several clips from the movie are missing that very in previous versions including the annoying kid talking, the girl saying it was a magic train, pretty much all but one of the hero boys lines, and a bunch of Tom Hanks lines are just gone. Needless to say I was very disappointed in the engine. I was so bummed out because all of the videos I saw of the older version had all these neat lines from the movie that mine didn't have. The entire reason I got the engine was for the fun sounds, and now I was operating about about 50% of what it use to be. The only new line is a "tickets please" line which clearly isn't Tom Hanks talking. Additionally from a cosmetic situation, the gold paint on the engine is so dull that unless you're looking right at it in the right light, you really can't see it. I could go down the direction of Lionel not being able to paint things correctly but that's well documented by now. So I had this engine, but I wasn't happy with it.
So me being the crazy person that I am, I looked on Ebay to see if anyone was selling the older version that came out a few years ago. To my surprise I was able to find one for cheaper than I got the new one. I was amazed! So I took it out of the box and instantly saw a better product. First of all, the color of the engine is far superior. Not only is the gold lettering so much more vibrant, but the black of the engine just looks better. The new engine is like a flat charcoal color which is whatever, but the semi-gloss black is so much nicer. I powered the engine up and the sound set gave me about 10 more sequences that the new one just doesn't have anymore. Additionally it has a start up and shut down sequence which the new engine does not have. The new one just turns on and off. Almost like they didn't bother to complete the microchip. Finally, instead of the voice which has been dubbed "Mr. Lionel," Rich Melvin is present in this engine which for railfans is a nice addition. Overall it's just a better engine!
It baffles me that Lionel changed this engine for the worse in my opinion. I understand changing up the engine as the years go on, but in my opinion subtracting sounds from the movie to basically give you nothing in place of it is a downgrade in my opinion. I understand the new one has the multiple whistles and bells but honestly, I could care less. The first bell and whistle are the only option I would ever pick. The other annoying thing is I thought that possibly the aux 3 button would do something cool, nope! Just a generic steam sound. There is so much more you could had done with it that wasn't done. Could had added the actual figures from the movie, could had given us the ability to control what sound happens when, could had even thrown in some new sounds. Nope, just a half assed job in my opinion. All and all, the new engine to me is a big dud.
I didn't see anyone post a comparisons of the new and old versions of the Polars, and I am not sure who is crazy enough to have bought them both. So I figured I would do the comparison. One thing is for sure, I will try to resell my new one. For anyone looking to get a scale Polar I highly recommend trying to find the 2017 version, #6-84685. It has more sounds from the movie, looks better cosmetically, and I actually found it ran better on my layout than the new one. If you have the new one and you're happy with it then more power to you. For me, I am happy I was able to find the older one. Happy railroading everyone!
