A few thoughts on how to make products attractive to kids

[trestrainfan]

Threads occasionally come up on how to attract young folks to the hobby. I picked up the June 2007 issue of Garden Railways, and there is an article on an indoor G scale layout at the San Diego Children's Hospital. It is incredibly creative. Trains and buildings have been modified to be whimsical. There are dramatic elevation changes and bold colors. It started me thinking about what attracts kids and how can we go beyond conventional ideas.

 I came up with 4 important factors kids like in toys:

Whimsical - cool looking and imaginary toys with bold bright shapes and colors

Action - they like to go fast, they like to go up and down, not just go around a level circle

Remote Control - interactive control and electronics

Competition - race toys with their friends

Putting all this together, I envision a hybrid of the toy train, hot wheels, and computer rollercoaster sims. The locomotives and cars would be fanciful designs. In order to go up and down and around, the track would need to be flexible, but much sturdier than hot wheels track. It would also need to be strong and easy to assemble so kids could constantly build new more challenging layouts. I'm thinking it would be difficult to power the track, so battery power in the locomotive. Have a transmission in the powertrain, so it goes fast on level areas and can climb steep slopes. The track would probably need some type of top rail like a roller coaster so junior doesn't launch his loco into the middle of the big screen tv. The remote control of speed and gearing, possibly some control of sounds so your animal based dino-train could have a t-rex roar as it zoomed around the track. If a kid is by his or her self, they could build the train equivalent of a super rollercoaster track and see if the train can make it. Dual tracks so kids can race. Speed control and shifting determines who goes around the track faster.

It might be complete heresy, but I think kids would love it. It could start name branding and have some product tie-in (similar remotes) so kids might move into more conventional railroading as they get older. If not, the companies expand their product range and market share to a younger audience they aren't reaching now. I'd buy one.

 

[John Busby]

Hi trestrianfan

You forgot the fifth and most important.

Make them affordable how many kids are going to be able to by bits for there sets at pocket money prices??

Most of the stuff today is aimed at the adult collector or model railway enthusiast there is next to nothing at kids affordable prices.

I would cross whimsical off the list when i was a kid I wanted the trains I saw every day.

Not Donald Duck or Wallace and Gromit or rockets to the moon.

I did want a giraffe car and operating mail coach and other operating accessories that made sense.

regards John

[jprampolla]

Hi Folks,

     Trestrainfan, I have run handcars from a lantern battery hooked up to the rails, so no need for the weight of a battery in the loco. I had a wind-up toy as a kid where there was a toothed wheel (gear) under the loco and cog slots in the roadbed, and the little train was a great climber. I love all the ideas. I hope the manufactures are watching!

     Take care, and Happy Memorial Day to everyone (remember all our brave) !!!! Joe.

[3railguy]

In the late 80's, Tyco made colorful, streamlined, modernistic high speed turbo trains that blazed up walls and around loop-de-loops. The sets were affordable but only lasted a week or so before they broke. For a set like that to be well made and last throughout a kids childhood, it would be rather expensive. I think Lionel comes close with the Accela but it's $1800 and with all those working parts and mega electronics, I understand it has its glitches.

[fifedog]

***A patient mentor to show them how to run trains and work on a layout...

I think the manufacturers have covered all the other bells & whistles.

[PostwarMan07]

I agree that trains are no longer made for children.  They are for adult collectors.  All the command control and new features seem like they would be too complicated for kids.  I am 20 and 10 or 12 years ago I remember only being able to afford cheaper used postwar trains, accessories, and transformers.  If my local hobby shop didn't sell postwar stuff I might not still be collecting trains today...

[BDT in Minnesota]

There is still plenty of old scout trainsets around.  They are about as durable as it gets..These trains can be repainted to suit personal taste, and can carry cargo loads that will appeal to youngsters...Allot of the scenery can be some of the other favorite toys that the kids play with...Simple buildings can be built out out of cardboard boxes or whatever.....The element that is often omitted is spending time with the kids, and making sure that they have plenty of shared "hands on" time when it comes to setting up and running.... 

Simply giving the kid a new spendy piece of crap that don't last a week and sending them downstairs by themselves to play with it may not cut the mustard...

Some kids are simply not "train nuts", and some are---just like us....they have their own interists....

Even when given as a gift, a train does not have to be new...

[billbarman]

hey im still i kid and i collect lionel trains anyway when i was 5 and i got my 1st set what i liked was the sounds of the engine, i also liked the colorfull string or freight cars.

[pbjwilson]

In the late 80's, Tyco made colorful, streamlined, modernistic high speed turbo trains that blazed up walls and around loop-de-loops. The sets were affordable but only lasted a week or so before they broke. For a set like that to be well made and last throughout a kids childhood, it would be rather expensive. I think Lionel comes close with the Accela but it's $1800 and with all those working parts and mega electronics, I understand it has its glitches.

Heres a link to the Turbo Trains.

http://tycotrain.tripod.com/tycotrains/id25.html

 

[Dr. John]

As John Long alluded, durability is a huge factor when making trains with lasting appeal to kids. I think that's one of the reasons the old Marx trains did so well for so long. They weren't fancy, but they were tough! The motors were nearly bulletproof. And of course, they were affordable!

[SchemerBob]

Threads occasionally come up on how to attract young folks to the hobby. I picked up the June 2007 issue of Garden Railways, and there is an article on an indoor G scale layout at the San Diego Children's Hospital. It is incredibly creative. Trains and buildings have been modified to be whimsical. There are dramatic elevation changes and bold colors. It started me thinking about what attracts kids and how can we go beyond conventional ideas.

 I came up with 4 important factors kids like in toys:

Whimsical - cool looking and imaginary toys with bold bright shapes and colors

Action - they like to go fast, they like to go up and down, not just go around a level circle

Remote Control - interactive control and electronics

Competition - race toys with their friends

Putting all this together, I envision a hybrid of the toy train, hot wheels, and computer rollercoaster sims. The locomotives and cars would be fanciful designs. In order to go up and down and around, the track would need to be flexible, but much sturdier than hot wheels track. It would also need to be strong and easy to assemble so kids could constantly build new more challenging layouts. I'm thinking it would be difficult to power the track, so battery power in the locomotive. Have a transmission in the powertrain, so it goes fast on level areas and can climb steep slopes. The track would probably need some type of top rail like a roller coaster so junior doesn't launch his loco into the middle of the big screen tv. The remote control of speed and gearing, possibly some control of sounds so your animal based dino-train could have a t-rex roar as it zoomed around the track. If a kid is by his or her self, they could build the train equivalent of a super rollercoaster track and see if the train can make it. Dual tracks so kids can race. Speed control and shifting determines who goes around the track faster.

It might be complete heresy, but I think kids would love it. It could start name branding and have some product tie-in (similar remotes) so kids might move into more conventional railroading as they get older. If not, the companies expand their product range and market share to a younger audience they aren't reaching now. I'd buy one.

In the recent MTH catalog, they state that this is the "Golden Age of O Gauge," but how is that true? If it is, then it's because MTH and Lionel have brought more realistic trains back to the market (you don't see very many "made-up" O scale trains...). I don't really like the idea of making "fantasy" trains, partly because I like realism, but also because, do we feel like we have to make trains better than they really are? I think most kids that want a train would want something based on what they see in real life, not some "super train" that some company just made up. Fantasy trains could be fun to operate, but I doubt most kids would "convert" to model railroading because of them. One of the biggest ways to make products attractive to kids: make them look real.

Honestly, if someone were to put up a huge O scale display in their local Wal-Mart, and made it look as real as possible, and operated hi-rail locomotives and equipment with all the literal bells & whistles...how could somebody not be impressed...not even a little?

[Eriediamond]

My for what it's worth. After reading the responses here, I'm seeing a lot of great ideas and such and everyone has different ideas from there own past experiences. I grew up back in the 40's when Lionel, Marx and AF were the big three. We called them electric trains, not model rail roads, back then. They were produced and sold for what they were, as toys. That's where a lot of us older modelers got our bug for the hobby. Time has changed things since those days though. We didn't have the tv to baby sit us, nor the computers and video games to keep us occupied. What we had in our little world back then were the thrill of noisy, smelly, smok'in steam powered trains and airplanes. The trains weren't "scale" but I don't recall anyone complaining, just a few arguments about AF's two rail track against Lionels three rail. All the new stuff coming out now, train sets to individual locos, are all so advanced with all the latest electronic sounds and lighting and controls that even some of us experienced have a hard time figuring what will work and what won't, much less an eight year old. Not only do the manufactures need to get back to some basic, inexpensive equipment, but families need to get back to basic family life also and spend more time with their kids. Seems to me we are judged by what we have, not our ideals and a lot of parents are spending so much time working to keep up with the Jonses, the family life is deteriorating and the kids are suffering from it. I'm drift'in toward a place I don't need to go here, so I'll end with this thought. There are kids out there that are still fascinated by trains, maybe not as many as years ago, but we need good solid trains for them that can take playing with. And they don't really need all the fancy bells and whistles either. Just something to get their feet wet, they'll learn to swim later. Ken

[3railguy]

As John Long alluded, durability is a huge factor when making trains with lasting appeal to kids. I think that's one of the reasons the old Marx trains did so well for so long. They weren't fancy, but they were tough! The motors were nearly bulletproof. And of course, they were affordable!

Plus Marx made the best electrical aroma of them all. Who could forget that!

[Anonymous]

***A patient mentor to show them how to run trains and work on a layout...

I think the manufacturers have covered all the other bells & whistles.

 

[Anonymous]

Threads occasionally come up on how to attract young folks to the hobby. I picked up the June 2007 issue of Garden Railways, and there is an article on an indoor G scale layout at the San Diego Children's Hospital. It is incredibly creative. Trains and buildings have been modified to be whimsical. There are dramatic elevation changes and bold colors. It started me thinking about what attracts kids and how can we go beyond conventional ideas.

 I came up with 4 important factors kids like in toys:

Whimsical - cool looking and imaginary toys with bold bright shapes and colors

Action - they like to go fast, they like to go up and down, not just go around a level circle

Remote Control - interactive control and electronics

Competition - race toys with their friends

Putting all this together, I envision a hybrid of the toy train, hot wheels, and computer rollercoaster sims. The locomotives and cars would be fanciful designs. In order to go up and down and around, the track would need to be flexible, but much sturdier than hot wheels track. It would also need to be strong and easy to assemble so kids could constantly build new more challenging layouts. I'm thinking it would be difficult to power the track, so battery power in the locomotive. Have a transmission in the powertrain, so it goes fast on level areas and can climb steep slopes. The track would probably need some type of top rail like a roller coaster so junior doesn't launch his loco into the middle of the big screen tv. The remote control of speed and gearing, possibly some control of sounds so your animal based dino-train could have a t-rex roar as it zoomed around the track. If a kid is by his or her self, they could build the train equivalent of a super rollercoaster track and see if the train can make it. Dual tracks so kids can race. Speed control and shifting determines who goes around the track faster.

It might be complete heresy, but I think kids would love it. It could start name branding and have some product tie-in (similar remotes) so kids might move into more conventional railroading as they get older. If not, the companies expand their product range and market share to a younger audience they aren't reaching now. I'd buy one.

Even though I'm still a teenager, I wouldn't buy a train that you describe, unless I WANTED a roller coaster...

In the recent MTH catalog, they state that this is the "Golden Age of O Gauge," but how is that true? If it is, then it's because MTH and Lionel have brought more realistic trains back to the market (you don't see very many "made-up" O scale trains...). I don't really like the idea of making "fantasy" trains, partly because I like realism, but also because, do we feel like we have to make trains better than they really are? I think most kids that want a train would want something based on what they see in real life, not some "super train" that some company just made up. Fantasy trains could be fun to operate, but I doubt most kids would "convert" to model railroading because of them. One of the biggest ways to make products attractive to kids: make them look real.

Honestly, if someone were to put up a huge O scale display in their local Wal-Mart, and made it look as real as possible, and operated hi-rail locomotives and equipment with all the literal bells & whistles...how could somebody not be impressed...not even a little?

I have been reading hear for a long time and I agree with you.Im 14 and want stuff that looks and acts like the real stuff,not some weird fantasy train. I operate mostly post-war-pre-war I have one PS.2 2-8-8-2 and thats it.My thoughts might affend some and for that Im sorry but that is my for this thread.   Mike