Rene Schweitzer
Classic Toy Trains/Garden Railways/Model Railroader
Have fun with your trains
Ian P - If a man speaks in a desert where no woman can hear, Is he still wrong?
QUOTE: Originally posted by kstrong Are we talking list price or street price? For the hobby to thrive, there has to be a lion's share of desirable products in a price range that are well within reach of the average hobbyist. In most cases, that price point seems to be right around $300.00 on the street. MSRP can be whatever they want it to be, but the street price needs to be within reach. In flipping through the GR ads, I think we're kinda there right now. Most diesels can be had for well under that bar, and there are a fair number of steam locos under it as well, or just over it. That's a pattern typical of any scale--steam locos cost about twice what diesel locos do. I don't think we can expect to change that. I do think we need to push for more affordible "popular" locos like a K-27 or something along those lines. Most modelers right now "make do" with what's being offered to them in their price range. They can't afford $2,000 for the C-16 they'd really like, so they spend $350 for a Bachmann 2-6-0 instead. They can't afford $3,000 for a K-27, so they spend $400 for a Bachmann 2-8-0. They want models of these higher priced locos, but can't afford them, so they have to settle for what they can. I think ultimately that will lead to a lot of frustrated modelers. Look at the reaction Bachmann got when they announced their Vulcan. Everyone was hoping for something along the lines of a C-19 or similar "popular" locomotive, and when they were handed an obscure prototype instead, the outrage was overwhelming. The chorus of "For GOD'S SAKE, build what we WANT to buy!" could be heard in every time zone. The average modeler is tired of settling for table scraps while the elite dine on filet mignon. It takes no more R&D and tooling expense to produce a limited run die-cast model than it does to produce a plastic one. I think the manufacturers have already gotten a sense that we're not terribly keen on them producing $3,000 limited editions of models that we want but can't afford, but still seem disinclined to do a darned thing about it. Marie Antionette tried that once. If Bachmann can bring the 2-8-0 out with that much detail for a $400 street price, there's absolutely no reason in the world why USA Trains can't bring out their 0-6-0 switcher for a similar amount. And they'd sell--they'd sell like hotcakes. Unfortunately, short of lighting torches and sharpening pitchforks, there's not much we can do about it. We can't really "vote" with our wallets. We can't afford the high-priced models to begin with, so boycotting them would be rather ineffective. Not buying their "affordible" offerings would deprive us of our ability to enjoy the hobby with at least the scraps we're being fed. When you're starving, any part of the pig tastes good. Perhaps the only thing we can do is be very vocal. It worked in Bachmann's case. They shelved the Vulcan, and went ahead with the "next" item on their schedule. I'd love to hear any of the manufacturers defend their "limited edition" offerings--especially with regard to the time and money spent bringing those items to market being diverted from bringing items to market that the average modeler can afford. You don't see Chevy halting production of the Malibu to bring out the latest Corvette. I just don't get it. Later, K
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