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Irv Athearn was a hobbyist who was in business; the new team (Mr. Geddes, et al) strike me as businessman who work in the hobby. Whether this new development is an HO-scale version of corporate raiding, a hostile takeover, or and cut-and-run selling out, remains to be seen. However, I am not reassured by this news. Most of Horizon's other products lines are generally characterized by foreign sweatshop manufacturing, high product markup, disposable quality and extremely short product lifespan (sometimes called "junk"). These characteristics are directly opposite of Athearn's products. Since Athearn has sold its marketing and distribution soul to Horizon, Horizon's hand will be around Athearn's throat (or some other part of their anatomy). Therefore, I place little faith in Horizon's promises not to meddle in Athearn's affairs. Human nature being what it is, I would not want to be in Mr. Geddes' shoes when he comes into inevitable conflict with Horizon's management. To find a pertinent example, just read up on what happened to a railroad hobby shop chain, the one that used to be in St. Louis Union Station (Great American Train Store? my old brain can't remember the name exactly). As best as I recall, the urge for ever greater profitability got them saddled with an high-pressure executive from the retail apparel industry who knew nothing about the model railroad hobby business. He institued a number of stupid, sweeping changes, fired those who resisted, and ran the chain into bankruptcy. I'm sure he alked away with a wad of money, as most big wheels seem to do. Athearn has traditionally been the reasonably-priced, solid-quality entry into the hobby for people without a wad of cash: kids, retirees, kitbashers, and folks with fixed or modest incomes. The trends at Athearn now seem to focus on the high end of the market (RTR, Genesis), aimed at the urban coastal population with lots of disposable income. Once kids are priced out of the hobby, we will have cut off the supply of new blood to this hobby. Athearn will eventually wither, and they will wind up killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. That will hurt the hobby. I also worry about what this will do to small hobby shops. All the distributors require the shops to buy a minimum amount of product, and now they will have to add yet another distributor to their difficult existence. To those who think that this is competition that will lower costs and help the hobbyists, think again. Walthers just announced that they are cutting their dealer discounts; i.e., hobby shops will pay more for their products. That means that your local railroad hobby store owner will have to make some difficult choices. If he raises his prices, we can either shell out more bucks, or give our business to the cut-rate, garage-based internet dealers or mail order houses, who don't have to maintain an expensive, but convenient storefront. If we are selfish and do all our shopping based on price, the hooby shop goes broke. Alternatively, the hobby shop owner can try to hold the line on prices and look for ways to cut costs in other areas: good luck! Most of the neighborhood railroad hobby stores operate on a razor-thin net profit margin to begin with. More cuts will probably take out muscle or brain, as few if any of them have any fat to shed, and that means a death spiral into insolvency. His last option, if he can read the writing on the wall, is to sell out and cut his losses. This is also known as "getting while the getting is good." None of these options are good for the model railroad hobby or for the individual hobbyiist. Where are you going to go for assistance when your mail-order Genesis engine goes haywire? Mail it in? Listen to annoying voice-prompt answering machines (perhaps being answered in Bombay or Taipei)? Where are you going to get a set of couplers on a Saturday when one of them breaks in the middle of building a kit? Your local railroad hobby shop owner has to make a profit to stay in business. That means he buys at wholesale prices, and we pay retail prices. If we don't support our local hobby shop by paying him a retail price, he can't afford to stay in business, and then he won't be there when we need him. Also, think of the future: your local railroad hobby shop is where most people get started in the hobby. I really do hope I am wrong about this buyout, but in my years of studying businesses, this is a pattern that I see repeated over and over again, in every industry. Maybe Horizon and Athearn will take note and not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, but I'm getting my Athearn stuff while I still can.
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