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hey 'ndbprr' --- You are absolutely right on in your analysis. Well stated. The 'problem' I have w/ Athearn today is three fold - and it all has to do w/ $$$. First on my list is their move to RTR-does this reflect what the hobby wants (I don't think so). I believe it's managements' efforts to maximize profits using cheap labor overseas. Secondly, their older-prototype products are simply outclassed by other manufacturers' products. Compare Athearn's older diesels or '40s/'50s era freight cars to Proto 1000/2000 stuff , as an example, which is widely available at heavily discounted prices, especially if one is patient and doesn't rush out and pre-order the latest release The actual price differance is almost nil w/ Athearn being apparantly less available, at least for the immediate future, from discount mail order and internet suppliers. Third, their pricing reflects an alarming trend I see in model railroading today-most manufacturers are pushing the pricing envelope with each new release. If Athearn can charge $12. for a RTR version of a marginal kit originally tooled almost fifty years ago, why shouldn't the guy offering a far better thought out model ask 2 or 3 times that for his freight car? Or so goes the apparent thinking. . . Athearn's management is going to do what every management team in any business- for-profit in a capatilist society and free economy is chartered to do - make as much $$ as possible in sales and reduce their costs as far as possible at the same time -- (escalating retail prices, harsher distribution policies, reduced margins for the LHS, and lower manufacturing costs, both materials-if possible-and certainly much lower labor costs in China) Just taking inflation alone into consideration, Athearn blue box freight car kits sold for less than $1.50 when I switched to HO in the mid fifties. They may have even sold for less than that. Discount hobby sources were non-existent to the best of my knowledge back then. My recollection was that fifty years ago the LHSs had far less variety and inventory than we enjoy today. Mail ordering was in its infancy and MSRP was the norm. A new Chevy Bel Air could be had for less than $2500. Everything changes-the equivalent Chevy today sells for about tenfold the 1958 price, but is a far superior product-safer, longer-lasting, more fuel efficient and packed with features that didn't even exist in the minds of Detroit's finest. There are thousands of similar examples-some of them far more extreme such as personal computers-a Commodore 64 was the latest thing to have 25 or so years ago and it cost as much, if not more than the computer you are using right now. And it was a boat anchor at best even when new! That's my issue w/ Athearn - their stuff isn't worth what they are asking for it, and yet they are obviously still getting it. . . What is so dire about what is happening w/ Athearn? We, the hobbyist do this to ourselves. If you believe (some of) their products are being offered at an overly -inflated and unrealistic price, and no longer competitive, just don't buy it! If you still want it for nostalgia or for some other reason, then buy it. Someone posted that "no one is forcing us to buy any hobby product", but some are practically sounding as if we are. Model railroading has never been inexpensive, although, as it was also pointed out, there are many ways to reduce modeling costs, the most obvious one is to stop buying RTR stuff. In my opinion,no one really needs a $300 or $400 BLI plastic steam engine or, and I simply don't understand, a $200 plastic diesel. There has to be some sense of rationality in our purchases. If the budget permits such expenditures, then you should buy what you want---that's no different than any other product purchasing decision. I have seen many hobbies killed over time by the same pattern- a never ending quest for excellance, relegating last year's perfectly okay 'whatchamacllit' to the scrap heap. And next year's newer than new, better than ever, usually costs a bunch more, too. This has been the norm in recent years in all facets of model building, no matter what the subject matter. The unfortunate result may be to further reduce the number of model railroaders both joining the hobby and those that drop out due to increased pressure to 'keep up w/ the Jones'. Try fleshing out a freight roster w/ $35. Kadee freight cars, and I don't care how beautiful they are-it's outside my realm of reality. I couldn't afford the divorce I'd surely get thrust on me for trying to pull that off ! Again, Athearn has been resting on their butts far too long and the hobby needs to send Horizon a message. Refuse to buy their over-priced, long-in-the-tooth, products, because if you still patronize them in spite of their pricing and marketing policies, it will, as it was pointed out, only get worse. Irv Athearn is gone and resting in peace. He wouldn't approve of what's happening to Athearn, anymore than Walt Disney would condone what has happened to his namesake company. I'm going to step on some toes with my next couple of comments, I'm sure--One of the key elements of this scenario are the hobby publications themselves. When have any of the magazines we eagerly anticipate each month, express an opinion of a 'value-rating' on a product being reviewed, as is the norm in automotive, woodworking and countless other publications? It's one thing to say that such and such "scales out to within 3'" of the prototype, or it creeps along at 1.7mph, or can pull 12 cars up a 2% grade. That's all fine. But there is never any mention of whether a $350. price is absurd or fair, or compared to. . .Product reviews are often as hyped-up as a manufacturer's press release. Is the relationship that fragile between the publishers and their advertisers? Or is it perhaps too cozy?
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