I cannot sit and be quiet with these things.
If they can make a profit on 50 units great. A few dollars is wonderful and puts food on everyone's table.
But wait... let's really make money and create a 200 unit run.
Gah!
Oh, the Manufactor does not need to answer to thier customer's asking about the schedules of this year's announced engines. They are too busy re-issuing last year's products with new packaging in a attempt to pay the bills.
Or maybe they ordered too few engines and got buried in orders. Well.. they should get right to work building the copies to satisfy the backorders ASAP.
Enough is enough.
Let's rate these Manufactors and weed out the slackers.
We are not going to get the engines we want, but we can buy other engines availible today that will do the same task.
I think the reason they only want to build a few at a time is to raise the price very high, sell ALL of the engines made and not have to pay for one more day of transit or storage related expense anymore than they have to.
One question that Tony forgot to address.... if only so few are produced, how in hell are they replacing engines without any difficulty to anyone who returns a defective unit that appears unsalvageable.
Is there some kind of secret underground sweat shop combining these dead models and building new engines asap for the purpose of satisfying repair calls?
Crandell,
I was poking around on the web a bit. That 2-10-4 Selkirk would be quite a unique steamer on anyone's layout.
Is that a smiley face on the front of it?
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
selector wrote:Tom, it must be hard to have a strong desire for a particular, and rare, locomotive that seems to be offered at a doable price, and then fades away into the mist.
Tom, it must be hard to have a strong desire for a particular, and rare, locomotive that seems to be offered at a doable price, and then fades away into the mist.
Yea, it is...but my ultimate happiness is not based on whether I have a particular locomotive in my roster or collection. Would it be nice and unique to have? Absolutely. Is it necessary? Nah.
Tom, it must be hard to have a strong desire for a particular, and rare, locomotive that seems to be offered at a doable price, and then fades away into the mist. I guess if that happened over a few days it would be easy to get over, but when the hook is set and the line played out for months, only to find that the needed selling limit is up for times over what was initially stated...!
I have been fortunate to be able to fix my gaze and longing over current offerings....so far. Heaven help me if I decide that I have to have a CPR Selkirk.
I just finished reading an interesting announcement on Tony's Train Exchange web site about the latest news on the Intermountain Cab Forward. Even though I don't have a reservation for one, I do feel for Tony, as these sorts of happenings put them in an ackward spot with their customers, as well.
I would have to agree with Tony's idea that a Manufacturer's Rating System - even though it probably wouldn't be very popular with the manufacturers themselves - would help to keep the manufacturer honest and the consumer up-to-date and informed about reservations on expected upcoming releases. I'd rather hear a company periodically (e.g. once a quarter) tell me, "Here's where things are at" with such-and-such a locomotive than not say anything at all. For me, even if the "process" is long, it's nice to know where things are at with your order so that you have some sort of anticipatory release date.
I've had a particular "special edition" prototype locomotive on reserve from an internet vendor for over 2 years now. The manufacturer, who would be overseing the small run (only 50 units), would start production of the locomotive when a certain quota was met. Even though the quota was exceeded and the vendor had worked hand-in-hand with the manufacturer to see the project through, the manufacturer eventually decided to back out on the deal.
Two weeks later, the manufacturer changed their minds and said that they would honor the deal after all. BUT...the run would have to be increased to 200 units and the manufacturer would make it available on their web site, as well.
Well, that was 9 months ago. And I have seen nothing on the manufacturer's web site to inform the consumer that they plan on making these special edition locomotives available. I really look forward to adding this particular locomotive to my roster. However, I don't expect to see it - if at all - till 2009.
For me, it would be very nice to be kept abreast of what is going on. From what I've been able to surmise, the vendor is as much in the dark on where things are at with the manufacturer as those who are holding the reservations.
This post is not meant as a complaint or an R & R (rant & rave) opportunity of my current circumstances. This is just to make a point about the desire of being kept informed in certain situations. I'd rather hear a manufacturer say, "Well, things are on hold at present because..." than leave things open ended.
Okay, I'm done...