I'm actually very pleased to see this article in today's New York Times, but economists are fond of linking demand and supply - look out.
‘A Perfect World’ Around Every Miniature Bend
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/business/model-trains-pandemic.html
I wonder what camera they used for that video. It gives better results than most.
mvlandsw I wonder what camera they used for that video. It gives better results than most.
I don't know, but the NYT can afford the best, whatever that is. Great videoes and article.
Not so sure about it driving prices up. It could help expand the market, allowing mfg's to enjoy a bit more certainty in sales, etc, a generally good thing in any case for the hobby to get such great publicity.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I'll say its nice to see an article that isn't doom and gloom verbage! An excellent article and hopefully people find and rediscover joy in model railroading.
The Backshops - A blog dedicated to modeling projects
micktropolisAn excellent article and hopefully people find and rediscover joy in model railroading.
It seems that a lot of hobbies are being discovered and/or rediscovered. I was speaking to the customer representative from my distributer a couple days ago.
He said that his sales for 2020 were up 50% from previous years.
This exposure can't hurt the hobby, and may help to give it a bit of a boost, if short-lived. People buy stuff, and then unload it a year later with close to zero hours on it for 40 cents on the dollar.
Over the past year, snowmobiles, motorcycles, RVs, trampolines...any toy you can think of...disappeared in quantities from the displays about as fast as toilet paper did. Soon, they'll be on the auction sites or swap sites for whatever they can get, and whatever their bankers need from them...or so they hope.
selector... and may help to give it a bit of a boost, if short-lived. People buy stuff, and then unload it a year later with close to zero hours on it for 40 cents on the dollar.
That is a different outlook than Marklin has in the article,
"The boom in sales from the pandemic has led to shortages of some parts, like rails. Certain special models have sold out, like a model of the 078 series, a steam locomotive used by the West German national rail in the 1960s and 1970s. In a first since Simba Dickie took over the company, the company is training new apprentices to join the roughly 700-strong work force in Hungary.
The company is betting that many of the people drawn to Märklin trains during the pandemic stick with model trains afterward. “Because it really is not the kind of hobby that you do for two weeks and then abandon,” Mr. Sieber said."
That reminds me. I need to pay a visit to House of Trains in Omaha some day soon.
[Edited by admin. The state of print journalism today is off topic for this Forum.]
- Douglas
Well, looking at the price trends on Ebay, I would tend to agree with the NYT and the OP's interpretation. And our LHS has been low on supplies for months. According to the owner, a lot of stuff is on backorder. Low supply, high demand, watch out for your wallet!
Simon