Athearn N Scale - A cruel joke?

[Anonymous]

I dont know about any of you other avid N scalers, but so far, I think Athearn's bid into N scale sucks. While Im sure there are plenty of people who need their model trucks, or an F59PHI, but seriously, what a disappointment. I was really hoping to see some fresh new runs of models I cant get from Kato and Atlas anymore (DASH 9s for example), and without sacrificing the quality (never had a problem with an Athearn HO locomotive). I emailed Athearn about future N scale products, and all they told me was "you can buy our new catalog." Maybe this is just a cruel joke. Sad............

[Anonymous]

The N scale field has become a little crowded, and unless Athearn can step up and produce models with the value, appearance, and performance of Atlas, Kato, and Life-Like, their presence in 1:160 market will be relatively brief.

Personally, I think they should have stuck to one thing -- HO -- and done it well rather than introduce a mediocre model such as the N scale F59PH. Sure, it's pretty on the rails, but it needs to to perform as well, and its jack-rabbit mechanism is an ignominious start for Athearn N.

Will Athearn listen? They've not shown much tendency to do so in the past, with the exception of the Genesis Line (which came in response only after Kato, Like-Like, and Atlas began kicking Athearn's tail with better-running, better-detailed models in HO.)

Paul

[dknelson]

I am in HO not N but I have noticed that there are some hobby shops that are N only, and there are some magazines that likewise are N only. I suspect Athearn is or was hedging its bets on N. I would agree that there seems to be no need for the Athearn level of quality in N at this time. What might be needed in N however is the traditional Athearn attitude towards keeping models in the catalog for long periods of time rather than rely on limited runs.
Curiously the survey results I see seem to suggest that while N has a very healthy segment of the hobby, its days of rapid growth might be over and it has reached a level of stability.

Dave Nelson

[MAbruce]

Not that I'm an expert, but my vote would be on both a crowded market and an unhealthy economy being the reasons for Athearns apparent stall. If you follow ebay, you will see a lot of inventory dumping going on. I have been astonished over the prices I'm seeing on some items. This environment can't be very kind to a new player.

Of course, coming out of the gate with a so-so loco probably has not helped either.

I for one hope that this "stall" is only perception, and they are on the brink of making several new N-scale product announcements.

[Anonymous]

I dont know, to me, from a marekting standpoint, Athearn came out of the gate proposing a whole new line of N scale locos, rolling stock, and other various types of equipment. A PR ploy like theirs would normally lead people to believe that they were really on to something. However, it seems to have fizzled out.
I do hope, however, that if they really do want to get out into the market, that they dont do the limited run crap.....I find that just asinine. Well, time will tell....but really, I think Athearn just didnt plan this out right, and now they have nothing.

[jsanchez]

I think the pricing on their vehicles was too expensive, they should have noticed the Classic Metal Works vehicles were priced much better, you get two for less than the price of one plastic Athearn Vehicle. The Athearn Vehicles are nice but not worth 10.99 to 11.99 a pop, they are made in China for crying out loud.....

www.parail.com

[Anonymous]

We all need to keep something in perspective here gang. A manufacturer makes/inventories/sells as much as he/she can. It's Rule #1 of manufacturing.
When you've got as much of the market share as you can cope with..........ANYTHING else is academic. Athearn is probably out strait and can't produce a whole heck of a lot more than what they're doing now. To pursue ramping up N-scale or anything else for them doesn't mean diddly. Should their market share tumble, that attitude demeanor will change, ti'll then their all fat 'n sassy watching their profit margin.
By-the-by, I'm a newbie to this hobby and work at HO scale. I enjoy reading your postings and have learned much in a this past couple of years.
Nelson

[Anonymous]

For the N scale market to grow, we need a good manufacturer with ready to run locomotives and freight cars. I'd like to see Athearn blue box kits produced in N scale. They could get a good running 4 axle F/GP units & offer a new paint scheme every month. Reprints could come out with new roadnumbers for modelers with large fleets of equipment. Too bad their first effort turned out so poorly. It appears to be a problem with the Korean mfr of their product. Hope Athearn can learn from this and gert better! Glenn