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Hopefully the new owners of the Athearn HO products will not follow the same type of aggressive (abusive?) marketing/distribution/stocking policies of LGB, Hobbytown, etc.that several dealers have related to me over the years - that is cramming limited appeal/slow sellers/expensice items down the throats of their smaller retailers that either forces them out of that productline, ties up their inventory dollars, hurts their cashflow, or forces them to close up shop! Only the bigger, well run mailorder houses/internet firms benefit from such marketing practices. Lets face it, most market places for model railroading stuff are somewhat limited in their ability to have everything on their shelves because of the diversity and depth of all the stuff available to model railroaders today. Yet the backbone of our hobby has always been the local hobbyshop working in conjunction with distributors and/or manufacturers that enabled them to cater to the local model railroading BUYER. . . A significant portion of their customer base has been the entry level buyer and nothing can kill off interest faster than expensive/over-priced items, complicated to assemble kits, or poor quality products. Over the years both Athearn and MDC?Roundhouse have been staple products offering very good quality for the price. I still have hundreds of their products that with moderate upgrading-wheels, couplers, and subtle weatherig, will be always used on my new HO 24X32 late steam/1st gen diesel layout. My first Athearn purchase was actually a Globe rubberband drive diesel and that hooked me on HO approx 45 years ago. I also remember buying junk and how it made me feel as a kid-not every kid will stay with a hobby if they have such an experience. There still is junk -some quit pricy too that should just go away. But not everyone needs or can afford the $$$ or time to assemble $10-$35 forty foot boxcars; unfortunately that seems the direction that this hobby is headed! We are very lucky as a group that such products are available for those who want them. But most of this stuff is coming from China and we all know how much those factories are automated and how much their (low) labor rates are. . . Every hobby I have ever pursued- go-carts, street rodding, photography, biking,motorcycles, woodworking, model building - trains(HO&G), cars, planes, etc. have grown overly complex, overly expensive and overly competitive (contests, rivet counters, and the like that the fun goes away for many existing participants, and just as importantly, many would-be newcomers first consider pursuing that hobby but either can't afford to, or are stifeled by what the industry, certain publications, and certain groups/ individuals dictate what is a "MUST-HAVE" "MUST-DO" because the bar has been raised so high and only a few can ever hope to be able to commit the time and $$$, or achieve the skill level to "compete". Sorry for all this ramble but I've been in this hobby for years, have brought others into it and I don"t want to see it get spoiled. We need products like the "blue box" kits but not at the prices they have risen to. . . Lets hope that corporate greed does not prevail or competitors rise to the opportunity with products like those from Accurail as an example. Lets never forget that "Model Railroading is (supposed to be) Fun".
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