On page 19 of the March, 2017 Model Railroader there is a full page advertisement for an E7 locomotive made by Bachmann. This is the sales publicity for a $300.00 locomotive model.
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The picture is terrible. It shows a Southern unit crossing a bridge. The white on this model is so brightly exposed that all of the rooftop detail is completely obscured. It looks very much like a cheap train-set model.
The smaller pictures of the PRR, NYC, and B&O models all look much better, and it appears that the roof details might be very nice.
I hate to see poorly produced marketing. We all need the manufacturers to be healthy, and Bachmann could have done so much better. This reminds my of the Life-Like Proto 2000 ads in the 1990's where the beautiful models rolled through neon green grasslands.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
To be fair (and as an E-unit fan), I'll give Bachmann the benefit of the doubt and expect that they will be decent looking, smooth running units. I purchased a Bachmann GG1 2 years back and have been happy with it. It's a heavy, smooth runner. It does have a couple of minor detailing errors that I can live with.
However, I wonder why Bachmann chose this particular model? The market is saturated with beautifully detailed E-units from Walthers and BLI. A good number can still be found "New-in-the-Box" on Ebay and "New-old-stock" at online vendors for decent prices.
I look forward to seeing an online review, hopefully by jwii or another reputable modeler.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
I do not have any doubts about the product. My disappointment is in the marketing. It probably a beautiful model, but it looks terrible in the advertisement. I am certain a full page ad is costly, I don't know why they would allow the photograph to be so poor.
Here's a page I found:
http://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=258_288_1020&zenid=95jfbtgt00tescom2i3nt3m8r4
Interesting that almost every paint scheme featured matches the ones offered by LifeLike P2K (and/or Walthers later). Since there are more 1960's era passenger rail modelers on the market, I was hoping to see Seaboard Coast Line, L&N (gray & yellow), and New York Central (cigar band). One neat aspect of the 60's was that it wasn't unusual to find surplus E-7s on freight runs.
So, in my case, I'd still have to restort to the old 91% alcohol bath and have the airbrush on standby mode.
I too have a number of Bachmann engines, and for the value, I don't mind some lack of detail. The GG-1 runs well, sounds great. Remember, the engine photos are more than likely pre-production, unless they're already on the market, so photos tend to be misleading. One thing with Bachmann, the MSRP is always discounted, right from the initial release. They go from at least 20% off to, at times 50% depending if the model is a slow seller. I'm sure that engine will perform well both at retail and on a layout.
Last, I have no financial interest in Bachmann. Just a happy modeler..
Neal M.
AntonioFP45 Here's a page I found: http://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=258_288_1020&zenid=95jfbtgt00tescom2i3nt3m8r4 Interesting that almost every paint scheme featured matches the ones offered by LifeLike P2K (and/or Walthers later). Since there are more 1960's era passenger rail modelers on the market, I was hoping to see Seaboard Coast Line, L&N (gray & yellow), and New York Central (cigar band). One neat aspect of the 60's was that it wasn't unusual to find surplus E-7s on freight runs. So, in my case, I'd still have to restort to the old 91% alcohol bath and have the airbrush on standby mode.
To be fair, the early Proto E7 was done in nearly every paint scheme that ever exisited, so anything Bachmann did would be a repeat.
Walthers on the other hand has slowed the gearing of the Proto E, not done any E7's and offered only limited versions and roadnames recently - not something I'm buying......
There may be a strong following for 60's prototypes, but all known surveys still point to the transistion era and "current" or modern as the two strongest markets.
Bachmann may well expand the offerings with the next run, and the great thing about Bachmann is that we know they will make plenty, not wait for preorders.
Surely a B unit and more roadnames would boost sales - likely more so than fancy ads.......
Sheldon
Well..........to get back to the original post subject concerning poorly presented advertising.........I would think having the best possible presentation of something you had spent many $$$ having produced and wanted to recoup that money plus some would be mandatory. Trying to move a new product and not show it in the best possible photos is counter productive to me. First impressions count a lot in most everything so when your first ad shows the item in a less than glorious way I would think it can only hurt sales. Someone in marketing at Bachmann obviously dropped the ball. I have not seen the ad but just going from the OP's comments they apparently didn't think very long about what they were trying to do.
My 2¢,
Roger Huber
Deer Creek Locomotive Works
I did notice the wash-out of roof detail in the photo - which was taken by the usually expert Ken Paterson I see. I'll be interested to see and read reaction to how well Bachmann did with the bulldog nose profile. The the way light reflects on the small photos almost looks like a ridge exists.
Dave Nelson
Here's a photo of the New York Central version.
It is low on details as even the old LL P2K units came with hoses, lift rings, and operating diaphrams. However, the shell's proportions, nose, and windshield don't look bad and details can always be added.
For those modeling the late 1950's thru 60s' most of the classic Leslie A-200 "Honker" single chime horns were replaced with multi-chimers from Nathan and Leslie.
Bowser offers a decent selection in the Cal Scale line:
http://www.bowser-trains.com/history/hocalscalediesel.html
In defense of Ken Patterson's photography I imagine that photo went through many hands and stages of process between the time he submitted the final proofs and the time it landed on the page in MR.
I agree that I have seen many poorly done photos in some of the print ads over the years.
It seems the Kato folks can not even keep their models on the rails!
Or this... from their web site:
Every now-and-then a goof up is liable to slip through!
Have Fun!
Ed
Another view without the back ground, its really a nice looking engine.
Jim
SooLineFan,
Thanks for posting that photo. It comes with a link that shows an even larger view.
http://shop.bachmanntrains.com/images/HO_Scale/66602.jpg
Again not a bad looking shell. In comparing the photo to one of my LL P2K E7 shells, the windshields on the Bachmann "appear" to be more accurately contoured. However, even with the enlarged photo the roof still looks washed out.
It's likely that one or more of Bachmann's reps have read this thread and, hopefully, will forward the feedback to the marketing department.
There is the original photo, the processing of the photo, (Patterson uses some sort of stacking software which augments the depth of field), and then there is the reproduction of the photo in the magazine. Then there is also the problem of seeing detail in a white roof and black trucks. Back in the old days, you would 'dodge' the trucks to show the detail and 'burn in' the roof in the dark room. I have not successfully transfered my old fashioned knowledge to the digital age, so I don't know what they do with Photoshop these days.
I suspect the galley proofs looked better than the end result. In a $100 coffee table book they would have had a picture that better mirrored the qualities of the photograph.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Having watched his videos of what he goes through for such product photo shoots, I'm sure Ken handed Bachmann a pile of files ( well, it's all done digitally these days) of the different locos with varying lighting and angle, and if that's the one Bachmann decided to run with... It is surprising they went with the all white roof model as the lead photo, that's always going to look the most washed out no matter what you do. Not Ken's problem, I'm sure there are shots in what he supplied that are significantly 'better' from a photography standpoint.
And I think bigdaddy is on the right track - the actual shot probably does look better than what was reproducible in the magazine. Still, the Bachmann people should have realized that, they aren't exactly new to the advertising game. And it's still washed out post preduction of the magazine even in digital format, it's not just an ink on paper problem.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
There's always more room for E8 units in specific roads. BLI messed up the paint scheme on the C&O E8. And the P2K E7's are fantasy numbers. Only the Pere Marquette was prototycpially correct...and technically speaking that's not really C&O. I would love to see a E8 setup with a mish-mashed George Washington set. She was a mongral, but still awesome.
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!