BLI production setbacks

[Anonymous]

I have been waiting quite a while for the new BLI AC6000CW. It was supposed to debut this month and i was really looking forward to it. Last month the date was pushed back to april. And now July! I keep getting my hopes up only to have them dashed. I know that there is a perfectly good reason for the setbacks, probably perfecting the tooling and sound. Im just getting a little impatient.[|)]

[AggroJones]

Same thing for many BLI products. The item YOU want will ALWAYS be put behind everything else. Such is the case with our 3800 class. NOW its due June. But the good thing is I have time to build up capitol.
If I'm still ticking, I bag it.

[twhite]

[#ditto] to Aggro--the 2-10-2 was originally scheduled for December, then March, now April. I passed up a neat used brass MT-2 at my LHS, because I was dead set on the Santa Fe. Now I'm kicking myself--I could have had both! Rats!
Tom [banghead]

[AntonioFP45]

Might not be a bad idea to e-mail BLI and ask "What's going on?"

Just a guess, but it's likely a problem at the overseas production facility in China.
I'd like to see that GE C30-7. I'd like to slap on an Atlas SCL U36C body on it and enjoy the best of both worlds: Super sound, and a nicely detailed locomotive that I really want.

[simon1966]

This phenomena is nothing new. This is exactly what happened when the Q mikes were announced in 2003. They were due in the fall, but did not actually arrive until almost mid 2004. (and mine was defective when it arrived!!!!). I suspect it has a lot to do with the marketing technique of announcing long before production, to get a substantial guaranteed pre-order book. It would not suprise me if the pre-orders have to reach a certain limit, to ensure a profitable model, before production is started. This may explain the delays. BLI evidently really messed up the required volumes for some recent models, with significant over production and hence the fire sale that has been going on, so perhaps they are being more cautious. With virtually every manufacturer now releasing QSI equipped locomotives, QSI might be the bottle neck?

[Anonymous]

A form of bait-and-switch? Are they sufficiently capitalized for all this expansion? Or are they running into fiscal limits that force some hard choices as to where their money/credit/whatever are allocated?

They produce a lot of things that would seem to be front end intensive as to investment and out of pocket expenses. Anyone know whether they are selling production out on their end?

[Anonymous]

I dont know... eBay is FULL of BLI engines for a hundred some dollars. It seems we all are waiting on the next BLI Product to come out. I have a QSI engine that was supposed to be out last Dec. and it is now march and closing in on summer.

I'll wait a little bit longer. But I may not be willing to pre order and wait two years for a item to hit the stores. I would rather see it sell out and pick it up on ebay 6 months later for a song when those people are waiting for the next engine to come out.

Perhaps I am being too hard on BLI, but it is evident to me that the products that are supposed to be limited run, advanced reservation, pre order, quanities limited etc etc etc etc fill ebay for half the retail in less than a year. Therefore I am no longer playing the advanced order game.

They will make the products availible when it does arrive. (With or without problems) I should be able to get a copy soon after for somewhat less than retail on ebay or train show.

If alot of hobbyists are feeling the same way then the factories will not see the "demand" as in pre ordered filled and may not understand the true feelings in the customers.

What I find even more troublesome is certain businesses have retired or no longer selling kits that are really taking off among the people.

If they would return to the days where every hobby shop had most if not all the engines availible to the modeler perhaps we wont have to wait so much for a particular model to be released.

[bobblaisdell]

As a modeler in both HO scale and O gauge this is a common problem. I am also waiting on a couple of BLI locomotives (Santa Fe E6's and Illinois Central E8's) that have been delayed several times.

However, nothing is comparable to my wait for my MTH O gauge IC E6 set. It was originally scheduled for delivery in November 2003. It has now been over 15 months and it is still not available. According to MTH spokesman Tony Lash it is now "on the water." I'll believe it when I see it in my hands. I just hope they get the color correct this time. Their earlier IC E8/9 had an orange that had way too much red in it.

Anyway, in this hobby patience is a virtue. It seems that very few products come out when promised. I've just learned to live with it even though it isn't always easy.

Bob Blaisdell

[simon1966]

QUOTE: Originally posted by HighIron2003ar

I
I'll wait a little bit longer. But I may not be willing to pre order and wait two years for a item to hit the stores. I would rather see it sell out and pick it up on ebay 6 months later for a song when those people are waiting for the next engine to come out.

I wish it were as simple as this. I decided not to play the advance order game with the Atlas SD24 with sound for the CB&Q and also the SW7 from BLI in CB&Q. The Atlas I can not find anywhere and the BLI, I have only seen one on e-bay for more than I wanted to pay. It only appears that certain of the BLI models were over produced, not all of them.

[grayfox1119]

It would be interesting to see if the problems were related to raw materials, or productions problems...ie equipment failure, design flaws, etc.

[whitman500]

Simon1996:

If you're looking for the BLI CB&Q SW7, I recently bought one from wholesaletrains.com for $135.