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Yet Another "Collector's" Model

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  • Member since
    February 2011
  • From: Tucson, Arizona
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Posted by Hoomi on Sunday, February 13, 2011 1:32 PM

Okay, guys. C'mon. You know the Marketing Gurus are behind this. Some beancounters, deep in the recesses of Corporate America, studied the Model Railroading Market, and discovered that the overwhelming majority of Model Railroaders are men.

They also studied what kind of marketing most attracts the attention of men.

What did they come up with? Men are attracted to things labeled "DD." Tell most guys that the attractive woman starring in this movie, or singing that song, is a 40-DD, and the guys will go glassy-eyed and start drooling. The general rule is, when men reach this state, money just starts falling from our pockets. Stick out tongue

Now, these marketing beancounters don't know the difference between a 40-DD, and a DD40. All they know is, this combination of letters and numbers makes men act stupid and compliant. When coupled with the information that the DD40 was BIG, really makes the dollar signs flash in their eyes.

Honestly - are we really that surprised?

Dots - Sign

"We do not quit playing because we grow old; we grow old because we quit playing." ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

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Posted by Allegheny2-6-6-6 on Sunday, February 13, 2011 12:45 PM

Just another incentive and justification to build a larger layout.......

Just my 2 cents worth, I spent the rest on trains. If you choked a Smurf what color would he turn?
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Posted by bobwrght on Sunday, February 13, 2011 12:45 PM

I don't think they will be getting any of my money this year as i have all the big engines i need. Steam and diesel.

Bob

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Posted by csxns on Sunday, February 13, 2011 12:45 PM

Well said Forty Niner,and i will add if it weren't for the people that has only room for a 4by8 the market will be a little less.

Russell

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Posted by CNJ831 on Sunday, February 13, 2011 12:32 PM

selector

John, I wish I had a better handle on what most of us would have supported for this "big announcement", but.....darn it....it's like the current bounty of turbines and Big Boys....everyone's doing them....several times.   Why won't anyone do a 2-8-8-4?  Why no Pacific variants apart from the ubiquitous Pennsy K4?   Why is Bachmann the only company bringing in a Consolidation?  

But another DD variant?  C'mon, guys.  The only thing big about the announcement is that it was a big locomotive.  Might as well market a Virginian Triplex and expect that to move off the shelves. 

 

The escalating problem, as is becoming more and more obvious year to year, is that the HO locomotive manufacturers, save perhaps for Atlas and occasionally Bachmann, have pretty much turned away from supporting the market for actual modeling model railroaders. One gathers that they feel that there is more "quick" money to be made in producing what can only be classified as collectibles for model train enthusiasts. Long term sustainability of the hobby market is not among their goals.

Odds are that unless the DDA40X Athearn model's design strays significantly from the prototype, it will not operate on curves less than perhaps 30". Just how many hobbyists operate on pikes with that, or larger radii, maybe 2% or so? Even if altered to run on smaller radii, it will look absolutely ridiculous! And look how limited the scope of each new model's prototypical application is becoming with the Big Boys, turbines and now the DDA40X (which Bachmann already recently offered). The latter was used on only one road, for a limited time, on a limited number of specific trains. Its significance in the prototype railroad world was about as representative as the Sea Shadow is to the U.S. Navy! Pretty soon we'll be down to one-off experimental prototypes! 

In the past, brass took care of the wealthy "collector" element's need for the big and unique in the hobby; while innumerable other companies supplied the folks who were the actual heart and soul of model railroading with meaningful locomotives and rollingstock. These latter firms have essentially all but faded away, leaving us increasingly with just the manufacturers who aim their products at the collectors' market...particularly with regard to steam. Only the blind can fail to see the final outcome of this folly.

CNJ831  

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Posted by BRAKIE on Sunday, February 13, 2011 12:24 PM

Forty Niner

Keep one thing in mind here, if it weren't for the locomotives that "collectors" buy there would most certainly be a lot less of any of them produced. Like it or not collectors actually do help drive the market.

Mark

RMR

Mark,I have no doubts it will sell out in a matter of days as does most large locomotives...

Where was the preorder announcement for this locomotive?

 

Larry

Conductor.

Summerset Ry.


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Posted by Odie on Sunday, February 13, 2011 11:23 AM

I guess they feel there is a big enough market to earn some kind of return on a very limited production locomotive. Oh well, I hope they keep that up.  I'd love to get my paws on a couple C32-8's, since Athearn has the old Railpower tooling!  

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Posted by tomikawaTT on Sunday, February 13, 2011 10:51 AM

CNJ831

For once, I find myself in (almost) complete agreement.

But, instead of an imagineered supermonster steam centipede, let them produce something that actually had a prototype:

The Russian 4-14-4

Not only will it out-monster any current model, even the prototype 1:1 scale railroad couldn't run it!

In the meantime, I will continue to run my six- and eight-coupled steam, and count my blessings.  (My 'big' locos are 2-8-2s.)

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

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Posted by Forty Niner on Sunday, February 13, 2011 10:50 AM

Keep one thing in mind here, if it weren't for the locomotives that "collectors" buy there would most certainly be a lot less of any of them produced. Like it or not collectors actually do help drive the market.

Mark

RMR

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Posted by selector on Sunday, February 13, 2011 10:41 AM

John, I wish I had a better handle on what most of us would have supported for this "big announcement", but.....darn it....it's like the current bounty of turbines and Big Boys....everyone's doing them....several times.   Why won't anyone do a 2-8-8-4?  Why no Pacific variants apart from the ubiquitous Pennsy K4?   Why is Bachmann the only company bringing in a Consolidation?  

But another DD variant?  C'mon, guys.  The only thing big about the announcement is that it was a big locomotive.  Might as well market a Virginian Triplex and expect that to move off the shelves. 

 

Oh, never mind.....

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Posted by m horton on Sunday, February 13, 2011 10:39 AM

Oh yes they'll sell. Collectors, UP fans and guys with large radius layouts and clubs will grab them up. I don't like them either, but my chioces and most others fall to deaf ears any how. It's sort of like brass in the '60's/70's. Lots of collectors. It's too bad the r/d money wasn't spent on more badly needed freight cars.

Oh yeah, I hear 26 radius is the minimum for these brutes, so that leaves out the 4x8 crowd

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Posted by rrinker on Sunday, February 13, 2011 10:27 AM

 Except - that doesn't stop peopel from runnign them on a 4x8 with 18" radius curves. Clearly they sell, otherwise why would they keep making umpteen versions of the Big Boy and then the giant diesel versions? There's a large enough segment in the hobby that doesn't really give a hoot how silly it looks, they just want the BIGGEST loco they can find. Yes, that means they aren't making locos that the rest of us want, but then again since the ones the rest of us want don't sell like hotcakes, the manufacturers work on a preorder basis so they don't end up with a warehouse full of unsold product and we moan and complain about that!

              --Randy

 


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Posted by BRAKIE on Sunday, February 13, 2011 9:13 AM

CNJ831

I see that Athearn has just announced a DDA40X diesel locomotive as the latest addition to the Athearn line. I can only regard this as yet another "shelf-model" for the growing collector element in the hobby. Just how many discussions have there been on this and other forums recently regarding the over abundance of monster locomotives and the broad segment of actual model railroaders (as opposed to collectors) begging for new small steam? Yet this is what gets produced. At 14" long, this model is going to look just lovely traversing the curves of any typical hobbyist's layout. And in regard to the price, God knows! 

Based on this latest offering, maybe Athearn's next venture could indeed be into steam - might I suggest a 4-8-8-8-6. While virtually inoperable on any layout, I'm sure it would have great collector's appeal! Mischief

CNJ831 

 

There will be the few that will operate these locomotives on their home layout and at larger clubs a fact many seems to be overlooking but,once again I find myself agreeing with your assessment for the average home layout its a show case queen..

Larry

Conductor.

Summerset Ry.


"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt  Safety First!"

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Posted by secondhandmodeler on Sunday, February 13, 2011 9:02 AM

If they're going to make big locomotives at least they could make a Yellowstone.  It would look ridiculous on my layout but I would buy it anyway.  One of my first impressions of  trains came from the DM&IR Yellowstone on display in Duluth MN. 

Corey
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Posted by Hamltnblue on Sunday, February 13, 2011 8:34 AM

That and I wish some of the top manufacturers would try making some of the common loco's available on a regular basis rather than stretched out releases.

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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Sunday, February 13, 2011 8:03 AM

CNJ831
maybe Athearn's next venture could indeed be into steam - might I suggest a 4-8-8-8-6. While virtually inoperable on any layout, I'm sure it would have great collector's appeal! Mischief

Please, don't give them any ideas.LaughLaughLaughLaugh

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Posted by blownout cylinder on Sunday, February 13, 2011 7:54 AM

megh...make it a 4-8-8-8-8-6 and call it even...

mmmmm---anyone have a 65" curve for that one?

Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry

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Yet Another "Collector's" Model
Posted by CNJ831 on Sunday, February 13, 2011 7:49 AM

I see that Athearn has just announced a DDA40X diesel locomotive as the latest addition to the Athearn line. I can only regard this as yet another "shelf-model" for the growing collector element in the hobby. Just how many discussions have there been on this and other forums recently regarding the over abundance of monster locomotives and the broad segment of actual model railroaders (as opposed to collectors) begging for new small steam? Yet this is what gets produced. At 14" long, this model is going to look just lovely traversing the curves of any typical hobbyist's layout. And in regard to the price, God knows! 

Based on this latest offering, maybe Athearn's next venture could indeed be into steam - might I suggest a 4-8-8-8-6. While virtually inoperable on any layout, I'm sure it would have great collector's appeal! Mischief

CNJ831 

 

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