GM is ending HO/N licenses for scale vehicles

[brothaslide]

I guess we'll be running a lot of Fords on our scale highways.

[steveblackledge]

This post is very well thought out Bill, Here in the UK we are being flooded out with tat from China that is not licenced or tested to EU standards and is sold for next to nothing, now this stuff IS dangerous to small children. The situation is out of control here. If GM did there homework to ensure only model producers with a safe quallity record built models of there products there should not be a problem, but i may be wrong,
over to you

[bcawthon]

Citing concerns about infant and toddler choking hazards, General Motors will no longer license any scale models of its vehicles smaller than 1:64 or S scale. This is not a rumor. This has been confirmed by the senior executive handling the GM account at EMI and by GM’s manager of licensing.

As I understand it, the new policy covers all GM vehicle brands worldwide. Current licensees will be allowed to sell of existing inventories of already-produced models, but not produce any more.

There is no exemption for Hummer or Boley's Top Kick, the Busch GM TDH-5301 “Fishbowl” bus, or non-domestic brands like Opel, Vauxhall, Saab or Holden. The only models that might possibly remain are the actual military versions of the Trident CUCV trucks, as GM has no control over those.

Before anyone goes flying off about tort reform, lawsuits have nothing to do with this issue, other than a professed fear of them. There haven’t been any that I can find.

The difference between Chicken Little and GM is that something actually did fall on Chicken Little's head before she ran off screaming.

1. If lawsuits were a problem, then I would assume DaimlerChrysler and Ford would be equally reluctant to grant licenses for HO scale models. Not only is this not true, Chrysler and Dodge are actually enthusiastic about licensing in HO and Ford has told me they are very active. I can't go into details, but when I mentioned HO to the licensing representatives, you would have thought I was their favorite rich uncle come to visit.

2. If lawsuits were a problem, why target scales smaller than 1:64? A Saturn Sky model in 1:64 is smaller than a Boley GMC Topkick in HO. Many of the components in larger-scale model kits are smaller than an HO-scale BMW Isetta. And we won't even mention the little fully licensed replicas marketed as Monopoly pieces and backed with certain 1:64 diecast models. You could fit quite a few of those in the CPSC choke tube.

3. If there are concerns about legal liability derived from easy access for small children, why target HO vehicle replicas, which are primarily collector and modeler products seldom found in toy stores or mass-merchandisers? On the other hand, larger scale model kits with small parts are frequently found in such retail stores. Don't forget, Busch's sole U.S. distributor is Wm. K. Walthers, Inc. and Herpa's North American distributor is Promotex, Inc.

So why "smaller than 1:64”? I think it is a matter of money and perhaps a measure of either ignorance or contempt. GM sees big revenues from diecast, comparatively small revenues from HO. When I was at the American International Toy Fair, I talked to several manufacturers about HO or 1:87 scale. The answer was uniformly, "There's no market for 1:87."

No market for 1:87? In the United States, it is estimated a quarter-million people participate regularly in model railroading. Of that number, more than 60%, or at least 150,000 people, identify 1:87 or HO as their primary or only modeling scale. Add to that number thousands of people who are not model railroaders, but who choose to collect or model in HO scale. I think we could probably make a good case for close to 200,000 potential customers for 1:87 vehicle replicas. Certainly some companies seem to have found a market for their HO scale products.

So where are the sales? A better question would be "Where are the products?" We don't need a steady diet of pre-built NASCAR stock cars, Formula 1 racers and such. We don't need another '57 Chevy Bel Air or top-of the line Cadillac. If the industry wants to find out what model railroaders want, the research is simple. Look at parking lots and driveways while commuting to and from work, running errands or out on the town. Imagine those same driveways and parking lots in 1950, 1960, 1970 and 1980. Make those cars. Do a little research to find out what was shipped on open auto racks in the 1960s and 1970s. Make those cars. Remember what your parents drove. Make those cars.

I surprised one person with whom I was having a discussion about HO models. I asked them how many copies of a single 1:18 or 1:24 scale model they expected to sell to the average consumer. They told me "one." I then asked them how many retail consumers of large scale models bought a dozen copies of a single model. They didn't know, but confessed it wasn’t many. I then told them I knew someone who would buy two dozen of a model he liked for his layout and that there were potential sales of up to ninety models to an individual who runs a 5-car string of open auto racks. How many of those kind of customers does it take to snap up a run of 5,000 models?

Of course, there are a number of collectors and modelers who would like 1:87 scale models of racing and exotic cars, but how about making a model of a 1964 Dodge 330 and then offering a version of it as a stock car decorated for *** Landy. Or how about the Fords driven by Fireball Roberts and Curtis Turner. Anyone remember a blue Plymouth with the number 43 on the door?

You want a market for 1:87, then follow the rules of marketing for any product: identify a need and produce a product that fills the real need, not your vision of it.

My gut feeling is: "If I can't buy GM in 1:87, I won't buy GM at all." But before we go running down to picket our local Chevy dealer or flood the mailboxes of GM executives in Detroit, let's wait and see if there is some middle ground we can find. If the response is "We have considered this for a long time..." I will happily tell them that stupid ideas do not improve with age.

Bill C.