Dukedog Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Ah! another twist! Now that there will be no more issues published, the items released so far and not "butchered" into something else are bound to become "collectors items" in a couple of years! If you have more than one maybe worth leaving one in the plastic bag? Cheers! Frank Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewartingram Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Ah! another twist! Now that there will be no more issues published, the items released so far and not "butchered" into something else are bound to become "collectors items" in a couple of years! If you have more than one maybe worth leaving one in the plastic bag? Cheers! Frank Have I got that right....you could buy a model railway magazine in a plastic bag and it becomes a collector's item if you don't open it? And I've been tearing them open in WHS library just to read them? ooer Mum! Stewart Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dukedog Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 No, I meant the MODEL not the magazine, but I suppose having the complete issue would increase it's value. Not so silly as it sounds when you see what goes on Ebay for stupid money! Cheers! Frank Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 So I'm not likely to get the free gift they promised for sending in the questionnaire in the first issue ?? One of the questions was " are you likely to continue buying future issues ?" If like myself most people answered no then they probably decided it was uneconomic to continue. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 When I was as regular Amateur Photographer reader many years ago, the editorial asked if any readers would consider buying a book on photography for something like £79.00, which was the cost if every partwork was purchased. A good book on the subject would have been around £10 to £15 at the time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grovenor Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Their website is still offering subscriptions! Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Sheep Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 perhaps they're considering subscription only? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Natalie Graham Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 i think these things anticipate that there will be an initial rush and then sales will drop off after the first few issues. (once people add up how much it is going to cost) Newspaper and magazine ordering wasn't my department but I believe that if the retailer took more than so many issues they were committed to taking the whole run. So you can opt in to the first few and put them on the shelves but then only get them in for someone who orders them At work unsold magazines went in the compactor for recycling and any free gifts were put in the staff canteen for anyone who wanted them. I was off sick at the time but it turned out no-one cancelled the 0 Gauge Flying Scotsman partwork. I could have had the whole set of parts without paying a penny if I had known about it. As it was most of the bits had been thrown out by the time I got back to work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilgrim in France Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Just in at the local (French) newsagent is a new 120 part work from Hachette for an ho layout. The first part includes what would appear to be quite a reasonable coach, and is only 2,99 euros Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Didn't the British version of this last about 5 issues last year? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Is this made by Del Prado or one of those other magazines. The first issue is always cheap then they say normal price £8.99 and there are 120 issues to collect. It will be interesting to see how it develops, if it does... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilgrim in France Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 How it normally works in France is that a company trials it in newsagents for 5 issues - sometimes in only part of the country. After that it is by subscription, and if they don't get enough people to subscribe then they don't continue. And yes, the subsequent issues are usually more expensive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Hachette has been running a similar partwork in Italy for it looks like a couple of years under the title "Costruisci la tua ferrovia italiana in miniatura" The end result - would be this . http://www.hobbymedi...ico-480x395.jpg though I suppose there'd be nothing to stop someone using the bits for something a bit more realistic. The magazine normally costs €8.99 but the the first cheap edition included a coach ("junior train set" standard perhaps) http://img694.images...8/img1407rq.jpg so more than one modeller bought three or four from the newsagents to get a very cheap train. Someone who knows more about Italian models that me might recognise it. Hornby Italy were at great pains to say that these models are nothing to do with them. Hachette seem to have got round the cost of a locomotive and a controller by giving readers vouchers to get them presumably at a discount. The French version of the part work uses exactly the same track, buildings and accessories like signals and level crossing with different rolling stock. Apparently the suburban "Romilly" coach runs quite well and includes close coupling units. Maybe I'm being cynical but if you "do the math" as our American friends would say it becomes clear that partworks tend to be a very expensive way of buying a model of anything. There was one a couple of years ago for the Titanic that came in 100 editions so if it was the usual £5.99 per edition (after a couple at reduced cost) the total cost would have been a bit less than £600 but more like £650 if you bought the binders at 5.99 each. The same model as a complete kit is now available for £380. The justification for the difference in price would I suppose be the value of the editorial material in the magazines but quite honestly in the case of the Titanic £220-£250 would buy you a decent collection of books about model shipbuilding and the Titanic. I suppose the other advantage of building models the partwork way is that if you get bored with the project and abandon it you've only lost the cost so far not the whole cost of an uncompleted kit. I suppose it's a bit different with a build-your-own-model-railway partwork as breaking away and going it alone (or the publication stopping) wouldn't leave you with a useless part finished model and some Italian modellers are cherry picking the Hachette editions for items they want. I can't help thinking that for someone wanting their first model railway it would be possible to assemble a layout like this- especially if they added track and buildings to a train set- for a lot less than €1185 (which is what someone on one of the French forums has calculated including the loco and the electrics ) and even a beginner could visit a model shop- there's the rub perhaps- and have a layout like this up and running in a day or so - not two and a half years later. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dilbert Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 How it normally works in France is that a company trials it in newsagents for 5 issues - sometimes in only part of the country. After that it is by subscription, and if they don't get enough people to subscribe then they don't continue. Nearly... you can always pick up subsequent issues at the newsagent - you just need to let the newsagent know of your intentions. The price for each issue doesn't change - the profit margin to the publisher does. Maybe I'm being cynical but if you "do the math" as our American friends would say it becomes clear that partworks tend to be a very expensive way of buying a model of anything. There was one a couple of years ago for the Titanic that came in 100 editions so if it was the usual £5.99 per edition (after a couple at reduced cost) the total cost would have been a bit less than £600 but more like £650 if you bought the binders at 5.99 each. The same model as a complete kit is now available for £380. The justification for the difference in price would I suppose be the value of the editorial material in the magazines but quite honestly in the case of the Titanic £220-£250 would buy you a decent collection of books about model shipbuilding and the Titanic. In the same vein, buying a house (monthly installments over a long period of time) is also expensive especially over a time period of 20-25 years - do the calculations - you'll have ended up over that timeframe paying ~twice the price of the initial purchase. Factor in inflation etc... etc.. a house-owner should come out on tops - but thereagain how many people fell into the housing negative trap in the early 90s? You pays your money etc... in the end people will judge on what their budget can afford, and whether this is a waste of money or not... I bought the intital issue - the coach for €2.99 is good value - will it have any value in 25 years time? Does it matter? We'll see how things pan out?... dilbert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Nearly... you can always pick up subsequent issues at the newsagent - you just need to let the newsagent know of your intentions. The price for each issue doesn't change - the profit margin to the publisher does. In the same vein, buying a house (monthly installments over a long period of time) is also expensive especially over a time period of 20-25 years - do the calculations - you'll have ended up over that timeframe paying ~twice the price of the initial purchase. Factor in inflation etc... etc.. a house-owner should come out on tops - but thereagain how many people fell into the housing negative trap in the early 90s? You pays your money etc... in the end people will judge on what their budget can afford, and whether this is a waste of money or not... I bought the intital issue - the coach for €2.99 is good value - will it have any value in 25 years time? Does it matter? We'll see how things pan out?... dilbert With a house though you get to live in it while you're paying off the mortgage. If you saved up to buy the house outright while renting it I think the overall costs would be far higher. The equivalent of a part work would be buying a hod of bricks, a window frame or a few roof tiles each month. Is the coach any good? There seem to be mixed reports on the French forums. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dilbert Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Is the coach any good? There seem to be mixed reports on the French forums. The bogeys are naff, the metal wheels are round, the ensemble is free-running. Couplings have an NEM mounting. Underframe detailing is basic. Flush glazing. Paintwork is even and the tampo printing is good. The interior is rudimentary - a bland anthracite colour. Disassembly is easy as the components clip together (it tookj me about five minutes in all to dismantle the coach - glue seems to have been only used to attach the flush glazing. The coach provides a good basis (apparently it is dimenisonally correct) for detailing or as a donor for other vehicle types. My local newsagent has had to reorder three or four times and I suspect that this is due to railway modellers seeing the inexpensive potential of the model (rather people embarking on a 120 series partwork)... dilbert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 I put it to you dear readers, that this sort of part-work has about as much to do with the mainstream of the hobby as Nandos does with Michelin starred cuisine or the Jeremy Kyle show with clinical studies into socio-economic meltdown. Part-works are about one thing: making a profit through tapping into certain individuals' collecting urge, using attractive marketing baits. The publisher has no interest whatsoever if the series makes it through to the end, and less so seeing any of the finished product. As they don't expect 'serious' hobbyists to get into these, dare I suggest near-scams, they generally peddle tat that well-meaning family members buy 'for Uncle George, he likes trains, we'll pay for a year's subscription.' File under: Clowns Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhBBob Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Yes, yes, yes !! We could cross-reference it under 'Pay-day Loans' Appendix 1: In a similar vein (a) other things to avoid Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeharvey22 Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 This Spanish partwork might get the Z-gaugers drooling - locos and Pullman cars? If it really is Z. http://www.planetadeagostini.es/coleccionable/minitrains.html Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 I thought that had been done over here - wasn't it N. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeharvey22 Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Well it keeps saying Z in the publicity. But I had a vague memory of it being N over here. Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dseagull Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 This Spanish partwork might get the Z-gaugers drooling - locos and Pullman cars? If it really is Z. http://www.planetadeagostini.es/coleccionable/minitrains.html Mike That's a rehash of one that came out over here a few years ago - the locos are very much 'static' models. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted February 7, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 7, 2013 Hello Browsing the WHSmiths reading room this afternoon I came across a new 'partwork' (of the 'free binder with part one' stylee) to build your own model railway. Part one was the obligatory intro price of £1.99 but for that you do get a complete RTR OO Mk 1 coach and a bit of track for it to sit on! Coach looked Hornby to me, I did not purchase but am intrigued to see where this one is going. Could be one to watch... Last time I bought a partwork, was History of Railways (2 volumes) & Great Trains. Have them still in original binders. From what I've seen lots did the same. NEL continued on with Trains & Railways as an ongoing monthly? magazine. They stopped very suddenly, after 2 and a bit years, I think. Can't see how the current crop can possibly make any money, since the market drops off very quickly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I've just seen a OO gauge Great Locomotives partwork in a newsagents in Hackney. It comes with a static model of Mallard, and is selling at £2.99, supposedly fortnightly. I am guessing this will increase to a fiver or so. Supposedly in association with the NRM but can find no info. Stupidly, I forgot to check the publisher, but it's not DeAgostini, Eaglemoss or Hachette (at least, it's not on any of their websites) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 My local WH Smiths didn't have it today and have never heard of it... WH Smith's policy tends to be that it doesn't stock partworks after they've reached issue 7....... The same thing happened with the Hachette "Flying Scotsman" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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