Farish incoming - October 2016

[Andy Y]

Items currently between the factory and shop shelves:

 

 

370-430

Capital Connection Train Pack comprising Class 47581 ‘Great Eastern’, Mark 2 TSO No. 5136, RMB No. 1865 and BSO No. 9391 all in Network SouthEast livery. No. 9391 carries West Anglia route branding. Pack also includes a model of Downham Market signal box.

8

6PIN

£209.95

372-976A

Class 24 Diesel in BR Green livery. D5031

Modern Image

5

6PIN

£119.95

372-980

Class 24 Diesel in “Experiment” RTC livery. 97201

Modern Image

7/8

6PIN

£129.95

373-780

TTA Tank wagon in TOTAL grey livery No. PR 58236

8

-

£17.95

377-765A

Covered Hopper Wagon (COVHOP) in BR bauxite (weathered) livery No. B780799

7

-

£23.95

377-766A

Covered Hopper Wagon (COVHOP) in BR light grey (weathered) livery No. B886096

6

-

£23.95

 

[fezza]

I know its been said before but some of these prices are crazy. £130 for a loco of a design that retailers previously struggled to shift at £80? I worry about the future for British N gauge - not many new products, releases taking a long time to come to market and crazy pricing. I am now very selective about new purchases and I am sure I am not the only one.

[grahame]

I know its been said before but some of these prices are crazy. £130 for a loco of a design that retailers previously struggled to shift at £80? I worry about the future for British N gauge - not many new products, releases taking a long time to come to market and crazy pricing. I am now very selective about new purchases and I am sure I am not the only one.

Presumably you mean the class 24 in RTC livery. What evidence do you have that the class 24 has not sold well in the past - I wasn't aware that retailers were holding unsold stock of them?

 

Don't forget that the £130 is the RRP and the actual price will be initially 15% lower. And RTC livery does have a big following, especially with collectors, and with other stock in such livery selling out rapidly.

 

G.

[fezza]

Plenty of retailers still hold stocks even now if you look around. Hattons still have "over 10" of the blue alone on their stock control system. I picked up mine for less than £80 and that particular retailer still has plenty left... at £130 they are dreaming. I don't know who I feel most sorry for - the poor retailer or the punter.

[woodenhead]

The most expensive Farish Diesel at Hattons is at 57 at £114 on pre-order so reflective of current prices - most stock is around the £100 mark.

[grahame]

at £130 they are dreaming. I don't know who I feel most sorry for - the poor retailer or the punter.

You obviously missed the point about RRP. £130 won't be the price you pay. It will be around £109 which bearing in mind the recent wage increases and sterling devaluation issues isn't an excessive price for what will be a popular and premium livery. It's certainly not the same as a bog standard banger blue one.

 

G

[fezza]

Sure, everyone knows about discounting but that still puts it 25% higher in price than an equivalent model that failed to sell. Maybe you're right about collector demand but I would still be amazed if this flew off the shelves at that price. One-off locos have a limited operational value. The union jack 47 wouldn't move even after being split from presentation packs and sold for £75... Give me a plain banger 47 any day. We will just have to wait and see I guess.

[maq1988]

Things are getting expensive, I purchased the RTC 24 when ModelZone commissioned it. Good runners though. Sadly price increases look to be a thing of the future, it's inevitable. Only the customer can decide to purchase or not. Maybe that's why stockists have so much left sitting around in warehouses?

 

I think manufacturers are making the mistake of releasing a single running number one at a time, for example the only Class 31 in BR Blue is 31173 as released in early 2015? Stockists either buy loads to last them until the manufacturer decides to do the next run - or we wait an unknown amount of time until the next running number comes along and customers lose out. I'd rather a quicker turnaround of running numbers or the knowledge that changing the number won't affect mechanical warranties.

[dpgibbons]

Even if the warranty attempted to exclude it, I am pretty sure that cosmetic modifications unrelated to a subsequent problem would not invalidate your rights to a remedy under consumer law.    

[MR PJ]

Evening,

Unfortunately as correspondents have mentioned, quite steep price rises are going to be the norm at least for the near future. However, to put it into context, in 1993 I was paying £42.75 for a Farish 25 with no lighting, and a poor quality model all round compared with say the 24 today. That was a huge chunk of money out of my wages in those days, whilst £100 or so, seems expensive -  but is it really for a modern and updated model?

Difficult, as we would have all expected models made in China to represent really good value, but personally when I think back about the old Poole models, they really did not represent good value in comparison, but in the day there was no real alternative, even kits were poor at that time. People expect a lot more quality today.

If you want a second hand Poole model you might be able to pick them up at 1993 prices, but I would rather save up for something far better and up to date personally.

Cheers,

Paul

[fezza]

I see your point but I was picking up new-release diesel locos for around £70 just five years ago.  They are now typically over £100.  In other words they have gone up more in the last five years than the previous eighteen - and this during a time when most electronic hobby goods have steadily fallen in price.

 

My own view?  The manufacturers realised their margins on British outline products were much smaller than equivalent continental lines and have decided to adjust prices accordingly, given the strong demand for certain products.  Yes, manufacturers are facing additional costs in some areas but that does not explain the price increases in their entirety.  I recently picked up some continental HOe for not much more than I would have paid over a decade ago when I was actively modelling in that scale....

[Revolution Mike]

I see your point but I was picking up new-release diesel locos for around £70 just five years ago.  They are now typically over £100.  In other words they have gone up more in the last five years than the previous eighteen - and this during a time when most electronic hobby goods have steadily fallen in price.

 

A rise from £70 to £100 over 5 years is approx 7.5% per year (compounded) which is not that unreasonable! OK, far higher than UK inflation but then UK inflation is irrelevant in this context (Chinese inflation rates would be more relevant if not the whole story).

 

Consumer electronics have very little to do with production of toy trains.

 

My own view?  The manufacturers realised their margins on British outline products were much smaller than equivalent continental lines and have decided to adjust prices accordingly, given the strong demand for certain products.  Yes, manufacturers are facing additional costs in some areas but that does not explain the price increases in their entirety. 

 

You may well be correct (I can't answer for Bachmann/Farish/Kader) but even if you are correct then why is it a problem/issue? Kader is a business and has to produce a return on investment - if they make better margins on different products or their competitors then should we really be surprised if they put up their margins to match? The alternatives are that they don't make sufficient margin on UK items and either go bust or decide to focus on more profitable markets.  That hardly helps the customers.

 

Cheers, Mike

[fezza]

A rise from £70 to £100 over 5 years is approx 7.5% per year (compounded) which is not that unreasonable! OK, far higher than UK inflation but then UK inflation is irrelevant in this context (Chinese inflation rates would be more relevant if not the whole story).

 

Consumer electronics have very little to do with production of toy trains.

 

 

You may well be correct (I can't answer for Bachmann/Farish/Kader) but even if you are correct then why is it a problem/issue? Kader is a business and has to produce a return on investment - if they make better margins on different products or their competitors then should we really be surprised if they put up their margins to match? The alternatives are that they don't make sufficient margin on UK items and either go bust or decide to focus on more profitable markets.  That hardly helps the customers.

 

Cheers, Mike

 

Sure - I just wish my wages had gone up 7.5% a year!

 

Seriously though I do think these companies are slightly exploiting a position of near-monopoly and are assuming dedicated enthusiasts will be happy to pay the price.  The fact that so much stock sits around for months and years suggests otherwise .  Having run a family retail business I know you only make money when things move - if goods are not moving they are costing you money and you are actually running a free museum not a retail business.