Hornby 2020 range announcements

[eldomtom2]

12 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

How much will the margins be on these items and is there enough volume to actually contribute anything significant to the bottom line?

It's all old tooling except for the Rocket (which is also in the main range and will presumably stay there) and the O locos (which are being produced in limited numbers at a high price to ensure profit). They'll almost certainly make money, but presumably not that much.

[Phil Parker]

Just now, eldomtom2 said:

It's all old tooling except for the Rocket (which is also in the main range and will presumably stay there) and the O locos (which are being produced in limited numbers at a high price to ensure profit). They'll almost certainly make money, but presumably not that much.

 

You might want to duck, as I'm sure there will be a rush of people wanting to correct your wildly inaccurate statement.

 

Unless there is a stash of old moulding W1's that I'm unaware of for a start.

[Baby Deltic]

1 hour ago, Pete the Elaner said:

What, the full set of APT vehicles? You surprise me.

You’re going to need.a full bank account too judging by the fact that the list price for a 4-CEP is now over 400 nicker let alone a full length APT.

[MarkSG]

18 minutes ago, Forester said:

But there's not a huge amount of bread-and-butter items for the lowly occasional part-time hobby modeller like so many of us.

 

Part of that, though, is because this is the anniversary year. It's a once in a generation opportunity to milk that for all it's worth. So, realistically, it's a gamble that's worth taking, because if it comes off it could be very positive for the company. It will also help generate publicity outside the normal hobby market, which is also worth the effort.

 

Also, disregarding the out-and-out centenary releases (the ones in the deliberately retro boxes), some of the new products hint at a change in strategy for the company. More glamour, less filler, you might say. Even though most of us in the hobbyist sector are more interested in the filler.

 

Rocket, in particular, looks to me to be potentially part of a much more long-term plan. 2029 will mark the bicentenary of the Rainhill trials. There have been several suggestions on this forum (including from me) that recreating that in miniature would potentially be a popular move. But it would also be a huge gamble. Releasing Rocket now, as part of both Hornby's own anniversary celebration and the regular range, allows a toe in that particular water early enough to see if there's a market for that kind of thing. If Rocket does sell well, and there are growing calls to add to the Era 1 range, then I'd fully expect to see a Rainhill set of releases announced nine years from now, with the development having been done in the couple of years prior to that. But if Rocket only sells moderately, or even poorly, then it will be clear by the mid-20s that it's a blind alley and not worth the risk. We shall have to wait and see.

[woodenhead]

1 minute ago, Phil Parker said:

 

You might want to duck, as I'm sure there will be a rush of people wanting to correct your wildly inaccurate statement.

 

Unless there is a stash of old moulding W1's that I'm unaware of for a start.

As I got a £1 selling fee Ebay offer at the weekend I put up my 20 W1 models that I've had since Hornby did them in the 80s.

 

Sold them all at massive profit last night.

 

Get in 

[wirey33]

1 hour ago, tgk300 said:

Well, who ever has the job within Hornby that gets to decide on what to release has not done a good job and needs sacking. Some of the stuff is alright, most of it is random "Sugar Honey Ice Tea" that quite frankly knowone wants. There is no new GWR Steam Loco's apart from one Star Class, the Class 20 looks like something you would get for free in a magazine from Lidl and then they are doing stupid things like the Stephensons Rocket Train Pack. I mean, where are the Class 68's, GWR IET's, Castle Set HST's, TPE and Caledonian Mk5's, GA 755's and 745's, Class 70's, full detail Class 20's, Manor Class, a decent GWR Panier tank and also a 3 car SWR Class 159. There are two good models in this years January announcments, and those are the GBRF Class 50's and the GBRF 47's, the rest is junk. If this is the standard are the class of model that Hornby are putting out, no wonder the company is basically bankrupt. They are appealing to the wrong people, old LMS and LNER steam is fine if you like that stuff, but don't forget the superior GWR stuff and of course modern image stuff that Hornby's future customer base are growing up with. Eventually Hornby need to realise that the kids of today don't give a toss about LMS coaches and their numbers, a stupid amount of old wagons and Stephensons Rocket. What they want is modern Sprinter units, pacers, aventras, CAF 195's. 

 

I am sorry if I come across angry, but I am. 

 

Awesome.

 

Six days in and I think we have "2020 Post of the Year".

 

 

[eldomtom2]

3 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

You might want to duck, as I'm sure there will be a rush of people wanting to correct your wildly inaccurate statement.

 

Unless there is a stash of old moulding W1's that I'm unaware of for a start.

I thought the original poster was rather blatantly talking about the limited editions, which are indeed mostly old tooling.

[Compound2632]

Well, well, well: proper Coronation Scot carriages!

 

(And for once a range of carriages where one can't have too many firsts!)

 

Should one look forward to standard Period 3 60 ft composites and brake composites and 50 ft kitchen car in the fullness of time?

Edited January 6, 2020 by Compound2632

[p8kpev]

The wireless DC controller looks interesting.  I imagined something slightly different, but this app might help blaze a trail to it.  Imagine a small layout built by a group of modellers scattered around the country (or the world), who could participate in operating sessions remotely, with onboard and stationary cameras to show what's on the layout and what progress is made along the way.

 

With the item just released, you could at least station someone as a signaller to work points and semaphores, while another follows the train he operates.  This must be good for the hobby somehow.

 

Anyway, this looks like a nice assortment from Hornby this year.  They made me pre-order something that has nothing to do with my modelling interests and put others on a wish list.  Hornby 1:0 Self-Restraint.

[TheSignalEngineer]

1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

I didn't see any HD locos in the blue and white striped box until the early-mid 1950s and even then it wasn't consistent as both my N2 and 'Bristol Castle' also came in plain blue boxes.

I don't think any of my 3-rail locos in striped boxes pre-dated announcement of the introduction of 2-rail. 

[TFR]

I am sorry if I come across happy, but I am. 

 

Rocket, APT and the LNER 800 for me - if the Hornby site ever catches up. Though as others have said, the LNER 'Celebrating Scotland' timing could have worked better for them - I'll probably cancel my preorder of their delayed initial LNER 800. 

[PMP]

The Hungry 56 may not be such an oddball choice. I’m not aware of an HO 56, so it’s possible this might be partly to test the waters to see if European modellers will take a OO 56 as there isn’t an HO version alternative. A bit like the UK modellers that buy HO S160’s because there’s no 4mm version.

Edited January 6, 2020 by PMP

[gc4946]

 Wow! It's now possible to model much of the east coast main line in the steam era with Hornby's new Thompson Pacifics and Gresley's "Hush-Hush" locos.

Hornby's stolen a march on Bachmann because I thought the Thompson pacifics would have fitted well into their portfolio of steam locos.

 

I'm very pleased Hornby will model the full 1937 Coronation Scot set. 

The carriages will fill gaps in LMS Stanier RTR offerings: open 3rd, 65' open 1st, brake 1st and 50' kitchen car.

 

The retooled Stephenson's Rocket and carriages will fly off the shelves; I got rid of my 1984 Hornby version because I wasn't sure how long the unique X500 motor would have carried on running because no spares were available.

 

An all-new APT-P fulfills pent-up demand from those who were hoping for the DJ Models' version.

 

Some models which I predicted here were announced:

the class 91 but all new tooling,

Clan Line, albeit with gold plated valve gear

Disappointed that a new 86411 Frank Hornby loco wasn't announced today but his birthday's on 15th May so it could be announced then.

 

Overall Hornby was brave in announcing the pacifics and "Hush-Hush" locos because none are preserved.

The Std 2 2-6-0 could be the foundation of a Std 2 tank to be released in future years.

I hope that Hornby will announce new Mk4s in due course to go with the 91.

 

 

Edited January 6, 2020 by gc4946

[wirey33]

11 minutes ago, PMP said:

The Hungry 56 may not be such an oddball choice. I’m not aware of an HO 56, so it’s possible this might be partly to test the waters to see if European modellers will take a OO 56 as there isn’t an HO version alternative. A bit like the UK modellers that buy HO S160’s because there’s no 4mm version.

 

If they are trying to capture what is a tiny, tiny market (Hungarians, who model current day operations, who are willing to have mixed gauge models), they might have been better to try it out with one of the old tooling Hornby 86 or Lima 87s.

 

It's certainly an interesting livery but I fear it'll still be on the shelves many months after release; something that wouldn't happen with a Large Logo class 56. And if you're chasing cash flow...

[TheSignalEngineer]

12 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

Well, well, well: proper Coronation Scot carriages!

 

(And for once a range of carriages where one can't have too many firsts!)

 

Should one look forward to standard Period 3 60 ft composites and brake composites and 50 ft kitchen car in the fullness of time?

 

Sadly no 60' or 62' underframe stock in the original Coronation Scot sets. 

Other than the BTO and FK already produced the ones that look fairly straightforward possibles from the proposed coaches would be

50' D1912 RK

57' D1910 BFK. D1904 TO

65' D1902 RFO

 

[Ron Ron Ron]

15 minutes ago, p8kpev said:

The wireless DC controller looks interesting.  I imagined something slightly different, but this app might help blaze a trail to it.  Imagine a small layout built by a group of modellers scattered around the country (or the world), who could participate in operating sessions remotely, with onboard and stationary cameras to show what's on the layout and what progress is made along the way.

......

You might need to look again and then look at the alternative technologies being adapted for model train control.

This system simply gives wireless control of propriety trackside DC controllers.

It’s probably cheap, because it doesn’t actually do much.

[surfsup]

43 minutes ago, Richard Croft said:

Well done to Hornby for realising whats popular and producing it. They tested the water last year with 2 network rail mk2's which sold out and they are back with more. The DRS mk2's will be popular too no doubt.

 

 

There's something odd about those DRS Mk2s. While it is a wise choice, they appear to have produced 2 X BSO and only 1 TSO. I'd have thought it should be the other way round? 

 

Also, the ScotRail HST - 43132 "A New Era". Do we know if that's 43132 as refurbished, or with the plain blue ex FGW livery when it did carry the "A New Era" branding with Aberdeen Station 150th Anniversary livery? 

 

 

 

 

All in all it's a good range with something for most people. Admittedly I would have liked to have seen another run of the Dynamic Lines Mk3s - Now that they're seeing use with both ScotRail and Great Western, and would have complimented the power cars released so far. I think the comments regarding the 91 have been said and well covered - and agreed with. 

 

And Thank You Andy for another comprehensive list as always. 

Edited January 6, 2020 by surfsup
Flickr link added

[Compound2632]

Just now, TheSignalEngineer said:

 

Sadly no 60' or 62' underframe stock in the original Coronation Scot sets. 

Other than the BTO and FK already produced the ones that look fairly straightforward possibles from the proposed coaches would be

50' D1912 RK

57' D1910 BFK. D1904 TO

65' D1902 RFO

 

 

Sorry, you're quite right. My mistake. The new length in the Coronation Scot set is 65 ft, which does open up possibilities for standard catering stock as you say.

 

Still need a 60 ft underframe!

[locoholic]

Gosh! Standard 2MT, Hush Hush and Thompson pacifics - can't wait.

 

Full set of Coronation Scot coaches, too...  I would have put money on the equivalent LNER set being made first.

 

Excellent news.

[Forester]

42 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

It’s certainly a bold move.

I wonder if there’s a lot more of reinvigorating the brand than actual substance, particularly with the limited editions.

With limited runs of 500, 1000, 1500, 2000 and 100 only, in the case of the crude tinplate.

How much will the margins be on these items and is there enough volume to actually contribute anything significant to the bottom line?

 

It certainly detracts from the bread and butter stuff, which must be far more important to Hornby in terms of revenue?

Still some nice newly tooled items and few few re-liveries are going on my shopping list.

 

 

Ron 

 

Hard to think of a Limited Edition which made money for collectors with a run of more than 1000.

These days limited editions which attract collectors are down in the 500 to 750 range.

 

The other cloud on the horizon is whether collectors actually buy "Collectors Editions" any more?

[clowe999]

The 2MT looks great and bang on for my layout.  (but price quoted is astronomical next to the price of the ex LMS Ivatt 2MT issued only a few years ago). 

[Pandora]

The 0-4-0 tender locos  in tinplate  have a  numberplate on the cabside  reading  2710,  can anyone post the reason for the significance of the number 2710 as applicable to the models,  I could understand  a number such as 2020 or 1920 being the year of introduction or  the 100 year anniversary of the tinplate locos,  but why 2710?

[woodenhead]

58 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

No it isn't. The model has been researched and designed from within Hornby - and I wasn't the first person to ask!

But it will be a salutary lesson probably in how DJM should have approached this model.

[TheSignalEngineer]

1 minute ago, Pandora said:

The 0-4-0 tender locos  in tinplate  have a  numberplate on the cabside  reading  2710,  can anyone post the reason for the significance of the number 2710 as applicable to the models,  I could understand  a number such as 2020 or 1920 being the year of introduction or  the 100 year anniversary of the tinplate locos,  but why 2710?

Expected date of arrival from China?

[gc4946]

Having looked through the announcements I'm most interested in:

Mk1 RB, either in maroon or InterCity;

R6974 GWR shunters' truck "Bordesley Junction"

 

I'm also considering buying the new Stephenson's Rocket train pack as I sold my earlier Triang carriage and Hornby's 1984 version of the Rocket.