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Hornby goes Steampunk in 2020


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Mrs Rivercider reads a lot of books, and tells me there are plenty with steam punk content.

 

I have also seen Cato Pass (which I enjoyed very much) and had a good chat with Laurie Calvert.

His layout attracted a lot of attention, and positive comments at my local show a couple of years ago.

 

cheers

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As part of the group that organizes The Asylum (the world's biggest steampunk gathering), I was invited to the press day in Margate and had a look at the prototype models from the steampunk range, which have been designed in association with Laurie Calvert.

 

This is a low-risk toe in the water for Hornby, adapting existing tooling to keep costs down. I did point out at the time that the buildings were a bit 'glue a cog on it...'

 

Don't forget, this range isn't really aimed at existing railway modellers (who tend to focus on fidelity to prototype to a greater or lesser degree), this is aimed at steampunks who want to expand their already creative and fun makes to include railways. Steampunk ISN'T serious, it's fun, off-the-wall and there are few boundaries to limit one's creativity.

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5 minutes ago, Neverwood said:

What do you think to it so far?...................;)

Reminds me of the film kinky boots, where the shoe maker finding his shoes arent selling, beaten by competition heads to London, designs the worlds worst shoe for a trans-guy, who later comes back to his factory overcomes personal preconceptions and works together and designs a whole new product range for a market previously unconsidered.

 

its definitely different.. but weirdly I think this might work.

Edited by adb968008
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It's a good idea, questionably executed, and of limited or no interest to most of us here so we really ought not to knock it but to watch and wait. I can see it being bought up by Warhammer wargamers and suchlike, and I hope it works.

 

However, I am really, REALLY disappointed to see them using the Bassett-Lowke brand for this. It's a brand of no relevance to the intended market and cheapens an illustrious name, a name that was producing proper model railways when Hornby (Meccano) were churning out mass produced toys. They should have saved the name for a finescale O range or some other premium model offering, this will probably kill the name and is a very sad end to Wenman Joseph's legacy.

Edited by guard_jamie
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4 minutes ago, guard_jamie said:

However, I am really, REALLY disappointed to see them using the Bassett-Lowke brand for this. It's a brand of no relevance to the intended market and cheapens an illustrious name, a name that was producing proper model railways when Hornby (Meccano) were churning out mass produced toys. They should have saved the name for a finescale O range or some other premium model offering, this will probably kill the name and is a very sad end to Wenman Joseph's name.

 

It is doubtful (beyond the 4 tinplate locos announced as part of the anniversary collectibles) that Hornby are entering the O market any time soon if ever.

 

On the other hand, it is also expensive and difficult in this day and age to create a brand / sub-brand that both doesn't conflict with anything else and is easily Google-able.

 

Thus re-using a unique brand that is already owned, and is otherwise likely to remain unused, makes good sense from a business perspective.

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1 hour ago, 34theletterbetweenB&D said:

It's a relatively cheap exploitation of existing kit. The test is whether the retailers servicing this market will stock it, as appealing to their customers.

 

Yes; what the likes of Hattons and Rails do with it isn't really relevant here, the big question is how will it will do both in the toy market and more specialist esoteric modelling outlets. But it probably is a relatively low-risk investment, as it's all just modifications of existing, fairly low-fi, products.

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1 minute ago, MarkSG said:

 

Yes; what the likes of Hattons and Rails do with it isn't really relevant here, the big question is how will it will do both in the toy market and more specialist esoteric modelling outlets. But it probably is a relatively low-risk investment, as it's all just modifications of existing, fairly low-fi, products.

 

To an extent it doesn't really matter - in the era of the Internet if the target market is interested in these items they will be able to find someone to sell it to them (if nothing else it will be available from the Hornby website).

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As an aside, I'm all for cogs, as long as they 'do' something. They have to have a purpose.

 

A few cogs suck on a roof with no visible mechanical link to anything else is just sad. MO.

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Well they've done some homework on this, corsets on the outside = Steampunk - on the inside it's sci-fi Victoriana.

 

Why do we criticise Hornby for exploiting it's toolings and names to reach new markets.

 

Do you think it makes all it's money from selling APTs, A2s and Hush Hush locomotives.

 

It's not for me but neither are the railways since 2004 and I don't make a thing of it whenever someone introduces another modern piece of stock.

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Personally I think they could have relatively cheaply done a more adventurous body shell for the chassis keeping the risk low. Steampunk to me is integrating the exposed and exaggerated mechanism in the design not just gluing it on the outside. 

I might have bought a Gilliamesque design as a bit of fun but this falls a bit flat for me. Ironically the clockwork O gauge feels more Steampunk in its caricature than these ;) 
There are great steampunk designs for trains all over the web that could have been done as a slip on bodyshell and the Rocket coaches or old US streamliners are more in style too. 
These all look more steampunk to me. 
At the very least something based on the Darjeeling 0-4-0

02F80C0C-0A55-4EB8-8153-587C95C9BE9D.jpeg.536a9640b165e5b8fda693dd20f28648.jpeg

 

or more adventurously

885C6419-A30D-46F5-97FA-E4380029F547.jpeg.81fae1b8b65fc0f696dee0f313ba32ff.jpeg

 

C42335C1-9B36-4E9C-BE41-4C261D92D888.jpeg.fc1ae0a48d1c231bb5e31a5bb228aa87.jpeg

 

DE5DD158-3330-458D-9224-7F42C6EFC60F.jpeg.d31cb3ef91ce42b7ed09aa90ac4df0ec.jpeg

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17 minutes ago, mdvle said:

 

It is doubtful (beyond the 4 tinplate locos announced as part of the anniversary collectibles) that Hornby are entering the O market any time soon if ever.

 

On the other hand, it is also expensive and difficult in this day and age to create a brand / sub-brand that both doesn't conflict with anything else and is easily Google-able.

 

Thus re-using a unique brand that is already owned, and is otherwise likely to remain unused, makes good sense from a business perspective.

 

I'm sure that is so, but that does not make it any less saddening (to me).

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2 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

Personally I think they could have relatively cheaply done a more adventurous body shell for the chassis keeping the risk low. Steampunk to me is integrating the exposed and exaggerated mechanism in the design not just gluing it on the outside. 

I might have bought a Gilliamesque design as a bit of fun but this falls a bit flat for me. Ironically the clockwork O gauge feels more Steampunk in its caricature than these ;) 
There are great steampunk designs for trains all over the web that could have been done as a slip on bodyshell and the Rocket coaches or old US streamliners are more in style too. 
These all look more steampunk to me. 
At the very least something based on the Darjeeling 0-4-0

02F80C0C-0A55-4EB8-8153-587C95C9BE9D.jpeg.536a9640b165e5b8fda693dd20f28648.jpeg

 

or more adventurously

885C6419-A30D-46F5-97FA-E4380029F547.jpeg.81fae1b8b65fc0f696dee0f313ba32ff.jpeg

 

C42335C1-9B36-4E9C-BE41-4C261D92D888.jpeg.fc1ae0a48d1c231bb5e31a5bb228aa87.jpeg

 

DE5DD158-3330-458D-9224-7F42C6EFC60F.jpeg.d31cb3ef91ce42b7ed09aa90ac4df0ec.jpeg

 

Indeed, some inspiration from these types of design could be amazing, but I guess all things have to start somewhere.

 

Off topic, but there is a train in Final Fantasy XV that is clearly based on the loco that is 3rd down in your pictures, by the way. 

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Yep that loco appears quite often in steampunk inspired designs. and you could even offer alternative snap on body shells in the Airfix range. Imagine the bodies spilt down the centre and clipping on. Play value for kids and endlessly customisable for adults. 

This really could bridge Steampunk, kits, railways and toys with a bit more imagination at launch. Unfortunately I won’t be tempted to support it by buying any of these as a start. 

Edited by PaulRhB
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I like the idea, not so hot on the execution. It feels like it was designed by someone who's seen someone else's idea of steampunk and taken it from there. Just a bunch of bits stuck on to already-existing not necessarily Victorian rolling stock.

 

At the risk of frothing, if I were assigned to devise a steampunk range, this is what I'd do.

 

- Use already-existing tooling as the basis of the range. For instance, the Dean and Caley Singles. These are already steampunky. Maybe give them a more brass-and-steel livery or an elaborate Victorian livery. If possible, perhaps reintroduce the Triang Davey Crockett. For coaches, the 4-wheelers are okay, but I'd consider the old Rocket coaches, the clerestory coaches or, again, the Triang Davey Crockett coaches. For wagons, anything that could pass for pre-Grouping - I'd suggest the Hull and Barnsley van and the old 5-plank for starters, and I've always thought that 4-wheeled car transporter wagon that Hornby did in lurid orange had the look of a carriage wagon.

 

- The wackier steampunk stuff is a fun idea, but my suggestion would be to go for wagon loads in resin fitted on top of already-existing tooling, as with the short-lived circus train from the Thomas range. For example, a flat wagon with a flying machine load or something similar.

 

- For the buildings, just stuff that's more fun, more in line with Victorian and Victorian-pastiche fiction. A ruined temple, a mad scientist's lab, a Gothic castle, that kind of thing. Not just sticking cogs and pipes on to otherwise completely mundane buildings. You could do themed stations - a Transylvanian halt with a Gothic waiting room, an Ancient Egyptian signal box, a cattle dock for dinosaurs, silly things like that.

 

As an example of someone who I think does steampunk railways right, I'd recommend Chris Walas. He borrows heavily from the work of Wells, Verne, Lovecraft, Twain and other Victorian and early 20th century writers, as well as messing around with his own ideas to create a coherent (and fun) mythos of his own.

 

Edited by HonestTom
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Any chance that the tooling changes to be made to the Pug will render that tooling unusable to produce Pugs in the future, as was the case with the LCDR E1 "converted" to Thomas (the tank engine)? If so might we be lucky and get a new tool Pug as a result?

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Just now, brushman47544 said:

Any chance that the tooling changes to be made to the Pug will render that tooling unusable to produce Pugs in the future, as was the case with the LCDR E1 "converted" to Thomas (the tank engine)? If so might we be lucky and get a new tool Pug as a result?

I understand they're resin bodies based on the Pug rather than modifications of the Pug tooling - there's at least one Caley pug in this year's main range.

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Pretty much agree with everything that has been said

already

1. not bothered either way myself, but I think my son would like them, he keeps making noises about a fantasy layout. However he would also like modding them himself.

2. Why Bassett Lowke?

3. The locos are quite good, the rolling stock ok and the buildings a bit meh

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1 minute ago, Talltim said:

 

2. Why Bassett Lowke?

 

 

They've had the name for a while and I don't think they've ever really known what to do with it. I'm going to put my tinfoil hat on and say it's something to do with holding on to the trademark?

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