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Exclusive OO Gauge Class 89 produced by Accurascale


Oliver Rails
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18 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

 


the longer it goes, the less good the signs are.

 

There must come a time in any extended EOI period that the number of people dropping off exceeds the number joining.


Roy

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I am not sure if there is a stautory time on EOI, however since this one was announced on May 19th, I would have thought they have enough to say yes or no.

They may be waiting for people to come out of furlough to see if those who were unsure because of their financial situation would send an EOI. However that is pure supposition.

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I would expect that an indefinite EOI period won't get the best results as it doesn't pressure anybody.

 

If a deadline is set it makes people less likely to sit back and think about it/procrastinate/leave it until another day. Likewise the sooner they can start accepting pre orders the sooner they can get people putting their money where their mouth is.

 

I said I'd be interested in one of these, and I still am, but if somebody announces a load of stuff that I would rather have I may be putting by money elsewhere by the time the order book opens.

Edited by TomScrut
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Its the holiday season, even if they decided to go ahead, they doubtless have a few T's to cross and some I's to dot. I suspect that they are waiting to the right moment (like a virtual show or something) to formally announce that they are going ahead. I would not loose hope yet.

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5 hours ago, JSpencer said:

Its the holiday season, even if they decided to go ahead, they doubtless have a few T's to cross and some I's to dot. I suspect that they are waiting to the right moment (like a virtual show or something) to formally announce that they are going ahead. I would not loose hope yet.

Risky Business, as TomScrut says, its easy to put ones money elswhere at the moment especially with so much good stuff coming on stream.

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57 minutes ago, 7013 said:

Risky Business, as TomScrut says, its easy to put ones money elswhere at the moment especially with so much good stuff coming on stream.

 

We are talking about only a few months since it was opened to EOI. If we hear nothing within a year then yeah maybe its a dead duck but would now really give you the biggest audience to say "its a go"?

 

We are looking at an 18 month drag at least before we even see the thing in mass produced form. Plenty of time for people to make their minds up, and doubtless those wondering which up and coming model to choose, would have changed their minds either way if an 89 was lower on their lists than something else all new that has yet to be announced. 

 

 

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41 minutes ago, JSpencer said:

 

We are talking about only a few months since it was opened to EOI. If we hear nothing within a year then yeah maybe its a dead duck but would now really give you the biggest audience to say "its a go"?

 

We are looking at an 18 month drag at least before we even see the thing in mass produced form. Plenty of time for people to make their minds up, and doubtless those wondering which up and coming model to choose, would have changed their minds either way if an 89 was lower on their lists than something else all new that has yet to be announced. 

 

 

In my opinion there will be a finite number of people want a particular product and setting a deadline on those people making their mind up is probably the only way to maximise impact.

 

OTOH in the case of this particular loco, the interest levels may increase slightly once it is out and about.

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1 hour ago, TomScrut said:

 

 

In my opinion there will be a finite number of people want a particular product and setting a deadline on those people making their mind up is probably the only way to maximise impact.

 

OTOH in the case of this particular loco, the interest levels may increase slightly once it is out and about.

 

I'm pretty certain that a large proportion of buyers will still want to see (or at least see reviews) before they buy. Granted with Accurascale, we are pretty confident that we will be assured the best quality on the market so there may be more willing to pre-order than - say - if it was done  by one of the bigger more established players. 

 

A deadline assumes that your market is aware of the proposition, but news of a OO 89 may take a while filter down to many buyers. Most are probably not even on this forum nor  read magazines.

 

For me personally, deadlines are not a way to make me panic buy anything - I suspect others may be the same. There are things I want that I will order right away, others are in a nice to have bucket that I may eventually charm to, normally in those periods when there is little else to buy.

But imagine if we started putting deadlines on these all new model locos, and you were then forced to watch what happens in the model railway world to ensure you did not miss out on your dream items, would the hobby remain a pleasure or become a stress?

 

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1 hour ago, JSpencer said:

I'm pretty certain that a large proportion of buyers will still want to see (or at least see reviews) before they buy

 

1 hour ago, JSpencer said:

deadlines are not a way to make me panic buy anything

 

Yes but it's a no obligation declaration of interest, not a purchase. You say if you're interested and then buy it if and when you want if they do it (not trying to patronise just emphasising my point)

 

1 hour ago, JSpencer said:

A deadline assumes that your market is aware of the proposition

 

I'd expect that most of the people who are likely to find out at all will know by now, although I suppose given the particular times we are going through word of mouth would be more difficult. Any that don't I would hope will find out by the time they arrive if there is enough interest.

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Of course there is another way,

 

They could cherry pick the most popular liveries, and open the rest for Accurascale to send to the trade... Could that be something to make a difference in numbers ?
 

Assuming of course, the numbers havent already been met and they are quietly building up a “max of market” number.

 

patience.

 

 

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1 hour ago, TomScrut said:

 

 

Yes but it's a no obligation declaration of interest, not a purchase. You say if you're interested and then buy it if and when you want if they do it (not trying to patronise just emphasising my point)

 

 

I'd expect that most of the people who are likely to find out at all will know by now, although I suppose given the particular times we are going through word of mouth would be more difficult. Any that don't I would hope will find out by the time they arrive if there is enough interest.

 

I see where you are coming from, but that is quite complex and could upset their customer base. Rails have lots of sales data in their databases, I suspect that they would already be in an excellent position to judge demand from what they have now. Which would not be the case if I was to try.

 

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18 hours ago, TomScrut said:

 

Yes but it's a no obligation declaration of interest, not a purchase. You say if you're interested and then buy it if and when you want if they do it (not trying to patronise just emphasising my point)

 

Quite a good point. Rather than want and see I think I should express an interest in a second one to help things along.

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It's a bit of a shame some are asking for "expressions of interest" instead of just getting on and making it.

I guess from Rails' point of view though, demand for their Terrier may be lower due to Hornby releasing theirs first and not particularly being a large manufacturer, plus the Dave Jones debacle - not that great of a mix.

 

But I'd say it's fairly obvious it will be popular.

I wonder of the expression of interest was more to see what livery people wanted more (although with just four - all available at launch?), rather than a go/no go.

Shows intention, while "finer details" are ironed out.

 

I'm interested but not enough to feel I should fill in an expression of interest.  I don't know what I'll be doing / spending a the time of release and prefer to see what it's like before buying.

Edited by Sir TophamHatt
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39 minutes ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

But I'd say it's fairly obvious it will be popular.

 

Popular enough to make a profit? that's the important bit. Presumably Rails reckon on a certain percentage of EoIs not being turned into orders, and have to gauge whether that takes them beyond break even point. I'm glad it's not  my money, particularly in the ongoing Covid influenced economic climate.

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25 minutes ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

It's a bit of a shame some are asking for "expressions of interest" instead of just getting on and making it.

 

Given tooling a loco is in the $100,000 to $200,000 range (based on comments from a US manufacturer), I think it is to be expected as companies/people explore more niche models that they will want to re-assurance that the market exists.

 

25 minutes ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

But I'd say it's fairly obvious it will be popular.

 

Why?

 

I mean, I personally think it would succeed but I wouldn't claim that it is obvious and if I had the money it wouldn't be the first choice to risk that money on.

 

Again from the US, a manufacturer tooled 2 "obvious" models based on opinion and claims of demand online (one freight car in HO, one diesel in N)  and one lost money, and other other either lost money or barely covered costs.

 

So what seems obvious often isn't.

 

25 minutes ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

I wonder of the expression of interest was more to see what livery people wanted more (although with just four - all available at launch?), rather than a go/no go.

Shows intention, while "finer details" are ironed out.

 

There aren't that many livery possibilities, and if any of them didn't get sufficient orders it would have been easy enough to cancel them.

 

So my suspicion is that Rails was justifiably unsure as to whether enough people wanted to buy a model of a prototype that only had 1 built, with the added complication of it being an overhead electric which further diminishes the prospective market.

 

25 minutes ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

I'm interested but not enough to feel I should fill in an expression of interest.  I don't know what I'll be doing / spending a the time of release and prefer to see what it's like before buying.

 

So what you are saying it you aren't interested given that an EOI takes little time to do and creates no obligation to buy, but rather is simply an attempt to judge the demand for a product.

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24 minutes ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

It's a bit of a shame some are asking for "expressions of interest" instead of just getting on and making it.  I guess from Rails' point of view though, demand for their Terrier may be lower due to Hornby releasing theirs first and not particularly being a large manufacturer, plus the Dave Jones debacle - not that great of a mix.


I expect there’s a large amount of caution from both Rails and Accurascale given the circumstances of 2020 and people worrying about their jobs etc.  Keeping a roof over your head or feeding a family seriously outweigh a model, however should it go ahead, it still has to wait for it’s place on the manufacturer’s production line.

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