Hornby Christmas Launch

[CUCKOO LINE]

In the add on pack one is maroon the other chocolate and cream

[InterCity80s]

Looks like it's R4630 in the "add on" pack (i.e. Chocolate and Cream) and R4628 in the "starter pack" (i.e. Carmine and Cream).

[Legend]

Good value in both packs even if the stock is a bit mixed up . Looks like they sold out of brake coaches and vans ! Hard to avoid conclusion they’ve just made too many J15s. You would have thought it would make sense to put another loco on the add on pack . They are obviously not supposed to be complimentary with people buying one or other . 
 

Overall it’s a good move though. Wouldn’t be distraught if my family bought me one..........fat chance! 

[jonny777]

My only thought is that how many school age children are going to be happy with a 1950s era steam loco and carriages/wagons? 

 

After all when I had my first Hornby 3-rail train set 60 years ago, it did not feature a turn of the century (1899/1900) loco and rolling stock. 

 

Wouldn't an alternative of a class 66 and a few modern wagons be appropriate? 

 

 

[HonestTom]

With the second lockdown, I think there's definitely going to be a market for an all-in-one starter set. The only thing that I wonder about is the choice of locomotives - I would have thought that for a family starter set, something less detailed would be more appropriate. The ex-Airfix 4F springs to mind, or perhaps something from the Railroad range.

[Steamport Southport]

41 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

My only thought is that how many school age children are going to be happy with a 1950s era steam loco and carriages/wagons? 

 

After all when I had my first Hornby 3-rail train set 60 years ago, it did not feature a turn of the century (1899/1900) loco and rolling stock. 

 

Wouldn't an alternative of a class 66 and a few modern wagons be appropriate? 

 

 

 

I think it's just the pack which is already available but with Christmas branding.

 

All the cool kids would be after the Coca Cola set.

[Flying Pig]

13 minutes ago, HonestTom said:

The only thing that I wonder about is the choice of locomotives - I would have thought that for a family starter set, something less detailed would be more appropriate.

 

It really depends who the sets are aimed at, which could well be adults stuck at home with time on their hands and tempted by the hobby.  The J15 is a very attractive model (vies with the Pecketts for the cutest loco in the range imo) and a good lead-in to Hornby's extensive LNER steam range so it makes quite a lot of sense.  And of course there may be stock to shift.

 

I would naturally have been happier to see a couple of the delightful LNER non-corridors rather than Mk1s, but they are pricier items even in plain BR liveries.  And an LNER brake van.  In fact the obvious follow on buys are obvious.  D16 anyone?

[AY Mod]

4 hours ago, Phil Parker said:

Someone will be checking if you have been good this year.

 

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/christmas-photo-booth

 

Right; your Secret Santa gift in this month's BRM was rubbish and now I get this!

 

Just you wait Parker.

[Phil Parker]

1 hour ago, jonny777 said:

My only thought is that how many school age children are going to be happy with a 1950s era steam loco and carriages/wagons? 

 

Ask a child to draw a train and you'll get a steam engine.

[Phil Parker]

1 minute ago, AY Mod said:

 

Right; your Secret Santa gift in this month's BRM was rubbish and now I get this!

 

Just you wait Parker.

 

Strop moaning. You didn't end up on a bonfire, did you?

[G-BOAF]

Annoying that there is not a single brake vehicle! Very unprototypical and it irks me as they are not selling a complete train. They could have included a passenger rated brake van that could have been used with both the coaches and the goods. At the very least one of the Mk1s should have been a brake.

[The Stationmaster]

39 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

Ask a child to draw a train and you'll get a steam engine.

And not just that.  I wouldn't be averse to betting good money that for many (the vast majority of?) children their most likely first ride on a train will be behind a steam engine.  In pre lockdown days you didn't see hordes of children with their parents riding on national network trains or train spotting at stations.   But you could see an awful lot of them at heritage and leisure railways and preservation sites including riding on trains.  It would be a fascinating to establish how many children of below secondary school age have travelled on the steam railmotor at Didcot compared with the number that have travelled to or from the nearby main line station on a Class 387 electric train;  I think I can guess which is the winner in that comparison.

[The Stationmaster]

2 minutes ago, G-BOAF said:

Annoying that there is not a single brake vehicle! Very unprototypical and it irks me as they are not selling a complete train. They could have included a passenger rated brake van that could have been used with both the coaches and the goods. At the very least one of the Mk1s should have been a brake.

My far bigger concern is that there are not more points to make more interesting layouts that go a bit beyond the land of tail chasing and add a greater variety of fun opportunities.   But maybe Hornby have domne some market research and found that lack of sidings isn't a problem?

[woodenhead]

The smaller pack at £129 looks very good value, though the bigger pack I think would make a very good Christmas present and it is clever marketing by Hornby, it's a trainset plus.

 

Can that lady take over on the Signal Box videos, she appears a lot more comfortable in front of a camera than the usual chap.

 

The cynic in me can easily say, well it's just stock they have spare, but if you were a 5 year old would you care if the coach was chocolate and cream and not some sort of Gresley - in fact I'd be a bit worried if a five year old was demanding scale models to suit the locomotive and questioning where the brake van or brake coach was.

[tomparryharry]

1 hour ago, HonestTom said:

With the second lockdown, I think there's definitely going to be a market for an all-in-one starter set. The only thing that I wonder about is the choice of locomotives - I would have thought that for a family starter set, something less detailed would be more appropriate. The ex-Airfix 4F springs to mind, or perhaps something from the Railroad range.

 

Oh dear me. You could hear the screams from here. "Clearing out old Railroad stock on the unsuspecting public?" Clearly Hornby have played a fine line here. There appears to be enough diversification to 'encourage'  people to go out to buy more complimentary coaches & stock.  The all-in-one approach is spot-on. No having to wait for missing bits & pieces; just open the box, and get on with it.  A clever marketing move, and,  one that will endure for quite a while. 

 

"I got a train set for Christmas, but I couldn't use it, 'cos the bits weren't there".  Obviously, someone thought-designed that problem out.

 

Edit. The video has a disclaimer underneath saying " The contents of the box may vary".  Perhaps there might be a 6-wheel Peckett and a guards van in the pack. For what it's worth, my first train set (Old Smoky ) had a Mk1, and a GuV. No brakes! 

 

I can see Hornby  Santa masks up & down the country, doing bank robberies, speeding, and frightening little old ladies.... 

Edited November 2, 2020 by tomparryharry
Text.

[HonestTom]

17 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

The smaller pack at £129 looks very good value, though the bigger pack I think would make a very good Christmas present and it is clever marketing by Hornby, it's a trainset plus.

 

Can that lady take over on the Signal Box videos, she appears a lot more comfortable in front of a camera than the usual chap.

 

The cynic in me can easily say, well it's just stock they have spare, but if you were a 5 year old would you care if the coach was chocolate and cream and not some sort of Gresley - in fact I'd be a bit worried if a five year old was demanding scale models to suit the locomotive and questioning where the brake van or brake coach was.

For kids coming into the hobby today, they're probably more familiar with the mix-and-match approach to rolling stock from visiting heritage railways.

[stewartingram]

If they want to get rid of J15s, why don't they send them to me? I won't even charge them for the inconvenience....

[No Decorum]

14 minutes ago, scumcat said:

my five year old wants an orange freightliner class 66 with container wagons , only because he already has a board with track on it, if he didn’t this box full of stuff would have been perfect. Good on Hornby for trying to get new blood interested in making their first layout 

Good for him! Good for you too; obviously a well-educated lad. 

[No Decorum]

33 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

 

Can that lady take over on the Signal Box videos, she appears a lot more comfortable in front of a camera than the usual chap.

 

I watched the video. The consensus seems to be that model trains were involved somewhere. I didn’t notice them. 

[Covkid]

2 hours ago, jonny777 said:

My only thought is that how many school age children are going to be happy with a 1950s era steam loco and carriages/wagons? 

 

After all when I had my first Hornby 3-rail train set 60 years ago, it did not feature a turn of the century (1899/1900) loco and rolling stock. 

 

Wouldn't an alternative of a class 66 and a few modern wagons be appropriate? 

 

 

I tend to agree Jonny.

The Brits just don't seem to be able to move on from model mobile kettles for train sets do they ?

I was born in 1962 and can only remember two non preserved steam locomotive experiences prior to 1968, and one of those is questionable.  My dad took me to Hatton bank one day and I vaguely remember a very woebegone WR 4-6-0  leaking steam everywhere.  The other instance was 4472 in apple green somewhere near Hinckley which I suppose was actually preserved then .

 

Why can't kids have representative contemporary train sets, even if it is a railroad diesel, electric or DMU ?

[Steamport Southport]

1 minute ago, Covkid said:

I tend to agree Jonny.

The Brits just don't seem to be able to move on from model mobile kettles for train sets do they ?

I was born in 1962 and can only remember two non preserved steam locomotive experiences prior to 1968, and one of those is questionable.  My dad took me to Hatton bank one day and I vaguely remember a very woebegone WR 4-6-0  leaking steam everywhere.  The other instance was 4472 in apple green somewhere near Hinckley which I suppose was actually preserved then .

 

Why can't kids have representative contemporary train sets, even if it is a railroad diesel, electric or DMU ?

 

Because kids have no interest in diesels or electrics?

 

When was the last time you saw a kid on a train or a youngster trainspotting?

 

Yet if I go to a heritage railway it's full of kids, especially when you go to a gala, kids event such as TTTE or Peppa Pig, or Santa. Kids watch Thomas on TV. They read and watch Harry Potter. So that's what they want.

 

 

But go to a diesel gala. All middle aged blokes reliving their teenage years with not one kid in sight. I know as I'm one of them.

 

 

[Covkid]

16 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Because kids have no interest in diesels or electrics?

 

When was the last time you saw a kid on a train or a youngster trainspotting?

 

Yet if I go to a heritage railway it's full of kids, especially when you go to a gala, kids event such as TTTE or Peppa Pig, or Santa. Kids watch Thomas on TV. They read and watch Harry Potter. So that's what they want.

 

 

But go to a diesel gala. All middle aged blokes reliving their teenage years with not one kid in sight. I know as I'm one of them.

 

 

Surely that is because the parents take their kids to steam events, Thomas and the like, because the parents want the kids to enjoy the choochoo experience.  it is self repeating. 

 

Don't get me wrong.  I like my steam and diesels. My steam memories (in the UK at least) are obviously all preserved but who can fail to be impressed by the "rifle shots" out the chimney of a Manor or Hall on lines like the Severn Valley. Equally though a lovely meander up and down the West Somerset behind 44422. What's not to like ?

 

Diesels do have the slight edge for me, and I think the parents should consider contemporary trains, as should the likes of Hornby and Bachmann. 

[brushman47544]

I don’t like to nit pick, after all the pack is a really good idea to get novices interested in model railways, but it’s not quite everything to make a model railway. Unless I missed it, there no glue to stick down the ballast and flock...

[The Johnster]

Kids terday... don't go trainspotting, as their parents won't allow them out unsupervised in case 1) the boogie man gets them, 2) they have to cross a main road, and 3) parents who let kids out near railway lines get reported to social services for neglect, then the kids are taken into 'care', where they get to experience real neglact and are abused by the boogie man.  Trainspotters are middle aged gents who hang around on platform ends, and, unintentionally, look exactly like a typical parent's impression of... the boogie man! 

 

Kids are kept inside and only get to go out with the parents/guardian, so Mike's point that their experience of real railways is quite likely to be a hertitage one is valid.  On top of that, railway stations will not allow unsupervised minors on to platforms for safety reasons, bridges that used to be spotting hotspots have high parapets to prevent suicides and stone throwers, many lineside locations are overgrown, in short, railways have very effectively shut themselves out from casual observation from off the premises by anyone below 6' tall. 

 

Another factor is Harry Potter, which all kids are familiar with.  This presents trains in a very 1950s  form, and is a major trainset seller, as of course is TTTE, in which diesels do not get a good press...

[Oldddudders]

I like this. Launched 7 weeks before Christmas, and fortuitously just before another UK lockdown, Hornby is making a determined effort to get parents on-board. Their choice of loco and stock is no doubt driven by availability and stock levels, but the average youngster won't know that, any more than mum and dad will. 

 

I want all our RTR manufacturers and commissioners to succeed. To be, if you like, the good news story from Covid 19. A healthy trade is good for all of us, even if you are one of the capable people who builds and paints kits to a high standard, rather than an RTR consumer.

 

Well done Hornby. I hope you are rewarded.