Hornby 2021 - Playtrains starter range

[Phil Parker]

6 minutes ago, rue_d_etropal said:

magnetic couplings, 4 wheel chassis, continental style bodies. why re-invent the wheel? Nothing wrong with companies working together, assuming that does not upset other parties.

 

That wasn't the point you made. You said, "Marklin chassis. Nothing wrong with this, but I think it should be announced to everyone"

 

Aside from you not having seen the chassis, why should any details be "announced to everyone" - even if there is some tie-up, and Hornby very specifically say there isn't, then what business is it of anyone else's anyway? And does the target market for these care?

 

23 minutes ago, rue_d_etropal said:

Most continental companies send out new release leaflets as pdf files , as do some American ones . Simple and effective.

 

And a web page is even simpler and works on mobile devices. Why create a PDF as well as a web page?

[rue_d_etropal]

Quote

And a web page is even simpler and works on mobile devices. Why create a PDF as well as a web page?

until it crashes because too many are trying to access it, like today.

 

I save pdf files on my computer so I can then read them , any time. I could even print them if I wanted. Rather than having loads of dead old, out of date catalogues, a simple pdf file which can either be distributed online, or could be printed in shops when required, 21st centurt style.

[Haymarket47]

2 hours ago, Phil Parker said:

 

There is a range of track including points to go with this - it's not just the simple oval you are thinking of.

Sorry, that’s not what I was thinking Phil. I was merely lamenting the fact that my 2 sons didn’t get the “bug” for model railways. I hope the new range is a success.

[Phil Parker]

30 minutes ago, rue_d_etropal said:

until it crashes because too many are trying to access it, like today.

 

I save pdf files on my computer so I can then read them , any time. I could even print them if I wanted. Rather than having loads of dead old, out of date catalogues, a simple pdf file which can either be distributed online, or could be printed in shops when required, 21st centurt style.

 

I'm pretty certain thousands of people downloading PDF files would crash the website just as, or even more, effectively. Traffic would be high today because the new range is announced. It's not an issue the rest of the year.

 

They know people like the Hornby catalogue and are willing to pay for it. I'm sure a PDF version could be available, but you still need a printed version as not all model shops have a high-res colour printer to run copies off.

 

And accessing the web "21st centurt style" is via a mobile device, not a computer, or at least that's what all the numbers say.

 

However, this is well off topic. Back to Playtrains please.

[Pmorgancym]

1 hour ago, TTDB said:

Agree my 4 year old has a huge TOMY plarail system non Thomas he has about 18 E/DMU and 5 electric locos. A vast series from marshalling yards to a coach wash and cheap too 3 car set £23 accessories £4/20

Exactly this is the model I'd be looking at, but I'd make the stock 16.5mm gauge and approximately ro 00 style so the could be carried over on to a 'grow up' layout at a later point

[MGR Hooper!]

Once again Hornby seem to be the only company making a real effort to get children into the hobby and add some interest to it. Well done Hornby. The video was equally interesting. Hornby also owning up to the fact that the Hornby Junior sets weren't all that great though they sold in great numbers worldwide.

Is it weird that I want to buy a set?

Edited January 5, 2021 by MGR Hooper!

[Hroth]

I just realised that the first image* on AYMods introductory post was Montana giving a powerpoint style presentation.

 

13 minutes of powerpoint.

 

Yep...

 

Actually quite interesting, in its own way, the only thing missing was an indication of when Playtrains would be introduced, even a vague Q1-Q4 would have been useful!

 

* I didn't notice the arrow in the middle...

 

[009 micro modeller]

Are these (and the similar Marklin ones) any good at running through conventional pointwork (which the previous Hornby battery-powered set apparently isn’t)?

[Hroth]

18 minutes ago, 009 micro modeller said:

Are these (and the similar Marklin ones) any good at running through conventional pointwork (which the previous Hornby battery-powered set apparently isn’t)?

Apart from a mention in the product information that they will "run on ordinary track", there hasnt been more info about the Playtrains capabilities as of yet.

[Phil Parker]

My guess is that the first sight of these would have been at the London Toy Fair in January. This isn't happening, and neither is Nuremberg to my knowledge. That's where the orders for the range would come from. If you look at the POS photos, this will be aimed at the larger non-model shops for the Christmas market. You need to have something for the buyers to look at, but a 3D printed sample will do along with the supporting material.

[eldomtom2]

One wonders why they have gone with anthropomorphized characters when outside of the well-known but declining Thomas brand comparable products feature "realistic" trains.

[Hroth]

37 minutes ago, eldomtom2 said:

One wonders why they have gone with anthropomorphized characters when outside of the well-known but declining Thomas brand comparable products feature "realistic" trains.

 

Most animated programmes targeted at young children, involving machines as principal characters use anthropomorphization.  Thomas is probably the best known example but there are plenty of others and providing the stickers allows children to get involved in the play-world.

 

Without the stickers the trains themselves look like idealised real world vehicles.

 

[Phil Parker]

54 minutes ago, eldomtom2 said:

One wonders why they have gone with anthropomorphized characters when outside of the well-known but declining Thomas brand comparable products feature "realistic" trains.

 

Ivor the Engine

Sammy the hunter 

Chuggington 

 

The Playtrains range is bigger than just the stock and track. There will be supporting content online including stories featuring the characters. It's easier to do that if you anthropomorphise them. 

[Talltim]

5 hours ago, Phil Parker said:

 

That wasn't the point you made. You said, "Marklin chassis. Nothing wrong with this, but I think it should be announced to everyone"

 

Aside from you not having seen the chassis, why should any details be "announced to everyone" - even if there is some tie-up, and Hornby very specifically say there isn't, then what business is it of anyone else's anyway? And does the target market for these care?

I read it that Rue was talking about the Hornby-Marklin Thomas trains. Why would he be saying the new Hornby range had Marklin chassis when he hasn’t seen them?

[eldomtom2]

10 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

Ivor the Engine

Sammy the hunter 

Chuggington 

 

The Playtrains range is bigger than just the stock and track. There will be supporting content online including stories featuring the characters. It's easier to do that if you anthropomorphise them. 

And none of those (with the possible exception of Chuggington) are modern competitors to Playtrains. I'm not sure why Hornby thinks they know better than pretty much every other toy company selling trains aimed at the 5ish market...

[Phil Parker]

2 minutes ago, eldomtom2 said:

And none of those (with the possible exception of Chuggington) are modern competitors to Playtrains. I'm not sure why Hornby thinks they know better than pretty much every other toy company selling trains aimed at the 5ish market...

 

And those modern competitors are? Aside from Brio and MyWorld, that is. 

[Pmorgancym]

3 hours ago, Phil Parker said:

My guess is that the first sight of these would have been at the London Toy Fair in January. This isn't happening, and neither is Nuremberg to my knowledge. That's where the orders for the range would come from. If you look at the POS photos, this will be aimed at the larger non-model shops for the Christmas market. You need to have something for the buyers to look at, but a 3D printed sample will do along with the supporting material.

Hope my abbreviation POS and yours aren't the same

[Pmorgancym]

2 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

And those modern competitors are? Aside from Brio and MyWorld, that is. 

For my son Tomy stuff off Amazon and ebay.  

[Phil Parker]

2 minutes ago, Pmorgancym said:

Hope my abbreviation POS and yours aren't the same

 Point Of Sale. 

 

That and the marketing will matter to the trade almost as much as the product. 

[eldomtom2]

1 hour ago, Phil Parker said:

 

And those modern competitors are? Aside from Brio and MyWorld, that is. 

Those, and Tomy, and Lego, and pretty much everyone else making toy trains.  A quick Amazon search will confirm that outside of Thomas trains with faces are actually quite rare in the modern toy world.

[TTDB]

6 hours ago, Pmorgancym said:

Exactly this is the model I'd be looking at, but I'd make the stock 16.5mm gauge and approximately ro 00 style so the could be carried over on to a 'grow up' layout at a later point

Yes although they do capture the general shape they are to I think about 1/80 they do also work on wooden brio track and you can get adapters from tomy to brio tracks 

 

[BokStein]

I recall that Simon K, on his return to the fold, banished the original, abysmal, attempt by Hornby into this field having seem Marklin's myWorld first hand.

 

My first reaction on seeing this was that the track is almost Marklin C-Track (as is myWorld, albeit in plastic) with, apart from the red colouring, different section joiners and no centre stud which both Trix and Marklin C-Track have from their common moulding processes. However, it is possible to run a myWorld train from the plastic track to standard metal-railed Marklin and Trix C-Track and, using an adaptor to account for the height difference between C-Track and Marklin's K-Track, direct onto Hornby or Peco track! With an adaptor wagon, it is also possible to couple standard Marklin or Trix stock to the myWorld range and run them across all 3 systems.

 

10 hours ago, Phil Parker said:

 

There is a range of track including points to go with this - it's not just the simple oval you are thinking of.

 

Given that the magnetic couplings look identical to myWorld's, that the body presentations between the two brands seem similar, the remote controls share similar functions and the track bears more than a passing resemblance to Marklin's, I suspect either that there has been much collaboration between the two companies or that this will end in Court!

[drt7uk]

14 hours ago, brushman47544 said:

These trains are based on Italian prototypes. The passenger train as based on the first version of the ".italo" high speed trains manufactured by Alstom.

 

 

The "Thunder" and "Bolt" express goods locos are based on the FS Class E.402A 200kmh passenger locos produced by Hornby under the Rivarossi brand.

 

 

Presumably these sets are for European consumption as well as the UK.

 

Pleased they've brought this range out, but I also wish they'd re-release the Italo, even just as a Railroad version. I want more carriages and it is extortionately expensive to get hold of on eBay! 

[Phil Parker]

8 hours ago, eldomtom2 said:

Those, and Tomy, and Lego, and pretty much everyone else making toy trains.  A quick Amazon search will confirm that outside of Thomas trains with faces are actually quite rare in the modern toy world.

 

Lego trains are part of the bigger system so appeal well outside the model railway world. That's their USP. 

 

Aside from Tomy, Brio compatibles and MyWorld, there's nothing else building a system. Tons of cheap junk toy railways but those are played with once and then head for landfill. 

 

Giving human characteristics to non human things has a long history because kids identify with them. Aside from Thomas, Ivor etc. the same thing can be said of Pixars range of car and plane films. In toy terms, every teddy bear does it. Sylvain families has sold massively over the years with humanised animal miniatures. 

 

Playtrains wants to establish a world of its own and giving the trains faces makes that easier. If the hero of your story is called Fred, it reads better than if he's called 60 013. For a 3 year old, giving the train a name makes it a friend. That's not something Lego etc. try to do but it builds a better connection with the child. 

 

Having said all that, the crux of your argument seems to be that Hornby shouldn't anthropomorphise their range because no on else is doing this but that's what you do if you want to create something new. As Henry Ford said, if he'd just listened to his customers, they only wanted a faster horse. Instead, he invented the automobile. 

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, Phil Parker said:

As Henry Ford said, if he'd just listened to his customers, they only wanted a faster horse. Instead, he invented the automobile. 

 

Very Edisonian.

 

Various other people "invented" the automobile, he just made lots of them very cheaply!

And I think that'll probably get me back on topic...