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Is there going to be a 2021 product announcement this year?


TravisM
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I appreciate that Bachmann are doing their very best to catch up with their previously announced and highly delayed models, but I wondered if they were planning to do a similar 2021 product announcement similar to Hornby’s in the near future.

 

I read somewhere that they are announcing expected arrival dates of models in blocks of three months, but these are previously announced models.  It would be nice to see what Bachmann have on their radar.

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3 minutes ago, jools1959 said:

I read somewhere that they are announcing expected arrival dates of models in blocks of three months, but these are previously announced models.  It would be nice to see what Bachmann have on their radar.

 

These are any and all products scheduled to reach the retailers' shelves in the next three months. 

 

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3 hours ago, jools1959 said:

I appreciate that Bachmann are doing their very best to catch up with their previously announced and highly delayed models, but I wondered if they were planning to do a similar 2021 product announcement similar to Hornby’s in the near future.

 

If one can find the topic from about a year ago (when Bachmann indicated they were going to this 3 month system) it was discussed and while I don't think Bachmann ever explicitly said anything I think the consensus was that Bachmann would no longer be doing the yearly announcement thing - the guess being that they would announce new tooling items whenever they felt it appropriate perhaps with a bit more than 3 months warning (or perhaps not).

 

Things could have changed in the intervening 12 months, but I wouldn't expect a big multi-new-tooling item announcement coming.

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4 hours ago, 'CHARD said:

 

These are any and all products scheduled to reach the retailers' shelves in the next three months. 

 

The quarterly announcements are new liveries and running numbers on existing tooling that are expected in the following three months, that have not previously been announced.

 

For models announced before 2020 there are currently release dates for those due by August/September 2021.

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No, items that are new toolings have been covered in the quarterly announcements too. EFE class 17 and JIA China clay tankers in N spring to mind. 
 

By their own cycle the next quarterly announcements are due next month i believe. It stands to reason there won’t be much in the way of new toolings whilst they continue to clear the backlog.  

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Bachmann Times continues to report the progress of items announced before the new arrangement. It seems reasonable to suppose that new items not being reported on will follow the completion of the last of the items listed as having been started. EFE was, of course, a complete surprise, with all the models having been tooled before and only* modifications to make.

 

The reports follow new toolings, not re-liveries, so the latter could take us by surprise.

 

*I say “only” but the modifications to the Underground stock are, I should think, quite a demanding project.

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Like I say, the JIA china clay tanks in N were a complete new tooling. The 17 is a bit more grey, as it was a DJM model, but it certainly never came to market.

 

I would presume that any truly new model under the Bachmann/Farish banner will continue to be released at a quarterly interval, they're just not while they clear their backlog.

 

It's a pain, as I'd like a new Farish 90, and would quite like to know if it's ever likely to happen!

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My understanding is that the quarterly annoucements cover everything new, including new toolings. We have seen with the NRM specials that Bachmann can suddenly announce something without any prior information, Deltic, CoT, Precedent. Accepted that these were for someone else, I just mean that they have the ability to surprise. From the announcements last year I would imagine that the next one would be on or around the second Tuesday of Feb, so my guess would be the 9th Feb. I think the last one was November.

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Bachmann do seem to like springing surprises nowadays - like EFE although what was immediately available there was all existing tooling.   Plus they do seem to have moved, where possible, to announcing much nearer to planned availability in the shops (like EFE).  So I don't think we should be unduly surprised if they surprise us every now and then.

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2 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Bachmann do seem to like springing surprises nowadays - like EFE although what was immediately available there was all existing tooling.   Plus they do seem to have moved, where possible, to announcing much nearer to planned availability in the shops (like EFE).  So I don't think we should be unduly surprised if they surprise us every now and then.

 

Maybe so about surprises, but that wont help peoples cash flow and may even work against Bachmann's sales!

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1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

Bachmann do seem to like springing surprises nowadays - like EFE although what was immediately available there was all existing tooling.   Plus they do seem to have moved, where possible, to announcing much nearer to planned availability in the shops (like EFE).  So I don't think we should be unduly surprised if they surprise us every now and then.


I wouldnt go too far linking Bachmann and EFE together. EFE are a part of Bachmann group but seem to be a separate part using the Bachmann distribution network to get models out to more people. 

Bachmann I think are just announcing every three months which means new models will come by surprise, much like the LNWR Precedent class. This I think is very much to avoid the hassle/criticism over announcing new models and then the delay after delay in bringing them to market. Problem is there is naturally now going to be a gulf of time between current models announced and to catch up with and new models which are yet to be announced but delayed because of delays to current timescales and production. 

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3 hours ago, njee20 said:

It's a pain, as I'd like a new Farish 90, and would quite like to know if it's ever likely to happen!


With respect, I don't understand the mindset.

Delaying the announcement of a product until closer to its release date doesn't alter the end result of when you will have said product in your hand.

What it does do, is stop disappointment and speculation as to how long it takes to get on the shelves, and in light of current challenging circumstances, I hardly think that's a bad thing. The mindset, of 'what I don't know about doesn't bother me' really.

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8 minutes ago, Foden said:

Delaying the announcement of a product until closer to its release date doesn't alter the end result of when you will have said product in your hand.

 

What does change is the ability to budget.

 

With the market emphasis on new tooling items - we rarely get overly excited about secondary runs of tooling - people want to be able to set aside money for new tooled items to ensure that they get them from the first run.  A three month window will, for many, not offer much budgeting space compared to say Accurascale (who just announced a new wagon, arriving 3rd Quarter) who allows a bit more budget room.

 

Whether this is a real problem or a online blown-out-of-proportion issue depends on the individuals view - and how much stock Bachmann brings in and the risk of quick sellouts.

 

 

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Just look at poor @The Johnster, tortured with a 94xx that was within his grasp but never quite knowing when it would be.

 

Had he not known he could have played trains in blissful unawareness of the development until just before it was announced and then be delighted a new model was just around the corner.

 

I think I prefer it this way, look at the gestation period for the Scotrail DBSO.

 

I hope that in one of the announcements this year there may be a new 1-co-co-1 in N, it must be on the cards now and I would hope the same goes for the 90 but knowing about it years before it appears makes it no more real than if they announce once tooled - it's only real when it's in your hands on your railway.  If the pandemic can teach us anything, it is to live in the moment, not in the past dwelling on mistakes, or in the future with expectations and wants that may never come to fruition.  Take what you have now and make the best of it, the future may abruptly be taken from under you.

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I don't overly buy into the budgeting argument. In lean years where there is "nothing in it for me", I just put some money aside for those wow years where I want everything.  Yes, from time to time money has been diverted, but in the main, I try to be strict with myself. Also, if I were to budget on the price at announcement, I would be more annoyed at the price increases...

 

Been waiting four years for the new VEA which is getting closer and a similar wait for the 4BEP, which isn't that close yet. Sure has been frustrating.

 

Roy

Edited by Roy Langridge
Fixed typo so no more rice for 'Chard
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25 minutes ago, Roy Langridge said:

 Also, if I were to budget on the rice at announcement

 

 

Oooooohh, you've got my tastebuds moving with that - promised myself a takeaway tonight once I've put a couple of assignments to bed; now what should it be, Chinese or a Ruby???  :P

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8 minutes ago, 'CHARD said:

 

Oooooohh, you've got my tastebuds moving with that - promised myself a takeaway tonight once I've put a couple of assignments to bed; now what should it be, Chinese or a Ruby???  :P

 Ruby Murray every time 

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If anyone wants to speed up posting of the "Bachmann should announce early/How dare Bachmann announce early" arguments, endless pages can be cut'n'pasted from elsewhere in this section of RMweb.

 

I'd suggest that there is no perfect solution that works for everyone and never will be, no matter how angry people get.

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1 hour ago, woodenhead said:

Just look at poor @The Johnster, tortured with a 94xx that was within his grasp but never quite knowing when it would be.

 

Had he not known he could have played trains in blissful unawareness of the development until just before it was announced and then be delighted a new model was just around the corner.

 

Poor The Johnster is well aware that he's not the marketing target, and that any company that made a point of marketing to the likes of 'im would soon go under.  He is a pensioner on a fixed income that cannot be raised, and manages, just (so put the violins away, folks but cannot easily save up a reserve of cash for models that might or might not appear when they say they will, hence his extended battle with the release date of the 94xx.  He is atypical, he contends, of 'average' modellers, who have a tendency to be relatively comfortably off and can afford models at the drop of a hat if they want, even expensisve locos.  The Johnster has to decide what he isn't going to buy as much as what he is.  He is in a minortiy, and tails shouldn't wag dogs,

 

He has his views and expresses them, though.  The 94xx saga, now thankfully in it's end game, has for 4 long years affected his model railway budgeting adversly.  There have been extended periods when money put aside for what was to be a near future release which then got put back was diverted to other more immedieate essentials and had to be built up again.  Uncertainty does not make for sensible budgeting unless you can establish a cash reserve large enough to cope with the price of a new loco, and the price of this new loco has increased several times in the period since it's initial announcement, 2015? or was the announcemnt 2013 and the original release estimated to be 2015?  I came back to modelling in 2016 and expected it early in 2017, Q2 IIRC, the availability date at that time

 

Bachmann is not entirely to blame for the delays, having lost a factory slot to circumstances outside their control, and a comment from the rep on their trade stand at Thornbury in 2018, 'It's not just a box shape, you know' suggested to me that there were unforseen production difficulties with the body tooling, which of course Barwell understandably never revealed and which could have caused some of the further delay.  It is not the only blue box model that has taken a long time to appear after it's initial announcement, and the company has changed it's policy to the 3 month updates, which seems to be working well and gives us more accurate information than previously.  This definitely helps with budgeting, but the 94xx has been put back even within this system, and I adopted a 'believe it when it's in my sweaty little paws' attitude.  To be fair, the 3 month updates have been pretty accurate within the 3 months delineated, but still a bit flaky when the  period is extended to 6 months.

 

My opinion FWIW is that Bachmann adopted the 3 month update to deal with their increasingly poisonous reputation for long lead times and deferments, and in response to Hornby's very rapid apparent production of models announced in it's 2020 January list, which sort of showed them up a bit.  It is of course a bit of a smoke screen and we do not know what new models Baccy may or may not be planning.  They seem to be adopting the Hornby method of not announcing them until they are fairly close to release, which is fine, but inevitably leads to speculation.  But this is commercially sensitive information and none of our business, literally, though we are of course interested!

 

The arrival of the 94xx and the taking of the money from my account (it is pre-ordered) will mark the end of an era in the capital investment policy of the Dimbath Valley Railway Company.  It marks the last item on the shopping list of 'essential' locos, and single purchases will in future be for much lower sums of money.  'New' locos are possible; there are 3 kits that need chassis and a vague intention to kit bash a Collett 1938 31xx large prairie, but the 'essential' list is now complete.  I am aware that prices are increasing and have no beef with this; Chinese people work hard and deserve a decent standard of living, but have conciously bought locos on the list as and when I have been able as soon as I could to avoid paying the higher prices that have been instituted and the further price rises that will certainly be imposed in future.  I've also got in the back of my mind that is is possible that a time is approaching when DC models may not be available as new toolings.

 

All of which rambling is intended as an insight and explanation of the thought processes of a bloke who has a model railway that he can't really afford but has refused to let that hold him back.  It may be of use to anyone reading it from an RTR producer's marketing or sales department.

 

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3 hours ago, mdvle said:

- we rarely get overly excited about secondary runs of tooling -

 

 

Speak for yourself.  I often find the second and third runs of toolings much more to my taste.  Put it this way, I have a celebratory clean, pressed and ready to wear pair of boxers stored ready for when Bachmann announce their second run of the LMS Standard Compound in red, as I will no doubt become incontinent with joy and excitement

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39 minutes ago, wombatofludham said:

I will no doubt become incontinent with joy and excitement

I wasn't sure whether the appropriate vote there was 'like', 'informative', thought-provoking', or just plain 'supportive'. Unfortunately, I can only give one.

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