Clearwater Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Bbc has a video here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35400377 Note they lead on scaletrix David 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) Oxfords photoshop boob what with Product Tit from Andy Y and Photoshop Boob from PaulRhB, I wonder what forum this actually is... Edited January 27, 2016 by Dr Gerbil-Fritters Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mow Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Downton Abbey ended its last series at Christmas 2015, most episodes screened after 9.00 pm. Hornby bring out a junior train set for Christmas 2016 with a Downton Abbey locomotive. It reminds me of that fiasco The Great Gathering at the NRM, with Hornby sponsorship but no model A4s for sale. Might make a good case study for a university on the consequences of poor market research. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 26, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 26, 2016 Let's be fair, they have produced some very good items over the last year but it seems the Olympic spirit lives on on occasion. Obviously the 'marketing dept' has decided it has got to contribute as much to the business's bottom line as the development folk have been doing with model railway items. So they've borrowed some CADS (e.g no development costs for teh Airfix Q6), borrowed the title of a popular tv series (which presumably they didn't really believe would have ended by now) and pulled a things things out of the face painting box. The only worrying thing is taht soem of it might sell like hot cakes while they won't be able to shift other things at the buying-in price plus 5% - but that's modern marketing for you. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ryde-on-time Posted January 26, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 26, 2016 It can't be a shock that Downton finished at Christmas, it was announced it was finishing a year ago http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/downton-abbey-end-year-cast-5061146 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dunsignalling Posted January 26, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 26, 2016 Somehow, I think Hornby have lost the plot, or perhaps I have !! Today I received a HUGE box from Amazon. On opening buried at the bottom under packing was a "Master of the Glens" set, which I ordered last Friday for £67, incl postage and a tenner off for last Fridays one day only promo. (As per Bargains thread on this site) No complaints whatsoever - the P2 is a beaut & runs superb, Three old style Gresleys, two to become engineers mess saloons, one to be grounded & bogies used for a home made diesel brake tender. An oval of track with siding, and a controller & transformer - useful for a test track. All this for £67 post paid, £16 cheaper than one Biomass wagon (and that doesn't include P/P) !! Quite simply - how / why do they do it ? Both Hornby & Amazon must have made losses on this. If they made the above Airfix loco reasonably accurate to a prototype, and to (say) O scale or gauge 1, then many modellers as well as kids would buy one / several. Do they think at Hornby ?. Brit15 It's about clearing out the unsold surplus for what you can get. J. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dunsignalling Posted January 26, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 26, 2016 I do worry about Hornby sometimes, I really do... Only sometimes? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PaulRhB Posted January 26, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 26, 2016 what with Product Tit from Andy Y and Photoshop Boob from PauRhB l, I wonder what forum this actually is...What!! they are nice clean words, the forum software says so Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted January 26, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 26, 2016 what with Product Tit from Andy Y and Photoshop Boob from PauRhB l, I wonder what forum this actually is... Essentially male. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewartingram Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 It's good to see the forum is still on top form.........the everlasting "Hornby Bashing" thread has resurfaced! Stewart Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold stovepipe Posted January 26, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 26, 2016 Haven't we been here before with not often lamented Hornby Treasure Chest. http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA2NlgxNjAw/z/lzEAAOSwqu9VNMyW/$_3.JPG 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold papagolfjuliet Posted January 26, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 26, 2016 Haven't we been here before with not often lamented Hornby Treasure Chest. http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA2NlgxNjAw/z/lzEAAOSwqu9VNMyW/$_3.JPG The treasure chests were not unlike the current 'bundles': a loco and matching (more or less) coaches or wagons parcelled up as a way of shifting excess stock. I really don't understand at whom the Downton set is aimed. It looks like the sort of rubbish that gets sold to American tourists in London and Edinburgh - toy black cabs, fluffy haggises, that sort of thing - except that it's got a British plug on it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold teaky Posted January 26, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 26, 2016 There's also a sort of Q6 coming up in the Airfix range (maybe with an elongated Collett boiler?). Scale? Don't know I'm afraid but Phil said it's a big box. Airfix_Loco s.jpg The dimensions of the model appear to be on the side of the box but I cannot make them out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PhilH Posted January 26, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 26, 2016 I know I've only just woken up after a little pensioner nap but did I snooze through the rest of Jan, Feb and March? Is it April 1st already? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Bbc has a video here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35400377 Note they lead on scaletrix David Only because Scalextric have finally embraced a degree of computer control. Hornby trains have had eLink/Railmaster with PC/Tablet/Smartphone control for a while now, so its not news. At least the trainset side of Hornby got a lookin with the opening shot of Flying Scotsman lugging some teak coaches around.. And its just clicked what the Product Tit business was about.... Doh! You do know its just a generic boxtop with space for a Product Title... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black 5 Bear Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 It's good to see the forum is still on top form.........the everlasting "Hornby Bashing" thread has resurfaced! Stewart I like many others on this site like the Hornby product, however it is not "Hornby bashing" to enquire exactly who this set is aimed at. The serious modeller wouldn't touch these with a barge pole and I can't envisage too many children being interested in a Downtown Abbey set, considering that programme is shown after 9pm. Maybe Hornby need to concentrate on what they do best, producing highly detailed models..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Phil Parker Posted January 26, 2016 Administrators Share Posted January 26, 2016 The dimensions of the model appear to be on the side of the box but I cannot make them out. I didn't get a shot of the box end - we were more interested in trying to pin someone down for an interview at the time. However, streatching the photo I do have: We were told the model is about the workings NOT the outside so I wouldn't get too excited about prototype perfection. Mind you, the box was empty so we will have to wait until October to judge the results. There are other items in the range: and the jet engine. I've built this and filmed the results for YouTube. The comments will give you an idea how easy it is to make and also that the thing runs backwards! (Not my fault, that's how it's designed) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSpencer Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) No one has understood Downtown Abbay. With the series finished, there will nothing to watch this Christmas. Fortunately Hornby saves the day with this lovely set. I can just see the fans rushing out to buy them to overcome thier Christmas boredom. A very cunning but subtle marketing plan by Baldric. The Junior set is just the thing to stop children from upgrading to a proper train set I feel. Just the things to interfere with financial stats this year that Hornby need right now. Edited January 26, 2016 by JSpencer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgeconna Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 I like a lot of Hornby stuff by Downton thing is awful. The combustion engine is from the Airfix range are they not? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ruggedpeak Posted January 26, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 26, 2016 Hate to have a downer but Haynes already do the engine thing Not very exciting once you've built it, we had one. Curious about the steam loco engine(!), but I have to say purely mechanical things are of no interest to my kids. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Phil Parker Posted January 26, 2016 Administrators Share Posted January 26, 2016 Revelling started it in the 1980s with their fantastic 'Visible V8' kit. Always wanted to build one of those. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dunsignalling Posted January 26, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) I fervently hope I am wrong, but most of the items under discussion in this thread show familiar signs of Hornby taking their eye off the ball yet again. John Edited January 26, 2016 by Dunsignalling Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapford34102 Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Have to agree with Black 5 Bear, don't think this is a "bashing" thread rather but rather an epidemic of bemusement with people struggling to find a logical explanation for what at first sight appears to be a somewhat illogical product. Perhaps they'll be an exclusive for Highclere Castle but hopefully someone will be able to put our minds at rest that Hornby, as John points out above, haven't gone off into the undergrowth yet again. Stu Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) ... don't think this is a "bashing" thread rather but rather an epidemic of bemusement with people struggling to find a logical explanation for what at first sight appears to be a somewhat illogical product. Indeed. But we should remember that this is a toy fair and Hornby is a toy company. It is not unreasonable for them to introduce toys at a Toy Fair. Some of us might wonder whether they have the funding and the flexibility to experiment with so many ideas at the same time and whether this might be a financial or operational distraction from their core business that we are enthusiastic about. Many people here will remember Hornby's previous dalliances with toys (as distinct from model railways) in the 1980s. In one of his blogs, Mr. Kohler reminisces about Hornby toys including "‘Flower Fairies’, ‘Military Muscle Men’, ‘Pound Puppies’, ‘Boo Boos’, ‘Casey’, ‘Clever Cook’" and Toy Fairs. It's not like this is a new thing. One might observe that past performance is the best indicator of future performance in relation to experiments like this, but that doesn't mean we are bashing them. Having a little fun at their expense, perhaps. Edited January 26, 2016 by Ozexpatriate Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianusa Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Pity they called the series Downton Abbey, if it had been Downton Manor, Downton Hall or Downton Grange....... There's enough Abbeys on the GWR to slip in another. Nobody' ll notice! Brian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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