Why do Hornby make such odd choices?

[No Decorum]

16 minutes ago, papagolfjuliet said:

 

That was an Arthur, not a Nelson. The most recent Nelson is Bachmann's 1990s split chassis offering.

R3635 30863 Lord Rodney and others.

[adb968008]

Of that lot i’m not sure what we’ll see from Hornby.

 

if anything i’m expecting a toned down class 50 and a greater emphasis on railroad toolings.

i’m not holding out for much from Hornby now in 00, maybe theres a few hidden releases still to announce but its nearly 2 years now since the last high impact catalog, nearly a year since the management change and its all very quiet.

 

Whilst the focus looks like its on TT, I also note a change of approach.. restocking..

 

Quote

Our two most popular Hornby TT:120 train sets are back! Every time we restock these sets, they sell out at record speed. So, if you’ve been planning on buying these for a while, get in there quickly!

in the past weve seen Hornby rush out a duplicate when the first has sold out, ie the K2’s and 71’s and got their fingers burnt with loads of different numbers..

Restocking isnt new either, but noteworthy that a year in they are maintaining TT as a constant rather than going for variety in TT.. not many will buy two of the same trainset, so this  would appear to be aimed at new customers and market growth, rather than widening existing customers (or is it an opportunity missed and simple supermarket economics being applied ?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by adb968008

[papagolfjuliet]

18 minutes ago, No Decorum said:

R3635 30863 Lord Rodney and others.

 

Good grief. I'd completely forgotten about that one.

[No Decorum]

Just now, papagolfjuliet said:

 

Good grief. I'd completely forgotten about that one.

I try to. I’d have posted a photograph but I never happened to be in my roof space with a camera and sick bag at the same time. 🤣

[The Black Hat]

12 hours ago, Coldgunner said:

Is there any common loco's not yet available via Hornby or any other RTR manufacturer? Are we at a point where most of the big stuff has been produced at some point and now we're getting the oddities?

 

Quite a few I would think:

 

Just from my area of interest - your missing J21, J25, B16 (all variants), Q7, A8, BR Standard 3... 

Thats just steam too. But as steam now is being redone with DCC sound option and some lights as standard to design older options not done for ages are due a retool not due to the body but due to electrics. That brings things like the A4, 8F back into scope front and centre, so much so that I am worries that something like the J21 with its gorgeous profile would miss out following the success of the Southern C-class that was done. 
 

Then you can add in others that fit between the options and a lot of choices become available - HST, Voyagers and Meridians, Turbostar, class 110 DMU, 141 thats never been done... 

The issue is that oddities and novelties sell and help someone add to collections. The extra engine for the added interest of this was also seen here or could visit. But in all this a lot of oddities are aimed at Southern region and it wont be long before we are back to a pre-covid level of some choices being discounted and on bargain levels as people get some but not others, as the market I think here is saturated. Something like a J21 or B16 will be a sure winner if an Adams radial can be a viable option - hence I've lobbied for a while on this point and no doubt some detractors on this will return. 

So - yes there are plenty that could be done - some definite mainstream options that could be repeat cashflow winners but all this does in terms of Hornby is show the deft hand of a management that has not kept up with choices in the market and churns out things that have been a strategy for far too long. With changes apparently happening there maybe future choices might not be so strange afterall... 

[The Stationmaster]

4 hours ago, papagolfjuliet said:

 

The Parallel Scot is an obvious one, and it is odd that Bachmann never replaced the old Mainline model. The absence of a Lord Nelson and a Saint and a D49 to modern standards are also glaring omissions.

 

Things may have changed under the new regime but given Hornby's fondness for producing models of small and singleton classes of charismatic express passenger engines I'd lay a shade of odds on that company producing 'The Great Bear' or the Raven pacifics or the Thompson 'Great Northern' before any of the aforementioned low hanging fruit. They are after all pretty well the only locos of that size as yet unmodelled.

Had there not been a changing of the guard at Hornby the Raven pacific (two boiler options) and 'The Great Bear' were the only pacifics left for Hornby to do.  So in view of 'their' love of the wheel arrangement those two struck me as potential candidates although there was something of a 'GWR sell' attitude on the part of someone at the company   (which seemed a bit odd considering the various GWR classes they had done!).

[Fat Controller]

11 hours ago, Halvarras said:

 

"A LITTLE" ?!?!?! 😲😜

i was trying to be kind....

[PeterStiles]

1 hour ago, papagolfjuliet said:

recent Nelson

Hornby have done a number of different liveried Nelsons, and I believe their tooling is the more recent.. let's see... the drawing on the back of the box  says 2017

[Dick Turpin]

45 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Had there not been a changing of the guard at Hornby the Raven pacific (two boiler options) and 'The Great Bear' were the only pacifics left for Hornby to do.  So in view of 'their' love of the wheel arrangement those two struck me as potential candidates although there was something of a 'GWR sell' attitude on the part of someone at the company   (which seemed a bit odd considering the various GWR classes they had done!).

I am really surprised they haven't done the Great Bear already. That and the Raven pacifics would make great additions to any collector's glazed cabinet. Let's see now, what else seems to be missing?  A real beast like the U1 Garrett perhaps, a P1 maybe, there really doesn't seem that many options other than the more exotically liveried pre grouping types. We'll find out sooner or later.

Edited October 26, 2023 by Dick Turpin

[papagolfjuliet]

6 hours ago, Dick Turpin said:

I am really surprised they haven't done the Great Bear already. That and the Raven pacifics would make great additions to any collector's glazed cabinet. Let's see now, what else seems to be missing?  A real beast like the U1 Garrett perhaps, a P1 maybe, there really doesn't seem that many options other than the more exotically liveried pre grouping types. We'll find out sooner or later.

 

There's always 'Fury' I suppose.

[ColinB]

I don't know if the current management would sanction it but I am pretty sure Simon would have done. The issue Hornby have is most people have a Flying Scotsman, a Mallard and all the other locos they have made for years, so they need to find obscure ones so they can sell them generally at premium prices. Just lately it has been P2, Turbomotive, W1, most people don't have these so there is a ready market out there. 

[No Decorum]

5 hours ago, papagolfjuliet said:

 

There's always 'Fury' I suppose.

I suppose. Hornby seems to like lots of shiny pipework these days. 😊

[BachelorBoy]

Armstrong-Whitworth 1-Co-1 Diesel-Electric loco for the LNER from 1933.

 

The first mainline diesel-electric loco to be built in the UK.