Bachmann Europe - Winter 2023 Announcements

[MarkSG]

Someone appears to have misspelled the name of the designer of the "Booster" on their website 🙂

 

 

https://www.Bachmann.co.uk/product/category/887/sr-bullied-booster-cc1-sr-green/e82002

 

[Graham_Muz]

16 minutes ago, brushman47544 said:

Please let this be the end of the 37s and 40s for a decade or so…. I now have more than enough and can’t afford any more.

 

The refurbished 4-CEPs look very good but I do wonder how well they will sell with three liveries released at once. I presume it helps reduce overall production costs, which is no bad thing, but how many people will be able to afford to buy more than one at a time?

 

The big omission for me is coaching stock - again. Yes the LNER van is useful as, like most, strayed well away from the ER but what about standard Mk1s that are pretty much unavailable new and have been for some time. And the Bulleid coaches - we’ve had a 2-set in BR(S) green but what about the far more common 3-sets or coaches that can be used as loose vehicles?

 

Never mind…

 

3 minutes ago, aureol40012 said:

I know this is a ludicrous question to ask, but I’m struggling to see another reason as to the situation…….

 

Probably the most inflated cost in the Bachmann second hand market is blue and grey MK2F TSOs.  £120+ per coach is not uncommon for sold items on eBay, yet there has not been a rerun of these since the first production run which is years ago now. Surely there aren’t licensing issues or anything like that? I can’t see why Bachmann wouldn’t do another run of their most popular coach!

 

As often repeated, these are quarterly announcements and not everything can meet everyone's I want now,  or be produced and announced at once...

[TomScrut]

49 minutes ago, Peter749 said:

Some people may wish to run their locos nose first - just because it is not common does not mean it does not happen

 

1 hour ago, MikeParkin65 said:

Ironic that  Hornby are doing it with the Turbomotive and the Black 5 where we dont want fixed lamps whereas that isnt an issue for the DRS Class 20.

 

My understanding is this...

 

It's only the markers that don't work at that end. The rest of the lights are there.

 

The first ones had headlights and tail lights all round, but non functional markers. Bachmann have added functional markers to the flat end, but as Andy says, this was discussed to death at the time as to how and why it wasn't practical for them to have the markers functional. The only reason I am adding to this conversation is that I think it looks like the situation is being misconstrued to mean no working lights on the nose end at all.

[romley midland]

10 minutes ago, MarkSG said:

Someone appears to have misspelled the name of the designer of the "Booster" on their website 🙂

 

 

https://www.Bachmann.co.uk/product/category/887/sr-bullied-booster-cc1-sr-green/e82002

 

Perhaps the person at Bachmann was Bulleid into it..... I'll get my coat!

[Phatbob]

10 minutes ago, MarkSG said:

Someone appears to have misspelled the name of the designer of the "Booster" on their website 🙂

 

 

https://www.Bachmann.co.uk/product/category/887/sr-bullied-booster-cc1-sr-green/e82002

 

"I before E, except after C, and your weird beige foreign neighbour, Keith Bulleid". 😉

 

[AY Mod]

2 minutes ago, romley midland said:

Perhaps the person at Bachmann was Bulleid into it..... I'll get my coat!

 

Blame Ralph Gorin.

[BMacdermott]

Hello everyone

 

Well done to Bachmann and EFE on these announcements. Plenty there!

 

In relation to The 00 Wishlist Poll, this is how the new tooling items fared:

 

Class 70 - Top 50 

The loco has long been very High Polling and went into The Top 50 for 2022 (although it just got in previously in 2018 as well)

 

Thompson BG - Middle Polling

This one has consistently been somewhere between High and Middle.

 

DBC HRA - Low Polling 

This is no particular surprise as air braked freight stock has traditionally been in the lower echelons, and they still seem to sell lots!

 

We listed the Class 411 4 CEP Refurbished combined with the 3 CEP; the latter was announced in August so we can now delete the former as well.

 

Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

[ThaneofFife]

59 minutes ago, Graham_Muz said:

 

 

As often repeated, these are quarterly announcements and not everything can meet everyone's I want now,  or be produced and announced at once...

so is there no such thing as a "staple" model anymore these days?  I was poised with credit card to buy at least 5 of these but no cigar again.  love the Jaffa cake EMU but the price looks eye watering at RRP.

[brushman47544]

1 hour ago, Graham_Muz said:

 

As often repeated, these are quarterly announcements and not everything can meet everyone's I want now,  or be produced and announced at once...

Yes Graham you are quite right and I fully appreciate that. But at the same time, by choosing to go with quarterly announcements Bachmann does need to bear in mind that by limiting the number of new models it can announce and produce each quarter, that’s four times the number of potential disappointments a year compared to a single annual announcement. Indeed with an annual announcement you have more chance of people being pleased about something. Bachmann could mitigate this by ensuring that a wide selection of eras and models are covered over a series of quarterly announcements but in the last few we have seen a plethora of Class 37s and 40s and a complete absence of 1960-80s liveried new coaches, most notably Mk1s but also Bulleids and Mk2s. Retailers I have asked have none and would love to have some to sell.

 

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by brushman47544

[keysan]

1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

North West as well. Often on engineering trains after they had taken over from the Rats as the "small" diesel locomotive. Usually one borrowed from Tinsley or Toton.

 

Hardly ever saw them working in pairs.

 

 

Jason

I cant decide whether you where lucky to see a single class 20 heading a train or unlucky not to see them in pairs! how did that happen?  

[Paul.Uni]

Release dates from the Bachmann website:

• Nov/Dec: GWR 94XX, Class 37, Class 40, 4CEP
• Dec/Jan: Class 20/0 (BR Blue & Railfreight Grey)
• Jan/Feb: Class 20/0 (BR Green), Class 20/3, 14T Tank Wagons, MFA, TEA, Ashover Coaches
• Feb/Mar: LNER Thompson full brake, HRA

[GordonC]

10 minutes ago, brushman47544 said:

Yes Graham you are quite right and I fully appreciate that. But at the same time, by choosing to go with quarterly announcements Bachmann does need to bear in mind that by limiting the number of new models it can announce and produce each quarter, that’s four times the number of potential disappointments a year compared to a single annual announcement. Indeed with an annual announcement you have more chance of people being pleased about something. Bachmann could mitigate this by ensuring that a wide selection of eras and models are covered over a series of quarterly announcements but in the last few we have seen a proliferation of Class 37s and 40s and a complete absence of 1960-80s liveried new coaches, most notably Mk1s but also Bulleids and Mk2s. Retailers I have asked have none and would love to have some to sell.

 

 

 

I wonder how well the Mk1s and Mk2s will sell these days with the prices they've reached compared to the basic nature of the tooling. When they've produced pairs of coaches in BR Blue and Grey with weathering & passengers they've hung around on shops shelves until being greatly reduced. You would think those are the kinds of coaches that there would be fairly steady demand for, but perhaps the majority of modellers have bought what they need

[MarkSG]

36 minutes ago, BMacdermott said:

DBC HRA - Low Polling 

This is no particular surprise as air braked freight stock has traditionally been in the lower echelons, and they still seem to sell lots!

 

They probably poll low because consumers assume (rightly, it seems) that the manufacturers will keep churning them out anyway, so there's no particular reason to wishlist them. 

[Steamport Southport]

12 minutes ago, keysan said:

I cant decide whether you where lucky to see a single class 20 heading a train or unlucky not to see them in pairs! how did that happen?  

 

Class 20s were rare as hens teeth around here. It was mostly Class 24s and 25s. But by the 1980s they were on the way out. Heavier trains were always 40 or 47 hauled, sometimes a Peak.

 

I think they occasionally worked the Fiddlers Ferry MGR trains in pairs, but not much else.

 

 

Jason

[Legend]

2 hours ago, Paul.Uni said:

Bachmann have been very clear since the EFE Rail brand was introduced over 3 years ago that EFE Rail items are made in non-Kader factories, mainly from non-Bachmann owned toolings (IIRC the only Bachmann owned toolings have been the 1938 & 1959 tube stock trains).

 

Which was my point . It looks less expensive than using Kader

[Graham_Muz]

3 minutes ago, Legend said:

 

Which was my point . It looks less expensive than using Kader

 

It is not the factory itself that is the primary cost factor but many other variables such as for example the size and complexity and therefore costs of a tooling suite.

[Legend]

5 minutes ago, Graham_Muz said:

 

It is not the factory itself that is the primary cost factor but many other variables such as for example the size and complexity and therefore costs of a tooling suite.

 Yes I suppose the 37 tooling suite is quite large , but it looks like you are covering a fair few variations on the Booster too and there were only 2 or 3 of them and very niche, whereas the 37 is a model that will continue to give !

Edited November 1, 2023 by Legend

[KeithHC]

1 hour ago, Phatbob said:

"I before E, except after C, and your weird beige foreign neighbour, Keith Bulleid". 😉

 

You got there before me……….. Use to love correcting English teachers.

 

Keith

[Steamport Southport]

20 minutes ago, KeithHC said:

You got there before me……….. Use to love correcting English teachers.

 

Keith

 

None are English words though....

 

 

Monsieur Cul De Sac

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

1 hour ago, brushman47544 said:

...we have seen a plethora of Class 37s and 40s and a complete absence of 1960-80s liveried new coaches, most notably Mk1s but also Bulleids and Mk2s. Retailers I have asked have none and would love to have some to sell.

Production slot availability from Kader is tight. What to do, use them for coaches and collect whines about pricing; or produce all singing and dancing locos which have smaller price resistance and yield more profit per piece? 

 

If we could persuade all participants not to buy any more RTR OO diesels for a decade, we'd either get collapse of the UK's £20M model railway business; or a much more interesting and useful product selection. It's in our own hands, and I feel it's a risk worth taking. As ever, YMMV, OOAA, FFTPAA.

[D9020 Nimbus]

There was one other surprise as well as the class 70 — the introductory countdown sequence was different this time, counting down mostly in tens; the previous sequence had been used on all the previous announcements.

[NIK]

I wonder what Bachmann's Kinesis (name trailed in the video) will be?.

 

Based on the name - something to do with movement - DCC/Bluetooth decoders and Bluetooth cab handset controller with haptic feedback of train speed/braking/wheelslip?.

 

Regards

 

Nik

[brushman47544]

2 hours ago, GordonC said:

 

I wonder how well the Mk1s and Mk2s will sell these days with the prices they've reached compared to the basic nature of the tooling. When they've produced pairs of coaches in BR Blue and Grey with weathering & passengers they've hung around on shops shelves until being greatly reduced. You would think those are the kinds of coaches that there would be fairly steady demand for, but perhaps the majority of modellers have bought what they need

I’m not sure that the packs are a good indicator, as opposed to individual coaches, and weren’t they Scotrail and Network SouthEast branded may have limited their appeal?

 

We are always saying how important it is that newcomers take up the hobby, and existing modellers do change interests and scales, so it is important in my view that manufacturers offer the whole package. How would new entrants feel if they could buy locos but nothing prototypical for them to haul. Shouldn’t a wide range of coaches and wagons be available at all times, or at least replaced once existing production runs sell out?

[andyman7]

4 hours ago, brushman47544 said:

 The refurbished 4-CEPs look very good but I do wonder how well they will sell with three liveries released at once. I presume it helps reduce overall production costs, which is no bad thing, but how many people will be able to afford to buy more than one at a time?

 

 

2 hours ago, ThaneofFife said:

so is there no such thing as a "staple" model anymore these days?  I was poised with credit card to buy at least 5 of these but no cigar again.  love the Jaffa cake EMU but the price looks eye watering at RRP.

I think these two posts to an extent answer each other. When a tooling suite is in use and production is set up, it makes sense to 'flight' sequences of liveries for a particular model - we've seen it with Class 90s, 47s, 37s and now the CEP. However, Bachmann has to carry some inventory for retailers to maintain beyond the initial release date and by doing this the likelihood is that stock will be available of many (if not all) of the liveries for months or even a couple of years - in other words, it becomes a 'staple' of the ranger for a period of time, distinctly different to (for example) the Accurascale blink-or-you'll-miss-it approach which doesn't always work for more casual purchasers.
I think the CEPs are great but I can't justify shelling out £1500 for all three in the next month, But if they area available for a period of time - and I would imagine that this will be the case - then I may find that I buy one, then in a few months another; and then maybe if there is a 'sale' - another one.

[davidw]

7 hours ago, 31A said:

Nice to see the Thompson Full Brake announced; I thought it was strange that they omitted it from the original range of re-tooled models.  I can throw my old one away now!

Absolutely. Pity no RF, or open restaurant vehicles.