Bachmann Europe - Spring 2024 Announcements

[robertcwp]

20 minutes ago, Peter Kazmierczak said:

Shouldn't the blue 46 have its bodyside footsteps plated over?

 

Yes.

46045. [SC-1037] by Jamerail, on Flickr

Also, being one of the higher-numbered ones, it should have a different train heating boiler with consequential differences in the roof detail, which Bachmann's now rather dated tooling does not cover. 

 

However, in preservation, it has regained the steps and a headcode:

46045 by mrrushman, on Flickr

Edited February 7 by robertcwp
Add a bit.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

I see they're doing D49 in green...

 

[Pmorgancym]

2 hours ago, AY Mod said:

I reckon Bachmann should go back to an annual announcement so you'd be four times as likely to find something that suits but, failing that, I would only have to read moans once a year rather than four times.

Surely then quartering the traffic to the site and making it less appealing to advertisers?

[Nova Scotian]

For an extra 10 quid a coach I want the fitted passengers to stand up 2 minutes before arriving at the station, stand in the vestibule, then exit the coach at the station, to be replaced by waiting passengers on the platform. Otherwise there's nothing in this for me.

[AY Mod]

18 minutes ago, Pmorgancym said:

Surely then quartering the traffic to the site and making it less appealing to advertisers?

 

Four quarters is the same as one whole; I like to think I'm aware of aware of our traffic levels and trends. Normally I can predict* our peaks and troughs through the course of the year based on events, the weather and which way the wind is blowing.

 

*Apart from pandemic surges and Armageddon week last month.

[markw]

2 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

Normal people would just look through the windows; or do you think they've included fare-dodgers in the lav?

Or read the announcement 

 

For the first time, all of the new Branchline Mk1 Coaches will be available with the option of pre-fitted passengers, these include 12 Scenecraft figures pre-fitted to each vehicle.

[stovepipe]

1 hour ago, robertcwp said:

Images show D138 modelled with single centre headcode, indicating refurbished condition (the early 46s were built with split centre boxes) so it should have the trapezoidal grille but this is omitted.

 

Yes I noticed that too - a better choice would have been from D174 onwards.

 

I do like the economy green Peak, D25, and it looks like it was in this condition between May '66 and Feb '69.

[RichardT]

1 hour ago, Pmorgancym said:

Surely then quartering the traffic to the site and making it less appealing to advertisers?

I suspect the remark wasn’t meant to be taken entirely seriously…

 

Richard

[Suzy Sulzer]

19 hours ago, MonsalDale said:

Pity there's no 00 steam again.  Always loved the Bachmann steam range.

 

They have a lot of good models already tooled that I would love to see a rerelease of.

 

I don't remember any rereleases of the 4Fs, Stanier Moguls or 1Ps

Good point ! The weathering by bachman is brilliant. Lets hope there are more during year on your mentioned models. After all there are 3 more quarterly announcements to go in the year. 

Edited February 8 by Suzy Sulzer
added too

[G-BOAF]

Nice to see the Mk1s back, but shame the release is so limited (TSO and BSK only, basically mirroring the long-announced WCRC run). Will be interesting to see if the pickup-fitted bogies are released as spares as that would be useful for a few projects I have in mind.

 

I really don't understand the price of these coaches. The core tooling costs are long paid off. When released in 1999 these were around £21 I believe (give or take). With inflation, this should be around £38.50 today. Instead the RRP is 59.99, reprasenting a 'Bachflation' of 55% above real inflation accounted price. If we allow for a 15% retailer discount, that still gives a 32% 'Bachflation'.

Now I'm normally critical of those whinging on about price rises (e.g. S** T***** on Youtube) as they seldom account for real Bank of England Inflation in their assessment. However my calculations do account for this. Yes there are increased costs in China and some raw materials, but a good chunk of that that will already be factored in to the assessment of Bank of England inflation (allowing for the fact that total UK inflation is a mix of internal and external factors, while Bachmann's costs are primarily external). I would expect to see some skew above real inflation, but by 55%????!!!!!

 

I do feel that the model is not worth the RRP. Especially when Hornby and others are producing coaches with separately fitted door handles, roof vents etc for a similar price. Not that the Bachmann Mk1 would be significantly lifted if these features were present; while moulded they really do look the part assuming the factory have got the lining around them properly printed.

[Southernman46]

Anyone remember the days when we didn't get up-to-the-minute info and had to rely on an annual catalogue / RM or MRC and keeping a eye on said press and your local model emporium for new arrivals ............................... 🙄

 

Mmmm - jumpers for goalposts  😁

Edited February 8 by Southernman46
non existent proof reading

[farren]

27 minutes ago, G-BOAF said:

Nice to see the Mk1s back, but shame the release is so limited (TSO and BSK only, basically mirroring the long-announced WCRC run). Will be interesting to see if the pickup-fitted bogies are released as spares as that would be useful for a few projects I have in mind.

 

I really don't understand the price of these coaches. The core tooling costs are long paid off. When released in 1999 these were around £21 I believe (give or take). With inflation, this should be around £38.50 today. Instead the RRP is 59.99, reprasenting a 'Bachflation' of 55% above real inflation accounted price. If we allow for a 15% retailer discount, that still gives a 32% 'Bachflation'.

Now I'm normally critical of those whinging on about price rises (e.g. S** T***** on Youtube) as they seldom account for real Bank of England Inflation in their assessment. However my calculations do account for this. Yes there are increased costs in China and some raw materials, but a good chunk of that that will already be factored in to the assessment of Bank of England inflation (allowing for the fact that total UK inflation is a mix of internal and external factors, while Bachmann's costs are primarily external). I would expect to see some skew above real inflation, but by 55%????!!!!!

 

I do feel that the model is not worth the RRP. Especially when Hornby and others are producing coaches with separately fitted door handles, roof vents etc for a similar price. Not that the Bachmann Mk1 would be significantly lifted if these features were present; while moulded they really do look the part assuming the factory have got the lining around them properly printed.

Well you picked the prices of the models before Bachmann was taken over. After this it was found that many of the models were being produced at a loss! There was a period where the prices doubled over just a few years. The the early 2000s I believe. It is documented on this site somewhere. The moaning was about the prices people saying it was the end of the hobby the apocalypse had started women and children screaming in the street men crying on the steps, unable to afford the basics on the hobby. Andy York fed up with telling people to shut up. It was awful, man My eyes welled up and everything it was terrible man, you don’t know you weren’t there!

 

So you really need to add say £20 to your starting price. Oh, and Batman coaches are simply better.

 

has for the tooling costs well if you keep the tooling cost in with the price it rises money for a replacement tooling when it wears out, plus extra tooling for new models in the future with out hitting the pure profits made so hard. 

Edited February 8 by farren

[G-BOAF]

5 minutes ago, farren said:

Well you picked the prices of the models before Bachmann was taken over. After this it was found that many of the models were being produced at a loss! There was a period where the prices doubled over just a few years. The the early 2000s I believe. It is documented on this site somewhere. The moaning was about the prices people saying it was the end of the hobby the apocalypse had started women and children screaming in the street men crying on the steps, unable to afford the basics on the hobby. Andy York fed up with telling people to shut up. It was awful, man My eyes welled up and everything it was terrible man, you don’t know you weren’t there!

 

So you really need to add say £20 to your starting price. Oh, and Batman coaches are simply better.

When was Bachmann taken over. In 1999 Bachmann Europe was a subsidiary of Kader (and always has been since its inception in the 1980s)

[robertcwp]

8 hours ago, stovepipe said:

 

Yes I noticed that too - a better choice would have been from D174 onwards.

 

I do like the economy green Peak, D25, and it looks like it was in this condition between May '66 and Feb '69.

The issue with D174 onwards (and some below that number) is the different train heating boiler with consequential differences in the roof detail. A better choice still would have been to include the trapezoidal grille, which they have the tooling for as I have a 46 that I renumbered as D138 which has the grille. I think it came as D188.

[robertcwp]

10 minutes ago, farren said:

Well you picked the prices of the models before Bachmann was taken over.

No takeover, it was set up by Kader around 1990 and has been in their ownership ever since. Checking on Companies House, their first set of accounts in 1990 states that Kader is the ultimate parent. It's been that way ever since.

[Butler Henderson]

9 hours ago, Nova Scotian said:

For an extra 10 quid a coach I want the fitted passengers to stand up 2 minutes before arriving at the station, stand in the vestibule, then exit the coach at the station, to be replaced by waiting passengers on the platform. Otherwise there's nothing in this for me.

You are getting £17 worth of passengers fitted. However are they being varied in their painting as a rake of coaches with the exact same passengers in each could look a bit weird.

Edited February 8 by Butler Henderson

[AY Mod]

18 minutes ago, G-BOAF said:

Well you picked the prices of the models before Bachmann was taken over.

 

They weren't taken over but the apocalypse to which you refer was around 11/12 years ago now when the Chinese government mandated businesses to increase their labour rates (akin to minimum wage in the RoW) which involved a reassessment within Kader of the labour apportioned to each division and products as, evidentially, Bachmann Europe as a subsidiary weren't being charged for all of the elements involved in the cost make-up leading to what was perceived as significant increases. As an example, some products from before that time such as the autoballasters then became unviable to accurately price given the retail distribution model.

[GreenGiraffe22]

It's a shame they don't seem to want to take the H1 & H2 any further after all the time and effort to get the inital releases out 

[Daddyman]

Can anyone clarify the use of the word "new" in this announcement? It (the word) seems to be doing a lot of work, being used for both all-new tools and for things that seem to be reissues of old models. Is the key to Bachmann's use of the term that "brand-new" (as used for the Class 31) means "newly tooled" whereas simply "new" actually means "old model"? 

Basically, are the Mk1s being retooled? They're described as "new" but from the photos it doesn't look like it, with the window frames still missing, and the gashes where the ends meet the sides still seemingly visible in the small shots on the video. There just seem to have been some bogie tweaks and the end steps removed. "New" seems to mean "old" (and also "tired") where these carriages are concerned

 

Apologies if this has been mentioned above - I haven't read all 7 pages. 

[farren]

35 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 

They weren't taken over but the apocalypse to which you refer was around 11/12 years ago now when the Chinese government mandated businesses to increase their labour rates (akin to minimum wage in the RoW) which involved a reassessment within Kader of the labour apportioned to each division and products as, evidentially, Bachmann Europe as a subsidiary weren't being charged for all of the elements involved in the cost make-up leading to what was perceived as significant increases. As an example, some products from before that time such as the autoballasters then became unviable to accurately price given the retail distribution model.

Cheers sorry I slept since then, only 11/ 12 years ago. Seems longer.

[walrus]

1 hour ago, Southernman46 said:

Anyone remember the days when we didn't get up-to-the-minute info and had to rely on an annual catalogue / RM or MRC and keep a eye on said press and your local model emporium for new arrivals ............................... 🙄

 

Mmmm - jumpers for goalposts  😁

Terrible days. You had to build stuff if Triang didn’t make it.

 

[Butler Henderson]

18 minutes ago, Daddyman said:

Can anyone clarify the use of the word "new" in this announcement? It (the word) seems to be doing a lot of work, being used for both all-new tools and for things that seem to be reissues of old models. Is the key to Bachmann's use of the term that "brand-new" (as used for the Class 31) means "newly tooled" whereas simply "new" actually means "old model"? 

Basically, are the Mk1s being retooled? They're described as "new" but from the photos it doesn't look like it, with the window frames still missing, and the gashes where the ends meet the sides still seemingly visible in the small shots on the video. There just seem to have been some bogie tweaks and the end steps removed. "New" seems to mean "old" (and also "tired") where these carriages are concerned

New is commonly used for any new release be it from a new or existing toolng, The Mk1s have new bogies and end steps removed for as further tweaks to the existing tooling which previously had the heavy roof ridges removed.

[Butler Henderson]

3 hours ago, G-BOAF said:

Nice to see the Mk1s back, but shame the release is so limited (TSO and BSK only, basically mirroring the long-announced WCRC run). Will be interesting to see if the pickup-fitted bogies are released as spares as that would be useful for a few projects I have in mind.

 

I really don't understand the price of these coaches. The core tooling costs are long paid off. When released in 1999 these were around £21 I believe (give or take). With inflation, this should be around £38.50 today. Instead the RRP is 59.99, reprasenting a 'Bachflation' of 55% above real inflation accounted price. If we allow for a 15% retailer discount, that still gives a 32% 'Bachflation'.

Now I'm normally critical of those whinging on about price rises (e.g. S** T***** on Youtube) as they seldom account for real Bank of England Inflation in their assessment. However my calculations do account for this. Yes there are increased costs in China and some raw materials, but a good chunk of that that will already be factored in to the assessment of Bank of England inflation (allowing for the fact that total UK inflation is a mix of internal and external factors, while Bachmann's costs are primarily external). I would expect to see some skew above real inflation, but by 55%????!!!!!

 

I do feel that the model is not worth the RRP. Especially when Hornby and others are producing coaches with separately fitted door handles, roof vents etc for a similar price. Not that the Bachmann Mk1 would be significantly lifted if these features were present; while moulded they really do look the part assuming the factory have got the lining around them properly printed.

As Andys posting point to the Mk1s were released at a time labour costs where neglibile, and costs of Chinese produced products have rocketed in the meantime. Between 2010-2021 there was a 37.9% increase  labour costs. Kader embarked on costing each assembly point of a models production and it was found for example the original, now highly expensive on the second hand market, release of the C 0-6-0 in fully lined SECR livery (31-460 no. 592) had been made at a lost. Some models designed when labour costs were largely irrelevant have fiddly construction and hence the price is high to cover the labour involved.  Away from Bachmann this might explain Hornbys pricing of the M7 which always seems rediculously high.

Edited February 8 by Butler Henderson

[Nova Scotian]

1 hour ago, Butler Henderson said:

You are getting £17 worth of passengers fitted. However are they being varied in their painting as a rake of coaches with the exact same passengers in each could look a bit weird.

I was attempting a humourous statement about those complaining about the cost of passengers fitted and stating "there's nothing here for me".  I obviously failed to convey the humour :)

[Chiltern Junction]

1 hour ago, G-BOAF said:

Nice to see the Mk1s back, but shame the release is so limited (TSO and BSK only, basically mirroring the long-announced WCRC run).

 

They said several times in the video that more Mk1s are coming this year as part of wider developments in the range so no doubt there will be more variants and liveries accounced

 

Pure speculation on my part, but I wonder if they are re-releasing these ahead of Accurascale announcing a Mk1 run.