RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted December 12, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 12, 2014 Maybe I am old fashioned but despite the Internet I still like a printed catalogue. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 It is true as a kid I was inspired by the wide varity of locos and liveries on that layout in 1980s catalogue. It was not my first though, I had 2 others before then. My first catalogue was from 1977. It was the Australian version and had a centre insert with (so-called) "Australian" items - like the VR blue double-ended diesel and a Class 08 in NSW livery. I still liked the 1981 "Ticket to Ride" catalogue better. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 But kids, and other newcomers are more likely to be shocked by the prices and quickly decide it is out of reach before getting to the railroad items towards the end. Prices are not printed in the catalogue. (Perhaps a price list is included, but the two are separate.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSpencer Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Prices are not printed in the catalogue. (Perhaps a price list is included, but the two are separate.) I agree but I bet as soon as they research them.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Prices are not printed in the catalogue. (Perhaps a price list is included, but the two are separate.) I've only got Triang Hornby catalogues from the early 70's, price lists were an insert then. As Simon says, the main draw (apart from the contents!) of the catalogues from that era were the Cuneo front covers and doing the "Where's Mousy" thing..... I'd be sad to see the catalogue disappear, its a physical record of what models were actually available or proposed for that year, allowing them and livery changes to be tracked through several years. The older catalogues also show how few loco models were actually available in any one year! The other thing that physical catalogues do in this day and age is to KEEP THE COMPANY HONEST. In a mutable, web driven consumer experience, its far too easy for a company to change its mind. Items can vanish or suffer radical change of specification, images can be changed to support the current reality (very 1984) and there's no record of what was previously promised. Consider the recent furore about the Sir Sagramore livery changes! If it wasn't printed in the catalogue, then it would have been easier for Hornby to brazen it out, not that the disgruntled pre-orderers had any satisfaction in the end. Talking about pre-ordering, a catalogue is a good reminder of when the loco you're waiting for was first announced... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandwich station Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I have all the catalogues from 1 to 60 plus a very few from Canada and Australia. Also have some of the price lists. I think my favourite ones are from the 60's when at the time, Minc Motorway was featured in the same catalogue. Dreams of building massive road and rail systems. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted December 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 13, 2014 Nowadays I keep the catalogues (and the price lists when they were still included) for a few years as they do give an interesting check on when things were announced and how prices have changed and, increasingly, how models differ from what was originally promised. But we now have enormous tomes and I think that as a result they have lost some of their impact, or maybe that's just me getting less impressionable as I age I think many of the older catalogues were far better at creating that sense of awe and wonder which would appeal to youngsters and of course they were far cheaper which made them more accessible. I have long since sold all of my older ones (some fetch good prices in excellent condition) but the more modern ones will go in the recycling once their price check etc value diminishes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Brasher Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 One of my favourite catalogue covers is edition 19 produced in 1973 which is based on Terence Cuneo's Forging Ahead British Railways poster. Cuneo painted it in 1952 and it advertised the First British Railways Standard Express Locomotive. It shows Britannia leaving Paddington with a rake of BR Mk1 coaches alongside a King locomotive. On page 20 is a picture of a model of the train. The locomotive cost £10.83 which is the equivalent of about £114.30 now and the coaches were £1.25 each would be about £13.19 in today's money. The coaches were good models but in my opinion were spoilt by the red and yellow livery but they could easily be dismantled and repainted. None of the models are available from Hornby now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ruggedpeak Posted December 14, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 14, 2014 Personally, I don't see the point of a catalogue nowadays, and I certainly don't see the point of buying one! What is wrong with the internet web page? Up-to-date (or at least, as much as they update it, certainly better than the printed copy). No storage space needed either. I don't even bother with the likes of an Argos catalogue any more...... Stewart Absolutely. Unless I'm looking back through rose tinted glasses, once upon a time when you had a catalogue from Hornby or Argos you could write your Xmas list based on the items in them, and know that there was a realistic chance of your parents being able to buy said items in a shop. The tragic fact is these days the presence of a product in a catalogue or even a website has absolutely no bearing whether you can actually purchase it, or if it even exists. That's progress! I still have all my old catalogues from 80's. The other point a colleague made, we all have things like that from our childhoods to reminisce over in our senescence, yet our kids who look at everything on iPads will not have anything tangible when they reach middle age or beyond to generate those memories. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ruggedpeak Posted December 14, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 14, 2014 I find it more than a little perplexing that Hornby corporate comms often seem to be poor verging on dire yet SK's blog is one of the best examples of a manufacturer (or a consultant on a manufacturer web site) communicating with customers and an object lesson in what a blog should be. I am hoping that the recent issues with Exeter may give them a kick up the pants and it was nice to see them issue an apology but they could do an awful lot worse than to make SK their global communications director or whatever the correct title might be. I think SK's current status is a pragmatic solution to the fundamental issue that Hornby is now about branding, social media and other ephemeral stuff. SK knows social media has a role to play, but I'd guess he might feel that saying Hornby want to be part of people's lives (as quoted elsewhere on RMWeb) through facebook personal info is an idea that was found wanting when the dotcom bubble burst. If I were him I'd sit tight as an advisor whilst their social media strategy plays out. If (when?) it doesn't deliver real ROI or detectable sales boosts beyond fire sales, he will be well placed to step back in, if the situation is retrievable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium t-b-g Posted December 14, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 14, 2014 The catalogue is no longer relevant other than to somebody who likes collecting catalogues. The vast majority of what appears on the pages is either not available yet or has already sold out, so in no way does an annual printed catalogue give any real indication of what the product range is like. The vast majority of products seem to be available in tiny numbers for a short while and a printed catalogue that lasts for a whole year is just misleading as to what is available. At best it can tell you what you might have missed or what you might get if enough ever get produced to fulfil pre orders. Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grovenor Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 At best it can tell you what you might have missed or what you might get if enough ever get produced to fulfil pre orders. Just like the website then! Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmcg Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 The catalogue is no longer relevant other than to somebody who likes collecting catalogues. The vast majority of what appears on the pages is either not available yet or has already sold out, so in no way does an annual printed catalogue give any real indication of what the product range is like. The vast majority of products seem to be available in tiny numbers for a short while and a printed catalogue that lasts for a whole year is just misleading as to what is available. At best it can tell you what you might have missed or what you might get if enough ever get produced to fulfil pre orders. Tony Ah, but isn't that part of the fun? psssst... you want to buy a container load of Exeters? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jol Wilkinson Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 The catalogue is no longer relevant other than to somebody who likes collecting catalogues. Tony Very True Tony but when we were young it was the equivalent of the frothing topics here on RMweb. You could look at it and dream about what you could save up for next, discuss the merits and demerits of various items with your friends and so on. You could be inspired by the "artist impressions", so much more dramatic than photographs. There is also something nice about about holding a book, far nicer than the transient material on the web. Perhaps that's why magazines still appear as hard copy and the digital versions haven't yet taken a strong hold. Jol Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium brushman47544 Posted December 15, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 15, 2014 There is also something nice about about holding a book, far nicer than the transient material on the web. Perhaps that's why magazines still appear as hard copy and the digital versions haven't yet taken a strong hold. Jol Whist I am happy to read some things on an iPad or the web, they will never replace a printed book for me. It's not just the feel of holding it, but the way you can scroll though it and jump around the pages that doesn't work with anything else. If I'm reading a book and want to refer back I find it easy to visualize where I need to go from the thickness of the pages read - you just can't do that with an eBook. Where have I seen a picture on the web; no idea. In book, no problem! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatofludham Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 Although I haven't bought a Hornby catalogue in years, I agree that in general I prefer books to e-books. A book you can keep, is tangible and is easy to navigate and cross-reference. An e-Book is vapour and a solution looking for a problem. A good book will last hundreds of years if not more if cherished. An e-book doesn't exist in reality. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Legend Posted December 15, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 15, 2014 There's now a further Simon says on catalogues. Interesting but a bit rambly, not sure what or where the point is , but a good bit of nostalgia. The only point I've gleaned is that we will have these infernal side on views for the 2015 calendar and poss the 2016 one as well! I do think Hornby could be a bit more innovative in their catalogue a 64 pager in landscape format with a Cuneo painting on the front would go down well .Appeal to the nostalgia factor Did he do an Adams Radial? You don't need a page per model the catalogue could be much more succinct with a large layout as centrepiece and as a theme running through it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 It's been a month since we've had a new edition of Simon Says and was wondering if anyone knows when (if?) we are to get another one? Always enjoyable to read what Mr Kohler has to say. Its been Christmas you know, he's probably taken a break! Writing a blog post thats going to be dissected by us lot* takes more thought than dashing off a reply in an RMWeb topic. * (We're ALL worse than medieval theologians.....) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forester Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 It's been a month since we've had a new edition of Simon Says and was wondering if anyone knows when (if?) we are to get another one? Always enjoyable to read what Mr Kohler has to say. If you go to the Hornby forums and look at Simon Says forum there was apparently an edition two weeks ago entitled "Detail". I can see replies but nowhere can I find Simon's original blog under the Simon Says banner. The latest one has some comment and discussion but to be honest many of the earlier ones seem little read and had few comments. It doesn't help the readership numbers if you can't find blog to read it, though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forester Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Oh, and up pops another one in Recent Articles called "What's in a Range" dated Jan 9, but not on the main page It seems the Hornby Home page is in the same disarray as the rest of the company. Someone, please tell me where Simon buys his rose-tinted glasses.............. ...and maybe he could get to the point a little quicker in his very long-winded blogs? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 If you go to the Hornby forums and look at Simon Says forum there was apparently an edition two weeks ago entitled "Detail". The "Detail" thread was not started by a Hornby Admin. I haven't read the thread but it does not seem to point to a blog by Mr. Kohler. All the other threads in that sub-forum were started by an Admin after a new blog was posted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Wasn't he only supposed to be continuing to work with them for a year after he left their employ? Perhaps the year's up? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonesboy Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 If you go to the Hornby forums and look at Simon Says forum there was apparently an edition two weeks ago entitled "Detail". I can see replies but nowhere can I find Simon's original blog under the Simon Says banner. The latest one has some comment and discussion but to be honest many of the earlier ones seem little read and had few comments. It doesn't help the readership numbers if you can't find blog to read it, though. I think that you will find that "Detail" was published in June and it's just that a new response made it to the top of the forum again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Vistisen Posted January 12, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 12, 2015 Edit: So that's two issues of Simon Says, I wonder if the plan is to bury it, claim it's not being read any more and then say there is no more demand for it. Why is everything that Hornby does or does not do a conspiracy? They do according to a rather vocal group here, only have two faults: Everything they do, and everything they say. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Graham_Muz Posted January 12, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 12, 2015 The Simon Says blog is still very much linked to from the Hornby home page when I looked 30 seconds ago and his latest post can be read here http://www.Hornby.com/news/simonsays/whats-in-a-rangealthough linked via the blog side bar rather than the main blog page at the moment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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