Delta_Who

Still not seen proof of a scale-specific license. I will say though that an article I've just found suggests regionality exclusivity. Regardless, it doesn't matter since we've now had someone from Accurascale confirm is unviable/exceedingly difficult.

Ummm, we're not debating about unlicensed products? (Maybe I misunderstood your post). Partially, my argument here is that even the lower-end pricepoint for our hobby... is still pretty high for a youngsters toy. £20 Brio train vs £140 Bachmann Set (We're Brits here right? :P) Lets be real, none of those touch the market value of Thomas. With the exception of Titfield Thunderbolt, none of the locomotive manufacturers are actively pursuing commercial retail. (Offtopic but I've worked in flight simulation, and you can pretty much get a Boeing/Airbus license for your product for around 20-30% of your retail price. Beyond that, ensuring good PR and you're not licensed for professional use, they don't care.) Yes but their designs are hollistic to the Hotwheels brand only. Thomas was a fairly recent acquisition for Mattel, so we don't really know how much of a grasp the higher-ups have on their own brand. Nor do we truely know how much they pay attention to the model-railway market. A bit of reading up suggests that there was always some sort of relationship between the Kader group (Bachmann's parent company) and the Thomas franchise... and that's not just including model trains. If Bachmann did have exclusivity on different scales, good for them. But then that begs the question a) Why not market that into your products? b) Why would someone like Tomix be manufacturing TTTE goods? c) Would that be a reason Hornby pulled out... or was it another reason? (Rising manufacturing? Expense of the license after Mattel acquisition? Poor company finances?) d) Why would Bachmann seek a scale-exclusive license in the first place, if it would likely be more expensive than if they upheld the status-quo? Anyway, can we talk about something else? Fran is probably looking at this in bewilderment, and I don't want to distract from the fact that I want an Accurascale HST :D

*shudders*

Huge doubt on both. 00 gauge pricing (particuarly if we're playing devils advocate and imagined Accurascale went ahead of this), the pricing would likely be in the £100+ range, which would put it in a similar argument as coolprops (even at a large price disparity, £150/£200 on a single Thomas model is a hard justification for any parent). Then there is the retail nature of Accurascale, which is not making any active effort to market/comply to young children (you could argue that parts of our hobby are catered and actively used by younger children, which comes with its own arguments on the level of trust and safety.) As for exclusivity, again I have huge doubts. Heck there were even other manufacturers making N-scale Thomas models (Tomix I believe). Given how expensive exclusivity deals are, I doubt Bachmann would actively pursue one where there is hardly any RTR competition anyway. I would be hard-pressed to find evidence that Mattel even understand model-railway scales in the first place. With that said, I do see your points though. There are technical hurdles to overcome including viability and potentially safety.

Except both have been done already. Hornby, Bachmann and Coolprop, and the latter proved that there is a desire for superdetailed Thomas fans. I personally think that a Accurascale model run based on Series 1 models would sell like hot cakes

Couldn't help noticing that the BSI coupler could be alluding to other models...

Love Rapido as a company.... but I'm a modern image person. So maybe in the future Rapido UK will venture into that territory. But if we're putting suggestions down... I would love to appeal to Jason's Whovian side and pitch a Rapido 18" Dalek lineup with all-singing and dancing effects (moving plunger, gunstalk, PTT Modulator). 😉

My 2023 Bingo Card - Flying Scotsman with steam generator is delayed till next year - Re-release of the NRM LNER A3 with new tooling - "Gold plated" version of scotsman - Another rebranded Railroad A1 set - 1920s Scotsman A1 with new tooling (unsure if with original tender or with corridor tender) - Double-tender Scotsman - Live Steam name-drop - NRM does a new livery for late 2022/2023 and Hornby jumps on it. - Scotsman Dublo

Would argue there is still a market for WCML stock (including the ones listed). Bachmann 90s are insanity money. Bachmann voyagers did not get quite the same DCC treatment as their newer stock. Hornby Pendos are pretty tame detail wise, liveries for Virgin are now discontinued and several variations not represented (Avanti Special liveries, Transition White Livery, Late Virgin Livery). No LNWR Class 350 from Bachmann. (I could also be mistaken but there's no recent Virgin Class 86 from Heljan). Then you have some other misc for London-Birminghan routes. 319s, 321s, 313s, 378s, 710s, LUL

Accurascale to modellers : What do you want us to make? Modellers:

Bang on the money. There's alot of traction from around 95' to present day still not depicted in 00 yet. Interestingly, I had asked revolution at Alexandria Palace about the possibility of bringing the 313s to 00 aswell... and they cited they were holding out on the rumours of "another prominent manufacturer" working on one. So who knows. Either way, I'm glad Accurascale are open to all types of locomotives/stock... and I'm sure eventually our paths will cross on the way to my first purchase with them! (92s are breaking me down atm.)

9 pages in, and I've lost track of what this thread was arguing about For me, the landscape is very strange. I've just come back into the hobby after 10 years and there's both positive and worrying trends I've seen. The good + Hornby are still (sort-off) thriving and on profit (Whether that's Covid uplifting or genuine business accumen will be revealed in earnings) + Hornby engage in markets that other RTR manufacturers simply don't + New advances in tooling for all RTR manufacturers + More Prototypes being covered + Technology is being pushed further (moving pantos, DCC, water-based smoke on the horizon...etc.) + New RTR brandnames The Bad + Street retail has dropped dramatically. London itself barely has any model-shops left (particuarly where Hornby used to highlight e.g. ToysRUs, ModelZone, Hobbycraft (Airfix and humbrol are stocked, but Hornby trains are no-where to be seen anymore) + Rolling stock quantities seem to be significantly rarer. Missed out on alot of production runs. + Drop in variety from dedicated retailers. A sense of growing hostility among the likes of Hattons/Kernow/RailsofSheffield and the TV series by James May seems to offer perhaps one answer as to why...) The Ugly + Hornbys 2022 prices compared to where I left off in 2008... is insane. (Ditto for Bachmann too) + Still bloating out the same tooling + Railroad is seemingly more inaccessible at its increased pricepoint. Approaching £100, you start to compete not with other RTR manufacturers... but the likes of LEGO, Mattel, Apple for your childs attention. + Sound chips are still grossly inflated. Even TTS is pushing it. + Retail seems to be switching from "available stock" to "pre-order in limited batches". Whilst that gurantees a sale for the manufacturer, it doesn't appear to leave much room for future production runs and more limited self-repair.

Looking for a few spares since to replace via the Bachmann site (cheapest so far).... I would need to spend £60 Bogie Side Frames or Whole Bogies Left Hand Side with step - x1 Left hand side without step - x2 Right hand side with step - x1 Right hand side without step - x4 -or- Super Voyager Class 221 Trailing bogie - with pickups & steps 32-625 - E3262-223-01- x1 Super Voyager Class 221 Trailing bogie - 32-625 - E3262-223-03 - x4 Other Coupling rod - x1 Dellner Coupling part -or- a cheap front chassis Example of bogie sides