Sjcm

Could be the start of a new trend in the hobby. No more messing around with airbrushes and weathering paint. just plonk your loco in a box with a breeding pair of weathering mice and wait a month.

IF YOU DON'T LIKE MICE, DON'T BID *may need gloves*

I've always assumed he knows he has a fan club on here, and purposely sets aside a listing each month for our entertainment😉

Looks factory to me. Wouldn't mind a dabble on one of them. Picked up the later version without the plungers years back with the chassis snapped from zinc pest. Fortunately the zinc had stopped pesting and 15+ years on the repair is still solid. Mine has the x04 type motor so it got a neo magnet upgrade and runs as good as any comparable model from that time period

Don't think its been mentioned here but Royal Mail signed has changed. Apart from the big price increase in April you now only get covered upto 20 pounds instead of 50 for insurance. And they wonder why they are losing business😳

I imagine they go by returns rather than social media and unfortunately our hobby is loathe to return models unless they are totally broken. 2 reviewers on here both had running problems and the crank pins falling out but they "fixed" the problems themselves despite not being that happy with the model. I'm guessing phone and car manufacturers would kill for that sort of customer base.😂

I wonder if the lamps are an example of the gap between what the designers wanted, and what is possible on the manufacturing side. Sticking "changing lamps requires a good degree of modelling abilty" in the instructions for something that is supposed to press fit? What does that even mean? A tacit admission that glue will be required to keep them on?

Another reviewer with problems

yeah I have left (a polite) reply now. It's just the fact there is nothing I could have done faced with this sort of buyer. if he had contacted me on its arrival, I would have sorted it whether it was working or not. I would have still sorted it after he left the bad feedback if he had replied to my (polite) messages, but apparently he doesn't want a free loco😐 I have my suspicions that this is another seller's burner account so getting his money back isn't the point.

Just had my 1st bad feedback ever due to the buyer from hell. Sold an item as working (with video showing it working). Didn't contact me to say he had a problem, just left feedback saying it didn't work. Contacted him a couple of times to offer a refund, no reply. Then he started out-bidding everyone on my other items when they were finishing, so had to block him (advised to). Apparently Ebay can't do anything because a)while it was working when sent, they can't prove it arrived working (fair enough) b)not wanting a refund when you receive a faulty item is odd but not necessary suspicious. maybe he never reads his e-mails (!!) c)bidding on other items by a seller you're not happy with is odd but not necessary suspicious. maybe he hasn't realised its the same seller ? (!!!) ah well, gotta laugh.😂

The one I sold was in much worse condition than that except it didn't have zinc pest (the rear bogie was missing so had probably disintigrated). From what I was being asked by potential buyers the big problem is the frame and the wheels having the pest, and luckily my example, the wheels and rods turned smoothly with no signs of cracking or bulging. GF collectors are brilliant for sellers though - they make Hornby Dublo collectors look sane individuals after a bargain.

i'm not sure there are many people who don't know Hornby still exist, but I agree its good publicity if the magazine takes a reviewing style of not much more than just showing the model. Looking at that Turbomotive video posted they don't really judge the product at all in any detail so getting a fair viewpoint of whether its any good or not...well you don't. they could have at least noticed the wonky front buffer😉

I don't think I am kicking them personally. I think Bachmann/Dapol/whoever would do exactly the same when it comes to control of their name. I'm sure whatever is in the licensing agreement doesn't have 50 pages on what is acceptable copy to print in the magazine, but I bet there is a clause along the lines of "Hornby reserve the right to withdraw licensing of the name if they consider it's usage to be detrimental/ harmful to the companies reputation" Does the same job.

Having a sponsored section is a bit different from having paid control of a company's name and intellectual property. If you think they are totally free to do what they like then fine, but a company who is not adverse to entering into wars with suppliers or announcing models to out-manouvre other manufacturers to protect their interests being totally unconcerned about what appears with their name above it? I think that's naive personally.

I still don't think any company lets their trademark be used unless they have some control or caveats over what is associated with it. It would be frankly...daft. I imagine the written document of the licensing deal between the 2 companies is very long and detailed, so where they have some leeway or editorial freedom to criticise, permission to trash a bad model is not included

well......companies are fiercely protective of their trade names, so somehow I don't think Hornby went "of course, take our name for XXX pounds. We're not worried that people will assume you are part of Hornby and if you want to print "Hornby's new black5 is a bit of a dog" on the cover, got for it!"

Wouldn't they need permission to use the Hornby name? I think its very unlikely that it would be granted if they are expecting any sort of critical reviews, especially as they seem to have close links to Hornby whether they own them or not

Mentioned it on here before but I sold a landfill grafar merchant Navy with no tender for 100 pounds. thought I'd get a fiver for it....

yeah that's about the size of it. I did think the lamp thing was a bit of a storm in a teacup, but after seeing them on the reviews they do look a bit big and lighted, a bit.....well naff. Maybe I'm turning into a rivet counter on the quiet. As for glueing lamp brackets into a new model as the one reviewer did, fine for you, but basically taking away a main feature if you ever try to sell it, plus you can see the lamp/brackets getting lost over time. I just have a bee in my bonnet about the QC on new models given the price, and the tender thing is too much of an unknown quantity for me. That said, some people are happy with it, and some people will still buy it whatever the problems mentioned on here. Some people just want it, which is fine. Even Sam's trains swore blind he wouldn't buy it but did. He claimed it was for a proper review but as someone who spends 30 minutes per review going on about the lining, or the detail of the cylinder cocks, then it's obviously a model aimed at him.

Yep, the problem is no-one knows exactly what the problem is. Is it a mechanical problem where the tender connectors on this batch are not making proper contact when they click in. Is is an electrical problem somewhere in the loco or tender (faulty/corroded contacts). On the one hand Sam's trains got his working with contact cleaner which hints at electrical problems. On the other hand that didn't work with first one. Maybe it's a combination of both and the main difference between the P2 and the black 5 is QC or cost cutting.

Apart from the colour, they remind me of the contacts you used to get on 90's game console cartridges which could oxidise and stop working over time. of course if they are the same, then the presumably hidden smaller traces that join up to the visible contact bars could be the real problem as you can't reach them to clean them.

well........that tender connection. he got it working with contact spray but you have to wonder how long that is going to last. I suppose the crank pin falling out is about par for the course😂

just seen it. Same problems and its fallen apart 😂

But you are not the norm. Plenty of people willing and capable to service and repair a rtr model. A complete rebuild with new pickups? less likely.

Yeah, it was more an observation on how everyone seems reluctant to delve deeper with the problems and why? I don't subscribe to Sam's trains or watch a lot of his stuff, but I do know he's not adverse to taking apart new models for major surgery like many youtubers. Yet this time he's not touched it, even to look at the mechanism. Like wise the other guy posted on here who again has tried to fix new models before. As someone who would return a new faulty loco out of principle, I wonder if the people who would usually have a dabble, have gone "nope, not touching a 230 pound loco under warranty"