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For those interested, a poster over on the Hornby Forum attended Key Model World Live. He took some great photos and video of the Class 50s, Class 66s, Duchesses, and the J50 prototype. Other items on display included the upcoming HAA and 21 Ton mineral wagons. It's worth checking out for anyone interested in the upcoming releases. https://community.hornbyhobbies.com/topic/35680-tt-at-model-world-birmingham-live/#comment-382162 Class 50s are set for a May release. Things are looking good!

I'm glad to hear you found a solution! I hope the move went well to your new place, and now you can enjoy the locomotives uninterrupted!

This was one of the Hornby CEO's stated objectives in one of their releases a few months ago. He said they were going to try reducing inventory while also not undercutting their pricing. I've seen the inventory reductions be handled in the following ways over the last 6 months or so. 1) Double points offerings- There have been multiple 2x points offerings over the last 6 months. The most recent was one last month. 2) Free gifts- Earlier this year, Hornby ran a campaign that featured a free small locomotive. They have done other promotions, like offering a free mug with a purchase. This has also extended to their international brands (Jouef, Rivarossi, Electrotren), which offered a free HO wagon or a free building depending on how much was spent. Arnold was also offering promotions for free N Scale rolling stock. 3) Seasonal sales- If memory serves, they ran a New Years sale and a Spring sale. These were done on Hornby, Hornby USA, Scalextric, Corgi, Arnold, etc. 4) Clearance- These have also been done by Hornby, Hornby USA, Scalextric, Corgi, Arnold, etc. 5) Bringing in new retail partners- Restoring Rails of Sheffield was a major win for the company. I think one reason that progress towards inventory reduction did not progress further, might have to do with the shipping delays. They mention a large shipment being delayed in China due to the mideast conflict. I assume they take delivery in China and arrange for shipping themselves. That large shipment could be worth as much as several million pounds. If the inventory is stuck in China or in transit, that might explain the persistence of high inventory. I'd defer to @Gallows-Bait on UK accounting rules, though!

I suspect that we'll see some concrete information on this product next week at the Key Model World NEC show. There should be new photographs of samples and probably a more solid date on when to expect them. They were aiming for April, but that's looking like it will slip. Either way, we should have a better idea by next week.

Again, a statement like "Hornby's new Black 5 is horribly faulty" requires evidence. He has no evidence to support such a claim, besides his single model. If he had simply said that his model was defective or poorly manufactured, no one would be complaining. I would actually agree! But he made an extraordinary claim. Here's another example. Chadwick Model Railway got a defective Class 37 from Accurascale. Would it be fair for him to title a video about Accurascale's excellent Class 37 as "Accurascale's Horribly Faulty New Class 37"? Absolutely not. His example had problems that were not impacting all models.

But again, he didn't claim his model was faulty. He described the Hornby Black 5 as "horribly faulty," which is untrue. His example did have faults, but that does make the model inherently "horribly faulty." Criticizing quality control is totally fair, but you don't label an entire product "horribly faulty" unless there is strong evidence. Why? Because you can't prove the claim as true. You can critique Hornby (I agree that their QC could improve!), while also avoiding statements that verge on lies. This is not an apples to apples comparison. If I say "Hornby's Black 5 is the best Black 5 ever", I'm basing that on certain elements of the product that are consistent across all Hornby Black 5s. For example, I can praise the separately fitted details, the choices in livery application, and the features. Those are all elements of the product that are consistent across all Hornby Black 5s. Similarly, a fair criticism that Sam made in the review was about the flywheel. The omission of the flywheel is something that impacts all new Hornby Black 5s everywhere. Even hostile titles like "Hornby's Black 5- An Underwhelming Model" or "Hornby's Black 5- Not Worth the Money" would be completely justified on the part of a reviewer. Instead, he made the extraordinary claim that Hornby's new Black 5 is "horribly faulty," with no evidence besides his single model. That's where he demonstrates overt hostility.

To be fair, he entitled the video: Hornby's Horribly Faulty New Black 5 This suggests that the product is somehow inherently faulty. Others have had the product, and have not found any issues. That title is misleading and damaging. It's making a claim that is untrue. If he had labeled it "The Faults with my Hornby Black 5," it would have been accurate. But instead, he suggests the entire product is "horribly faulty." Who is going to buy a "horribly faulty" locomotive? Criticism of Hornby is totally fine, but I think it's unfair to label an entire product "horribly faulty" when you have a single data point.

I think this a completely fair take. And as you say, for an end-to-end layout or a shunting layout a front coupler is a must. As @Johan DC noted, we received confirmation that a front coupler will be present on the final model. It's unfortunate that the rendering didn't feature this from the start. You weren't the only eagle-eyed person to note its absence, so it's certainly important and should have been featured. I also believe the Duchesses are supposed to have a front coupler too. It's good optionality!

The Blue and Grey Mk 3s have already begun arriving. My Blue and Grey Mk 3s are being shipped as I type. Hornby has planned for the LMS/LMR coaches to arrive right as the Duchesses are delivered. They've been delivering coaches within a few weeks of locomotives arriving. There's no reason to expect that to change. If there was one Accurascale locomotive I would be interested in seeing in TT, it would be the Class 55. That's one of the most iconic Accurascale releases. It's a great locomotive that would fit with Hornby TT:120's strong ER presence. I know that this is highly unlikely, but I would instantly purchase one.

We've done this debate over and over. People claim that TT:120 products are designed for simpletons who have no standards. Evidence is pointed to that TT:120 is not aimed at simpletons, instead it's for individuals with less space or those wanting to run longer formations. Then the original group of people offer a rebuttal in the form of the virtues of N Scale. TT:120 supporters then point out some of the compromises of N Scale. Then the N Scale supporters come out attacking the TT:120 supporters. The conversation then goes to Hornby's inevitable bankruptcy and ruin. At some point, Accurascale's superiority comes up. Everyone needs to accept that TT:120 is here to stay. Instead of the quality of the products being abysmal, there are indications that the products are improving with each release as Hornby adjusts to the scale. Moreover, the tempo of releases is picking up with 2 newly-tooled locomotives in the pipeline for release in the next 3 months. That's following the release of a flagship newly-tooled locomotive 2 months ago. By the end of the calendar year, Hornby will have launched 5 newly-tooled locomotives. Let's just enjoy these announcements!

In October 2022, Hornby released information that they intended to create KFA container wagons in TT:120. They have now followed up with CAD images of the project. Because of this confirmation of further development, I think now is the time to launch a separate thread. The CAD Images are here: https://www.keymodelworld.com/article/tt120-kfa-cad-breaks-cover

Lots of negativity here. By the end of the year, multiple compelling criticisms of TT120 will have been alleviated. 1) "It's all Pacifics" - We will have the J50, and at least two more are in the pipeline. 2) "The 08 shunter should have been in an early British Railways livery"- We will have have the 08 shunter in BR green. 3) "It's all steam"- We will have Class 43, Class 50, and Class 66. 4) "There's nothing for the Class 66 to pull"- We will have modern container wagons. There's still a lot missing from the range because it's early. But a lot of critical components are coming together. Some of those puzzle pieces were announced today. I'm optimistic. I'm expecting 2025 to be the year of GWR. That's when the Pannier Tank and the Castle Class should arrive. And of course, the Class 37 will also make its debut in 2025 too. SR is probably 2026.

Actually, this may explain something I had been confused by. About a month ago, the new container wagon liveries were yanked from the Arnold website. I didn't know what to make of that... If Hornby TT now has custodianship of the tooling, that would explain why they're no longer on sale with Arnold. From now on they will be sold by Hornby. Not that it makes a difference from the Hornby Hobbies Group macro perspective, but you're right that it will impact the availability of the items in the UK. How many local model shops are stocking Arnold TT:120? Probably not many. While Hornby TT:120 is not in most model shops, its reach is rapidly expanding. It's better to have it included in the Hornby range to get the models into the hands of more modelers. This was smart.

I really hope this works for you! It's very frustrating to get a model that doesn't work (I know from personal experience). Whether or not this fix works, I would recommend emailing Hornby about it. While you might not need anything fixed or replaced, it's good for them to hear about any abnormalities in their design/manufacturing processes so they can be addressed. I'm guessing this was a problem in early batches of the Mk 3s. Some might be afflicted while others are fine. But whatever it is, the sooner they hear about it the better! Moving can be a pain. I hope your move goes as smoothly possible!

Your HST looks great! And your video's title was sadly all too relatable... 😅