1andrew1

They were apparently manufactured for Hornby by Warlord Games. So one key benefit of Steampunk is that it may have encouraged Hornby to invest in Warlord which looks a good idea.

Hornby had the rights to Harry Potter which have now lapsed but not to the entire Warner Bros IP.

England's Glory is a brand of matches so I don't think it's contemptuous. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/England's_Glory

It made me laugh! :) Here's hoping Hornby or Bachmann do one for the UK.

Palitoy in the early 1980s offered the MPC Star Wars kits under the Airfix brand. However, Revell now seems to have the licence. (Revell also has the James Bond licence too.) https://www.revell.de/en/products/licences/star-wars/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=home-cat-en&utm_campaign=star-wars

Could the reduction of high street retailers spell an opportunity for Hornby World? Is there an opening for Hornby World in department stores?

Hornby employs 212 people. There who could be successful internal applicants for the roles who tick those boxes and would like to develop their careers in the sector without relocating from the Margate area.

Most model railway companies seem to have struggled outsourcing to China. The issue with retailers seems to be more of a Hornby thing but solvable. A profitable international company like Simba Dickie Group (owners of LGB, Trix and Marklin) would be a logical buyer of Hornby. Or as you say, a Chinese OEM looking to acquire a brand and distribution in the West, mirroring Kader's acquisition of Bachmann. However, Phoenix seems to be committed to an independent Hornby Hobbies for the time being, with Hornby Railways at its heart.

A thoughtful post. I agree with a lot of what you say. What I would note is: The strength of Oxford has been the diecast range, not the model rail range. I am pretty sure Hornby and Phoenix were aware of Oxford Rail's weakness before Hornby bought its initial stake in the parent company, LCD Enterprises. Lyndon Davies is still employed by Hornby as Chairman and remains a director of Hornby plc and its subsidiaries. I suspect the directorships will end in due course. I can certainly see the Oxford Rail brand being ditched but believe the Oxford Diecast brand will continue as it is more of a modelling brand than Corgi. I suspect the demise of Oxford Rail could be announced in passing at next month's AGM.

Agreed. Not too much on the Oxford Rail site itself either.

Agreed. At one stage, they were going to move to a more central location in Margate but that didn't happen due to the cost. Shopping centres are crying out for new tenants and the move to mixed retail and leisure could sit well with the new Hornby World concept if it included opportunities to try out Hornby and Scalextric products as well as buying them. It would be interesting to know how Bachmann's retail outlet is faring. I suspect that its location constrains it as well.

Yes, but it would also make its warehouse stock worth less. The currency benefits would also be gained by its competitors as well.

I think this paragraph indicates why someone with solid retail experience was chosen as the new CEO, as well as helping Hornby to understand how the national retailers like The Entertainer work.

Everyone trades off a name but it's no longer correct to suggest that Airfix are poorer kits than Revell. Under Hornby, their new kits are up there with the best in the business like Tamiya. Their Vintage Classics range fufill useful niches and doubtless fill the coffers.

Hornby have replaced most of of their popular models. Older kits which they still offer now have their mould year marked on the boxes and are branded Vintage Classics with a 1980s Airfix logo. The moulds are cleaned up and feature Cartograf decals which have a great reputation in the industry. This is in contrast to Revell who use the same branding for their new moulds as they do for 50-year-old-moulds originally made by Frog and Matchbox. This is because Airfix has had investment under Hornby's ownership and in 2017 was one of Hornby's profitable brands.

Airfix has flourished under Hornby's custodianship.

Confusingly, the Corgi Model Club is not owned by Hornby. Hornby licences the brand name to a small independent company called Blue 14 D2C Ltd. So, I doubt Hornby benefits from the deal between Norev and Blue 14 D2C t/a as the Corgi Model Club. https://corgimodelclub.com/pages/about-us https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11552224

I don't think it has. It's not been mentioned in Hornby's quite detailed annual report. In its latest accounts, it says Hornby Hobbies Limited is "engaged in the development, design, sourcing and distribution of models" whilst the European subsidiaries are described as "distributors of models."

Looks a logical acquisition to me with potential synergies down the line on procurement and distribution. Games Workshop has stood out as a thriving British hobby brand so trying to get into that market makes good sense to me.

Unless it's a recent thing, Hornby hasn't done design in its overseas offices since about 2015. In its 2017 annual report it noted "European operations and product development centralised in the UK"

We've talked about which brands are most important to Hornby before. It's six years old, but back in 2017, Hornby's sales per its annual report were split: £22m Model railways of which Europe accounted for £6.4m £12m Scalextric £6m Airfix £4m Corgi £2m Humbrol In terms of which brands were profitable, in a loss-making year, its priorities were cited on page 10 as "Building on the strong profitability of the Hornby, Airfix and Humbrol brands. If still correct today, this supports my earlier drastic solution of disposing of Corgi and Scalextric. I thought I hadn't plucked those two brands from nowhere.

Some good points there. My thoughts: - If Hornby went under, I'm sure the TT120 would continue for the medium term. Whether a new owner felt it worthwhile investing in new range additions would be up to them. - Arnold: In terms of having Arnold's skill, it's just a brand. All R&D is done in Margate, I don't know how much new product development is being undertaken for the range.

I suspect it will re-open as Hornby World. (Based on a company of that name being incorporated by Hornby.)

Great minds think alike but I do take posters' subsequent points that we don't know the profitability of the various brands.

Lol. I was thinking the first suggestion made would be Rovex. 😀