1andrew1

Cars sell in their thousands, model trains a few hundred.

I don't know if they still are, but in 2012, Scale Model News reported " In London, Humbrol enamels and finishing products are now made by Rustins, a family business established back in 1924 that offered Hornby a winning combo of price, quality and speed." https://www.scalemodelnews.com/2012/12/Hornby-brings-back-humbrol-paints-from.html#:~:text=The Hornby company’s model paint brand%2C Humbrol%2C known,after such operations went to China. US-UK story In 2017 Rustins were still the manufacturer: https://www.sunwardhobbies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/HUMBROL-ENAMEL-RANGE.pdf

Being generous, it might be because Hornby is using a different manufacturer for the Ruston 88DS than for the models which have leapfrogged it. Covid lockdowns are still happening in China so it could be that the manufacturer for the Ruston 88DS is having a tough time of things.

It was a Saturday so suspect it was pre-scheduled maybe even weeks ago. Don't think it's an issue anyway.

Yes. It was probably a fairly low-cost gamble and I'm sure they knew it was quite high risk. Perhaps without Covid it might have developed momentum via exhibitions; we'll never know but I suspect not.

I think I've demonstrated that Hornby have been innovative, which was the point I was debating on. I hadn't really developed a view but when I looked back objectively at what they had done, their innovation became apparent. None of that excuses their significant mis-steps though, Whilst I wasn't setting out to prove that their innovations have been successful, I think apart from Steampunk, they have been successful with these innovations and the steam generators have not launched yet. By being innovative you take risks - some risks work, other risks don't. I like the Railroad concept and it's cleverly positioned. Clinically, I would have liked to have seen Hornby using the Lima branding across Europe for this purpose with the brands of Electrotren, Jouef, Rivarossi and Hornby sitting above it. However, I get that the Hornby brand is too strong to not use in the UK hence the Railroad brand.

I agree that they've previously been tardy on electric locos and multiple units but seem to making some amends here. However, when you step back and look at their range, I think they have been innovative eg The Basset Lowke steampunk range Playtrains range Lower-priced Railroad range Bringing steam generators to UK market Era 1 range including use of non-tension lock couplings Launch of 4-wheel and 6-wheel era 2 coaches - something they were working on before Hattons App-based analogue controls

Good one, I can just picture the scene!

Interesting research, thanks for sharing. I think Airfix is cited there due to Rawnet's claim to find customers anywhere in the world. That claim works more effectively for Airfix's range more than it does for Hornby's which is focused on the UK market.

Amazing value! Kader have Hornby's dilemma - for the last few years they've been marginally profitable or loss-making so the temptation is to maximise prices at the expense of numbers participating in the hobby.

Agreed. And it's logical for trainsets to be as cheap as possible to get more people into the hobby. But a Thomas the Tank Engine train set would have brand recognition and parents would feel it as safe a buy as a Hornby set, in the way they probably wouldn't about Bachmann.

The Hornby and Bachmann models are interesting. Bachmann is vertically integrated with its own manufacturing and Hornby is vertically integrated with its own web sales. Bachmann is now selling spares online and I wonder if it will follow its sister company in the USA and sell its full range directly soon.

Hornby has its own premises in China/HK where it keeps its tooling when not in use so I think it has far more control than the model you describe. That model s more akin to the former Kader-Palitoy Mainline relationship. As an aside, Airfix's Easy Build range is now moulded alongside the regular range in India.

You could just buy those in - Airfix and Palitoy did this back in the late 70s. Bachmann's Thomas the Tank Engine range would make great starter sets if they weren't so pricey.

The Board has commenced a search for a new CEO. Once the new CEO is appointed, Lyndon Davies will become Non-Executive Chairman. With immediate effect: John Stansfield will step down as Non-Executive Chairman and become Senior Independent Non-Executive Director. Lyndon Davies will take on the role of Executive Chairman in addition to his CEO role. https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/Hornby/news/rns/story/w9k8ydr I wonder who might be interested in the CEO position?

The Titfield Thunderbolt Bookshop seems to be untroubled by Studio Canal. https://www.titfield.co.uk/index.htm

You can take a look at the models' in Coca-Cola and Beatles liveries and compare them to other liveries and work out the price difference from there. I appreciate that's Hornby's pricing and not the actual licencing costs. I doubt if the agreements Hornby has in place allow the details to be disclosed. You could try a freedom of information request to the Museum but I suspect it would be declined on commercial grounds. The only issue I have with some of the fake/licensed/promotional liveries is that as a kid, I thought when I bought a BirdsEye Van or a BP tanker, I was buying an authentic model. I learned later in life that I hadn't. I like the fun nature of these models and if they bring more people into the hobby - great. Perhaps they need to be labelled "Inspired and licensed from Coca-Cola"?

That makes a lot of sense given on the TV programme, Simon Kohler said a competitor was looking to model it too so Hornby was upgrading its own model in response.

Confusingly. the bottom left of that YouTube page says "Premieres in two days" .

The 59 was announced over five years ago. The World's a different place now - the RTR 00 model railway market has even more players in it and faces a squeeze with substantial price increases. A general reduction in UK disposable income is in the pipeline too with hikes in energy prices and National Insurance due later this year. It's an option for Dapol, no more than that.

If cash becomes an issue, then maybe Dapol could do what they did before, namely sell some molds to Hornby? Dapol could then operate a more limited OO range and focus new investment on N and O gauge and OO gauge commissions. The price increases on model railways, and anticipated squeeze on consumer spending (due to increases in the pipeline for fuel and other essential goods) suggest a reduction in the UK model railway market for the next couple of years.

Jenny Kirk yesterday mentioned that Scott Rhodes has left Oxford Rail to take up his lifelong goal of becoming a teacher. She says that he was responsible for a lot of their products to fruition.

People are talking about potential changes to the Oxford range but I don't see that the acquisition changes things fundamentally. The fundamental change in relationship between the two companies dates back further when Lyndon Davies took over as Hornby's CEO. Surely since that stage, Lyndon would be involved in both companies' plans and could amend them accordingly. I think we've seen evidence of this with Oxford buildings moving into the Skaledale range, The Hornby Terrier plus Oxford manufacturing diecasts for Hornby. And it's not as if the 51% shareholder in Oxford was a third party - it was none other than Lyndon himself with a contract for the shareholding to be sold to Hornby by 2023 if certain conditions were met.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-57719551

The UK market still accounts for 72% of the company's turnover, though. Europe accounts for 11% and other countries 17%. I appreciate that Peco also has a visitor centre and miniature railway which will have been included in its UK turnover. Source: See page 20 of accounts for y/e 30/4/20 https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00408782/filing-history