Hornby goes Steampunk in 2020

[railroadbill]

On 13/05/2021 at 20:43, CloggyDog said:

 

While the 'dressing up' is certainly a big part of steampunk, the scene encompasses all sorts of creativity, with many steampunks very much into physical 'makes' including models. One of the chaps in the ME exhibition pic is Herr Doktör, one of the top steampunk makers in the UK. I was part of the steampunk contingent at the ME show and we attracted a lot of interest across the weekend. I'm also a part of the 'Ministry of Steampunk' group who exhibit at the big comic conventions in the UK and will say that these events are easily bigger than any UK model railway exhibition - 100000 across a weekend for the big London show (twice a year) , maybe half that for the biannual con run at the NEC (the November one occasionally falling the same weekend as Warley).

Even the smaller steampunk events that the MoS run attract numbers that any model railway exhibition would dearly love to see (and yes, I organise model railway shows too...) 

 

Cosplay (and I'll include steampunk in that term) is just as creative as model trains, the skills and focus may be different, but the passion and enjoyment are the same. 

 

The age profile of Steampunks is very wide, from pre-teens to octagenarians with 'twin peaks' around the late-teens and late-40s/early-50s. 

 

 

Remember seeing that at the ME exhibition, very well presented and certainly attracted a lot of attention. The  steam punk versions of various  other sci fi genre artifacts, like star wars spaceships etc.  were good, lots of very imaginative items.  Think there was there a large scale r/c steam punk Star wars style R2-D2 robot (or similar) running around?

Not only was it all very well made and engineered, but the presenters looked like they were really enjoying themselves!

Cracking stuff.

 

Edited May 15, 2021 by railroadbill

[HonestTom]

If Hornby are looking for a more authentic "add some gubbins to a 4-wheeler"  steampunk coach, maybe they should take a look at this, from 1871.

[TangoOscarMike]

Well, it's the best part of 18 months since the arrival of Hornby's steampunk items (or is it? I've lost all track of time). Anyway, my response project is finished, and I've posted the final pictures in @Corbs Pugbash thread:

 

 

[PaulRhB]

On 23/05/2021 at 19:20, TangoOscarMike said:

Well, it's the best part of 18 months since the arrival of Hornby's steampunk items (or is it? I've lost all track of time). Anyway, my response project is finished, and I've posted the final pictures in @Corbs Pugbash thread:

 

 

It looks great, have Hornby asked you to do the 2022 range yet? Do you have any intention of putting it on shapeways or similar?  

[TangoOscarMike]

8 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

It looks great, have Hornby asked you to do the 2022 range yet?

 

Thank you!

 

Alas, they have not contacted me. If they did, I would be interested in talking with them.

 

I have also not heard from any record labels, for some reason.

 

8 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

Do you have any intention of putting it on shapeways or similar?

 

Yes, I intend to make it available on Shapeways. Hopefully sooner rather than later, although the day job keeps expanding into my free time.

 

[PaulRhB]

5 minutes ago, TangoOscarMike said:

 

Alas, they have not contacted me. If they did, I would be interested in talking with them.

I hope they do!

 

5 minutes ago, TangoOscarMike said:

I have also not heard from any record labels, for some reason.

 

 

 

5 minutes ago, TangoOscarMike said:

 

Yes, I intend to make it available on Shapeways. Hopefully sooner rather than later, although the day job keeps expanding into my free time.

 

Please post a link when you do  

[CloggyDog]

I've just completed a steampunk diorama, my entry to a competition run by Bassett-Lowke in association with Steampaper.

 

 

[Nova Scotian]

Noticed these are starting to show up in clearance sections... 

 

There were a couple of great projects posted on rmweb last year, the photos of which are now lost to the servers... but otherwise I've not seen much engagement? However, I can imagine the audience for these are probably slightly different than the main audience (s) here?

 

Unless I missed it there's been no expansion of the range announced in further years. However with COVID fundamentally changing the hobby over those two years (delays, lack of production slots, much more demand) I wonder if this got a little sidelined?

[blueeighties]

3 hours ago, Nova Scotian said:

Noticed these are starting to show up in clearance sections... 

 

About as much of  a surprise as Boris Johnson not admitting the messes he has made.

[F-UnitMad]

3 hours ago, Nova Scotian said:

I wonder if this got a little sidelined?

It was a sideline to start with!!

[MarkSG]

5 hours ago, Nova Scotian said:

Noticed these are starting to show up in clearance sections... 

 

You'd expect them to. Hornby don't, generally, have a policy of deliberately restricting manufacturing runs so that new models sell out on pre-order or very soon after release. Particularly for things which will be stocked in toy shops and general modelling shops, as well as specialist railway model shops, they have to make enough for them to be available to retailers who buy via the wholesale route rather than having a direct account.

 

And, in any case, end of run discounting is part of the normal pricing strategy for mass market (as opposed to specialist) products, because the people who buy them on discount represent a different market sector. People who wouldn't originally have bought these, because they were too expensive, may be tempted by a lower price. And, if so, it's still profit for both the manufacturer and retailer.

[Nova Scotian]

25 minutes ago, MarkSG said:

 

You'd expect them to. Hornby don't, generally, have a policy of deliberately restricting manufacturing runs so that new models sell out on pre-order or very soon after release. Particularly for things which will be stocked in toy shops and general modelling shops, as well as specialist railway model shops, they have to make enough for them to be available to retailers who buy via the wholesale route rather than having a direct account.

 

And, in any case, end of run discounting is part of the normal pricing strategy for mass market (as opposed to specialist) products, because the people who buy them on discount represent a different market sector. People who wouldn't originally have bought these, because they were too expensive, may be tempted by a lower price. And, if so, it's still profit for both the manufacturer and retailer.

They very much have moved to a model to do so for some of their range - but I think you're right for the steampunk range they were trying to make it widely available in general modelshops etc as opposed to be 90% sold out on preorder.

 

However, two years without a further announcement, and retailers moving these in the 50% off bracket (no-one enjoys discounting that much - 20%-30% everyone can still feel like they made a good margin) might be concerning.