Hornby West Country in purple (Elizabeth II)

[TomScrut]

4 hours ago, adb968008 said:

Still it makes a change from those gold plated wheels versions of 6201 etc theyve done in the past. (They aged badly too).

 

They were an oddment IMO, a) they looked naff and b) I doubt you could run them without bringing the gold off anyway so probably for a very limited audience.

 

1 hour ago, E100 said:

I've just noticed that in the text they've upped the number of editions to 2500. It's mentioned twice on the page so probably not a typo.

 

I wonder if this will lead to cancellations from the scalpers and collectors? Is it now less desirable now there are more of them (to those who will leave them in the box)?

[Pre Grouping fan]

9 minutes ago, TomScrut said:

 

I wonder if this will lead to cancellations from the scalpers and collectors? Is it now less desirable now there are more of them (to those who will leave them in the box)?

 

Hornby increasing the production run multiple times for the Captain Tom class 66 didn't stop them charging excess prices on eBay or Facebook 

[rovex]

Am I the only one that thinks this looks like it's been sponsored by Cadburys?

[banburysaint]

The livery on the real thing doesn't appear to be a consistent colour as it changes with the light from my experience yesterday at the SVR, so I think it's going to be impossible to get a match. Regardless it is clearly a popular model and that is good to see. 

[adb968008]

back in stock at Hornby, note the image of the box changed to a rear view.

 

of you want to know How many Hornby sold directly… the clue is in the image…

 

 

The text now says 2500 locos.

 

Its a clear popular winner (doesn't appeal to myself), but Royalistas, Pagentry likers will be in amongst enthusiasts and some general public wanting this.

 

I dont think this will age well for scalpers, but at the end of the day it isn't about feeding them.

To be here for, lets say October, were already at 6 months, i’d imagine production must be pretty imminent already, given how long its taking factories to manufacturer, collate parts and assemble, not to mention the 2 month odd shipping lead times were seeing… its a lot more complex than a class 66.

 

food for thought though, given the interest, I wonder how SVR is going to manage ticket sales, 34027 could end up more popular than Scotsman this summer… some kind of prawn butty special with prosecco and strawberries could be a nice idea, kids are going to be all over this loco.

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by adb968008

[Pre Grouping fan]

The best match Hornby can do is to the Royal approved Ral (or other colour standard) colour/shade that's being used this year. Accounting for the colour looking darker on a model etc. 

[Robin Brasher]

1 hour ago, E100 said:

411 sold in last 7 days apparently.

 

It does look like Hornby is being more cautious with their allocations as they are seeming to show it sold out at certain points.

 

I've just noticed that in the text they've upped the number of editions to 2500. It's mentioned twice on the page so probably not a typo.

 

 

 

I thought that the normal production run of a Hornby locomotive or item of rolling stock was 2,000 or less.

[E100]

11 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

I thought that the normal production run of a Hornby locomotive or item of rolling stock was 2,000 or less.

Surely that’s quite model dependant but I would have assumed it’s in that ballpark.

[Oldddudders]

17 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

I thought that the normal production run of a Hornby locomotive or item of rolling stock was 2,000 or less.

Fewer!

[Robin Brasher]

I think that £269.99 is too expensive for "Elizabeth ll" as the rebuilt West Country has been in production for a long time and Hornby should have recovered its development costs.  It is also more expensive that Bachmann's "Tornado" which has a recommended retail price of £199.95.  For these reasons I have not bought one although our local railway club is modelling the Severn Valley Railway.  I wonder how many models of "Elizabeth ll" Hornby will sell. If it turns into a Hattons bargain next year I might buy one.

[Robin Brasher]

2 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Fewer!

Only 1,000 for the first Maunsell pull-push coach set and this was not a limited run although the demand was much greater;

[adb968008]

8 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

I think that £269.99 is too expensive for "Elizabeth ll" as the rebuilt West Country has been in production for a long time and Hornby should have recovered its development costs.  It is also more expensive that Bachmann's "Tornado" which has a recommended retail price of £199.95.  For these reasons I have not bought one although our local railway club is modelling the Severn Valley Railway.  I wonder how many models of "Elizabeth ll" Hornby will sell. If it turns into a Hattons bargain next year I might buy one.

I have a feeling your right it will drop once the party is over and the locos back in green I suspect sone interest will wane. Its a fashion accessory for the moment.  Its not in the same league as Captain Tom, which is still with us and around the country.

 

That said R30114 34046 Braunton, unrebuilt has a £264.99 price tag too.

 

The price reflects some kind of donation to a royal charity, which adds to the premium.

Hopefully the SVR gets a nice slice of this too (dont forget the railway is a charity too).

whilst someone above spiked about “giveaways”, one would hope the Queen gets one, it is afterall carrying her name, and if a royal toddler got seen with a trainset thats not a bad advert for the hobby.

 

More of interest is if were going to see something like this every year, painting up a national celebrity engine and modelling it seems to have some commercial legs.

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by adb968008

[CUCKOO LINE]

5 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

I think that £269.99 is too expensive for "Elizabeth ll" as the rebuilt West Country has been in production for a long time and Hornby should have recovered its development costs.  It is also more expensive that Bachmann's "Tornado" which has a recommended retail price of £199.95.  For these reasons I have not bought one although our local railway club is modelling the Severn Valley Railway.  I wonder how many models of "Elizabeth ll" Hornby will sell. If it turns into a Hattons bargain next year I might buy one.

Forthcoming unrebuilt Battle of Britain listed at £266.49. Elizabeth II includes donation to a Royal charity so looks like the going rate. Hornby already raised production to 2500 so assume it must be selling well. Original 1500 sold out at Honrby and SVR in a matter of hours.

[HExpressD]

1 hour ago, TomScrut said:

 

They were an oddment IMO, a) they looked naff and b) I doubt you could run them without bringing the gold off anyway so probably for a very limited audience.

 

 

You couldn't. They included a slip inside the box mentioning that after a very limited amount of use the gold would wear away on contact points such as the wheel flanges and the valve gear, which I assume most people would have realised anyway. They are very much a shelf item. I kind of get it but limited editions such as the Dublo models and the wooden box Bachmann collector items are much better IMHO

[Dunsignalling]

12 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

Only 1,000 for the first Maunsell pull-push coach set and this was not a limited run although the demand was much greater;

No, but they have done another five or six runs of them with different numbers since, so I think demand should have  been well-and-truly sated by now....

 

The Purple WC is really for the Royal Memorabilia fans and the Hornby collector market. It'll have a pretty narrow (SVR unless it goes visiting) and short-lived (until it gets tatty enough to need painting again) application on model railways as (AFAIK) the loco is no longer fitted out to work over the national network.

 

John

[Dunsignalling]

26 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

I think that £269.99 is too expensive for "Elizabeth ll" as the rebuilt West Country has been in production for a long time and Hornby should have recovered its development costs.  It is also more expensive that Bachmann's "Tornado" which has a recommended retail price of £199.95.  For these reasons I have not bought one although our local railway club is modelling the Severn Valley Railway.  I wonder how many models of "Elizabeth ll" Hornby will sell. If it turns into a Hattons bargain next year I might buy one.

 

Give or take a tenner, that's the current RRP for Hornby Light Pacifics in general, and the non-rebuilt model goes back a few years further. 

 

Personally, I think it looks hideous (far worse than the Hogwarts red once carried by the same loco) and the only reason I'd get one (however cheap it got) would be as a spares donor!

 

John

Edited April 22, 2022 by Dunsignalling

[TomScrut]

35 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

I think that £269.99 is too expensive for "Elizabeth ll" as the rebuilt West Country has been in production for a long time and Hornby should have recovered its development costs.

 

Whilst I agree with the sentiment of what you're saying, I fully expect tooling will just be written down as capital expenditure and charged over a few years as a cost against the entire business, not just the item it is used to make and therefore the status of the tooling has no bearing on the price of the product*. So the tooling will have been paid off by whatever Hornby was selling in the few years after this first came out, and this will be paying for any recent tooling Hornby has done.

 

Maybe somebody who is an accountant will tell me if I am likely to be right or wrong (I aren't an accountant)!

 

Ultimately they are selling at £270 RRP given they have upped the run so why should they reduce it?

 

*there will still be reports etc as to how profitable the item is including the tooling, but the markup etc. will be based on the cost of the product and what price they feel it can be sold at.

Edited April 22, 2022 by TomScrut

[TomScrut]

1 hour ago, Pre Grouping fan said:

 

Hornby increasing the production run multiple times for the Captain Tom class 66 didn't stop them charging excess prices on eBay or Facebook 

 

Or people paying it for that matter! Especially when Bachmann were doing a better one (I have both BTW, have donated the Hornby one to the kids in case they get the bug).

 

The one I didn't understand was when Bachmanns CC model was being sold at a premium on eBay when it was available from Bachmann for less money including what it would cost to join the club!

Edited April 22, 2022 by TomScrut

[CUCKOO LINE]

31 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

No, but they have done another five or six runs of them with different numbers since, so I think demand should have  been well-and-truly sated by now....

 

The Purple WC is really for the Royal Memorabilia fans and the Hornby collector market. It'll have a pretty narrow (SVR unless it goes visiting) and short-lived (until it gets tatty enough to need painting again) application on model railways as (AFAIK) the loco is no longer fitted out to work over the national network.

 

John

SVR have already said it will be repainted in the Autumn when it goes under some needed maintenance

[No Decorum]

2 hours ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Perhaps you are thinking of William of Orange, celebrating his arrival in Brixham.

So it would have to be another West Country loco. Perhaps number 1688?

 

 

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/William-Of-Orange/

A good guess but the one I was thinking of is still alive and keeps disappearing and (sadly) reappearing.

[Robin Brasher]

40 minutes ago, TomScrut said:

 

Whilst I agree with the sentiment of what you're saying, I fully expect tooling will just be written down as capital expenditure and charged over a few years as a cost against the entire business, not just the item it is used to make and therefore the status of the tooling has no bearing on the price of the product*. So the tooling will have been paid off by whatever Hornby was selling in the few years after this first came out, and this will be paying for any recent tooling Hornby has done.

 

Maybe somebody who is an accountant will tell me if I am likely to be right or wrong (I aren't an accountant)!

 

Ultimately they are selling at £270 RRP given they have upped the run so why should they reduce it?

 

*there will still be reports etc as to how profitable the item is including the tooling, but the markup etc. will be based on the cost of the product and what price they feel it can be sold at.

If they are selling at £270 there is no reason for Hornby to reduce it.  I am surprised that people are buying it when many people have to chose between heating their homes or buying enough food and a purple West Country locomotive is only appearing on one preserved line for a limited time.  It looks like a lot of people are applying Rule 1. Lots of people are moaning about the cost of Hornby locomotives but are still buying them.  

 

Either the Hornby King locomotives did not sell well or Hornby made too many of them but I would have thought that more people would buy a King locomotive that ran on many main lines than a repainted West Country that is just running on one preserved line for a short time.

 

[Robin Brasher]

7 minutes ago, No Decorum said:

A good guess but the one I was thinking of is still alive and keeps disappearing and (sadly) reappearing.

I think that Hornby should present him with an "Elizabeth ll" locomotive.  Money does not always buy happiness but a purple locomotive to remind him of his grandmother might.

[Phil Parker]

5 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

I am surprised that people are buying it when many people have to chose between heating their homes or buying enough food and a purple West Country locomotive is only appearing on one preserved line for a limited time.

 

Why? There 67 million people in the UK. Some will have more money than others.

 

6 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

Lots of people are moaning about the cost of Hornby locomotives but are still buying them.

 

Funny that. But then RMweb has many thousands of members, some who are less worried about the cost of a loco than others. And some who just like to make a noise!

[6990WitherslackHall]

I think it looks nice. 

[melmerby]

Those moaning about the price might like to know that some of the price is going to charity.