Just wanted to get on a soapbox for a little bit and maybe start an
intelligent discussion concerning this topic...the state of model
railroading today. This is not intended to be an inflammatory post, or
to disrespect those in the industry who are laboring to try to build
better things for the model railroad public.
Intermountain just stated the other day they will be going to 'order
only' in the future. This is where quite a few other model railroad
companies are going and have done for many different releases.
Unfortunately, it leaves the public somewhat at a loss...if you don't
have the cash up front when they take orders, you may not get one (or at
a greatly increased cost due to demand). I have found myself victim of
this recently, when orders for the Con-Cor Zephyr were going in, I
wasn't sure at the time I had the extra cash to put down on one. Now
that I do, I don't have one...all the orders have shipped. I could
probably get one on eBay sooner or later, but I'm sure it will go for a
lot more that what I could have ordered one for through one of my contacts.
Here's the problems that the industry has currently.
1) Decreased demand - It's a known fact that kids rarely get model
trains anymore. And many people are doing other hobbies other than
model railroading...some probably partially due to train simulators on
computer. So the industry is faced with less people wanting their
products than it used to be.
2) Increased cost - research and dev for a realistic model can take many
hours. Many people demand more now than the Athearn 'blue box' kit.
All of this costs money, and then you have to figure in royalties to the
RR companies for logo use as well. I don't have any figures to hand,
but I wouldn't doubt that it probably can cost $10,000 just to get a
single realistic plastic model on the tracks. This figure is just a
shot in the dark, but thinking of all the hours taken to research, get
photos, talk to people, pay for royalties, get the mold and then set up
the production line I'm thinking that it's probably not TOO far off.
Maybe someone can correct me if they know.
3) Overstock - the industry has found that letting kits sit in
warehouses does not make money. So it's better for them to pay up front,
produce only those needed, and then get paid for every single one that
they roll off the production line.
However, all of these problems for the industries creates problems for
customers...
1) Understocked - obviously, if less are produced and you don't get in
on the front end of an order, you're not going to get one or get it at
an increased cost.
2) Loss of the 'simple' kit - I know that if I had to pay $30 for every
piece of rolling stock that I own, I'd have been in debt (and probably
divorced) a long time ago. Many items I have I've got from kits and
modified them to look more like the original, or just built them to run
and modify later (if I get around to it). I've got a nice amount of
rolling stock right now...but I'd say my *avg* price for ALL the items I
own is probably around $8 per unit. It doesn't cost me anything to
kitbash....just my time.
3) Higher cost - there are a ton of good models coming out now, but as
mentioned before, you have to be ready with the cash when the orders are
announced until the orders close. There have been weeks where I could
easily see myself spending $1000 or more per week because of the
announcement of a bunch of great items. While I get paid pretty well at
my job, there is no way I could justify that sort of expenditure on my
hobby...too many real-life things to buy. But if you look later, you
may be too late.
I don't really know what the answer is...but I just can't see what we
have now as being the right answer. Maybe others have some comments/ideas?
Cheers!
Jan Kohl
Castle Graphics
www.castlegraphics.com
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