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Athearn discontinues Blue Box model kits
This news has hit me hard, as about 98% of the rolling stock on my personal layout were the blue-box kits. I just hope I can purchace the last of the in-stock kits that my local hobby shop is carrying. I can see mysef a few years from now and looking back, thinking of how much fun I had building those rail cars and the few locomotive kits I had and whishing I could do it all again to feel the satisfaction of sitting down and, in one evening,
having a new string of railcars sitting in a siding and thinking “I built those kits from their strait from the box condition into these masterpieces that ride around this rail-empire that I built,” Sadly, this news has also meant another thing to me: my hobby budget just got tighter. Solong to the days of good-quality kits for any skill level.
Athearn has always been considered an easy kit to build and therfore good for modifying & kitbashing; not highly detailed but rugged and great for operating.It’s too bad that we are going away from building cars (and buidings ) and buying them ready to use.
Sadly another supplier has to bite the bullet! This time the production costs of “packaging” is the fly in the ointment. You have my sympathy and we are the suckers! Strength to the remaining assemblers. Okko, Napier South Africa.
This will be a disappiointment as I ahve used the “Blue Box” kits for a variety of projects, not only assebling as is but using parts for extensive kit bashing. Un fortunately the price I have been paying for the kits has risen and it is notthat much cheaper than the complete items. I fell for Okko in South Africa who has other supply problems in South Africa due the excahnge rates.
How much of their staement is fact or is it just cost cutrting and inventory reduction?
CHRIS
That stinks.
You have got to be kidding me right? Quote " in a press release the firm cites that increased manufacturing and labor costs have caused it to no longer be able to sell the kits at competitive prices compared to its assembled products." That means that they don’t want to keep a product line that is cost effective for the everyday modeler and instead want you to buy the RTR products that they charge 3 to 4 times as much for. I’m no genius but you would have more cost involved in the RTR line instead of the Blue Box kits… Just my two cents.
This is truely a tragedy. After I exhaust my stockpile of the kits, I’ll have to come up with something else to do to relax until the day I can settle down and start building a layout. I guess Accurail and the handful of other kit makers will start receiving more of my business.
Just more jobs going to China!!!
Thats all it is people. like it or not its just the way it is.
This could be considered a good thing. Maybe Athearn is stopping the line because the Bluebox kits cant compete in the current market. Could they be getting rid of the line to start a new kit line in the future? One with higher details and lower production costs? I love the idea of being able to buy kits, but that kit needs to be of the highest quality with ALL the detail parts one would seek. Thanks.
I started with Athearn back in the YELLOW box days. This is bad news for those of us who to to build things with our hands.
Another case for instant gratification by the X Y and Z generations.
So now instead of putting together a 40 or 50 car train of shake the box models we will be buying a 7 to 10 car train of ready to run models for about the same price. We will soon be able to count on investments $1200 dollars per train if we want to run long freight trains.
Look for all of the future production to leave California and go to China so it can be cost effective. I for one will be sad to see those blue box kits go away as they were great for the cost, even if they had to go up in price a good bit they would still be a bargain.
I agree with the earlier comment regarding instant gratification. Hobbyists are no longer hobbyists as we know the term. The hustle and bustle of today’s world has led people to demand more detail in a run from the box package. Nobody wants to take to time to build something that could take more than a few hours. This attitude has left those of us who model on a budget out in the rain since the days of low-cost kits (that are great foundations for superdetailing) are essentially gone. Even Bachmann Trains has gotten away from it’s kits to some degree as most hobby shops I have visited stock more Bachmann Built-Ups than they do kits. I am a strong supporter of the Athearn Blue-Box kits and to hear that they are discontinued IMMEDIATELY left me wondering if Athearn has forgotten about the people who put them where they are today. Of course, when Athearn was purchased by Horizon Hobby, I knew that was the end of Athearn as we knew it. At least Walthers still offers good kits at reasonable prices…
It’s just sad, seeing these go. I gotta go to a hobby shop REALLY SOON so I can experience putting one of those together.
I have been thinking about the delema I am in with the discontinuation that I am in with this discontinuation of the Blue box kit line and have come to the realization that the $60.00/ month I have been normally placing toward my hobby will only be able to allow me 3 RTR rail cars, if I only get the cheepest cars that are of moderately good quality. Unfortunately, with those RTR cars,they has about the same level of detail as one of the Athern kits. The big difference, the RTR cars must first be disassembled to properly add the level of detail that any model railroader would want to make an accurate replica of a rail car. With that said, It would be safe to say that, at least with me, RTR now means Ready To Rebuild.
looks like we will have to start scouring the likes of Ebay once the Hobby shop shelves have run dry…
Another slice of model railroading history bites the dust… So many of us were introduced into HO Scale by the readily available and affordable Athearn BB kits. They gave a good bang for the buck, they were reliable and could be easily upgraded if the modeler chose to do so. They were the standard of their time. Maybe they don’t have all the grab irons and cut levers but they are sturdy and their parts are not easily broken off. I’ll miss them.
Youch! I guess I will be hitting my local hobby shop soon and snap up any of the blue box Athearn and Roundhouse kits that fit in my transition-era plans. Looking at the prices for locomotives in the rtr line confirms to me that they’ve priced themselves out of the market segment I live in. The freight car prices are routinely about $10 more than I’m willing to pay. The kits will probably vanish from train shows this fall. It’s a good thing I’ve got about 40 kits in my garage.
It’s getting tougher to bring a kid into this hobby, especially when you ought to plan on dropping as much for a starter layout as for a Sony Playstation3 and a couple of games. Heck, a couple of old 1950’s Lionel plastic cars and locomotives are going to be cheaper than one new Athearn plastic locomotive.
A very sad day , as a retailer in South Africa the price of our trains just doubled. The hobby is already struggling with our poor exchange rate and economoc hard times and now the best value for money kit has dissapeared. Athearn you are making a mistake!!!
Its sad. You would be surprised at the number of people that thought the bluebox went a few years ago. Me included. I could sware that the there were many discussions on groups a couple years go about it ending. This is a surprise to hear it is now going. If i had known it was still around, I would have bought more. Then again, I have not seen the line in hobbyshops or online in years. SO where were they selling it? That might be the problem as to why they had to stop it. Alot of people thought it was long gone and no place sold the line in a few years.
It is sad, how can new comers and kids afford ready to run? I am on a tight budget, how am i supposed to afford rtr?