I am no longer active in Model Railroading as of current. I’m uncertain if I will return as I have returned to flying R/C airplanes. My question is; Since Horizon Hobbies took over the Athearn and MDC Roundhouse product lines, are they offering kits anymore? Generally, how is the market for rolling stock kits in HO today (locos, freight and passenger cars)? Whom among the many manufacturers offering HO products is offering kits, how strong is the kit’s position in the hobby’s market?
One of the reasons I left model railroading was that it appeared the modeling aspect of the hobby was being phased out by RTR. However, I’m finding the modeling aspect is not the strong suit in R/C Model Airplanes, either.
As of now Athearn is offering the MDC cars as RTR…RTR seems to be the current market demand.You can still buy freight car kits from Accurail,Athearn,Branch Line and Intermountain.
It looks like MDC products are only available pre-decorated and RTR. Their site says:
“Roundhouse rolling stock is ready to operate right out of the box”.
Which is too bad, I liked getting undec MDC ore cars and cabooses to use for my freelance railroad, and their 36’ boxcars and reefers are great for lettering with Clover House’s old-time dry-transfers.
Athearn is still making their rolling stock in kit form, but Roundhouse is fully assembled. You can also purchase many Athearn items as fully assembled, Ready To Run (RTR} models.
I think Athearn will eventually do away with their blue box kits if they don’t sell enough of them. Too many people today want instant gratification by purchasing a RTR model, even though most of the blue box kits can be put together in 15 minutes or less.
The trend I find even more discouraging is the increasing popularity of RTR buildings. And close on their heels; RTR modular layouts! Does anybody do real modeling any more?
If I recall correctly, Horizon has or had a policy of selling only to “Brick and Mortar” hobby shops and excluded on-line only retailers, which judging from the threads here may be a shot in their own foot in terms of volume distribution. In addition the acquistion of Athearn and its Round House subsidary lead to confusion by the hobby shops regarding availability of kits that lead to some excellent “closeout sales” of kits at the hobby shop level. Horizons entry into Model Railroading was, I believe, further complicated by the fact that many LHS were not part of their network for distribution, and, I suspect, was a new market for Horizon personel further complicating the change over in distribution. When Walthers dropped the line from their catalog, probably viewing Horizon as a competitor, or Horizon not wanting a competitor distributing “their products” (another gun shot wound in the other foot), we and the LHS assumed that the kits were “gone”. I think that Athearn’s own marketing efforts through their own web site and attendance at train shows have reestablished their presence in the kit market. The problem with the current situation is locating a good reliable outlet for the modeler who is reluctant to pay full retail at either the LHS level or at the Athearn web site.
At any rate, the kits are still in production and available with a bit of search on the web or at your LHS. I would be interested in the comments on availability of these items from the members of the forum who are " in the trade" with regard to this.
The information that Will has is similar to what I heard from a rep who said that the kits are in production, but the LHS’s seem to be favoring the RTR–or for some other reason not picking them up [like Horizon pushing RTR–me talking]. However, this particular rep seemed to be new–at least new to the MDC line.
Athearn/Horizon has never said a word about ever discontinuing the blue box kits.
When Athearn got MDC/Roundhouse, they split that line at 1941. Former Roundhouse kits of prototypes produced after 1941 have already appeared as Athearn blue box kits…although not too many…I’m only remembering 3 bay open hoppers and some 50’ boxcars at the moment…they are the kits with five digit item numbers on the label.
Any cars built prior to 1941 fall into the “Golden Age” category and indeed these are now only available as RTR.
Not all hobby shops have given up on kits. IMHO those that have are shortsighted at best.
RTR has not completely taken over this hobby.
Horizon and Walthers are like Coke and Pepsi. They don’t sell each others products.
Horizon does sell to internet-only retailers, although they (thankfully) have…supposedly…very strict guidelines on what constitutes an on-line retailer.
Horizon, along with Walthers and Stevens International and others, are interested in keeping the brick-and-mortar stores going, as far as I can tell.
Athearn just sent out an Athearn news announcing the kit production schedule for this year, as others have noted. They did mention that some kits will be produced that have not been in production for a while.
My LHS has about a 50/50 ratio of RTR vs. kits. They carry all the latest BB kits.
At another LHS, now closed, they carried no kits. An employee there thought it was a mistake. He recalled that before guys would come in; buy glue, plastic, a magazine etc. They would always buy a BB kit or two. He said the RTR was moving off the shelves much slower.
A few weeks ago I went to my favorite Model Railroading Hobby Shop in the twin cities. I had not been there in a few years, as the R/C hobby shop close by precludes a need to go to the twin cities. I was very disappointed in the trends I saw taking place in this hobby shop! Much of the R/C and model railroading portions have been lost to cast metal collectables, role playing games and just plain toys! The place had more incommon with Toys"R"Us, then a hobby shop. What was offered in the model railroading department was RTR and in the R/C department was Almost Ready to Fly, or Ready To Fly airplanes.
I think “Model” as a word to describe Model Airplanes and Model Railroading, should probably be removed from the names of these activities! I’ve always been a modeller and I don’t care for the direction all this is headed.
The only MDC kits I’ve seen at my LHS are the pre-Athearn stuff with the push in trucks and the X2F couplers. I avoid those kits if at all possible. That’s ok because he has a small mountain of Athearn BB stuff that I can dive into.
yes people do a lot of real modeling…but some such as myself because of age and disabilities can’t do it anymore.the last two kato loco’s i bought …well the handrails were a quite a chore for me.and speaking of rtr buildings i have two of walther’s and they are very nice.i saw a couple from woodland scenics at the train show in kc,mo last saturday and they are extremely nice imo and well detailed with all the extra’s already in place.terry…
Unfortunately, I think Athearn is not doing anything to help sells of its kits. So far, all of the former MDC modern cars released as Athearn cars have been released as RTR if it has a prototye and as Blue Box if it does not have one. Also, when is the last time Athearn made its container cars or Pullman Standard boxcars as kits? I would guess that there are higher profit margins in RTR than in kits and Athearn has decided to offer the cars they think will be higher sellers only as RTR. I can’t fault them for that, they are in business to make money. But it certainly is unfortunate for those of us who like kits. At least they still offer their 57’ reefers, PS covered hoppers, Center-flow hoppers, FMC boxcars, and ACF boxcars as kits.
Not all of us are hung up on prototypes. If I like the way a car looks, I’ll get it. If it’s not based on a prototype, so what? That won’t stop me from enjoying it.
Jeff,I been building MDC kits since the late 50s and I never seen a MDC/Roundhouse car with push in trucks…Are you referring to Accurail since they use truck pins?
Possibly Larry, possibly. I’ve built so many kits over the years I don’t pay much attention to the makers anymore. With the condition I’m in now, I don’t build many kits anymore, as I have difficulty working with small parts. Most of what I get now is pre-assembled. Now that you mention it, it is the Accu-rail kits I hate so much. I know I gave up on MDC kits for some reason, I just can’t remember why at the moment.