I just had a tour of a few model railroad retailers located in the UK.
The bulk of what they sell is English, Bachmann has a large presence in the HO/OO market as does Hornby and Rivarossi.
In the whats new sections I was amazed to see so many steam locomotives, there were mainly in the English/Europeon locomotive models.
No wonder there seems to be so few new steam offerings in the steam locomotive market. I assume that Bachmann does the same thing in European market as it does in the North American market. Do a run of a particular locomotive wait a few years then do another run.
I see now why Kader decided to sent some of their customers to other manufacturers.
I think that Kader must have a tough time just doing all of the Europeon locomotives and running stock for the many Bachmann Items, plus the Asian market place is also huge.
It makes sense to see fewer North American locomotves and running stock being produced when there is a much larger European market, plus the Asian Market.
Actually, Bachmann’s North American production/sales model has NOT been as you describe. Bachmann has come out with new items, and then generally kept them in nearly constant supply with consecutive production runs for several to many years.
Get 5 years worth of their catalogs and notice the same items year after year. Then after a good long run, they start winding down production and selling out.
The Heavy Mountains were in steady supply for nearly a decade, the 2-8-0 for nearly 2 decades. The 2-6-6-2, counting both versions, is now approaching a decade of production, and so on…
Gaps in availablity of any of these locos have been short or isolated to the best selling roadnames between shipments from China.
I don’t know what their production capacity is, but considering all the different m
Agreed, a company doesn’t go public unless it has backing, history, expectancy to ‘bank on’ (from the point of view of investors), and a somewhat consistent and popular product line. There must be the expectation that people will buy shares that increase in value and/or that provide a reasonable dividend from time to time.
Completely agreed. AMWAY is in the fortune 250 and privately held. Personally, I think the country and the world would be better off with fewer publicly held companies, but that’s a topic for a different forum.
I have looked at a few Bachmann catalog’s both North American and Europeon and it is my impression that there are fewer Bachmann HO products in production now than in previous years.
I am amazed at how many different HO/OO locomotives are made by Bachmann for the European market, the steam locomotives available in the UK are four or five times the number available in North America, looks to be about the same for diesels and electrics as well.
Let us not forget the booming Asian market, the Asian market is THE market for now and the next ten years. It seems that the middle class are alive and doing well everywhere except in North America. It is the middle class that historically was the main consumer of goods.
Actually having less Bachmann products is good for the other HO importers/manufacturers such as BLI and Walthers.
Seeing that Rivarossi/Hornby is only shipping a few items to North America why not Bachmann? It makes sense to concentrate on where the market is.
I would agree, and given the state of the economy over the last three years, sounds like smart business to me.
But I would also suggest, that unlike companies like BLI, Bachmann will quickly ramp up if sales and economic conditions suggest it is a good move.
Even with a more conservative approach recently, Bachmann still has a nice selection overall, and still makes trains first - then sells them. And there seems to be no indication that will change.
Remember, with an economic turnaround, Bachmann could likely put many of those previous models back on the shelves in 6 months if they saw a demand.
From what I see, BLI is still cash straped as they have been from day one. No need for me to repeat my distain for the “preorder”, “sell out before you make it”, “limited production”, “HO scale highrail mentality” marketing that I consider a scam and bad for the hobby - but here goes.
From where I sit, BLI is a company that makes high priced collector toys rather than model railroad equipment. What is the difference? There is no difference in the product, BLI product is as good as anyone in this business. It is in how their marketing treats their customers - the “thrill” of the new release, the anticipation, the delivery, the big score…and the blowout sale in 6 months so we can pay the Chinaman for the next container full.
I’m more the “that’s a nice loco with good reviews and been on the market a while before I buy one” kind of guy. I’m the guy that has had the same garden tractor for 17 years and plans to keep it the rest of my life. I’m a pre planner when building model trains, spending money, etc. I am not “turned on” by every next new thing. I don’t get “bored” with stuff and sell it off to buy the next new thing.
I’ve been planning, building, and acquiring the models needed for
I think it is time to reconsider BLI’s financial postion.
BLI has brought more new steam locomotives to market in the last year than any other importer/manufacturer. They must be doing something right.
Just because you were in your opinion mistreated by BLI in the past is no reason to keep harping on your opinion of their cash flow. You make it sound like they could fold up and begone tomorrow.
I would buy more BLI steamers in a minute if they would bring to market more UP and GN steam engines. I recently purchased a set of their CZ cars to go with a set of CB&Q F units I purchased years ago. I would have purchased the CZ cars before but they were in very short supply and if you could find them many vendors wanted an outrageous premium. for them.
I also bought a few sets of the Rapido Canadian and the BLI coaches do not match them in the same level of detail but they are in my opinion second to Rapido and far more detailed and better running than the Walthers coaches currently being marketed.
I have a number of their 2-8-2’s heavy and light models as well as a few UP 4-8-2’s and I have not been disappointed in their performance since I acquired them. Great running and sounding engines.
Don, Respectfully I would submit that BLI is primarily a locomotive manufacturer who dabbles a little in rolling stock. So comparing them to companies like Walthers, Athearn, Bachmann or Intermountain is comparing apples to oranges. The smallest of those companies have 10 times the product in the market at any given minute compared to BLI. Those other companies make model trains in proportion to a train - a selection of 30 cars for every loco.
I have no problem with BLI product from a quality standpoint. I do own 10 of the their locos, one is the recent Pacific. But many of their diesels have disappointed me detail wise.
Wait, so western road modelers are train collectors? and passenger train owners are collectors? that seems a bit odd, and unneeded.
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Between BLI and Bachmann I’d buy locomotives from both I enjoy the one Bachmann loco on my roster as I also enjoy the one BLI locomotive on my roster. given the roadname and money I’d buy from both, a GN 2-8-8-2 would be a great addition to my roster from Bachmann Spec. and a GN E7(if BLI makes one) would also be a great edition.