Ok how much better if any are the new RTR locos compared to the BB ones of a few years ago??? Seems the cost has more than doubled on some and why would you buy an Athearn RTR at the same price or close to a Proto 2000 model??? Sure there are discounters and the internet to buy from but even at a 20% discount $80 for an RTR vs. the BB at $40. Seems everyone wants at least $100 o matter what they are selling but $100 for a put to gether BB seems like a price gouge.
RMax1
I thought the same when I saw a pair of original Athearn F-7 A nd B units in one package at the LHS a while ago. It was $100.00 Canadian. Sure they had Kadee clone couplers and the painting/.lettering was better than the old BB ones, but a hundred bucks? The A unit was powered, the B unit wasn’t .
Thanks but no thanks!
Bob Boudreau
See I know they have made some upgrades like dcc harness and motor upgrades. They have added nicer couplers(big deal so have the cheapie cars out there) but have they made enough improvements. I have bought Athearn stuff for a long time but now that they are twice the price are they twice as good… If so great I will continue to buy them be it not as many. I have a problem paying twice the money for nothing. I have not bought a RTR loco but have bought some of the cars. The cars are not really worth the extra money. Pretty much the same car just put together.
RMax1
No, most new Model Railroaders have gotten used to the $100+ plastic diesels, so the marketing types at Athearn/Horizon figure if the bring in their RTR at a little under $100 they will make a killing. Although they will only see my money for the DTI GP-35’s and not much else, and I still have to modify them to make them correct.
Rick
On the GP38-2 and the gp40-2 and SD40-2, they are just decorated blue boxes, but the SD50 and 60 are sharp, and GP35 is nice too. I am a big Athearn supporter, and I think they are getting better.
Yikes!!
I agree with you all on this one.
One thing though, are these prices due to Athearn setting the MSRP? Or, is it just that some dealers have decided to mark them up considerably higher, especially if they’re in an area where customers normally pay higher than retail prices.
Here in Florida there is an attractive LHS that charges higher than normal prices on many HO items. (No! Not Happy Hobo, thankfully) But customers come in droves due to good marketing and the twice yearly train shows it puts on.
Regarding: Modelers used to paying the $100 plus for plastic locomotives.
I guess I’ve been very fortunate as I have yet to pay $100 for a locomotive. Though it may happen if it’s a unit that I have no other way of getting. I’ve gotten several brand new units on Ebay and I wait for my LHS owner to put some units on sale.
As I stated on another thread, my big turn-off to my continued support of Athearn locos was listening to a few Athearn Genesis six axle units my wife’s cousin bought. There was that infamous “Growwwwwwwl”. No big deal, until he tells you he paid over $100 each! Since then he’s switched over to LL P2Ks.
That’s a rip, they should both be powered for that price, and the kadee clones aren’t anything to be proud of, they break if you put them in a tight spot, they just aren’t as strong as the real ones.
TODAY’s dollar 'aint what it used to be.
Athearn big time improved the paint job and the motor. Mold’s from RPP has given them some new Diesels.
‘Marketing’? They are looking at Proto 2000’s ‘backside.’ YOU will decide what you will buy and spend - with today’s dollars.
RMax1 I agree with your assessment … but then what do I know? You’ll find much more by checking out the topic “Poor Athearn! I like them, but they keep missing the knocks of opportunity!” originally posted on this forum by AntonioFP45 on 18 Apr 2005.
You’ll find all sorts of commentary … form your own opinions, of course. Gets kind of “personal” with some respondents.
See ya![tup][;)]
I currently have both BB and Proto 2000. The Proto 2000’s just far out class the Athearns on many levels. Athearn has some new things coming out that look nice the SD45T-2 for example and a new GP38-2 MKT. The SD from what i here is very nice the GP is same old same old maybe??? Normally I have no problem spending the money for a nice Proto 2000. The Athearns I would buy in quanitiy and work them over real hard. Now I will have to buy far less and if I have to make a choice the Proto 2000 wins and the Athearn will lose almost every timeunless there is something there of equal or better value.
RMax1
RMax1 I’m serious, check out that thread …
SiberianMO, Rmax1,
Hopefully you’ll see this message. I went ahead and pulled that topic to the front page.
Hope this helps!
Boy, I’m sorry you guys all seem to be holding something against Athearn…
“They’ve hiked up their MSRPs”
Who hasn’t these days? Most Athearn RTR and Genesis Items are still a considerable amount less than todays P2Ks. A good example would be an Athearn RTR SD50 for $67.00 versus a P2K SD50 for $85.00 at First Hobby of Decuater, IL. And, IMO, the deatail is as good if not better than the P2Ks! Athearn’s got my money on this one!
“The detailing really isn’t better than the old BBs”
Open your eyes! Compare a BB SD40-2 to an RTR SD40-2! You CAN see the difference!
“The new Genesis units still growl. And I payed over $100 for one!”
Is that a problem to you? That $100 may have been a dissapointment in the noise category, but think about the detail, the power and the reliability! Really, how many people have had serious problems with Athearns?
So buy what you like. But for now, I’ll put my money and trust in the reliability and reputation of Athearn.
Antonio,
I didn’t mean any harm when I said fools. I really don’t think it’s an offensive word, but I’ll change it anyhoo.
Although I like to find good deals and cheaper model items as much as the next guy, I don’t fault a manufacturer like Athearn charging what the market will bear on an item instead of way underpricing it.
Sure, I remember when I first got into the hobby I could get an Athearn loco for $15 (1967) but when I look at the new SD45T2 they just came out with, I’m glad to pay $100 for it. The detail is wonderful, it comes fully DCC ready with 2 different decoder plug options, and it runs nice.
I don’t fault Athearn for making as much as they can (want them to stay in buiness) but if their stuff was priced much below everything else, that would convey the impression their version is a cheap (read: shoddy) option compared to getting a cadillac like an Atlas or Kato.
All along the way I’ve seen Athearn improve their drives and their detail. They moved to enclosed motors, flywheels, improved gearing, finer details, scale width hoods on new models – all with very little price increase. Meanwhile, the market moved on and loco prices steadily climbed while Athearn’s prices stayed pretty flat.
So I have enjoyed it while it lasted, but it’s actually long overdue. And if it keeps the business side of the hobby attactive enough they’ll keep making all this great stuff, then that’s a good thing.
I have to agree with Joe on this one. In buying a SD70MAC, the Athearn model for $100 at a train show was a much better deal to me than the identical model from KATO for $30-50 more. Around here in Nebraska, I find the Athearn/Genesis new stuff competitively priced with the new P2Ks, and I would have gone with the RTR SD60s instead of the P2Ks if they had come out sooner. I can’t fault Athearn for thier pricing, my only grieveance is that they should have started sooner!
We love to complain about prices in this hobby, but $100 for a locomotive doesn’t sound too bad when you consider I have two Trix cabooses at $40.00+EACH, and one Intermountain ATSF caboose at $40.00+. If a caboose is worth $40.00 then a locomotive is easily worth $100.00. Back in the Athearn loco for $15.00 days a caboose was…what…maybe three or four dollars. That made the engine worth three point 75 times the caboose price. With a $40.00 caboose the $100 locomotive is worth two point five times the caboose price. Doesn’t look so bad with the lights on.
Cheers,
Ed
I have personal requirements for a locomotive to operate, it has to be able to move at a crawl, and yet have a decent run speed. A lot of early models were train set stuff that run in circles around the christmas tree, but I for one am glad to see real quality models come out.
LifeLIke’s 2-8-4 does this, very impressed, I have always modified my rivarossi locos to slow down with NWSL gearing, glad to see the hobby wake up.
I have a RR E8 all apart looking for a decent drive train, now I am ready to trash it.
on another end BLI has come out with the N&W hopper, what, 30 bucks or something for a hopper? no way.
but there are people out there richer than me, those who buy brass.
I think you’re going to see changes in Athearn to up their quality from their old standards, seeing all the competition coming out with quality models and people are buying them, and quite frankly, I have several Rivarossi steamers, and I plan to switch to the near BLI/Proto/BachPlus equivelents.
Athearn will have to change to stay with it, but I hope they keep prices reasonable.
There dead, well not yet. But Athearn is losing its foot hold fast. I do not expect them to be around in 5 years. I feel the RTR line has some very serious problems. Every piece of Athearn RTR I have been given, (I hold it in such contempt I refuse to buy it) has had to be completly taken apart and reworked. I have had problems like 1. Wheels majorly out of gauge. (On one Refridgerator car, the wheels could almost fit HOn3 track. ) Cars not assembled correctly, Cars falling to pieces as soon as they have been taken out of the box. They used to be the standard of the hobby. I hang out in Accurail land now. I mean I had less problems from Bachmann equipment in the 1980s which everyone here will probably agree was out right junk. The only exception I will make to my Athearn RTR is they do now make the F-7 AB set in Big Sky Blue that I am seriously considering. But Big Sky Blue will probably be its only redeeming quality.
James.
I agree that athearn is a rip in some areas, rtr F7 sets being one of them. but they also have made some excellent equipment in the last 2 or 3 years, like the F59PH, CF7, GP60M, and Bombardier cars, all of which I own.