Read the full story on MR Express: http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/005/590xsdqq.asp
So, if I understand right, HH will now be the only distributor for Athearn, MDC, and Intermountain?
If so, looks like Walthers is getting some competition…There’s a couple big names there with Athearn and MDC
The wording on that announcement is a bit odd, Horizon will be their exclusive distributor, but they’ll still do direct distribution to hobby stores?
Anyway, I wouldn’t mind this if Horizon’s website were easy to search, but as it is I’m not encouraged.
I guess I’m spoiled. I like being able to look through a Walther’s catalog and seeing just about everything that I would want or need for model railroading.
I’m not putting Horizon down, but I honestly don’t see the big advantage of these model railroad manufacturers going with Horizon instead of Walthers. I’m only assuming that Walthers didn’t offer to buy or merge with Athearn and MDC.
While I’m no longer purchasing Athearn locomotives, I am interested in IM freight cars and wheel sets.
IMHO, I do feel that unless Horizon is marketing their model railroad line “agressively” many modelers will continue to turn to Walthers for their trains and related products.
I agree with AntonioFP45 in the sense that I too like one-stop-research in one catalog, but at the rate things are going the 2010 Walthers Catalog will be little more than a Cornerstone advertising pamphlet…
Horizon Hobby online search suks. As does that on Athearn site.
You can only get away with crappy website if you have rock-bottom prices, like TrainWorld. Otherwise in this day and age it is inexcusable.
Guys,I gotta disagree about Horizon’s on line search…I find it very simple to use like I do Athearn’s.[:D]
As far as the Walther’s catalog I have not bought one in ages because to me it was over price and usually outdated when it hit the hobby shop shelf.I much prefer Walther’s on line catalog as its always updated.
Guys, I can go to my LHS and get Walthers stuff cheaper than in the catalog. So much for buying direct from the manufacturer, huh?
I certainly concur that the Horizon web site is horrible. THe Walthers web site was pretty bad at first, but they have wokred steadily on it and from about a year or so ago its excellent, especially the in-stock information. I’ve seen no evidence that Horizon wants people to use its site; they certainly have done little or nothing to improve it.
Looks like Horizon Hobbies is aiming to be a competitor to Walthers. It will be interesting to see if this good for the hobby.
Enjoy
Paul
Horizon’s first attempt at improving Athearn’s website wasn’t very good. The second attempt, which is used now, I find to be very simple to use.[:D]
I wonder how Intermountain will do with Horizon? They’ll probably stop making kits, even if I never did buy any. At least they’re keeping the Athearn kits. I might get a GP-7 one day.[:D]
What does that mean for on-line distributers like Discount Trains Online? Will Intermountain products still be available through them? I like to reduce the “shipping overhead” by building up a good-sized list before I order, and I never order single products for the same reason. If Intermountain takes themselves off the catalog at Discount Trains, they will be making harder for many people to buy their products.
I suppose that if we consider Discount Trains and Walthers as “retailers,” then the story indicates the relationship with Intermountain may continue.
Also, this might help those LHS’s that are having trouble meeting the “Horizon Quota” of monthly sales by adding Intermountain products to the Athearns, if they allow that to happen.
I’m an InterMountain dealer and I have absolutely no problem getting my orders filled. BTW this announcement was on the InterMountain web-site at least 6 months ago.
We are just going to have to sit back and wait I guess. I will miss all the items Walthers does not show in there catalog like Athearn, MDC, and now IM. Maybe Horizon will come out with a catalog. My biggest concern is that HH first thing a few years back was to get all the dealers on ebay shut down, no online selling was going to be there policy. There main concern was going to be the LHS, which is great to a point. There are allot of online hobby stores out there that run sales and adds to help the hobby, your still seeing allot of new train items on ebay too! I guess us old timers are spoiled by the Walthers catalog and name that has been around for years.
As I understand it, one of the reasons you won’t find “rock-bottom” pricing on the Horizon Hobby or Athearn website is that they try not to compete with their retailers. The websites are more of a convenience for people who might not have an LHS or whose LHS doesn’t carry the lines.
Incidentally, Horizon isn’t the only distributor who operates this way.
This ‘Intermountain’ deal was old news at least as long ago as last summer. The interesting part appears that Intermountain wants to hold onto existing wholesale jobbers and dealers that they already have.
The Athearn/MDC ‘deal’ was a buyout of these manufacturers, and Horizon set themselves up as the only wholesale channel that a dealer could go through. The added caveat was that Horizon put several steep ‘rules’ on dealers. This effectively cut out many large and small mail order/train show type dealers who did not have a ‘store’ with published business hours. Before this buyout, a dealer go to Walthers or at least a dozen other wholesale jobbers to get Athearn product(and even order it direct at jobber prices if they were big enough). The dealers could work one distribution channel against the other to insure they got product and got it a a good price. Now it appears that all retail dealers must go though Horizon for Athearn/MDC products. And if you are a dealer who did not have a ‘relationship’ with Intermountain before; you will be dealing with Horizon now. The same holds true of the Life-Like line now that Walthers owns it - They are the only ‘channel’ for getting those P2K engines…
Jim
So I was at the LHS on Sunday and a fellow customer expressed interest in the “Athearn Alco RS-3.” The guy behind the counter denied any such engine existed. I chimed in and said it not only existed but there had been one on his shelf just a few months earlier. Counterman said Athearn never made an Alco RS-3. I said correct but Roundhouse/MDC did and Athearn brought it out. Counterman admitted he sorta remembered such a thing. Then we tried to find out what was available. This LHS deals with Horizon and the guy had a box of literature but he gave up trying to find out what the deal was. A website good or bad at that point was not the point. Meanwhile the Walthers catalog was sitting right there … And a sale was lost …
Dave Nelson