Many of you have probably, like me, wondered just how model RR manufacturers decide on what models to make. We have all seen the complaints about another Big Boy or PRR Pacific posted here and elsewhere. But, does anyone have any real insight as to just what tools they use, besides a Ouija board, Lawn Darts, or dice? I am serious. Has anyone ever seen or heard of a real live marketing survey? BLI/PCM’s order meter is about the closest thing I have ever seen to such.
The latest decision by Bachmann to do a Van Swearingen Berkshire, when P2K had that base pretty well covered, or so I thought, pushed me over the edge I guess.
I am talking about the decision process. Please refrain from telling me you want small steam, an N&W 4-8-0, a Harriman steamer, an IC Mike, or whatever. I know it already, and while the manufacturers may not, it would seem they do not care either.
I’ve wondered about this too, and have even helped out manufacturers on a couple of projects. But HOW they decide on an engine is a complete mystery. Why is Bachmann running so much Ma & Pa steam? Probably because someone on their staff is a M&PA fan. Why did Proto decide to do “yet another” USRA engine? Probably because they were fishing around for something that hadn’t been done yet in plastic, and they were easily able to find the necessary documentation to crank one out.
And I think that’s the REAL key: data availability. It doesn’t do anyone any good to ask a manufacturer to produce “obscure whatsis 74532” without giving them something to back up the request. Manufacturers all work with VERY tight budgets and have small staffs that have to do 1001 other things; they don’t have the luxury of time to do a lot of unproductive research in their fishing efforts.
In addition, manufacturers need something that will SELL. Asking for a QS&FB Baldwin-built 4-4-4T (one of one engine made) isn’t going to fly, because the engine’s just too darned obscure. Any suggestion has to have some sort of mass appeal, whether it’s an engine that was widely used (USRA 0-8-0) or an engine with a known LARGE fan base (Big Boy).
Thankfully, I think we’re on the cusp of big doings in the HO scale model steam world. ALL of the USRA engines, with the exception of the heavy Pacific, have been done. Most of the big, popular artculateds (except the EM-1) have been done, often repeatedly. The only thing left is “obscure stuff” like those Harriman Mikes. Unfortunately, because the easy stuff has already been done, the manufacturer’s job has gotten harder, because they’ll now HAVE to find mass-appeal engines of lesser-known prototypes, and they’ll have to start doing more intensive research. Either that or just gove up on steam altogether.
But we can help. Just asking a manufacturer for model XYZ usually doesn’t do any g
I am just speculating; I have no experience in model manufacturing. Factors that go into selecting which models to produce (not in priority order):
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best guess as to likely sales. More likely than not to be wrong. Bill Ryan of PFM was always amazed that his best seller by far was an ATSF 2-8-0. More recently, P2K and BLI have made more than a couple of expensive mistakes with overly optimistic sales forecasts. Popular roads help here (think PRR, SF, UP). So do engines that were used by more than one road - USRA, Baldwin catalog designs.
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availability and consistency of accurate prototype information. This can be a real sales killer if there is conflicting information that comes to light (branding the model as “not accurate”) just as the model arrives in stock. To do a good model these days takes decent plans and multiple photographs from various angles. Are the photographs all from the same time period? Are major changes in the prototype chronicled sufficiently so that the model can be accurate for a given or several given time periods? Is there a surviving representative of the class? Does all this information to translate well into Chinese or Korean? The photograph and surviving representative issues, and the popularity of the transition era will drive the manufacturer to more modern versions of the prototype.
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bigger models are more profitable. MRs have a tendency to want to pay based on the number of driving wheels. Engineering a good 19th century 4-4-0 or 2-6-0 is actually more expensive than say the NKP 2-8-4. Yet, which are you (generic you) willing to pay more for?
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personal taste of the man in charge. If you owned a model railroad manufacturing or importing company, wouldn’t you make sure the models you liked got produced at some point?
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shared components and manufacturin