I was looking through an issue of Model Railroad news and saw two ads that really hit me. The first ad was for three 1950’s cars in “S” scale from Castline, Inc. highly detailed assembled with opening doors and hoods, plenty of chrome and glass. The other ad was for a new Athearn F-850 Flatbed truck in “HO” scale. It has good detail and was well painted also.
OK, here’s my point of contention. The “S” scale models were $5.00 each whereas the “HO” scale truck is priced at $19.98
The arguments for high prices on HO vehicles has been lack of volume ieading to higher prices to cover molding costs. Well “S” scale has a much smaller following than “HO” scale and yet the higher detailed larger “S” scale cars are 1/4 the truck price. So is Athearn gouging us or is Castline giving their product away?
Wwwweeeeelllllll—it’s like this–in comparing the two scales one has to take into consideration the ease which with “S” scale vehicles can be made vs the HO scale vehicles. There is so much more detail that has to be put into the smaller scale cars as there would be if it was “S” scale.
Besides—I’d bet Castline is getting them made in Viet-Nam--------[:-,][:-^]
Consider that S is pretty close in size to Hot Wheels/Matchbox and one can see that there is a lot of competition for value in that size range. Not to mention that those size cars are availible at any mass merchandiser meaning they make profit in volume. HO scale stuff is far less common in stores and has a mosre limited market. Remember Wally world was selling some 1:87 scale cars for about $3 each and their detail wasn’t bad. If the 1:87 cars were more readily availible then I would guess the pricing would drop.
I have quite a few of the HO-scale die-cast metal cars like the popular (both prototype and model) '56 Chevy and old-style VW vans and bugs. I got most of these at Walmart for under $2 each. I also have a few of the Athearn models from the 1930s. (I have a dual-era layout.) The Athearn cars are plastic, and cost in the $12 range. All of these are nice models, with good detail, rolling wheels and window glazing.
But, when I compare the prices, I’d have to say that Athearn has a very high markup on these things.
I just did a big order last night to MB Klein for some cars/trucks. They had a several different prices for HO. A crown vic “fire chief” Model Power was $2.99, Metal works was $5.99. I understand the price difference is due to name brands, but sometimes is it worth the $2+ dollar difference [:D].
Then I got a fire truck and it was $12.00. I thought that was kinda high, but it had some good detail. I also picked up a wrecker for $12.99 and that was down from $19.99. Plus I bought other items and cars.
I don’t buy many vehicles due to the price, just as I don’t buy to many “people” due to prices. I keep saying I want a “lobster dinner” but don’t due to the price…BUT…I will spend $100 on cars/people/buildings/etc…[:D]
I too have very few vehicles on my layout due to the high prices. I know there are quite a few reasonably priced cars and trucks available from various manufacturers and I stay away from the high priced stuff with one exception. My layout when finished will feature a good sized cement, concrete and rock facility based on some local Conrad Yelvington plants so I have been looking for decent but inexpensive cement mixers and other industry related trucks. At $20 or more pre truck so far my fleet consists of 2 trucks.
Perhaps one factor that explains the pricing difference is that there is already a robust collectors market for 1/64th die cast and model vehicles (Ertl, Norscot, etc) so the projected volume is large.
Selling to S scale model railroaders might well be pure icing on the cake.
I’m with you. I think Athearn is gouging us a bit. However saying that, I prefer high quality plastic models anyday and will pay extra for them. I prefer Busch,Wiking, and Promotex/Herpa. I’d rather have a few GREAT looking models than a bunch of cheap crap cars anyday. You get what you pay for, but I make sure to buy most of mine onsale.
Same with plastic people. Preisser is number One. I’ve got some woodland scenic figures as well. They’re OK, but not near as nice as Preisser. I usually put them in the background scenes.
And don’t get me started with people using matchbox cars on their HO layouts. 97% are out of scale and look ridiculous. (And I collect Matchbox), just not on my layout thankyou…
I’m not one to gripe about prices too much, but HO scale vehicle prices are too high for non operating models. Of course, nothing matches the ridiculous price for HO scale shipping containers. They’re literally one piece castings with a cheap floor piece that sell for upwards of ten bucks a pop. And unlike HO vehicles, you need literally dozens of them if you’re puttign together stack trains.
If I were looking at my 21" monitor on my desktop computer instead of this 15" monitor on my cheap laptop I might have recognised what that strip at the bottom of Mr Beasley’s post was.
About the vehicles, I guess that as long as we continue to purchase those high dollar vehicles they will keep raising the prices.
I agree that the prices of HO vehicles are higher than I would like. But a comparison between their prices and S or O prices may not have a valid basis. My reason is the level of detail… The HO vehicles tend to have higher detailing (FOR THEIR SIZE) than S or O vehicles. If the S or O vehicle had a high level of detailing, then they would likely be out of sight pricewise.
While the cost of the Athearn vehicles are high, they seem to be in line with railroad rolling stock with the same level of detail. If you were to take an older blue box Athearn truck and put on all the same details, it would be almost as exepnsive as the RTR version they put out.
S Scale (and O Scale) have vehicles in very popular sizes that have their own collectors.
Now for my vehicle rant. And this is not all inclusive but merely to point out a few things.
Even with some of the great vehicles out there right now, the 60’s still seem to be neglected except for the Athearn Mack B (really a 50’s truck) and Mack R as far as trucks go, and for cars, you can get almost any muscle car ever made in the late 60’s. Of course Classic Metal Works has some of the more family oriented cars for the period. We also have a glut of 50’s pickup trucks, quite a few modern and a smattering of 70’s, but look for the 60’s pickups and see what you find. And back to semis, I would still love to see some 358 and 359 Petes (and 351/352s) and some KW conventionals and COEs from same time period.
For their size has nothing to do with how hard it is to make them. Those S scale cars aren’t that much bigger but they had 4 times the detail at 1/4 the price. Maybe we should quit trying to defend price gougers and let them know we are mad as He!! and we aren’t going to take it any more.
Vehicles are always on my shopping list when ever I go to train shows. You can never have enough as far as I’m concerned. Unfortunately there seem to be two grades of HO scale vehicles really nice well detailed and real fake looking junk. You know the kind with the tires and wheels molded tot he body sort of like some of the model power stuff. I was digging through a large box of vehicles that I’ve acquired over the years and thought what in the heck was I going to do with all of the cheap looking one’s no one in their right mind would give me a plug nickle for the whole lot so my only solution was/is a junkyard of course. I’ve been working creating one on and off for about a year now and at least I’ve found justification for having that many poor quality vehicles. I know exactly where your coming form when you look through the Walther catalog and see a HO scale bus selling for in the $30 to $40 range one has to scratch his head and wonder why.Guess the HO auto makers didn’t get a bail out like the big boys did…lol
I mostly purchase Metal Classics/mini-metal vehicles. I just have not been able to appreciate Athearn’s plastic vehicles. In my personal opinion they pale in relation to Metal Classics. The buses being a good example. I really really wanted a Flixible but the Athearn versions look cheesey in comparison. VERY plasticy for the price.
Even being a big fan of Metal Classic’s stuff, I feel they too are priced too high and look for them on sale. I’m a 30’s-40’s era guy so I appreciate their selection in that period. I feel a little less gouged by M.C. than Athearn which must be much cheaper to manufacture and have much less detail.
Others probably disagree but I’ll only put Athearn vehicles (given no other choices) in the background when I mock up scenes.
I think volume has a lot to do with it. You can buy many varieties of 1/24…1/25 scale vehicle with excellent detail (opening doors, opening hood with a detailed motor for $8.00 - 10.00 in toy stores
There seems to be new interest in collecting 1/87 vehicles. People are probably running out of space. Altho the new Athearn vehicles are nice, I think they give the least for your buck. I was disappointed with my 2 model"A"s. I thought for the price they should have come with real spoked wheels
