When anyone complains about the present state of pre-orders and manufacturers not producing on time they should look at this cartoon:
Like it hasn’t always been that way? July 1950 Model Railroader
Harold
I just ordered the new Roundhouse 4-6-2 which was Announced 8/29/2008. Due end of THIS September.
Rich
ROTFLMAO!!!
I seen cartoons in other mags saying the same thing—but i guess that the trend, which has always been with us, appears to be growing. And that may be the issue here—not whether it just exists now or not.
And considering the proliferation of pre-orders in a climate of lawsuits----oi—we’s into some funtimes now–
Yep.
Everything old is new again.
Or is that the other way around?
Ah, but history does repeat itself!
Wow, so there “may be a chance” that we will see a New Haven FL9 and EP5 within the next decade! OK, now I can relax knowing that they’re in the works.[:P][banghead]
Ah, but history does repeat itself!
Yup, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.
Andre
Why wouldn’t history’s events repeat over and over? It is the same “bozos” setting in motion actions that determine history’s path. THEY all KNOW they can beat the system.
The human animal repeats itself.
History
So much for evolution…
Tom
When I went to preorder a pair of the new Atlas Dash-8’s the delivery dates was early Nov, a week or so after my birthday, so I figured it would be a nice late birthday gift to myself, now my LHS is saying mid December, if we are lucky. When they show up they show up.
When the first round of the new Athearn turbines were announced I went to me LHS and ordered 1 of each number, and then waited…
Pretty soon it became apparent that the were in stock and being shipped be he hadn’t received mine yet, so I waited somoe more. Eventually he said he didn’t think he was going to get any as they showed them “out of stock”.
So I went to my back up source and got all numbers except one.
About 2 months laters my LHS guy called to say he had received the turbines!!! So I went in and explained to him what I had done and “why”, needless to say he wasn’t impressed but I did pick up the missing number from him.
Now he has 3 numbers of them sitting on his shelves and nobody even looks at them and to make matters worse he blames me for not taking them, and all because we “pre-ordered” them as pre “the rules”…
Lesson learned? Pre order doesn’t really mean anything except apparently to give the manufacturer a “warm fuzzy feeling” knowing he has more orders than product!!
The “Veranda Turbines” I got from my back up source from his stock but my LHS guy still isn’t happy with me…
Mark
So here’s the question. When you got the turbines from your backup source, why didn’t you cancel your original order (except for the number you didn’t get from your backup)?
I can understand why your LHS guy isn’t all that pleased to see you walk in the door.
Andre
Maybe that is part of the grand plan. Stupid leaders tend to cause events that tends to thin the herd and tighten the gene pool.
Harold
I too wonder what the point of pre-ordering even is. I pre-ordered 2 of the Norfolk Southern SD 70m-2 from MTH with the new DC boards. They were supposed to have a June delivery date. Hey guess what it’s August and still no delivery. Pre-ordering is the biggest waiste of time period.
I hate pre-ordering BUT , i have had too many times when i waited for an engine to hit the streets and not been able to get it. For instance Intermountian Rock Island FT AB set . settled for an FP7A , so its either pre-order or take that chance and the manufactures know this and use it…
Well Andre,
It’s very simple, he told me that apparently he wasn’t getting any of them, and the time frame involved was about 1-2 months beyond when they had already arrived.
With all of this “limited production” garbage if you “snooze” you “looze” so sitting around waiting will leave you on the outside looking in.
He knew I had already gotten them so what is a person to do, I think he has a beef with Athearn as apparently somebody didn’t take what they had ordered so they shipped it to him. Had “I” been him I would have either sent them back or put them out on Ebay as I suggested to him. He has done neither…his money, his decision.
But the point of my comments were concerning the pointlessness of these stupid “pre-orders”…he should have been given “confirmation” of the order from Athearn, apparently he wasn’t.
Mark
I hate preordering but what can you do about it? I model the ONR and if I don’t preorder I miss out. I don’t think it’s fair that they demand a deposit on preorders either. I had one hobby shop that listed some chop nose Proto GP9’s they were getting produced. I ordered 6 of them and eventually after 2 years I got told they wouldn’t be produced and got refunded my money. Same goes for some Intermountain ONR boxcars, I ordered them and a year later they were cancelled. My two Turbo trains I had ordered 3 years in advance. All they are doing is just seeing what the demand is like before they even prooduce a model. It really bugs me but it is good business in todays market. As of right now I’ve got 3 Athearn Genesis SD75I’s, 4 Atlas GP40’s and around a dozen Rapido cars on preorder. When will I get them? Probably within a year or so but by that time I’ll probably have another dozen or so items on preorder. It just ain’t fair, lolol.
I pre-ordered a Galloping Goose from Con-Cor. I’m patient and realize that it’s going to be worth the wait. If you don’t like it, don’t pre-order anything.
The pool needs some chlorine.
Eventually some show up on Ebay.
Hunting for limited run out of production items is much easier than enduring preorders. The thing is, cash pays on the spot and the item ships that week.
I do have a few items on preorder out of companies that are on time with their ETA’s because they will be scheduled to arrive this year. Not indefinite, not two years down the road, not never.
As far as companies trolling for customer interest, they never hear from me. I end up buying Brass items of the things I want. But very carefully and with very limited sales each year.
Just a few days ago I pounced onto a nice Red Caboose Reefer that has been out of production for some time. I was happy to see it at the store. So, always have a bit of money ready when you go to the hobby shop. You never know what you might find.
The only hobby shop that I have found to be reliable with pre-orders is Top Hobbies on Staten Island, NY. I have placed many pre-orders with them and they keep me informed as to the status and always come through with my order.