Gee…how about a Buchla 200e modular synth…a small example of the module prices…I have a modular synth here…total cost for this was in excess of $10,000
I have this discusion all the time and not about this hobby per say. As far as the hobby is concerned I can buy Sinohara turnouts for around $7, buy rtr boxcars etc. in better names for $10 to $12, engines without decoders for Altas are regularly around $50. If you want to pay more, that is up to you and I have on certain items I really wanted like a pair of Intermountain Caswell cars at $16.90 a piece out the door new in box.
I can’t help but wonder why those that are happy about the prices in the hobby read threads that complain about the prices.
I especially like the comments such as “find another hobby”. Why can’t that person just find another thread?
There is no denying the fact that a lot of the pricing is out of hand. Sure, if one digs around, they can find something that has been discounted or marked down. Everyone knows that. Nothing new there! But when the MSRP of a freight car nears $100, they have totally lost me as a customer.
Not sure that really matters, though. I have always been a kit builder and am happy to continue. I’ll take my LaBelle kits anyday.
The only cheap hobby is staring out the window.
Thanks Rich. I thought I was just comparing apples with apples, the $.79 1983 price was what someone quoted on Trainorders. If the retail was not $.79 per stick, what was it? I came up with the new price by looking it up on the Walther’s site. A piece of code 100 flex from 1983 made again in 2015 couldn’t have changed that much. I am very disappointed in Mr. Ott’s responses too (not one but two). I thought more highly of him than that and will probably not resubscribe to Model Railroader.
Victor Baird
Fort Wayne, Indiana
“I thought Victor’s thread deserved better treatment than it got.”
Rich
My psychiatrist is a model railroader. He has increased his hourly rate by a whopping 150% - now I can´t anylonger afford to see him. Should I take up model railroading instead?
I always thought going to a psychiatrist was much more expensive than modelrailroading…
[swg]
Well, here is where I jump in yet again…
I would much rather have the topic here, in one thread, so that I can ignore these as “new threads” and get back to the “regularly scheduled program” of giving and receiving help on the hobby of model railroading/model trains. Less ranting about prices I see, the better… Yes the hobby is expensive, but so are cars, gas, groceries, etc… For crying out loud, just living is expensive! But don’t dare think of dying… Have you seen the cost of that lately?!? Can’t afford to live, die, or play with trains… So I’d rather not see complaints about it here, and one designated thread will accomplish that for me… I can now move on to better, more interesting threads… Such as the free intermodal containers thread… There are ways to make the hobby less expensive… Just takes some work and doing… But, on this topic, I like where it now sits…
So, Thanks Steve! I, for one, appreciate this getting one, and only one, designated area!
And that psychiatrist? I don’t feel like spending a few hundred to lay on someone else’s couch to talk, I got friend that let me do that for free!
$1.50 (Atlas ad, Model Railroader July 1983, page 151). CPI calculator equates that to $3.53 in 2015. Atlas’ own site shows the MSRP price of a single stick of Code 100 NS flex track today as $5.95. That seems to me to be a lot less than an “809% increase”. But you’d better check the math.
OK, now I’m really done.
I have a few freight cars I want to get, but the price is high.
I decide to buy a diesel instead of two ESM boxcars that costs about the same.
There are others, I would like to get Red Caboose auto racks, Kato maxi well cars and BLMA spine cars.
I never had a problem with prices before until this year. I’ll talk about this later.
I don’t like to pay high prices either. I’d rather get the stuff for free. However, Paul’s comments put things in perspective if his calculations are correct. He says 36" sections of Atlas flex cost $6.59 (inflation adjusted) in 1953. The product was brass code 100 rail on fiber ties, held together with good ol’ reliable staples. Anybody here remember working with that stuff? Today’s equivalent Walthers product is code 83 nickel silver on well-formed plastic ties with molded-in spike heads, and the price today is $6.95. I’m willing to spring for the extra $.36 for the improved quality. Using modern adhesives probably saves money over the cost and trouble of using track nails, as we did back then.
The hobby was never cheap. My first brass engine listed for a whopping $54.95, but I got a terrific deal so I only paid $50. It took me a long time to save up for that one. Nowadays, most employed people make that much money in two hours or less. Yes, we have other responsibilities that take a toll on our disposable income, but that’s always been the case.
I’m selective. I don’t buy everything I see. I don’t buy everything I want. And I don’t buy everything I can afford. I’ve built a nice collection over the years, but it has taken a long tme to do it. I’ve learned that it’s worthwhile to spend money on quality and save money by doing things myself.
For a start, I would stay away from psychiatrists who are model railroaders. They have to pass their higher expenses on to you.
Tom
Steve O certainly stirred the pot with his direction to a new fixed posting on high prices for the hobby. When I first started modeling in 1967 I could not afford ready track and manufactured switches. Not much has changed other than I am many years older and still can’t afford ready made flex track and manufactured switches. One choice I easily made was to go for all hand laid track when I finally decided to build a layout. I am now retired and don’t really have a time excuse. Hand laying track is challenging and I am enjoying the challenge. Besides layout is my call and not dictated by availability of premade parts.
I used to build lots of kits. Scratch building now has an appeal partly because of cost and also because of flexibility.
After all, its a “hobby” and as such will always use decreationary funds thus being more expensive than necessities.
Jim
OK, so based on those numbers it’s about 400%… from 1983 to 2015.
My reactions, for what it’s worth:
-
I don’t mind “repetitive” (been covered extensively before) threads as long as the subject line is clear enough. An example, I still have ballasting to do, so still read new ballast related threads. Others, if I’m not interested (as in hobby cost) I can ignore.
-
Second, I was a bit taken aback, as IMHO the editors / moderators should intervene when “needed”; e.g., when debate gets out of hand. But it’s MR’s free forum, I get alot out of it, and I can ignore this new thread when I feel like it, so fine and dandy.
-
Third, an alternative solution could be to place this thread in a new Forum category (ala general, layout, electrical, prototype) called “Complaint Dept, aka Whining Center”. Please don’t take offense, just struck me as a humorous tangent.
-
More on target with the subject, be very thoughtful before buying a boat!
My dad used to be a consultant before he burned out on it and spent a while working in a boatyard in Maryland. They repaired and maintained boats for true old money high rollers. One of the boats that went through that yard was Walter Cronkite’s, after he passed away. So you can imagine the money they were talking on THOSE boats.
Even at that level, they’d warn prospective buyers that a boat isn’t a purchase, it’s an ongoing expense.
Boat, definition: “A hole in the water, lined with wood or metal or fiberglass, into which you pour money”.
Today, in 2015, I happen to think it’s very reasonable. If I want to model, and build a layout, and don’t wish to create hand-crafted track, I must look for a best price and then pay…plus shipping. That’s MY choice, and when I hit ‘enter’, the deal is done and I’m in business. I have made my decision.
However, relatively, you feel it is ridiculous. That SHOULD mean you’re out of the hobby and can only afford the internet costs to carp about it here.
I don’t intend my bluntness (I’m pretty sure I come across as unsympathetic and blunt), but I am unsympathetic. It’s just like any other branch of human interest; the more we want it, the more trouble we’ll go to, even if it means paying interest for borrowing.
There is, to me, nothing ridiculous about this hobby except spending money we can’t really afford. And affording anything in life is relative.
When i go to the fish camp every saturday and order Fried Flounder it is expensive and going to the LHS or ordering from MB Clines its expensive and they are the two things i can’t do without.
I guess you have to match the advances in cost with the advances in availability, detail level, operating quality, and other factors. Yes, there were fine models being built back then, but they were in the minority. Most motors and gearboxes were noisy. Electrical contact was poor. Track was harder to keep clean. Wiring was more complicated. Switch machines were noisy. In comparison with today, detail fidelity was poor, reflecting more recent advances made in historical research into the prototypes, and the good work done by the specialized RR Historical Societies that didn’t exist back then. Go to ebay or a swap meet and buy one of the models from those days. You’ll probably want to replace the wheels — maybe the trucks — to have finer flanges. You’ll want to replace the couplers with Kadees or the equivalent. You’ll want to replace the open frame motor, or at least replace the magnets. You may be happy with the detail level, but you have to admit that today’s details are finer and more accurate. It’s always been an expensive hobby, but it can be argued that we get more for our money today. But as I said above, I’d just love to get it all for free.
Tom
Have you priced replacement windows recently?[:-,][swg][(-D][(-D]
Dave