Interesting announcement in the Express section – the 2007 Walthers catalogs will be priced lower, about half of the current price. I suspect they realized that between their internet catalog and the increasingly high price of the paper version – even the discounted versions that i could get at Trainfest each fall – folks like me were only buying the paper version about once every three or four years or so rather than every year like I used to do.
Hmmm I wonder if they have noticed I have also not been buying a lot of their passenger cars lately …
Dave Nelson
So true I would just buy one every 3 years or so, with that low price for next year, I will most likely get one.
Don’t you think that two other things have somewhat de-valued the catalog?
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The trend towards short production run limited availability items, especially locomotives, means that what is in the catalog is not available.
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The growth of Horizon as a major distribution competitor means that the catalog no longer contains much of what is available.
I never have understood WHY the catalog costs so much. I mean, I understand that they are not cheap to produce and they cost money. Bu the last time I looked 6 or 7 years ago they were $25. Now I think they are almost $30? That’s ridiculous.
I would buy one if they did like Tower Hobbies. Their catalog costs, or is free with a minimum order. But if you buy it you get a coupon good towards a future purchase in the amount of the catalog price.
But to me- to pay that much money for the catalog? That’s at least one, maybe two pieces of rolling stock. And my modeling dollars are too scarce to blow that kind of cash on a catalog.
Well, that is great news! Spending the $21 + $$ for the catalog became an expense that I could have otherwise used toward some rolling stock, or other layout stuff. I guess paying something for it is better than them discontinuing the catalog all together like Sears did with theirs many years ago.
Frankly I’d pay 20 bucks for the big catalog, if they would just stop sending out those worthless "sale " catalogs every few months. The MSRP on the sale stuff is rediculous, and the sale price is more than my LHS sells for!!
You are not alone, I have not bought one in 5 years. With the Internet it is not as useful as it once was. I may get one now because of the lower price though. They should give it away free if you spend over a certain amount.
Jim
Half the hobby has been limited run these last 5 years.
No one buys hobby items at advertised walthers prices if they can help it.
I usually buy one every 5 years. Since my last one is the 2002 issue, this is really good timing. For this price I might them more often.
Enjoy
Paul
I suspect, anniversary or no, Walthers has finally woken up to the fact that their catalog sales have declined greatly and this has lost them significant income. I haven’t seen a thread addressing the catalog in a long time where the great majority of hobbyist didn’t indicate they were prchasing only one catalog every few years. There was a time, not very long ago, when every serious hobbyists got a new catalog yearly. At $20+, the catalog sales alone probably accounted for something like 10% of Walthers’ annual income until recently. I think at long last they’ve realized that they are pricing this item out of a market.
CNJ831
I still buy the catalog every year. It’s my wish book and it’s also a lot easier browsing than the website. I know how the printed catalog is organized since it doesn’t change from year to year. Also, it is an idea book. The website is fine if you know what you are looking for but sometimes I wll leaf through the catalog and find something I didn’t know was existed or a new structure that is perfect for what I need. It’s nice to know the price is coming down but it wasn’t an issue for me. I would have bought it anyway.
My “2 cents” reply after “watching Walthers” especially the last few yrs is:
“If its Walthers , its got to be good opps I mean overpriced”
Jim
There is no need to buy one as you can view one in any hobby shop. I like to get old ones and cut out the building pictures for backdrops however.
ndbprr: I was thinking of doing the same thing for my new backdrop
My wife will be happy, she usually gets me one about every third year for Christmas. I’ll hang on to the last older one since it still has the Athearn, Roundhouse and a few others in there. Great for reference if nothing else.
Rick
I buy one every other year. The limited runs are one thing that is bad about the catalog. The other thing is that it is the same almost every year. So why buy the same book. There is not enough different to warrant buying a new one.
RMax1
Forgot one thing! If they would put it on cd or dvd it would be even better.
RMax1
This is great news!!
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While the internet catalog is good, it is a real pain in the neck to get connectivity in one of my favorite reading rooms! [:D]
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And yes, as locomotives and rolling stock limited runs become more and more prevelent (sp?) those sections of the catalog become less relevant. Of course to me the most useful part of the catalog is the other than rolling stock sections.
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Of course, I know the argument. Walthers prices are out of this world!! Crazy!! Silly!! They are going to run themselves out of business to be sure!!! Just yesterday I ordered a Cornerstone kit that was listed at $100.00 in the catalog for 59.99 from umptyumpdotcom! Avoid Walthers!!
Dave
(most folks will understand . . . . . 
)
I love to look through manufacturers catalogs, and Walthers is certainly a GREAT reference catalog. Is the price too high? Well, weigh the catalog and then go check what it cost to mail it 4th class bulk rate.
The check with any reputable printer/publisher, and ask what it would cost to print say…100k copies.
Then, you have to check with those who get paid to plan the catalog, all the photos scanned on the draft copy, for all those many pages, proof reading for accuracy, etc. Remember, somebody just like you and me who wants a descent pay check, is getting a salary to produce this catalog, so that adds to the cost too.
Now when you add all these costs up, you may be surprised to see what the actual cost to produce this huge catalog really is!!
Sure they can offer it to us cheaper, even below their cost, but do you really think that cost is just “eaten” by Walthers? Nay, nay, it is buried in the cost of the goods sold when they offer it at half price.
It’s too bad the Walthers web site Search function wasn’t as intuitive as Google or other search engines. If you know what you’re looking for, it’s bad enough. But you have to look up the manufacturer’s number first, and enter it in the search page, then the description. And many times that doesn’t work.
But that would cost them money to have such a capability, so it probably won’t happen.
I have about 20 years of Walthers catalogs, but haven’t paid for a single one. No, I didn’t steal them! I submitted photos to the catalog and had them used for 20 years, and each time they would send me a free catalog - plus a payment! My modeling activity slowed down a few years ago (too much Internet!), so I didn’t have as many photos to submit, so I stopped and never re-started. Gee, I wonder if they will still be paying $25.00 per photo in the new cheaper catalog?
Bob Boudreau