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Walthers HO scale “Michigan” ore cars
While it is great that Walthers has introduced detailed versions of the “Michigan” ore cars in both ore and taconite configurations, I am puzzled with Walthers pricing strategy.
The initial runs of the Walthers 12 pack “Minnesota” type cars retailed for $79.98. The recent runs retailed for $99.98. The 12 pack “Michigan” type cars are retailing for $169.98, a $70.00 increase! I own several hundred of the Walthers “Minnesota” cars and the level of detail on the “Michigan” cars is basically the same, so I am unclear what justifies the huge jump in price.
Walthers own advertising noted that modelers had greatly anticipated this model, so Walthers knew they would sell out. The wholesale price of plastic is not much greater today than when the “Minnesota” cars were run, so why are these cars so expensive?
Walthers prices have have certainly been reasonable in the past. Atlas, Athearn & Kato prices remain stable, so why are Walthers new cars and reruns of previously issued cars suddenly so expensive? Certainly I am not the only modeler to notice this.
These cars bring back memories of two kinds. First, probably the first HO kit I ever built (around 1959) was a Varney styrene kit for an ore car like these. Second, my family visited Michigan’s Upper Peninsula around 1962 and saw cars like these on the LS&I’s ore dock at Marquette.
Judging from the photo, Walthers has located the model’s trucks properly close to its ends, so that the outermost wheels of one car will be very close to those of the cars ahead of and behind it.
As a self amitted ‘mining’ nut, i was glad to finally have an option to stop scratch building these, but, i was a little distraught to see the price go from about $90 a set for the other walthers ore cars,…to the $169.00 price “rape” for virtually the same thing… sorry but double the price ??
Maybe it’s just me,…but I was hoping to stay in this hobby for another 20+ years, but many of us on lower or fixed incomes cant afford this anymore…
sorrry for the rant…love the product , but the price is disappointing
rating: price 2 content: 5
I went ahead and bought one of the Undec 12-packs, and I have to say, the detail on them is amazing. I am a huge rivet counter, and stress the super detailing of all equipment, but these cars had very little for me to do. It might be adviseable to break the 12-pack into smaller 4 or 3 car sets, depending on your operation.
Thanks, to you MRR for the review and to Walthers for the continued effort to producing Minn./the Great Norths mining cars and equiptment !!
ps… re : the Missabe / DM & IR rail is so under-represented… can we PLEASE SEE more of this IRON RANGE / North Shore RAILROAD STUFF !!! pls, …
Possible idea’s / Articles:
any Minn./ Iron Range Mining,.
Duluth the largest Inland Port in the World…
all the different types of ORE DOCKS AND CARS
underground and open pit mining (ex:Sudan…)
how about those HUGE Mining Shovels, railed or tracked,(no erie b2’s here)
and those huge, huge Yellowstone’s pulling 100’s of steaming ore cars keep warm by the steam of the Big Yellowstone’s at -20 below zero, down to the Duluth/ two Harbors ore Docks, …
Proctor Yard… Huge steam and Dsl roundhouse and yard…
just a thought for some new articles…i’d love to see !
signed, a loyal (Missabe) railroader and M.Railroader subscriber…
Keep up the good work…
re: Hi S.W. from Mass,…
Just thought you’d get a kick out of this, LOL, i’m building a set of Varneys right now,.funny you should mention it…thanks for the chuckle…
btw, just recieved the LS&I set, look and track great… ( wish I could afford a few more sets so i could have a full train load…)
Oh,…Santa…lol
ps… rating for car: 5
rating for price: 3
It seems others have the same feelings about the price of the ‘Michigan’ ore cars that I do. Both the ‘Minnesota’ and ‘Michigan’ cars have correctness and runability, but the difference in price is not understood. The Great Northern Ry. had both types, and I remember pulling into Allouez yard one time with 235 loads behind our F7 A-B-A. I would like to have a small stable of ore cars, but will probably just settle for the ‘Minnesota’ style for now.
I bought a set of the undecorated cars, and I concur, the detail is amazing (so is the price). After Varney went away, after the Varney ore cars were no longer available from any source I was aware of, I produced LTV rubber molds and began to make my own superstructures from epoxy. The running gear is cast using the lost wax method, but are not cast from brass: they are cast from my supply of cerro casting metal. While the Walthers cars are a superior product, I prefer to cast my own and to detail them to my (low?) standards. I know this doesn’t work for everyone, but it is my solution to keeping the costs of my hobby under some semblance of control. I guess my railroad is a second hand railroad, a lot of the locomotives I run are rebuilt from broken, throw away, items I have scrounged, a lot of my cars are personal copies of the old Central Valley wood kits, with substantial extra detail. You’ve probably figured it out, I’m not into ready to run. To me, my hobby is the creation of the things, all the things, that go into my model railroad, but that’s my choice. If I was starting out today, I’m sure I’d be saving to buy the very excellent ready to run available in the market.
Just my two cents worth.
Tom (steam locomotives, steam baths, steam heat, what a life!)