Menards drops the bomb on them?
I can see 5 pack stack cars with containers going for what they sell us 3 packs for?
Affordable 6, 10, 12 or 24 packs of cars???
Containers that aren’t $10 plus a piece??
I’m curious to see what happens, since they are going on the same path they did for O scale stuff.
Me? I’m going to sit back, crack a Pepsi open and laugh.
Easy.
Claim that “Ours are more Prototypical, therefore we charge a more Prototypical price.”
Scale trains, therefore scale price.
[:-^]
See, Easy.
[;)]
I have taken a casual look at Menards HO structure offerings.
This is a power plant? The Quick-Lube in my town takes up a bigger foot print than this thing. $70.00? Sorry, not interested.
HO manufacturers have catered to those more budget oriented. Plasticville, Bachmann, Trainline, Early Life-Like, Tyco etc.
I do not see Menards being a very big threat to Genesis, Rapido, Walthers Cornerstone or Proto, Exactrail, ScaleTrains, et al.
I might pick up a few if I decide to have a loop of track running under the Holiday Tree. Otherwise, no thanks.
Happy Modeling, Ed
I don’t know what you’ll find yourself laughing at, but it won’t be the outcome you’re apparently hoping will take place. Those suppliers/importers you mention are in business because they supply what enough hobbyists want and are willing to purchase at the prices currently available to them. Menards will appeal to a certain segment, quite certainly, but not to the more discerning people looking for a different product.
BOMB would seem to be the operative word, here.
I don’t think so, pal.
Ed
Apparently you think the manufacturers are over charging. Why don’t you go in the model train business and under cut them all?
I can tell you why you won’t, because they are not over charging.
Actually, ever since discounting became wide spread in this business, manufacturers and retailers have both had to reinvent their business models to survive on less markup.
A fact that has left us with pre orders and Ebay, in place of stores with products on the shelf…
But what could I possibly know, I just started working in this business in 1968, and by 1979 was managing a train department in a hobby shop…
By the way, no Menards around here…
Sheldon
It depends on what Menard’s offers.
Based on their 3 rail O offerings, they’ll start out with traditional style freight cars: 40’ and 50’ box cars, tank cars, hoppers, gondolas, and flat cars. The same niche as Athearn Blue Box and Mantua Heavyweights (ex Lindberg). Nice cars at a good price point that’ll sell well.
Eventually, they’ll move to locomotives and track, and to train sets.
On the other hand…they could buy a dead trademark and assemble train product to sell under that name. With a few exotic items.
I knew when I saw the … this was another “sucker” thread. Its like crying wolf. You know you are training members to eventually ingore topics that set up the same way. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Why does that make it a sucker thread?
There are following the same pattern in HO as they did in O.
I want to see what they put out. HO market is way larger than O. They would be able to up detail and make more to cover it.
Some of the comments here have come off as sounding elitist about who is in what market. Maybe $50 cars are your thing, but not for everyone.
People want to see the hobby expand and grow, then we should welcome all new manufacturers.
I’m sorry if wanting accuracy makes me elitist.
But unless Menards is more accurate on railcars and loco’s than they are on their buildings, I will pass.
All of their buildings (EDIT: That I have seen) are more whimsical than I can pass off on a layout, even on a Proto-freelanced one.
Therefore, it will be very easy for the current manufacturers to beat them with those who want prototypical detail and accuracy.
Just as easy as my humorous, tongue in cheek response above.
You want accuracy, you pay for it. You pay cheap, you get cheap.
Simple.
And easy.
Menard’s Power & Light looks more like a small one-lane car wash to me. I’m sure somebody out there will be delighted with the product and will be perfectly happy to pay that price for it. Meanwhile, if the competition goes out of business I doubt that Menard’s products and prices will be the primary cause.
Fifty dollar cars were mentioned. Menard’s Power & Light is $70, and probably has no prototype. Those cars in the $25 - $50 range tend to be excellently detailed models with real prototypes and excellent operating qualities. There is no comparison.
Tom
(edited)
Quantity doesn’t equate to quality. I’d rather save my $$$ for a few quality items than purchase a lot so-so ones. That doesn’t make me an elitist; it just makes me selective. What others do with their $$$ is their prerogative and I’m fine with that.
Tom
Even if what op postulates is true, they have an out: just close up, sell tooling for scrap price, and walk away. It has been done. It can be done again. People dont want metal kits? Nobody wants to buy old tooling? Sell millions of dollars in tooling for scrap price and walk away. Just liquidating some model railroad businesses would be enough for the owners to retire and get by. Maybe not be rich, but be able to live ok.
OP is forgetting the most important thing about this hobby: the manufacturers are not in this to get rich, but are in this because they like making trains or train-related stuff. It is a labor of love for them that they pour their heart and soul into–until the time comes to just simply walk away. Sooner or later that time comes for all of them.
John
There have always been low end products. Most of the makers eventually go out of business, but a few upgrade their linesand become known for products of reasonable quality.
I find myself posting to this thread, yet again… When will I learn when enough is enough…
Anyways…
There is a major difference between “low end” and the whimsical (small) Power company, or the burnt engine shed, etc…
Athearn BB kits were “low end” style, but (mostly) accurate.
Whimsical is not the same.
If Menards were to expand as the OP thinks, and enters with (mostly) accurate models, just cheaper than “brand X” has, that is a different ball game than entering with a whimsical “exploding box car” model.
(No offense to any of the “exploding box car” model owners, but… A niche market to put it kindly.)
And, Menards may not even expand beyond some small, pre-built and pre-lighted buildings. Making this whole discussion a moot point.
This, pending other reasons, will be my final say (post) on a (well, this one anyways…) “get a reaction out of you” thread. (“Other reasons” will be not clearly stated here, for fear someone will simply do them to lure me back in.)
That “power plant” would make a better gas fired boiler room.
However,a boiler room can be made from DPM walls and doors or Pikestuff walls and doors.
Whatever.
The more competition, the better.
The more choices, the better.
I don’t get it.
This is a Menard’s structure that looks pretty toylike but lists for $69.99.
This is a finely detailed Moloco model of a Santa Fe class Bx-94 that lists for $49.99. I updated it for my era with some decals and minor modifications. I won’t tell anyone else what they should buy, but I know where I’d rather spend my hobby dollars. Being a discriminating consumer with one’s own choices doesn’t force the issue on the next guy. I’m too busy having fun with my own stuff to worry about what someone else buys or why.
To rephrase, maybe $70 structures with heavy details are your thing, but not for everyone. No product is.
What’s a “Menards”?
(Takes a quick look at their website)
Yeah, it’ll be a bomb, all right…a dud.
This reminds me of when MTH entered the HO market, and how various people on this forum sang their praises and swore they would revolutionize and take over the HO hobby market. Um, yeah…not exactly. At my large club we register all locos, and we’re currently at just over 1800 locos for our 65+ members. Exactly 4 of them are MTH: 3 SD70ACe’s and one Erie Triplex.
If anyone thinks this “Menards” is going to seriously compete in HO scale, at least based on their current overpriced and underquality buildings, they are in for a rude shock. I laughed when I saw “Grandpa’s House” with it’s anchor-chain porch swing and the enormous octogon vent at the peak…not to mention the exposed on-off switch and DC power input jack. C’mon, man. Even Christmas tree village stuff does electricity better than that.