I totally agree about Hornby's approach to modern image. It seems to make little sense and they are losing a lot of business. However, it does seem to allow them to keep prices high, whereas if they over-produce or saturate the market it could force prices downwards. They seem happy to leave modern image to other suppliers, when they are best placed to maximise sales from such models. They also don't seem to maximise use of toolings by producing more livery versions from them, which is just wasteful and inefficient business really. The strategy is just all wrong, but maybe that's why they are in the financial mess they are?
Hornby have shown, through their Class 800 models, that they can produce modern-image stock and that people will buy it (even if it is expensive). But as
@reddragon says, they've also shown that they don't seem to want to get involved with many other modern image units, or even locomotives in new liveries - a Grand Central Class 90 for example.
The company has apparently made quite the profit during, and then following, lockdown(s), which is obviously good for Hornby as a business but not for the consumers who bought those expensive 'hamper' starter kits. But I digress...
I do feel the MML has been slightly left out in terms of HST's with EMT one being around 11 years old now but at least it's not to difficult making a EMR red set. Personally I would love a EMT buffer power cars in the revised livery.
I think there's still a market for new EMR HST liveries from Hornby, even though the real things have gone from the MML. I've not got one due to the cost, but from what I've heard, a lot of people regard the Hornby HST has being a very decent model but the price puts many people off getting more.
The 800's have come out in different packs with them either being the full 5 cars or the ends and separate coach pack. So far there has been:
800001 - Hitachi (ends and coach pack)
800003 - GWR (end and coach pack)
800004 - GWR (full 5 coach)
800010 - Paddington (full 5 coach)
Ah yes - I'd forgotten about the Hitachi white livery version. The problem with those packs where you get the end cars and then the middle cars separately is that one seems to sell out before the other, or they all get bought too quickly and so you can't find half a set, let alone a full one. And when you do find a full IET for sale, they're very expensive (especially for a unit which, from what I've seen, can't even couple to another of the same model without some bodging).
With the following on the way:
800/1 - LNER
800104 - LNER Celebrating Scotland
800008 - GWR Pride
TPE's 802's is mentioned in the 2020 catalogue. Personally I would like to see the 802's produced as the TPE ones would sit nicely with the 68's from Dapol along with Hull Trains and if really needed another GWR one could be produced.
Now this is all good to see - especially the TPE 802s as they could really compliment Dapol's 68s, as you say. But why they're making two LNER versions, and only the one GWR version, when runs of the latter have kept selling out, is a bit odd. I suppose having a GWR one in some form is nice though - and the rainbow breaks up the green a bit!
Hornby seem to be doing every livery on a 66 as well over the last few years. Dapol is also doing another round of 68's. Won't be long until all 33 will have a model!
The Hornby 66 is the old Lima tooling with a DCC decoder socket fitted and, I think, an updated motor. They're £75 from Hornby, and some places are trying to get closer to £90 for them - especially second-hand. Mine required the addition of an extra weight to it so it would work properly: from what I remember, it didn't have any form of weight in it to begin with. Hornby proved with their Captain Tom Moore 66731 model last year that they could sell those models for the usual £75 price, and donate a lot of the money made from the sale of those models to charity - all whilst presumably making a profit as they're not a charity after all. Given most Lima models seem to sell online for around £40/£50, and Hornby have previously demonstrated that they can sell older models for that sort of price (GWR 14xx for one - £50 a few years ago IIRC and sold out incredibly quickly compared to other models at the time).
The Dapol 68s are very nice models - much better than the Hornby 66s - and unlike some other Dapol products I've seen online, they don't seem to have many, if any issues. However, they have been released before and it might have been nice to see some sort of Class 88 made? I expect that would be a lot of work but it wouldn't require a complete re-tooling.
Hattons isn't a manufacturer, but then neither is Hornby - both commission the models from factories in China. The change from 'manufacturer' to 'middleman' means effectively that anyone with sufficient knowledge of the subject can commission models - and a few smaller players have done so very successfully (e.g. Realtrack, Revolution Trains).
And you can even take that down to anyone who has enough money can commission models - look at Jennifer E. Kirk's
Monday Club Accurascale wagon commission, based on her Monday night livestreams. Only a couple of people behind the commission - apart from Accurascale and Rails of Sheffield, of course - although the latter are only selling the items and have no say in the processes behind their manufacture/design from what I remember.
Not sure what Hornby is gaining by making it a matter for disagreement - Rails and Hattons are the two biggest online retailers and it's surely in Hornby's own interests for them to have a good stock of Hornby products? Limiting supplies based on production runs doesn't make a lot of sense either - if there is more demand than supply, order a larger batch! Obviously it's going to depend what the model is, but some things are a pretty safe bet. All that is likely to happen if Hornby make it an issue is that more models will get commissioned by the sellers directly, leading to increased direct competition.
Hornby seem to now be operating under a policy of directing as many people as possible to their own site. If this means treating shops and retailers with decent allocations of models only if they are clean and stock plenty of Hornby Hobbies products, then so be it in their eyes.
Despite the Hornby-Rails falling-out being quite a long time ago now, I've not found a reason for it. Hattons cancelling pre-orders turned out to be Hornby's bizarre tiering system for retailers. Hornby has always made limited production runs of models they know will be popular - their 66731 model is a perfect example of this. Bachmann have since said they'll make their own - and I think it's been released already?
I'm actualy surprised how well the market still seems to be doing given the way prices have massively increased over the past decade at way above inflation. e.g. the HST power cars, which a decade ago (when the toooling was new, so wouldn't have paid for itself) could be bought for around 100-120 quid a pair. Recent batches are in the range of around 260-300 quid! Possibly this is being sustained by a generation who have retired relatively early with good pensions - it remains to be seen whether it's sustainable in the long term.
A lot of my issues with model railways, despite continuing to enjoy the hobby, stem from the price issue. I've not got a large budget, and so second-hand models are often the way to find a particular class I'd like to get. If I can't afford a new model in a particular livery, I'm more than happy to take a paintbrush to an old Lima example and make one myself.
Prices have gone up massively since the early-2000s. One reason people give for this is that model manufacturers were charging old prices for new models, and then realised what they should 'actually' be charging, but I personally see it as just people wanting to make as much money as they can by charging too much for basic models a lot of the time. At some point, the generation with plenty of money will, shall we say, leave the hobby and the companies will need to find a way of targeting their new main demographic before they go under.
-Peter
