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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2012 16:09:24 GMT -8
Walthers recently axed 10% off their dealers discount. This means a dealer is now paying maybe 30% off MSRP on non sale flyer merchandise.
Athearn just announced they are cutting 8% off of the dealer discount. This means instead of 40% off the dealer now gets 32% off or there about.
What this means for everyone is higher prices to the consumer. The dealer still needs to make money to pay the bills and make a profit. I had to do a second take when I was over on M.B. Klein's site and was looking at the new Proto E8's. The PRR which came out only about six months ago is considerably less expensive than the Proto Amtrak E8 which arrived a few weeks ago.
When I did the math of the percentage off list at Klein's I noticed the PRR E8's were sold at about 30% off MSRP. The Amtrak E8 is being sold at 20% off MSRP. So not only was the MSRP much higher on the Amtrak model, the smaller dealer discount has made the "street price" a LOT LARGER!
Dealers by and large are getting squeezed on their discount in an effort to keep the MSRP from going up. Now the manufacturer can say that a model still costs the same as it did last year, but reality is that to the consumer it has actually increased.
This tug and war between the manufacturers and the retailers is a lot like daylight savings versus standard time. No matter what the clock says the amount of daylight is the same whether the clock says 1 or 2. Orion Samuelson a nationally known broadcaster from Chicago used to say that daylight saving time was akin to cutting off a foot of the blanket on one end and sewing it on the other end. The model railroad manufacturers are kind of doing the same thing with the MSRP and the discount. The MSRP may be the same but the end formula is highly modified with the results being the blanket may look the same....but in reality it got a lot shorter and our feet are getting a little cold.......
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Post by rhpd42002 on May 25, 2012 17:45:00 GMT -8
Jim, that was certainly an interesting analogy.  And quoting Orion Samuelson to boot. I listened to him a long time ago when I was a teen, in Illinois!! Sad to say, but the consumer is getting squeezed, not just in the model train industry, either.  |
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Post by calzephyr on May 26, 2012 6:58:42 GMT -8
Walthers recently axed 10% off their dealers discount. This means a dealer is now paying maybe 30% off MSRP on non sale flyer merchandise. Athearn just announced they are cutting 8% off of the dealer discount. This means instead of 40% off the dealer now gets 32% off or there about. What this means for everyone is higher prices to the consumer. The dealer still needs to make money to pay the bills and make a profit. I had to do a second take when I was over on M.B. Klein's site and was looking at the new Proto E8's. The PRR which came out only about six months ago is considerably less expensive than the Proto Amtrak E8 which arrived a few weeks ago. When I did the math of the percentage off list at Klein's I noticed the PRR E8's were sold at about 30% off MSRP. The Amtrak E8 is being sold at 20% off MSRP. So not only was the MSRP much higher on the Amtrak model, the smaller dealer discount has made the "street price" a LOT LARGER! Dealers by and large are getting squeezed on their discount in an effort to keep the MSRP from going up. Now the manufacturer can say that a model still costs the same as it did last year, but reality is that to the consumer it has actually increased. This tug and war between the manufacturers and the retailers is a lot like daylight savings versus standard time. No matter what the clock says the amount of daylight is the same whether the clock says 1 or 2. Orion Samuelson a nationally known broadcaster from Chicago used to say that daylight saving time was akin to cutting off a foot of the blanket on one end and sewing it on the other end. The model railroad manufacturers are kind of doing the same thing with the MSRP and the discount. The MSRP may be the same but the end formula is highly modified with the results being the blanket may look the same....but in reality it got a lot shorter and our feet are getting a little cold....... Jim I visited my local dealer yesterday and probably like many others around the nation, he is not happy with the new deal so to speak. Profits are very low the last few years and overhead costs to run the business have increased. I would expect this latest move to put many of the LHS out of business in the next few years. Profits need to cover expenses to allow the LHS to continue operating. My thought on this latest move is to allow Horizon and Walthers to control most the market completely and at some point sell directly to the end users so all of the money from the product goes to their profits. They could actually sell a lot less and still make more money if they got all of the money and did not discount to dealers. In effect, they have already done this to a certain degree by Horizon doing all of the distribution of the Athearn products. Prior to that time, all Athearn products were discounted to distributors and the large wholesalers in the east purchased products directly from Athearn. This allowed them to discount even more than the normal dealers since the distributor was cut out. I used to purchase the Blue Box type cars from Trainworld for 98 cents when the list price was $1.98. They were buying at distributor prices and passing on the savings to us. We will be paying more for sure but I will be cutting back on items that I really don't need. It is interesting that Bachmann seems to be on the outside of this new trend at least for now. They have large discounts on all of their products. The latest Yellowstone EM1 is a step up for them and might signal more new items to come in the future. I would hope they continue to offer new products that have not been available except in brass and increase their quality of detail on future models. Larry |
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Post by espeenut on May 26, 2012 9:15:19 GMT -8
...so go ahead and ask me how much I spent on the hobby this past year, it was a lot less than the previous year and, with announcements such as these, will be even less in the coming year. Unless one has an unlimited source of income your dollars don't stretch and discretionary expenditures, as my accountant likes to call them, fall even further down the list...
...as I've also posted before, I'm deliriously pleased that I've acquired most of what I wanted or "needed". I know there's always those who'll say the hobby will continue to roll along just fine, I truly hope so, but it will be with a lot less of my money...
cheers,
Lorne Miller
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Post by calzephyr on May 26, 2012 14:36:07 GMT -8
...so go ahead and ask me how much I spent on the hobby this past year, it was a lot less than the previous year and, with announcements such as these, will be even less in the coming year. Unless one has an unlimited source of income your dollars don't stretch and discretionary expenditures, as my accountant likes to call them, fall even further down the list... ...as I've also posted before, I'm deliriously pleased that I've acquired most of what I wanted or "needed". I know there's always those who'll say the hobby will continue to roll along just fine, I truly hope so, but it will be with a lot less of my money... cheers, Lorne Miller Lorne I agree with your assessment of this latest industry move and I am too have acquired more trains than I could run the rest of my life. Most will probably spend less money as prices increase along with the fact only new people into the hobby will be paying the high ticket items. I really feel sorry for my LHS dealer since they have to make a decent profit or go away. My local shop is owned and run by a 70 year old nice guy who is very low keyed but needs to make a living to continue. He is worried about this latest announcement. Larry |
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Post by rhpd42002 on May 26, 2012 18:38:37 GMT -8
...so go ahead and ask me how much I spent on the hobby this past year, it was a lot less than the previous year and, with announcements such as these, will be even less in the coming year. Unless one has an unlimited source of income your dollars don't stretch and discretionary expenditures, as my accountant likes to call them, fall even further down the list... ...as I've also posted before, I'm deliriously pleased that I've acquired most of what I wanted or "needed". I know there's always those who'll say the hobby will continue to roll along just fine, I truly hope so, but it will be with a lot less of my money... cheers, Lorne Miller Lorne I agree with your assessment of this latest industry move and I am too have acquired more trains than I could run the rest of my life. Most will probably spend less money as prices increase along with the fact only new people into the hobby will be paying the high ticket items. I really feel sorry for my LHS dealer since they have to make a decent profit or go away. My local shop is owned and run by a 70 year old nice guy who is very low keyed but needs to make a living to continue. He is worried about this latest announcement. Larry Lorne, I know you don't live in NC, but I swear, you could be describing the owner of my not quite so LHS, but where I've probably purchased 85% of all my train stuff over the past 25+ years. About the only difference being, he owns the building and property, has also expanded into R/C planes, cars, etc. several years ago and has a fairly active club membership and the large club RR is located in the upstairs of his business. I truly believe for him, it is a labor of love...... |
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Post by spookyac47 on May 26, 2012 21:06:48 GMT -8
In about 8-10 years, the majority of model railroading products sold will be from the estates of former model railroaders . . .
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Post by calzephyr on May 26, 2012 21:13:16 GMT -8
In about 8-10 years, the majority of model railroading products sold will be from the estates of former model railroaders . . . \ WOW! If you are correct, that will be a windfall to the families of the former model railroaders. I mean that in a good way since the products will be valuable. Larry |
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Post by dti406 on May 27, 2012 7:04:58 GMT -8
This was an E-mail I received from Blue Ridge Hobbies regarding the state of the hobby and since he sent it out to all his customers I feel that I could reprint it here.
"First of all let me say thank's to everyone for their support of Blue Ridge Hobbies.
As some of you may know, the model railroading hobby is in a bit of a quandary at this time. With the slowing of the economy starting in 2008, our hobby has taken some hits.
The closure for several model railroad factories in China has led to supply shortages and delays in product releases. The workers in China are realizing that they have been under paid as well and that capitalism seems to be a better way. Oil prices have effected the hobby as well. From increased product production costs and fuel costs for both the consumer and the shipping.
Also, due to changes in credit card and banking laws the fees to process credit card transactions have gone up as well in November.
All of this leading to higher prices for product.
The manufacturers continue to upgrade their tooling to make a better product. Unfortunately, with the above-mentioned situations, this means higher prices on the hobby products we all buy.
I think all of us have reached the breaking point on pricing. BRH has done all we can to hold the line on pricing. We have had to make adjustments to our pricing to cover these increases to keep our bottom line close to the same.
These areas of concern are not only affecting Blue Ridge Hobbies, but most store front based hobby stores. Many have already closed and some are on the verge of closing. This is currently not the case with Blue Ridge Hobbies at this time.
The business model that made BRH the success that it is has to change. And here is way.
The first indication that the business model for the overall hobby industry was about to change came in November 2011 when Horizon Hobby (Athearn, McHenry and Roundhouse) started the Horizon Hobby Trains website. This site allowed them to sell direct to the consumer with a 10% discount. BRH still was beating this pricing, but many local hobby stores that discounted 10% no had more online competition. Not from other hobby stores, but from the manufacturer itself! Some stores have already closed because of this direct to consumer tactic. While I understand why they are doing this for their bottom line, is it good for the hobby in the long run? I do not think so. All hobbies need to have a local store for you the consumer to visit and see new product or get expert advice from. This in most cases, can not be done over the phone.
However, it seems that the manufacturers and wholesalers seem to think they can do this. Also, the dealer website for Horizon was not functioning properly for a month effecting our ability to update.
Modeling is a hands on hobby, not a virtual one. This seems to be lost on the manufacturers and wholesalers as they are bringing sales all in house.
Also, in the last 5 years or so Walthers and Horizon Hobby have been selling via the of Amazon and Next Tag online for example. This new approach to the hobby industry in not a good one for all of us.
In December, Walthers in conjunction with several other large volume dealers that included BRH, started Beta Testing a new online system for the dealers. This system has helped BRH to have a better handle on product availability on our BRH website. This has greatly increased our productivity and assists us in keeping costs down.
The next big indicator of things to coming down the pike was in January. Several of the top Walthers dealers, including Blue Ridge Hobbies where asked about a change in pricing for the 932 and new 910 product line. The MSRP was going to increase by 10% to cover the production costs and upgrades to the products. This all happened in March. But what was not included in the conversation was the reduction of the dealer discount by 10% as well. So Walthers is trying to make another perceived 20% more on the new items, not just hold the line on pricing!
Then, in April Exact Rail decided that they where going to sell direct to the consumer. At full price plus shipping. So they now will not sell to dealers or wholesalers like Walthers. Also, Aristo-Craft / Polk Hobby started a new site that offered manufacturer direct pricing to the consumer at what used to be the dealer discount and then offered the dealer another 10% off. This does not really help the overall bottom line to the dealer or our sales of Aristo Craft items.
Yesterday, Horizon Hobby advised all dealers that they where reducing the dealer discount another 5% on all Athearn, McHenry and Roundhouse items. Some pricing took immediate effect yesterday.
So the bottom line we feel is that the manufacturers want to maximize short term profit by bringing the product availability process in house and selling direct to you, leaving the dealers that can not absorb the increases, out in the cold if not out of business entirely. And the lack of product availability leaves a store front with nothing to sell at any price. Like the currently situation with Atlas track and Midwest cork.
Even with the price increases, some products are announced and are continually delayed in arriving. There is no immediate relief in site for the product availability to change.
In most cases the delays are blamed on China production problems.
Our solution! Bring the manufacturing home! Back to the USA. Some companies are doing this.
Two years ago I mentioned this to the CEO and his number two for one of the biggest manufacturers of model train products. They advised me to do so there where to many cost issues. Union and wage cost. They advised they like to pay production employees a starting wage of about $12.00 per hour. I advised him that is the going wage here in South Carolina. Come on down, we have plenty of capacity and factory space with many incentives. That was 2010. Look where we are today. Closed factories in China. The Chinese not returning the product production mold to the manufacturers. Thus, we have one of the slowest slows period the industry has seen in a long time."
Ric J
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Post by rhpd42002 on May 27, 2012 7:25:31 GMT -8
Well, there's nothing like hearing something from the "Horse's Mouth".
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Post by spookyac47 on May 27, 2012 8:07:56 GMT -8
In about 8-10 years, the majority of model railroading products sold will be from the estates of former model railroaders . . . \ WOW! If you are correct, that will be a windfall to the families of the former model railroaders. I mean that in a good way since the products will be valuable. Larry Not necessarily - I have been to local train shows where the relatives or widows of model railroaders have a table with a bunch of "stuff" on the table and, unless they have a friend who can let them know the approximate value, it is going for really low prices - give-away prices. I have a large accumulation of model railroading items that I would conservatively estimate to have cost me in excess of $25,000 (that is not much considering the MSRP for an Athearn Genesis FP-7A/F-7B/FP-7A combo with sound is approximately $600(street price ~ $480))and to the wife and daughter, it's something that keeps dad happy and has for many years. My son is in the hobby so knows the value of what "we" have so it will not end up on a yard sale table when my life ends. With the state of the hobby, when I pass away, there will be fewer in the hobby and many of them may be retired and short on discretionary money so cost recovery if the items are sold would probably be ten cents on the dollar. Based on a quick (totally unscientific) compilation of ages in the Thread – "Getting to know each other" Youngest – 30 yrs old Oldest – 76 yrs old 30-39 – 4 40-49 – 3 50-59 – 12 60-65 – 6 66-69 – 1 70 – above – 4 Average age – 54.9 yrs. |
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2012 8:30:56 GMT -8
\ WOW! If you are correct, that will be a windfall to the families of the former model railroaders. I mean that in a good way since the products will be valuable. Larry Not necessarily - I have been to local train shows where the relatives or widows of model railroaders have a table with a bunch of "stuff" on the table and, unless they have a friend who can let them know the approximate value, it is going for really low prices - give-away prices. I have a large accumulation of model railroading items that I would conservatively estimate to have cost me in excess of $25,000 (that is not much considering the MSRP for an Athearn Genesis FP-7A/F-7B/FP-7A combo with sound is approximately $600(street price ~ $480))and to the wife and daughter, it's something that keeps dad happy and has for many years. My son is in the hobby so knows the value of what "we" have so it will not end up on a yard sale table when my life ends. With the state of the hobby, when I pass away, there will be fewer in the hobby and many of them may be retired and short on discretionary money so cost recovery if the items are sold would probably be ten cents on the dollar. Based on a quick (totally unscientific) compilation of ages in the Thread – "Getting to know each other" Youngest – 30 yrs old Oldest – 76 yrs old 30-39 – 4 40-49 – 3 50-59 – 12 60-65 – 6 66-69 – 1 70 – above – 4 Average age – 54.9 yrs. Many times the loved ones of the deceased just dump the trains at any price. Why? They may need the money! With crashing 401K's and other retirement income, the golden years aren't so golden for the survivors. You may have that set of Genesis F-units that is "worth" $400, but if no one is willing to pay you that amount and you need to pay the electric bill next Tuesday.....$150 is better than living in the dark!!!! Genesis F's worth $400 are not going to put food in the stomach of surviving family members. It is truly sad..... This in turn sets a viscous cycle in motion. NEARLY EVERYBODY that has secondhand stuff to sell gets a lot LESS money. E-Bay is already flooded with a lot of estate stuff that is selling for cents on the dollar. Which brings down most everything else except the rare or exceptional model and they are few and far apart. Even if you do have some ultra rare brass, finding a buyer at the models value may be difficult to impossible for right now even the collectors are doing a lot of watching and not buying. It is not a good thing for the hobby to be reliant on secondhand merchandise. There is ZERO growth for the hobby industry and if this hobby is to have ANY products even paint and parts, it needs to continue to grow. |
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Post by kisatchie on May 28, 2012 12:51:34 GMT -8
...E-Bay is already flooded with a lot of estate stuff that is selling for cents on the dollar. I wish I could find it LOL. Do a search on ebay for "Atlas ore N" and look at some of the ridiculously high prices being asked. $19.99 for an ore car with Rapido couplers...  And it was probably bought for $2. Hmm... you should see
what Kiz charges me for
my termites... |
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Post by cbqfan on May 28, 2012 15:24:28 GMT -8
...E-Bay is already flooded with a lot of estate stuff that is selling for cents on the dollar. I wish I could find it LOL. Do a search on ebay for "Atlas ore N" and look at some of the ridiculously high prices being asked. $19.99 for an ore car with Rapido couplers... And it was probably bought for $2. Hmm... you should see
what Kiz charges me for
my termites...I agree, with N scale values have being going with the increase in prices. It is very hard to find good deals on Ebay any more. You have to work hard and hunt. And then there are those items that are way over priced. Ebay will show you the value of your item if you do a 7 day auction and you refrain from putting 7 of the same thing on the auction at once. It takes work to sell items on Ebay, some don't want to do that. |
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Post by calzephyr on May 28, 2012 16:39:55 GMT -8
\ WOW! If you are correct, that will be a windfall to the families of the former model railroaders. I mean that in a good way since the products will be valuable. Larry Not necessarily - I have been to local train shows where the relatives or widows of model railroaders have a table with a bunch of "stuff" on the table and, unless they have a friend who can let them know the approximate value, it is going for really low prices - give-away prices. I have a large accumulation of model railroading items that I would conservatively estimate to have cost me in excess of $25,000 (that is not much considering the MSRP for an Athearn Genesis FP-7A/F-7B/FP-7A combo with sound is approximately $600(street price ~ $480))and to the wife and daughter, it's something that keeps dad happy and has for many years. My son is in the hobby so knows the value of what "we" have so it will not end up on a yard sale table when my life ends. With the state of the hobby, when I pass away, there will be fewer in the hobby and many of them may be retired and short on discretionary money so cost recovery if the items are sold would probably be ten cents on the dollar. Based on a quick (totally unscientific) compilation of ages in the Thread – "Getting to know each other" Youngest – 30 yrs old Oldest – 76 yrs old 30-39 – 4 40-49 – 3 50-59 – 12 60-65 – 6 66-69 – 1 70 – above – 4 Average age – 54.9 yrs. It is true most train shows vendors are selling used so called bargains and they are 10 to 20 Cents on the dollar compared to the original price. I have used consignment sales at a local shop many times and paid the 20% to the shop and still got my money back on new unused plastic and many brass model trains in the past twenty years. I tend to purchase more than I need and sell them off when i get tired of the item or pick up an improved version. This is one way of getting better detailed models and still getting some money back to purchase additional whatever. Selling anything quickly if money is needed will certainly cost any seller money. Larry |
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Post by umtrrauthor on May 28, 2012 16:52:17 GMT -8
I have a few tactics that reduce what I see vs. what's actually listed in the N Scale eBay category by close to 90 percent. First thing: I ignore the "Buy It Now" only listings.
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Post by catt on Jun 2, 2012 11:38:12 GMT -8
George,I usually look for the buy it now listings mainly because of the prices most are asking are good for a laugh at times. ;D
Actually when it comes to the auction sites I check to see if the item is readily available locally ,if it is then I price shop and include the shipping fees.
Something some buyers don't realize is that Ebay not only gets a piece of the Pay Pal pie but they are now collecting part of the sellers shipping fees.
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Post by Brakie on Jun 2, 2012 12:55:28 GMT -8
I already decided to pick and choose my next purchases and my want list is short and getting shorter by the month...
I'll buy used when possible and look for the best buys.
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Post by el3637 on Jun 5, 2012 13:44:08 GMT -8
Orion Samuelson a nationally known broadcaster from Chicago used to say that daylight saving time was akin to cutting off a foot of the blanket on one end and sewing it on the other end. Yeabut, if the blanket is stuck to the bed and I need more on the head end it's the only way to do it. DST gives me a full extra hour of daylight when I can use it, rather than when I'm asleep. Andy |
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Post by riogrande on Jun 6, 2012 14:39:38 GMT -8
...so go ahead and ask me how much I spent on the hobby this past year, it was a lot less than the previous year and, with announcements such as these, will be even less in the coming year. Unless one has an unlimited source of income your dollars don't stretch and discretionary expenditures, as my accountant likes to call them, fall even further down the list... ...as I've also posted before, I'm deliriously pleased that I've acquired most of what I wanted or "needed". I know there's always those who'll say the hobby will continue to roll along just fine, I truly hope so, but it will be with a lot less of my money... cheers, Lorne Miller I'm in a similar boat as Lorne, I've managed to do allot of collecting in the past 10-15 years and at present have managed to build up most of what I need, sans a few odd items of rolling stock here and there. There are definitely holes that I would like to fill, much of it from stuff already produced but which I couldn't financially keep up with - so I have been in the process of doing some of that "catch-up" in the past year and still have some to do. As far as future production which will be markedly more expensive that we have already seen, I will keep things down to "must have" items. I expect the dealers and manufacturers will say, yeah, thats what they all say, but the consumer still buys like before. All I know is that is what my former pusher told me back in 2009 after I got laid off and I was good to my word, I stopped pre-ordering and began collecting items at a much reduced rate. While the news from the manufacturers seems to be more and more doom and gloom, guaranteeing nothing but higher prices, the only recourse we have as the consumer is to buy less. The way I look at it is, while I love the hobby and I love trains, the manufacturers are slowy pricing themselves out of consumers - especially in light of the continuing economic recession. Need I remind folks that England and Europe are now in a double dip?!!! So Horizon/Athearn, Walthers, ExactRail, we love your products but can afford less and less every day. Them are the apples. Will I continue to buy, probably, but fewer and fewer. And I'll try to be happy mostly with what I have. Ultimately, I don't need to buy trains to live, food is another story. |
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Post by calzephyr on Jun 7, 2012 18:00:54 GMT -8
...so go ahead and ask me how much I spent on the hobby this past year, it was a lot less than the previous year and, with announcements such as these, will be even less in the coming year. Unless one has an unlimited source of income your dollars don't stretch and discretionary expenditures, as my accountant likes to call them, fall even further down the list... ...as I've also posted before, I'm deliriously pleased that I've acquired most of what I wanted or "needed". I know there's always those who'll say the hobby will continue to roll along just fine, I truly hope so, but it will be with a lot less of my money... cheers, Lorne Miller I'm in a similar boat as Lorne, I've managed to do allot of collecting in the past 10-15 years and at present have managed to build up most of what I need, sans a few odd items of rolling stock here and there. There are definitely holes that I would like to fill, much of it from stuff already produced but which I couldn't financially keep up with - so I have been in the process of doing some of that "catch-up" in the past year and still have some to do. As far as future production which will be markedly more expensive that we have already seen, I will keep things down to "must have" items. I expect the dealers and manufacturers will say, yeah, thats what they all say, but the consumer still buys like before. All I know is that is what my former pusher told me back in 2009 after I got laid off and I was good to my word, I stopped pre-ordering and began collecting items at a much reduced rate. While the news from the manufacturers seems to be more and more doom and gloom, guaranteeing nothing but higher prices, the only recourse we have as the consumer is to buy less. The way I look at it is, while I love the hobby and I love trains, the manufacturers are slowy pricing themselves out of consumers - especially in light of the continuing economic recession. Need I remind folks that England and Europe are now in a double dip?!!! So Horizon/Athearn, Walthers, ExactRail, we love your products but can afford less and less every day. Them are the apples. Will I continue to buy, probably, but fewer and fewer. And I'll try to be happy mostly with what I have. Ultimately, I don't need to buy trains to live, food is another story. We are all purchasing less models but probably are paying more if we are trying to keep our train budget about the same. This in a way is our own fault since we have asked for more detail and asked for road specific detail many times at train shows where the vendors are represented. Then you add in the dollar going down and down in value and you get 200 plastic diesels that would have been about $100 average price just a few years ago. One other major factor in pricing might be the results of Walthers puchasing Lifelike and Horizon purchasing Athearn. This eliminated a lot of competion and Horizon distributes their own products which allows them to make a greater profit. I have determined to pass up most of the new products probably due to the fact I want to cut back on purchases and the higher prices are a good excuse for me to save money. Someone over on Train Orders was hinting that Athearn was going to produce the 8500 HP turbine, but no one believed him on that subject. Even Athearn would have a hard time producing it for less than a $1000 and that would be too high. I have purchased two brass ones for just a little additional green. Larry |
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Post by riogrande on Jun 7, 2012 20:11:44 GMT -8
This in a way is our own fault since we have asked for more detail and asked for road specific detail many times at train shows where the vendors are represented. The above part I'm alright with, but the rest about the dollar going down in value and the cost to make the same product (barring details) going up is the real killer. I am real glad Athearn has finally put the correct gyra lights and snow plows and would pay extra for those - and if I"m guilty for wanting that, so be it. I like that stuff so guilty as charged. The rest of the price increase reasons just suck but since I don't have any control over that, I'll just buy less because my available money isn't increasing. |
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And quoting Orion Samuelson to boot. I listened to him a long time ago when I was a teen, in Illinois!!
