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Post by cpr4200 on Oct 18, 2024 13:42:40 GMT -8
TTH's current Cloud 9 sale has some great deals ... select Rapido engines (FA-1's, U25B's, RS-11's and others) and cars, the new Atlas postwar boxcars, Athearn cars and more for 50% off or less. I picked up a Rapido D10 with DCC for $284, for example, and a couple A-B sets of DCC FA's for $308. Wild.
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Post by hudsonyard on Oct 18, 2024 14:09:44 GMT -8
Certainly some deals to be had there, the site seems to be loading slowly however.
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Post by lvrr325 on Oct 18, 2024 14:51:26 GMT -8
I hate the new site compared to the old one. But those are good deals. The DC 4-6-0 is $238, with shipping amounts to 50% off. Turboliner sets for half off. The Atlas covered hopper that just came out that's like $70 for $17 each. I can't even buy this stuff that cheap wholesale.
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Post by wmcbride on Oct 18, 2024 16:34:17 GMT -8
I hate the new site compared to the old one. But those are good deals. The DC 4-6-0 is $238, with shipping amounts to 50% off. Turboliner sets for half off. The Atlas covered hopper that just came out that's like $70 for $17 each. I can't even buy this stuff that cheap wholesale. Their new site is slow and eliminated the ability to search effectively and order by price. It's definitely a throwback in terms of ease of use but they often have great deals, like now. Bill McBride |
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Post by drolsen on Oct 18, 2024 18:01:32 GMT -8
I used to order almost all my models from TTH until about a decade ago when the handy buttons on their home page that led to different categories of products stopped working. It became a chore to search for anything. TTH apparently stopped updating their product categories, and the buttons starting leading to an empty list that says “No products were found matching your selection.” It’s still that way when I checked just now..
Dave
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Post by ChessieFan1978 on Oct 18, 2024 18:48:44 GMT -8
I hate the new site compared to the old one. But those are good deals. The DC 4-6-0 is $238, with shipping amounts to 50% off. Turboliner sets for half off. The Atlas covered hopper that just came out that's like $70 for $17 each. I can't even buy this stuff that cheap wholesale. Their new site is slow and eliminated the ability to search effectively and order by price. It's definitely a throwback in terms of ease of use but they often have great deals, like now. Bill McBride |
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Post by lvrr325 on Oct 19, 2024 5:45:58 GMT -8
You can search by brand and have it display by price, and have it sort the sale by price, but I don't see yet how to search within the sale by brand and sort that by price.
I used to always look because some years ago they goofed and put the decimal in the wrong place on some things and I spotted it and bought them; got an Intermountain SD40 widecab, Walthers SD45 and a Walthers heavyweight baggage for a total of around $35. Then they mis-picked it (probably on purpose) and the sound Santa Fe SD45 came as a non-sound EL SD45. Still a great deal, but instead of a flip it's down on the layout right now.
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Post by voyager989 on Oct 19, 2024 9:45:36 GMT -8
I see based on one of my swap groups that they got cleaned out by somebody who wanted to do reselling.
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Post by markfj on Oct 19, 2024 11:15:39 GMT -8
Their new site is slow and eliminated the ability to search effectively and order by price. It's definitely a throwback in terms of ease of use but they often have great deals, like now. Bill McBride I haven't checked out TTH's Cloud 9 sale in a while, so I just gave it a look now. Wow, what the heck happened to their site? Just awful. This is 2024, can't they do much better? Last "deal" I got from TTH was a Rapido 1st run RS11 for $89. At that price, with it's issues and all, I'm very happy. Mark J. |
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Post by cpr4200 on Oct 19, 2024 13:33:52 GMT -8
The TTH website has sucked for years. I get a lot of error messages and have to reload the page often. I think it depends on traffic; sometimes I can breeze right through it.
Those new Atlas covered hoppers for $17 is incredible. Too bad I don't need them! But the postwar boxcars for $14 did ring the bell for me. I remember around this time last year they had similar pricing. Picked up a couple of Rapido RS18's and M420's at that time.
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Post by slowfreight on Oct 20, 2024 10:23:47 GMT -8
Those M4@0 A/B sets are tempting...$320-ish for sound-equipped BCOL...but in comparison I finished my pair of Kaslo M420s for $130, and had 'em done a couple years before Rapido announced theirs. Must. Stay. Focused.
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Post by DaYooper on Oct 20, 2024 12:13:39 GMT -8
Those new Atlas covered hoppers for $17 is incredible. I thought that the Atlas 5701 hoppers were the ones that had somewhat "course" details like ladder rungs and roof walks. Has that changed, or am I just mistaken? Ryan |
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Post by DaYooper on Oct 20, 2024 12:21:43 GMT -8
Those M4@0 A/B sets are tempting...$320-ish for sound-equipped BCOL...but in comparison I finished my pair of Kaslo M420s for $130, and had 'em done a couple years before Rapido announced theirs. Must. Stay. Focused. Good. Luck. I. caved. Those B units are just too cool. Now someone please show me a photo of them venturing east on the CN or CP. Run through, detour, whatever. Ryan |
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Post by talltim on Oct 21, 2024 4:14:01 GMT -8
Those new Atlas covered hoppers for $17 is incredible. I thought that the Atlas 5701 hoppers were the ones that had somewhat "course" details like ladder rungs and roof walks. Has that changed, or am I just mistaken? Ryan Yes. I'm confused too. Is this a new-ish run of an older model or a new model? |
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Post by lvrr325 on Oct 21, 2024 4:39:36 GMT -8
The run they're dumping for less than wholesale came out about two months ago. The model itself dates back to 2007. All new paint schemes.
They also were dumping the 40' box car with 8 foot door that came in the same container, but if you dug in deep there were some older things with similar steep discounts. Not just Atlas either, I saw Athearn Genesis cabooses for under $50 that were like $110 new, various Athearn highway trailers under $20, and so on. They must be moving things because some say "read more" and you click and it's out of stock.
I grabbed that Rapido D10 because George Hart ran excursions out of Jim Thorpe with one so it's one of the few steam engines I can justify on a 1970s era LV layout. Short of waiting for somebody to dump one in an estate sale I doubt you'll ever see them that cheap again.
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Post by cpr4200 on Oct 21, 2024 6:47:17 GMT -8
I grabbed an Atlas MEC postwar boxcar from TTH when they came out at $23, I think, and thought that was a great deal. Got three more at $14. One duplicate number that I'll sell or renumber.
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Post by NYSW3614 on Oct 21, 2024 11:27:12 GMT -8
It's been a LONG time since I ordered from TTH but thanks to this post I picked up a Rapido NH County car for one that ran on the NYSW along some bits and shared the sale with some friends, at least 2 of which ordered.
Definite major suckage on the layout/use interface of that site; might have ordered more but just had enough after awhile.
Joshua
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Post by wmcbride on Oct 21, 2024 12:49:31 GMT -8
It's been a LONG time since I ordered from TTH but thanks to this post I picked up a Rapido NH County car for one that ran on the NYSW along some bits and shared the sale with some friends, at least 2 of which ordered. Definite major suckage on the layout/use interface of that site; might have ordered more but just had enough after awhile. Joshua Their old site was ok. When they put this new version online, I emailed them and pointed out, politely, some of its shortfalls. I also mentioned that they lost a few sales from me because of user fatigue while trying to go through page afte page of Bachmann stuff. At least the old site allowed you to search the sale using terms like "Genesis." Bill McBride |
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ictom
Full Member
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Post by ictom on Oct 24, 2024 3:36:53 GMT -8
I placed an order - great deal!
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Post by talltim on Oct 24, 2024 6:33:17 GMT -8
I'm very tempted, but by the time they get to the UK it would probably wipe out any savings
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Post by prr 4467 on Oct 24, 2024 9:24:48 GMT -8
I think the reason for this sale is that some of the inventory is actually leftover from Bowser's retail store, English's Model RR Supply, which closed at the end of September, 2023. I was there multiple times during that month and saw some of the items that have been offered on the TTH website for sale since then, in person. After the store was closed, I even ordered a few of the sale items from TTH. The Rapido diesels mentioned above had been pre-ordered just like many other items; at the time Rich Cox would have pre-ordered them for the store, he would not have known that he would be leaving and/or that the store would be closed. (Rich subsequently received a job offer that he could not refuse).
Perhaps for reasons discussed above, people just didn't take notice that some of these items have been discounted for much of the last year on the TTH website, and/or perhaps they just discounted them even more to blow them out.
TTH is no longer a distributor for some product lines (there are only about 7 big distributors remaining which does not include TTH), so some of these items are basically the last leftovers either from when they were a distributor for that manufacturer's products, or the last leftovers from what always had been a great store. They had a lot of inventory remaining in stock even at the last day of the store.
RIP English's Model RR Supply. It was a great run.
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Post by lvrr325 on Oct 24, 2024 10:23:47 GMT -8
> much of the last year
Several of the Atlas pieces in this sale only showed up about two months ago. But I agree it's likely inventory pre-ordered for the store they've chosen to dump for below cost. There probably will be more of it, too, particularly with the Atlas backlog of items going back three and four years I would imagine there are quite a few outstanding preorders right up until the decision was made to close the store.
Who are those 7 distributors? I am aware of Horizon, Heartland and Hobbytyme plus one I can't recall the name of.
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Post by prr 4467 on Oct 25, 2024 11:32:21 GMT -8
One more big distributor is Emery Distributors in Easton, PA. Then of course there is Walthers, which my friend also buys some items from.
My two BLI UP Bull Moose's are pre-ordered through my friend's store, The Station, in New Cumberland, PA, from Emery. There are reasons he pre-orders through the distributors rather than directly from BLI. The end difference in price is not very much, and there are benefits to us in doing the orders this way. If you have any questions about that, please pm me and I'll gladly explain privately.
Emery is a highly reputable distributor, and they are close to us, so shipping is less. He also does buy a lot of stuff from Heartland Hobby.
English's had their in-house computer system set up so that Rich Cox could with a couple mouse clicks find which distributor of the 7 had what item still in stock in real time or nearly so. It was fantastic! They dealt with at least 5 of the 7. However, I do not know the name of the last two. I just never needed to know.
Having grown up in that store since age 5 (my parents would just drop me off there when going shopping; times were different then--and the English's never minded at all except that by age 10 they expected me to find whatever it was that I wanted by myself, and I later worked there during my college years) I find that I really miss it. The customers--the usual suspects at least--were like a family. It's almost like losing a family member (as I have recently as well). They literally had a million-item+ inventory once you add in all the parts for everybody's trains, at least up till several years ago when they dumped the parts inventory. It took 2 to 3 weeks just to check the inventory every summer, with multiple employees doing that.
Just the parts Bowser (and their purchased 20-some other manufacturer entities) make/made for other companies along the way is a rather impressive number.
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Post by cpr4200 on Oct 29, 2024 19:20:46 GMT -8
Not all roadnames, for the FA's at least, were listed at the blowout price. This week they're all back to "regular" price, $565 for an A-B set with sound, $295 for a single unit.
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Post by lvrr325 on Oct 29, 2024 19:47:20 GMT -8
Emery, that's the one who's name I was blanking on.
There's advantages and disadvantages to each place, depending on where you are and what volume you order. One of the biggest reasons I use my choice is because standard UPS and FedEx end up being overnight shipping, it just happens to work out that way with where their terminals are.
Speaking of shipping has anyone seen their order from this sale shipped yet? Neither of mine have.
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ictom
Full Member
Posts: 102
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Post by ictom on Oct 30, 2024 3:10:28 GMT -8
Emery, that's the one who's name I was blanking on. There's advantages and disadvantages to each place, depending on where you are and what volume you order. One of the biggest reasons I use my choice is because standard UPS and FedEx end up being overnight shipping, it just happens to work out that way with where their terminals are. Speaking of shipping has anyone seen their order from this sale shipped yet? Neither of mine have. Got mine yesterday - everything was great! I was a bit apprehensive about the disconnect between "Order Complete" and actual shipping. I actually contacted them for a clarification after a week of silence from "Order Complete." I got a short reply that stated 5-7 days to ship from "Order Complete." When it arrived yesterday, the whole process almost seemed like a drop-ship operation from a distributor, but then the box's label said TTH Shipping (or something similar), so I guess not. |
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Post by ambluco on Oct 30, 2024 3:21:44 GMT -8
With TTH, if you are ordering something randomly, like your order, some things are in stock but most comes from the distributor. You get an email that you placed your order and then you'll get an Order Complete email. That means they have processed your order, charged your card, AND ordered it from the distributor. The distributor ships it to TTH fairly quickly, and TTH turns around and ships it to you. Sometimes, especially with new items you didn't pre-order, or the sale items, both of which can be low stock, you'll get an Order Complete and then maybe a week or so later, get an refund notice. The distributor was not able to fulfill the order.
I have used TTH for decades for pre-orders with only one miss, for an Atlas item that was announced and then didn't get released for 4+ years. It must have fallen off their system. I was able in the end to get the model.
For sale items, it's hit or miss. Some stuff THEY are trying to reduce inventory and other items, the distributor is cleaning house.
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Post by wmcbride on Oct 30, 2024 4:16:19 GMT -8
I have been shopping the TTH sales for years and have stuck it out after their horrid web site redesign.
I have been lucky since I have rarely had something come up out of stock after I placed my order. In those rare cases, I had a credit card refund filed from them within a day or two of my order.
Shipping is slower than it was just a few months ago and, lately, I have not been receiving an email notifying me of shipping as was their practice in the past. For my recent order, I received my shipping email the same day UPS delivered it.
Bill McBride
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Post by cpr4200 on Oct 30, 2024 8:26:44 GMT -8
It's been crickets since I ordered, too. Most other places (Lombard, Trainz, TrainWorld) get right on it and ship a day or two after the order's been placed. TTH not so much, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had gotten slammed during the last sale.
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Post by prr 4467 on Oct 30, 2024 8:35:49 GMT -8
There have been more sudden "sale" listings from many dealers this year. TTH declares a sale whenever they decide they have too much inventory remaining and/or they think their sales are lagging behind where they want them to be. There doesn't have to be a pattern to it.
Factory Direct Hobbies or whatever they are called now has been emailing me about sales the last several days, and, unfortunately, I have no disposable cash to buy anything else right now.
My buddy tells me that retail train sales are down about 5% for the year (relative to last year this time) as of right now.
Walthers had a blowout sale on Broadway Limited brass hybrid C&O K-2 2-8-2's. That sale several weeks ago, plus the 10% additional flyer discount, netted me a BLI K-2, perfect new condition, for $495. Not bad considering MSRP was $899 and several dealers still have them listed at anywhere between $750 and $850. I only regret not getting a second one in that sale, but I already had 2 others. With dollar cost averaging, my cost on the 3 locos is only about $650 each, which I consider to be a "win", except my budget is spent...
Through the years I've had one or two items that sold out that TTH was not able to get for me. No real harm. However, for big ticket items such as locos I really want, I simply go through my local store, who then confirms with Emery that I can definitely get one. It's just been easier for me to do that.
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