Hornby buys Corgi....

Pardon moi for being an upstart to the hobby - re-introducing then.

Its colours so not a chance of pleasing more than 20% of population. Be down to those what like Hornby/Humbrol say its great and the rest say something different.

In a similar vein noticed in adverts for recent Bachmann jubilee that their red looks very bright, thought that wont please many. Then looked at model which have had since beginning of the year - that looks too bright esp next to home painted kit loco. Whether to weather an rtr ?

Cheers, Simon

And the soldiers are a cheap set of people for a layout - 1940's England and the army were called in to keep te mines running - its my imagination and ....

Cheers, Simon

Make your mind up John, not so long ago you were complainig about them flooding the market with models !

Dont think China production problems are limited to Hornby. However they are almost certainly looking around the globe in case its time to move.

Cheers, Simon

"simon" wrote

There's a difference between reliability of supply and too many models or versions of models.

John.

"kim" wrote

More to the point railway colours were the start of Humbrol's business. I met the company's founder many years ago, and he told me that he started the business because he couldn't get any accurate railway colours for his hobby use.

John.

"simon" wrote

Bearing in mind that around 50% of enthusiasts model the *diesel age* (with a significant interest in the current scene) it's a real problem, I would have thought, to decide just what to include in that range. In the BR steam era, perhaps a dozen colours would cover most uses, but would anyone like to hazzard a guess how many would be needed for the current railway scene with all the TOCs, Freight operators etc.?

John.

I wouldn't be surprised if Hornby don't have a cunning plan there. Making N buildings is a far less expensive way of dipping their toe into the N market and establishing their credentials. Once the market has got used to the idea of Hornby = N as well as 00, launching N rolling stock would be far more "acceptable", always assuming they don't do so by further aqusitions[1]. I'm sure Hornby have been keeping a beady eye on Heljan and Skytrex's 0 gauge activities too!

Judging by the tone of news reports about Hornby's aquisitions, I rather think thay they have a good deal of respect in "The City" with regard to their activities - well, they must have to get the dosh, or they have a cash mountain stashed away. Hornby were one of the pioneers of Chinese production, and as such are probably ahead of the game there too. 20 years ago no one would have given a fig for Hornby's chances of survival, but they've hung on in there. The whole model railway scene owes them a debt of gratitude for keeping train sets "on the high street" - no one else could have done it.

Cheers Richard

Even if they have it doesn't change the fact that their core activities could suffer from diversification, Honrby (as a company) could survive no doubt making/importing widgets but that would not be a good move for railway modellers even if it's good for the City.

I think that depends on how one defines 'Chinese production', wasn't both Palitoy and Airfix both out-sourcing their production to that part of the world?

and as such are probably

Not correct, both Lima, Palitoy and probably Airfix could have done so, they only failed because Hornby were there already, if Hornby had gone belly-up in the late 1970s or early '80s any or all three of the above would have filled their shoes - with (at the time) a better product.

Doesn't the company originate from the Hull area, hence the 'Hum'(ber) part of the name?

Time for an 'in store' mixing/tinting service...

It is NOW, that is not to say that it has always been so, at one time Hornby was an incredibly weak brand - people still regarded it as 'cheap tat' even into the 1980s, it was still suffering from the bad name that Tri-ang/Rovex gave it. If Hornby had folded and disappeared in the late 1970s or early 80's the train-set would *not* have died along with it, Lima was in a position to fill the shelves even if Palitoy and Airfix were not.

Maybe, but Hornby were in the vanguard (technically it was Hong Kong to start with) of the outsourcibg production race.

I have to disagree there - to the non-modelling fraternity Hornby = trains, if Hornby had disappeared the likes of Argos etc would have taken it to mean train sets were dead. The others never had any exposure outside the model railway world - how many actually knew that Airfix produced railway stuff at all, never mind ready-to-run trains? If you don't believe me, ask someone you know well enough to ask but doesn't know anout your interest in model railways who makes, or has made, train sets - the answer will most likely be Hornby, or possibly Traing for the older generation. The Hornby brand is incredibly strong, way ahead of even Airfix (as a kid who makes plastic kits and they'll probably say Tamya, or Revell etc - older people will still say Arfix, but that brand has faded over the years.

Cheers Richard

You miss the point about branding - it's not what the "insiders" in model railway land think, its when Mr. Buyer for High Street Shop Co. Ltd thinks, or Joe Public percieves, and most importantly, what the Mr. Wholesaler Buyer is prepared to bet his job on. Hornby - practically everyone knows the deal. Yu take it home, put it up, plug it in, and off you go. If little Johnny doesn't like it we'll get some money back selling it. If he likes it we can get some more bits to add and our worries about birthday presents are over for years to come. Airfix - they make plastic kit's don't they. Gosh, I'm not glueing that lot together. Or painting them. Palitoy - cheap stuff that may make it to the end of the day. (No offence to Palitoy, but that's peoples perception). Lima - Who? What?

The first glance at a product sells it, if people have to look in the box to understand what they are getting exactly, you've lost half your customers before you even start. That's why brand image is so important. There are some truly awful products out there that only sell because the brand is in favour.

Cheers Richard

A while ago I was in a local model shop when a woman walked in and asked for an "Airfix" plane (she might have specified a Spitfire). The person behind the counter said Airfix had just gone belly-up, and was no more. Oh well, said the woman, if I can't get him a plane it'll have to be something else, and she left.

The assistant should perhaps have tried to sell her a Revell or whatever plane, but it was noticeable that she mentioned Airfix (I suspect this was not because she knew that the Revell model is a Mark 1234(b) with a different pattern of rivets to what she wanted!)

Perhaps the 'wish list' had "Airfix Spitfire" rather than "A plastic model kit of a Spitfire" listed and the ladies reply was on the grounds of just that, she went on to item two on the list?...

As suggested in the bit you snipped, that was a possibility, but I suspect rather unlikely in the situation. If she'd said "Little Willy wants the Airfix special edition 1:48 Swiss navy Seafire with left-handed control column and mark 5 octagonal rivets" it might have been different.

What, you mean take a side panel from a Class 66 into a shop and say "can you colour match this"? :)

Fred X

Jerry, Yes, I believe you are right and also believe that the brand name "Humbrol" came from the owning company's title - the Humber Oil Company.

David Costigan

In message , ":Jerry:" writes

Disagree. The Power of Hornby is the name - just Like, say, Lionel in the US or Marklin in Germany. Outside modelling circles, Joe Public in the UK, who wants to buy a train set for little Johnny, wants a Hornby set, which is precisely why Tri-ang/Rovex wanted the Hornby name on the demise of Meccano Limited. Tri-ang did not want the factory, or the staff, or the tooling, or the stock. They just wanted the name. Hornby is a powerful name, just like Hoover, or Biro.