Atlas N Coil Cars

[John]

They must be making them in the USA now .. because the MSRP is $30.95 .. and over $20 on the street --- time to get a new hobby

[wcfn100]

They were $29.95 when announced in 2011.

Is that dollar the breaker? 

Jason

[John]

They were $29.95 when announced in 2011.

Is that dollar the breaker? 

Jason

yup

[wcfn100]

Well then, if you need any Trinity 25,000 Tank Cars, this may be your last chance. 


Jason

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I don't know, I happily pay over $20 for my X58s... But then again, I know there's a price premium on very specific stuff.

But if you want real sticker shock, check out the $100 Athearn cabooses in HO.
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Athearn-Genesis-HO-C-50-7-Cab-SP-Lights-p/ath-g63055.htm

They are beautiful though.

[John]

I started this knowing full well it will turn into another of those threads ..     .. but I also want to make a point -- we are rapidly approaching the level where people will need to make the hard choices ..

If this is what the China factories are charging now -- maybe its time to repatriate our hobby manufacturing to the USA -- where today we had a report that there was another 2.9% downturn in GDP

I'm not against spending the $$$$ .. I just dropped a couple of hundred on TILX ethanol cars for a "small" unit train of 10 cars ...

[ednadolski]

They must be making them in the USA now .. because the MSRP is $30.95 .. and over $20 on the street --- time to get a new hobby

LOL, if you want to get depressed over your hobby, try O scale (esp. modern era).....  but at least you don't need to buy as many trains... 

Ed

[bbussey]

... If this is what the China factories are charging now -- maybe its time to repatriate our hobby manufacturing to the USA -- where today we had a report that there was another 2.9% downturn in GDP

If it made sense to return N scale manufacturing to the States, then there would be more than the current two manufacturers doing it.  Keep in mind that the intricate labor-intensive work now featured on Chinese-manufactured N scale products would be more costly to do here.  I doubt manufacturing will be moved back anytime soon, regardless of how high the MSRPs climb.

[Denver Road Doug]

....  but at least you don't need to buy as many trains... 

Honestly, I think that's a big part of the issue anyway.   I know folks that buy 6 numbers of a car SIMPLY because there are 6 numbers to buy.  Same with locomotives.   It is a mentality beset back in the days when there wasn't the volume of product we have now, and many n-scalers just bought everything that came out.   

Peel back from 6 numbers to "merely" 5 or 4 (or one, maybe two) and you will both save money AND have a much higher quality product, typically.

Quality, not quantity.
Quality, not quantity.
Quality, not quantity.

(They say if you repeat something three times, it sticks.    )

[basementcalling]

Atlas is trying to target both ends of the market with the Master line of products and their Trainman series. I appreciate that. Does every car really need etched metal roofwalks and stirrups, or separately applied grab irons? Those details are nice, and I love cars with them, especially for photographs, but when the car is in motion in a train and viewed from a typical distance, how many of our intricate, hand applied detail parts really stand out enough to be noticed?

But companies will produce what they think the market wants. Unfortunately, anyone wanting lower priced products might just leave the hobby or restrict purchases. I'm still getting over locomotives busting through the $100 price barrier for MSRP.  New runs of old locomotives, and I know they often now have DCC friendly frames, new motors, better lighting, and painting, make my head spin sometimes when I look at prices online versus the price on the orange MB Klein's sticker when I bought a lot of my N scale engines 10-15 years ago.

I can honestly say that the prices have risen faster than my salary. Not unexpected, but sad to see.

[sirenwerks]

Maybe, along with the move back to the US, manufacturers (and modelers) could revert to at least a modicum of modeling.  With the price of labor high, and that translating into $$$ with the addition of tiny parts onto models, how about a return to the Athearn blue box concept, or what IMRC started out with?  Anyone can put pins into trucks, add a bottom to a body casting, and slap on ladders and roofwalks.  Maybe those are the folks that should be rethinking the hobby.

[John]

Well, fortunately I have over 500+ freight cars, more than enough for operations on my layout .. and enough locomotives to run what I need for my schedule ..

I also have about 30 kits I need to still build ... and tons of scenery .. so other than adding to the 3bay hoppers, and about 10 more ethanol cars, I'm pretty good shape .. maybe I will be ready to buy again when they hit $50 msrp

[Puddington]

Maybe, along with the move back to the US, manufacturers (and modelers) could revert to at least a modicum of modeling.  With the price of labor high, and that translating into $$$ with the addition of tiny parts onto models, how about a return to the Athearn blue box concept, or what IMRC started out with?  Anyone can put pins into trucks, add a bottom to a body casting, and slap on ladders and roofwalks.  Maybe those are the folks that should be rethinking the hobby.

I recently spoke with someone who told me (and I quote) "if you have to charge me over $15.99 for our crappy plastic cars then I expect every pipe, valve and rib to be perfect and in place"


Out of touch - yes, but representitive of a large segment of the customer bAse who tell me to reduce the detail so I can sell at 1970's prices, unadjusted for inflation..    Seriously; you should answe my phone for a day..   

[peteski]

Out of touch - yes, but representitive of a large segment of the customer bAse who tell me to reduce the detail so I can sell at 1970's prices, unadjusted for inflation..    Seriously; you should answe my phone for a day..

Hey Puddy, nobody forced you  to take a position with a model RR manufacturer.   
Seriously though, you have been hanging around model RR forum long enough (before your current job) to know how many modelers feel about this subject.

In my job I often deal with customers (large companies) where their computer infrastructure is down, affecting many thousands of employees and millions of dollars of lost revenue.  I have to get things working again. You should try to answer my phone. 

[Philip H]

Because I have a switching layout I only need 2 or 3 of any given car - and many of those will just be switched off one freight and on to another. So I paid for a couple of the coil cars in KCS when they first came out.

As to the economics - it's really a numbers problem in that costs of production, especially for the higher end Atlas stuff, have risk faster then inflation while real wages have fallen (for a variety of reasons). So people want 1979s prices to account for their 1970s wages.