If they appear in the US, there are also two TV series of Hornby, a model world, which also cover Hornby's other marquee British brands: Airfix (plane kits) and Scalectrix (slot cars), made in 2021 and 2022. No mention of their other brand, Arnold, their only N Scale offering, which seems to operate independently. The series prominently feature Simon Kohler, and are worth watching to get a glimpse of the production and marketing process. There is also a very long thread on RMweb about his departure, where he is clearly a well-liked and respected figure.
A few vague thoughts: My impression is that Simon and his manager Lyndon were under heavy pressure to achieve short term profitability from venture capital owners and people trying to apply 'modern' marketing techniques, eg the effort to drive direct sales, by making aggressive moves like reducing preorder to model shops and suppliers. The new British TT brand is direct sale only. Maybe Hornby have tried to be two things at once - a toy supplier with entry level train sets etc. and a specialist quality model maker - not necessarily compatible. They may well fall down the gap in the middle.
All of this has alienated many hobbyists and retailers. The comparison I make is with the record companies, who tried to buck the music market by manipulating sales and came a cropper when the landscape changed with digital music a couple of decades ago. They forget that hobbies and pastimes have a delicate and wide ranging infrastructure, which need to be supported and nourished or the whole system is in danger of collapse. The plant has to have deep and widespread roots. Interestingly book publishing has realised this to a certain extent as the accessibility to a huge range of titles, including through Amazon, is keeping total sales much healthier.
