MTL Circus Train: Bogus Alert

[ljudice]

Just for those who think the circus thing is a joke, here you go:

Dear Customers:

MICRO-TRAINS has just announced two more WEATHERED Freight Cars as follows:

09944020 Evans 3-Bay Hopper Seaboard Coast Line

11044120 56' Tank Car Santa Fe

These models are shipping to us as of today so they will be here in 
about a week or so.  Photos showing each side of each car are now up 
on our website.  Please place your reservation soon if interest, these 
usually sell out before arrival.

We also now have information on the first CIRCUS train models from 
MICRO-TRAINS.  As of this e-mail we are not sure if this one is 
prototypical or not.  Reading the copy several times over it sounds 
like it's "semi-prototypical".  We'll let you interpret for 
yourselves.  Here is the exact wording as it appears in the dealer memo:

-----------------

We will be advertising a new Ringling Bros. Billboard Series in our 
Micro-News and on our website this May. The 12-month series will 
feature colorful representations of actual posters used by Ringling 
Bros. and Barnum & Bailey to promote their shows. Each poster will be 
displayed across the side of our freight cars like a billboard 
advertisement for the coming show! The series will include 11 freight 
cars, one locomotive and a caboose and will begin August 1st, 2009! 
Standing Order dealers, add this to your Standing Order by Friday, May 
15th to guarantee delivery of the first billboard car in August.

-----------------

Customers who are interested in this series should contact us 
immediately.  IF WE DON'T HEAR FROM ANYONE WE WILL NOT ORDER THEM!  If 
you are interested please "speak up" by e-mailing us so we can gauge 
interest in this offering.  This does not have to be an "all or 
nothing" commitment, you can express your interest for the cars only, 
the loco & caboose only, the first car only, etc.  We are very 
flexible and are simply looking to gauge interest at this time.  If 
you would like to place a formal reservation for the series we are 
happy to accept that and if not that is fine, we just simply want to 
know what interests you (if anything) from this series.  Thank you in 
advance for your cooperation with our request.

[up1950s]

Wow , that is totally contradictory to their MTL site and their mailed flyer . One ad then is a lie , and no matter which is a lie , they said it . Zero credibility is where they stand and deserve . Advance reservations is too risky now , no matter what they say .

[ljudice]

unless they are doing a fancy-dancy series and a real series... 

I still say that for a MODERN RB train the go-to company is Kato. They could whip up most of the train with tooling they already have - and then tool up the animal cars, a flat car with containers, trailers and that autorack thing.

Maybe MTL found out Kato IS doing a circus train and scaled the project back to be a circus poster train...

[Ryan87]

Read the original ad!  ;D

"prototype...cars from multiple eras, as well as specialty or themed cars"

they said this all along...

and really... Micro-trains and a prototypical train?  :

[Denver Road Doug]

Wow, just like when I turned 23.  I WANTED to believe in Santa Claus still but I had my doubts.  Then I saw him and he looked real and I just couldn't give it up.  And then he stole my TV.

 

[jmlaboda - RIP]

These fall under the "specialty or theme cars" catagory... the true circus cars are suppose to start coming out a little later... but, yah, I want to see just what they are willing to do myself.  On the other hand, RBX did buy heavyweight Pullmans and two of those are suppose to be really close to being out the door.

[up1950s]

I thought about that specialty series , but in the eMail they didn't mention the circus series will continue past the 12 months of Billboard foobies . Why wouldn't they mention that , when it is what they were using to drum up interest originally .

 We will be advertising a new Ringling Bros. Billboard Series in our 
Micro-News and on our website this May. The 12-month series will 
feature colorful representations of actual posters used by Ringling 
Bros. and Barnum & Bailey to promote their shows. Each poster will be 
displayed across the side of our freight cars like a billboard 
advertisement for the coming show! The series will include 11 freight 
cars, one locomotive and a caboose and will begin August 1st, 2009! 
Standing Order dealers, add this to your Standing Order by Friday, May 
15th to guarantee delivery of the first billboard car in August.

[sirenwerks]

Maybe they should do a rumor series, like billboard cars featuring WWII anti-talk campaign advertisements?

[VGN50]

Frankly, I'm disappointed but not surprised.  This sounds like the "Twelve Days of Christmas goes to the Circus."

Somehow, in spite of their "prototypical" advertising, they just can't seem to stop the compulsion to produce the fantasy products.

I guess they sell well and that's ok with me.  After all, it is their business model.  This announcement does reinforce what I have been saying for five years:

                                 Micro-Trains is the Tyco of N Scale

Mark

[lock4244]

I can't believe anyone here is actually surprised by this.

Howabout a billboard series of fantasy schemes chronicling what a release of Trailer Train 89' flats with multiple road numbers would look like?

[lock4244]

... or a series depicting the passage of time waiting to build a unit coal train of their hoppers? Could start off showing a young man holding a single coal hopper and end showing another young man looking at the grave of the first young man, and the graves of the seven generations that followed the first young man.

Oh yeah, that second young man would be holding four coal hoppers.

[bbussey]

Folks,

As long as Micro-Trains is still committed to releasing prototypical RBBBCircus cars, why the worry?  The fantasy cars help pay the bills over there.  If that helps justify prototypical circus releases, especially with the heavyweights on the horizon, I don't have a problem with it.  It's not as if we're being forced to buy the fantasy releases in order to get the prototypical ones.

bb

[wcfn100]

"As long as Micro-Trains is still committed to releasing prototypical RBBBCircus cars, why the worry?  The fantasy cars help pay the bills over there.  If that helps justify prototypical circus releases, especially with the heavyweights on the horizon, I don't have a problem with it. "


Hmmmm.  Needing to sell fantasy cars in order to make prototypical cars.... Well that's just about the sadest thing ever.  Are there any HO manufacturers that have to do this?


I didn't think so.


Jason

[Ian MacMillan]

Man I was hoping it would actually be cars from the Red or Blue trains so I could actually build one... OH WELL.

Well, for their next run I have a good idea where they could sell lots of cars in a "fantasy" scheme.

[wcfn100]

I took the survey and when I got to the question on a possible theme to use as a fantasy car run I wanted to put mass murders of the 20th century......man I really wanted that Charle Manson car! Followed up by the Ted Bundy car then the John Wanye Gacy car and the Jeffery Dalmer car and I can't forget... The OJ Simpson did it car!! :

I could go for a 'Hulk Hogan understands how OJ could do it' car. 


Jason