Seriously I'm about to lose it...

[sizemore]

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/WoWoodland_Scenics_N_Built_Up_Granny_House_p/woo-br4926.htm

This is just nuts. Model power already assembled houses cost $15-$20 and look 10x better requiring little of the modeller other than some light weathering and some details here and there.

The S.

[Mark5]

I don't do built-ups, but I agree that's steep.

There must be a customer base with deep pockets out there, or I guess they wouldn't be selling these.  ???

Mark

[justTRAINcRaZy]

Bachmann has a old style country house I've used several of. Can't buy the kit for $7.99 much less put it together. Just wish they wouldn't use that industrial strength glue to hold it to the package.

KB

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Bachmann_N_45812_Farm_House_Built_up_p/bac-45812.htm

[Mark5]

The Bachmann house looks pretty good, except for the industrial looking ghetto anti-theft bar looking window stuff.

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/v/vspfiles/photos/BAC-45812-2.jpg

[sirenwerks]

I trust MBK to have the best prices, they always do, but I think Woodland Scenics has gone to the point of excessive. But they've been jacking their prices up for a while, and I don't see much increase in the value of what they have to offer. I can put my own kits together, thank you (in fact, I prefer it), and can paint my vehicles and figures a heck of a lot better than they can. I think they're just getting greedy.

[wazzou]

The Bachmann house looks pretty good, except for the industrial looking ghetto anti-theft bar looking window stuff.

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/v/vspfiles/photos/BAC-45812-2.jpg

Those are screens. :

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I trust MBK to have the best prices, they always do, but I think Woodland Scenics has gone to the point of excessive. But they've been jacking their prices up for a while, and I don't see much increase in the value of what they have to offer. I can put my own kits together, thank you (in fact, I prefer it), and can paint my vehicles and figures a heck of a lot better than they can. I think they're just getting greedy.

I'd hardly call it greedy. Misguided is more like it.

It's not like they're all cruising around in Lambos...

[DKS]

The Bachmann house looks pretty good, except for the industrial looking ghetto anti-theft bar looking window stuff.

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/v/vspfiles/photos/BAC-45812-2.jpg

Those are screens. :

Self-adhesive plastic. They peel right off.

[Mark5]

The Bachmann house looks pretty good, except for the industrial looking ghetto anti-theft bar looking window stuff.

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/v/vspfiles/photos/BAC-45812-2.jpg

Those are screens. :

Self-adhesive plastic. They peel right off.

That's good news. Hmmm ... Do the windows have frames?

[sizemore]

I trust MBK to have the best prices, they always do, but I think Woodland Scenics has gone to the point of excessive. But they've been jacking their prices up for a while, and I don't see much increase in the value of what they have to offer. I can put my own kits together, thank you (in fact, I prefer it), and can paint my vehicles and figures a heck of a lot better than they can. I think they're just getting greedy.

I totally agree but take the Atlas houses for instance for a guy like me, always working, the MP and Atlas houses come in quick and handy when I'd got 4 million DPM buildings to build. But my point is that there are other items out there cheaper and better made for less than half the cost.

The S.

[SkipGear]

I tend to agree that the Woodland scenic stuff is pricey but we have customers that buy the stuff every day. They admit the price is high but many feel that they don't have the skills and or time to take a cheap kit and make it look like the Woodland buildings. I have quite a few customers that look at it as spending money on the prebuild buildings gives them more time to work on the layout instead of building structures which many people are afraid of to just plain don't like to do.

This is an HO layout that I have been helping a gentleman with for the past 2-3 years now. I only have a few hours a week to work on it and he had a stroke about the time he started this and lost use of his left hand (he was left handed) so he can not build structures very effectively. If it wasn't for prebuilt structures, we would only be half as far as we are now.



The layout has 20+ houses alone, 2 full city blocks worth of buildings plus the various industries. About half of the buildings are prebuilt saving probably a years worth of work for me finishing roughly a building a week if I has to build them all.

I would rather use the time saved time not building non descript buildings and use that time on more key structures that require kitbashing or custom building.

[TiVoPrince]

Needs
a forclosure sign out front.  Based on the price 'Granny' bought at the very top of the market and with the extra cost of feeding those kids She's just got to be in trouble...

[MichaelWinicki]

Bachmann has a old style country house I've used several of. Can't buy the kit for $7.99 much less put it together. Just wish they wouldn't use that industrial strength glue to hold it to the package.

KB

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Bachmann_N_45812_Farm_House_Built_up_p/bac-45812.htm

I have two of those myself.

Bought one on a whim, then was shocked how decent it was for the $$ and bought another.

[MichaelWinicki]

The Bachmann house is on the left.  Atlas is on the right and was about 3x the cost of the Bachmann.

[Ian MacMillan]

The Bachmann house is on the left.  Atlas is on the right and was about 3x the cost of the Bachmann.

And the detailing and tooling is obvious between the two. Thats a justified price point IMO.