NTS update 7/15/2010 (Walthers's lets the cat of the bag)

[asarge]

Lou, EXR had a production/tooling issue with an N scale announcement they were ready to make. Hang in there, they'll get it out when they feel comfortable.

Drink a few more cups of coffee and get it the rubber walled room so you don;t hurt yourself! ;D

[atsf_arizona]

I would live to see the (Hiawatha) chassis and running gear without the shell .

So would I and many of us.  Looking forward to the time when we all get to see the mechanism...
we're all pulling for Fox Valley Models to have a success on this project so that we can see
more of these kinds of models from them....

[asarge]

I see a lot of new building kits out there.  I set up a page on my web site and will do a photo dump tonight.  Is there something in particular you are looking for?

Joe,

If you somehow get this in time. How 'bout shots of the new structures.

[ljudice]

Andy,  I've got the whole basement padded in rubber!!!

Unfortunately it's so damned hot here today I can only work a few minutes at a time outside. I have about 15 years worth of junk out behind the old (demolished) barn which has to get moved into this 30 yard dumpster by next week.

Of course the sealed plans for the new barn are not back yet - so I still don't have construction permits (this is NJ, where you need a septic permit to even build a shed),
so yeah, I'm drinking a lot of coffee...   

[sirenwerks]

.... but it boils down to tomorrows releases will be based on what sells today.

[/quote]

I know you can't defend what Walthers said and I'm sure I'll get blasted for not knowing what I am talking about or being a naysayer, but that just doesn't compute...

If the products aren't what I/we want, we're supposed to buy them anyway in the hopes they will make what I/we want? Because, the likelihood is that they will base future releases on past sales, so if what I/we don't want is purchased as a gesture of support, then we're likely to get more of the same - what I/we still don't want.

For the sake of argument, let's say I/we want larger industries than what is being released in HO, to fill the extra real estate we have. Out of support, I/we buy up all the shack models Walthers makes, and they decide shacks are selling so well that they'll make more of them, thinking we don't want larger industries.

I believe I/we should support manufacturers that enter the N scale market but, in this economy especially, reinforcing 'bad behavior' just isn't a good policy. GM made crappy cars for a long time and people bought them, quite often, on the sole fact that they were American. And look what happened to GM eventually.

I can only wonder aloud why Walthers fears asking the market what they want rather than assuming they know or can push anything our way.

[djsmeltzer]

For what its worth, here are a few photos I took yesterday.

Walthers 2 bay hopper test shot:




Bachmann Peter Witt




Bachman 70 Tonner





Bachman 4-6-0




Bachman Hopper

[slickwillie]

Awesome pictures - thanks for posting!! 

[BCR 570]

Thank you for the photographs of the Bachmann releases.  I concur with Daniel:

Well, unless someone has a mega announcement, it looks like Bachmann stole the show for N scale.... and who would have ever thought that?

Tim

[ljudice]

Fantastic! Thanks!!!

[wm3798]

The 10 wheeler looks better than in the factory picture.  And I can see more clearly that there's no shaft to the tender. 

The Peter Witt is nothing short of amazing, and if the drive is as good as the shell looks, this could be the break through model of the year!

Lee

[CBQ Fan]

Joe, did I miss an announcement with more info on the Parlor cars, or what may next in the heavywieght pipeline?

[TiVoPrince]

Model Railroad Hobbyist asked Walthers about their commitment to N scale

And the answer is...............................

with Michael Stevens, head of marketing for proprietary products (Walthers, LifeLike, Trainline, Proto, etc...) I was talking to Zach Thompson, who was the Group Product manager for LifeLike/Proto products. I was able to ask him one of the questions that the N Scaler's on the AtlasRR forums regarding Walther's support in continuing the N Scale lines that Life Like had just started prior to being bought out: "What can we expect in N Scale out of Walthers/LifeLike in the future, and if you are not planning on supporting it, are you open to selling the existing tooling?" His answer was that they indeed intended to support it, although he admitted that they had been trying to figure out it's proper place in the scheme of things (I'm paraphrasing heavily here). He did allow me to state that there will be two new N Scale locomotives released prior to the end of the year (please don't ask me what they are, I did promise not to say), and that the most reliable way to ensure more N Scale products from Walthers/LifeLike was to buy the current ones and demonstrate a market. I asked what it would take to convince Walthers/LifeLike to start creating "Name Trains" in N Scale the same as the ones in HO and again his response was simply to buy their current passenger car products. Some gentle lobbying included with those purchases couldn't hurt either.... but it boils down to tomorrows releases will be based on what sells today.

Hopefully
Walthers is looking at what product flies out of the warehouse and not what they has been lingering on shelves just beause its Wal-Like branded.  Wal-Like has not made much that I wanted the last few years.  Based on comments here they have not made much stuff that was popular with forum posters either.  Basing future products on past failures does not seem to indicate confidence.  Like Kato, they seem to think they know what is best for us.  If thier own sales are going to be the benchmark for future products, I can safely ignore them for years to come...

[Hyperion]

So, to paraphrase what was paraphrased by someone talking to Walthers....

"If you want to us to make more and better stuff in the future, you need to buy what little crap comes out the door today."

[sirenwerks]

Hopefully
Walthers is looking at what product flies out of the warehouse and not what they has been lingering on shelves just beause its Wal-Like branded.  Wal-Like has not made much that I wanted the last few years.  Based on comments here they have not made much stuff that was popular with forum posters either.  Basing future products on past failures does not seem to indicate confidence.  Like Kato, they seem to think they know what is best for us.  If thier own sales are going to be the benchmark for future products, I can safely ignore them for years to come...

Word.

[MichaelWinicki]

Model Railroad Hobbyist asked Walthers about their commitment to N scale

And the answer is...............................

with Michael Stevens, head of marketing for proprietary products (Walthers, LifeLike, Trainline, Proto, etc...) I was talking to Zach Thompson, who was the Group Product manager for LifeLike/Proto products. I was able to ask him one of the questions that the N Scaler's on the AtlasRR forums regarding Walther's support in continuing the N Scale lines that Life Like had just started prior to being bought out: "What can we expect in N Scale out of Walthers/LifeLike in the future, and if you are not planning on supporting it, are you open to selling the existing tooling?" His answer was that they indeed intended to support it, although he admitted that they had been trying to figure out it's proper place in the scheme of things (I'm paraphrasing heavily here). He did allow me to state that there will be two new N Scale locomotives released prior to the end of the year (please don't ask me what they are, I did promise not to say), and that the most reliable way to ensure more N Scale products from Walthers/LifeLike was to buy the current ones and demonstrate a market. I asked what it would take to convince Walthers/LifeLike to start creating "Name Trains" in N Scale the same as the ones in HO and again his response was simply to buy their current passenger car products. Some gentle lobbying included with those purchases couldn't hurt either.... but it boils down to tomorrows releases will be based on what sells today.

Hopefully
Walthers is looking at what product flies out of the warehouse and not what they has been lingering on shelves just beause its Wal-Like branded.  Wal-Like has not made much that I wanted the last few years.  Based on comments here they have not made much stuff that was popular with forum posters either.  Basing future products on past failures does not seem to indicate confidence.  Like Kato, they seem to think they know what is best for us.  If thier own sales are going to be the benchmark for future products, I can safely ignore them for years to come...

The problem is the pricing system that Walther's uses...

I mean their MSRP for loco's, rolling stock and buildings is very high compared to what the competition is offering (and quite often the competition has a better reputation), items don't sell and then Walther's guts their reseller channel by offering the products at 40-50-60% of the original list price.   

Consumers are now conditioned to wait for the inevitable price drop before buying.

This isn't a problem initiated by N-scalers. 

My gosh, why not do what Bachmann is doing?  Offer a product at an MSRP that is 20% less than what the competition is offering it for?   And then maintain that price come hell or high-water.