Discussion about Athearn's newest F3 announcement 1-24-2020

Discussion in 'New Products' started by klrwhizkid, Jun 1, 2019.

  1. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Yesterday May 31, 2019, Athearn announced another release of Frisco F3 units in black and yellow. The oddity is that they announced they are releasing the following:
    EMD F3A 5014, EMD F3B 5114
    EMD F3A 5009, EMD F3B 5112
    EMD F3A 5010
    These are all numbers that came in the previous release. Can I get everyone to weigh in on this?

    Athearn Genesis Frisco F3s 05-31-19.JPG
     

    Attached Files:

  2. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    I just sent an email to Athearn and posted a question on their contact page requesting a response.
     
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  3. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member Staff Member

    I hope that is a mistake on their part, and they just didn't include the right numbers.
     
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  4. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    If it is not a mistake, it's a very silly decision to number the units the same as the previous F3's. For sure, I won't order any.

    Why do they not do the F7's ??? Easy to do, they have all the fonts and colors, and they have the Genesis models. Just keep the d/b's off of them!

    Ken
     
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  5. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member Staff Member

    Am I reading the $$ right. Almost $560.00? for 2 model locomotives? For that kind of money they should offer custom numbering, weathering, operating windshield wipers ect.
     
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  6. Coonskin

    Coonskin Member

    Tom, they're NOT $560. Sheesh. You're being negative.

    They're $559.98.

    Andre
     
  7. Ayerox

    Ayerox Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Same here Keith. Email sent to Athearn.
    Jay
     
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  8. Iantha_Branch

    Iantha_Branch Member

    I really hope this is just a typo. At a minimum that should pick new road numbers. If they would change it to an F7 that would be the best move for both their sales numbers and us modelers.
     
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  9. pensive

    pensive Member Frisco.org Supporter

    The B units appear to have different numbers from the previous release.

    Rich
     
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  10. Iantha_Branch

    Iantha_Branch Member

    I got a response from Athearn. Its not a typo. They are considering F7s in the future though.
     

    Attached Files:

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  11. William Jackson

    William Jackson Bill Jackson

    I will just skip this one, there will be another one. Just saved a bundle Yea !
     
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  12. gstout

    gstout Member Frisco.org Supporter

    I paid $750 for my first car and it was only four years old at the time. I'm glad I built my fleet when things were considerably cheaper.

    GS
     
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  13. Ayerox

    Ayerox Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Response from Athearn states they are releasing the same #s as the first Frisco F3 Genesis issue "by popular demand". Their thought is the new 2.0 decoder and led lights will be a wanted upgrade to those who purchased the first run.
    For me it's a Athearn release I will pass on and save the dollars.
     
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  14. Joe Lovett

    Joe Lovett Member

    I saved money too, because they are in the wrong scale.

    Joe
     
  15. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Here's a copy/paste of their canned response to both of my inquiries:

    "By popular demand, we are issuing a re-release of these locomotives with factory equipped state-of-the-art Tsunami 2.0 Decoders with all new LED lighting. We trust these newly offered features will set these locomotives apart from their predecessors, and this re-release will be a welcomed by our customers who missed out on the original production run of these models."

    I countered with:
    "I am really sorry to hear that. The previous release can have the decoders upgraded. A second release of the same numbers is not beneficial to the greater number of people. I think you are making a big mistake in terms of potential volume. There are a lot of people on Frisco.org that are not going to be purchasing since these are duplicates."

    Needless to say, I'm out.
     
  16. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member Staff Member

    Not in my wheelhouse.
     
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  17. dwoomer

    dwoomer Member

    I'm like Greg, have several hundred cars and plenty of locos that I bought 20-30 years ago at reasonable prices. They look and run just fine and I don't have to pay these ridiculous prices. Have probably bought only 5 or 6 cars in the past decade.
     
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  18. Coonskin

    Coonskin Member

    Whereas I will always and forever love me 'ol Frisco... I too, shall pass on spending the significant moolah on these. I have soooo many KC&G and O&S projects (that are going to need decoders/etc) that I honestly would not be able to justify the outlay for "luxury" units that would only offer the ability to pet my Frisco affection and doesn't help my overall "big picture" modeling scheme.

    AND... seein' as I'm on a roll, just my very biased and certainly not-so-humble opinion: Duplicate numbers is a dumb move.

    Andre
     
  19. Ozarktraveler

    Ozarktraveler Member

    I'm probably in the minority, but, timing is often important in these things...

    As for me, I could use them since I wasn't actively in the hobby when they were offered. Different numbers would be great too and the fact they are offered with DCC now is wonderful.

    I could stand a little time spacing between offerings though, what with the new GP7s this fall, of which I have ordered 3.

    I just hope this doesn't preclude future Frisco offerings.
     
  20. I'm in for them for them. Love the F units. Has been 16 years since the others which i didn't get then as wasn't modeling Frisco then. Will be a nice addition as an A/B/A set being they are available again.
     
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2019

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