I just read the Athearn news article this morning and I found that they're doing a run of RTR 65'6" mill gondolas. And Genesis came out with a new model, the GP15-1. But no frisco. They only have CN&W, CR, MP, and NS. That makes 2 companies now with a brand new run of GP15-1's and didn't make a frisco run.
Re: New Athaern Stuff Ethan: I will address your concern about the GP15-1 along with some other things in a new thread entitled "Upcoming Locomotive Timeline". Bob Hoover FriscoFriend
Re: New Athaern Stuff Ethan, My understanding of the model railroad industry is that they typically don't lead with the best roads when they release a new product. The best case of this was when Kadee led with a MONON (I have one but YUK) boxcar as their first 40 ft boxcar several years ago. My guess is that they will have the SLSF, BN (ex-SLSF), UP (ex-MP/CNW), CSX (ex-CR) and short lines like the California Northern and Appalachicola Northern RRs in the next run. The short lines are especially colorful as is the SLSF version. You can see some cool pics of GP15-1s at this link. http://www.northeast.railfan.net/diesel93.html THE GOOD NEWS is that they will release a CNW version which is the same version purchased by the Frisco. It is the version that has all the louvers behind the cab instead of the blower housing. They will be cool. Now on the 65' mill gons, they are offering a SLSF version which is very nice. Due out 1Q10. Here is the link. http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=65'+Gondola+RTR&CatID=THRF Start saving your money.
Re: New Athaern Stuff Why wouldn't a model manufacturer "lead" with the best RR name on a model? Do they really do that or does it just seem that way because we just have to drag the Frisco models out of them?? Tom
Re: New Athaern Stuff It is my observation that, with new products, manufacturers will create a lot of interest simply because they have created a new model, like the GP15-1. The key to making and maximizing profit is to extend the life of the product as long as possible and sell as many road names as possible. Keep in mind that manufacturers have a significant expense in creating the tooling to create plastic injection molded products. It is in their best interest to make the product life as long as possible. For the model railroad equipment industry, I believe that the order in which you release road names can have a big impact on total sales and profit. That is why all the "best" roadnames may not be in the first release. Spreading out the "best" roadnames out over several releases (and sometimes not the first release) will keep a high level of interest in the product throughout its life and will sell more product. For my example, I give you the Athearn PS2 2893 covered hopper. The first release in 2005 was BN, ATSF, CO, MON, NW, CR. Not much to get excited about but the BNs and ATSFs should have sold well. The second release 2006 included DTI, SLSF, SP, GT, NYC and Jack Frost (why?). Big sellers here were SP, SLSF and NYC. If you have been out on the Athearn site recently you will notice that they are still selling these cars today. The run due out in early 2010 includes.SN, MCDC, EL, Atlantic Sugar, CoG and CBQ. Here is the link http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=2893+Covered+Hopper+RTR&CatID=THRF&Page=1 I have seen this pattern repeated over and over again with Frisco F3As (Genesis), MP15s (Atlas), GP38AC (Atlas), 40 ft box cars (Kadee), cement hoppers (Kadee) and on and on. The good thing here is that they will do the Frisco GP15-1 because there weren't many orginal roads (CR, CNW, SLSF and MP) or secondary owners. Hope this explanation helps out some. I don't see the glass as half empty, I see it as 90% full.
Re: New Athaern Stuff It's been a while since the Athearn Genesis F3A's and B's came out. I wonder what we can do to urge Athearn to do a Frisco Genesis F7A, F7B, and F9B? Ken
Re: New Athaern Stuff I'd think they'd want to put out the biggest seller first?? But, what do I know? Makers like Kato (California Zephyr) and Con-Cor (UP M-10000) continue to put out one-of-a-kind models with no hope of follow-up?? I'm tired of trying to figure "them" out??? I'm not going to sit around and agonize whether or "if" they're going to put out this or that model. I might buy certain models if they're issued, but I'm not going to pre-order anything--Looks like the modeler can't figure out the manufacturer--AND vise versa... Tom
Re: New Athaern Stuff Rick, That explained it well to me on how to divide up road names. Meteor, If they came out with a F9B, I would buy one. And if the SD45's are to my likinings, then the Iantha branch will have a set up you could see from St. Louis to Springfield, SD45 F9B SD45. I have been thinking about buying an Intermountain F7B O/W when it comes out.
Re: New Athaern Stuff I went on athearn.com and searched frisco and came up with some more stuff. Of course they of the 65'6" mill gon listed, as well as anther run of 60' auto parts box cars. And some stuff that is still available SD40-2, PC&F 50's box car (white) 50' smooth plug door box car, 60' flat car with wood, the resent run of cabooses, GP50, Heavy duty flat car w/ load. Didn't know they had some of this stuff. Might have to get one of the heavy duty flats , because I had thought about making it a project, but I can buy one ready to go. http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=frisco&Page=1
Re: New Athaern Stuff Trac, You are absolutely correct about today's business model in the model railroad equipment industry. They lost a lot of time and money figuring this out but now they have an effective model in place and it certainly seems to work. I agree with the "get it now or forever hold your peace" suggestion. This IS how manfacturers gauge demand for a product. Anecdotal letters and emails do not give them a reasonable level of demand for a product. They are in this for a profit and they need to operate from facts. Preorders are facts. I don't have a big problem with this arrangement. The prices have gone up but so has the quality. I eat more peanut butter sandwiches these days but I also have some pretty cool equipment which frees up my time to build more of my railroad and operate my railroad. Just my opinion . . . Good thing I am not allergic to peanut butter.
Re: New Athaern Stuff trac and Rick are right, and ..... amen to peanut butter! That was my experience on the Frisco Atlas GP7. I had a good feeling it would be nice, so I pre-ordered one (SLSF 500) at Tinkertown. When it came in and I saw how nice it was, I immediately ordered the second unit (SLSF 502) right there on the spot. TT was lucky and used their relationship with the distributor to get one of the last ones in stock. I barely made it. You can find them on eBay now and then - but the bidding is usually spirited. Ken
Re: New Athaern Stuff To add to this conversation about when certain roadnames are are released, I had one manufacturer (not Athearn, but a big one) explain to me that on every release they try and pick a roadname that represents each part of the country, which when one thinks about it makes perfect sense. I guess in that sense, one could say that if that follows true to form, we compete with MP on a given run. On the subject of pre-ordering, it has recently come to my attention tha certain Internet retailers are offering discounts up to as much as 30% if you reserve from them by the cut-off date that they place their orders. This makes the wait and see principle even harder. Bob Hoover FriscoFriend
Re: New Athaern Stuff trac, Thanks for explaining that. It makes perfect since now. Instead of buying video games so much, I buy trains.
This new run by Athearn on the mill gons is not the first time they have offered this car. I have two (70015 and 70227 with pole load) I bought a couple of years ago. The only difference I can see between these cars and Athearn's description of the new run is that the 70015 does not have the scale coupler--an easy fix. These cars are great models as far as I can tell and are a great addition to my collection. The 70015 was sold by the Ozark Model Railroad Club as an "Athearn Collectible". Terry
