Starter sets are always sold under the premise of “add more of our very expensive accessories!” and it’s something that irks me.. although a start of a journey, I wonder if it all gives off the wrong idea. You buy a set, suddenly you need a load more investment. Absolutely agree on the idea of a shunting set! It’s something I’ve thought of recently… the roundy-roundy formula should be spiced up by offering shunting layouts in a box. Beginners at my local shop never seem to realise that they don’t need an oval of track to shunt wagons in and out of sidings on their very small baseboard, trying to come up with ways of squeezing loops inside first radius curves. More modern subjects should be embraced (the idea of a little 0-4-0 and a handful of wagons has been dead in the water for ages, with people wanting a big diesel or a multiple unit) as should DCC, with a lot of newcomers - or those returning - wanting to get involved with the system. Big surprise, barely any DCC sets are available.
i got back into the hobby by buying the hornby twin train dcc ser with the jinty and 08 in BR livery great set with dcc controler and 2 dcc locos , now they seem to aim at giving you the least amount possible at the highest price
I am glad to see this conversation starting up. The whole thing needs rethinking. It's should be an independent layout in a box but can be expanded with other modules and the layout expanded. Noch have sold millions of their plastic terrain layouts in Europe and it's never been properly tried in the English speaking world.
Makes sense, it could even be done in a modular layout, so for example, one pack can contain a depo, one pack can contain a station halt with a siding, you can use them on their own or connect them to expand your set and arrange them in any lay out you desire.
Depends on "who" you are aiming sales at! An all in set with baseboards, building etc would be good, but the cost would be high. If they just provided two sidings, and made the packaging material part of a scenic item, plus a couple of card cut-out buildings, which fit over the train set box, it would provide a start at making buildings and running a service from one place to another, while the cost increase would be minimal as boxes and packaging is needed anyway, in short, more prototypical "play value" is needed?
Cut-outs printed on the box the train comes in are also a time-honoured tradition. I'm sure that my first black plastic snap-together track, clockwork bright blue 0~4~0 had a tunnel obviously and sthg else to cut out. Maybe some trees. Before we crowd fund the resurrection of the hobby, we ought to give Hornby one last chance. One enormous bolt of electricity to, ahem, clear/wipe its mind of all those infuriating ways it's still bloody set in. Whilst we're at it, we should remove all pistols and cartridges we find on the premises as well so that it can't shoot itself in the foot over and over again despite having a fetish for it. Back to the matter in hand, I can still remember the crestfallen feeling I had when soon after I'd spent my pocket money on sthg to go with Bluey the clockwork choo choo, my dad announced that I was now old enough and dextrous enough to graduate to proper electric OO gauge railways. Crestfallen because all my investments in clockwork basically had to be binned for the transition to the grown-ups' world.. A real rite of passage, kick in the teeth, hit to the pocket, graduation to the big wide world. Such a waste of loyalty and a not insubstantial risk of the young modeller turning against the adults running the formerly best mate level of friendship train set making company. The sign of things to come, as indeed it turned out for this here former avid disciple of said manufacturer. Toying with the emotions, loyalty and even statistically bankable projected annual spend of increasingly serious amounts of pocket money/wages/salaries as the boys turn into dads with fanatical about steam trains little boys of their own. The same damned adults who didn't think to make the transition seemless for these little boys and in so doing keeping the majority of them as happy customers, life~long customers at that. I taught Hornby Triang a lesson and boycotted them for two Christmases until my grandmas complained that it was really difficult to get these Lemur, no Grandma it's Lima, these overseas company's products. I gave in, I'd got fed up with the crap quality of some of the items and anyway, I had all their exciting operating wagons &c. So back to Hornby. What a waste of resources too, now that I think of it, not being able to make use of anything much from the gateway drug clockwork sets and thus consigning them to younger brothers and all too soon, the local rubbish dump. Sorry I've gone off on one. Any rebirth _must_ get over this senselessly upsetting to the young consumer trashing of his first love! This first example of corporate shooting in the foot by Hornby.
FANTASTIC REPLY , MY FIRST SET WAS A HORNBY FLYING SCOTSMAN SET , THAT EVENTUALLY WAS RETURNED DUE TO A POOR QUALITY MANUFACTURING DEFECT , MY NEXT SET WAS A LIMA 4F HO SET WHICH GAVE OUTSTANDING SERVICE TILL BEING PASSED ON TO A FREIND
@@shakeyhandsshedmodelrailwa2494 Grateful for your video and even more, for your introduction of this intriguing idea. As has been said, something has to be done. Grateful am I too for you taking the time to plough through my overly-long-sentenced classic train of thought transcript.
A few years ago I was into American Railroads it was made more interesting by the use of kits. Instead of starter train sets which is limiting not everyone likes the choice of loco or the wagons in the set it gives the customer the option of doing their own starter set. Update kits for buildings the Airfix/Dapol ones are showing there age pulse need more in the range. You could even have controller kits to build your own all this will help a child or adult to develop skills for modelling. The production costs will be lower and give the customer the freedom to choose.
Agreed. The controllers Hornby include in sets these days are trash and burn out really easily. Those old blocky black ones with the red speed knob were ideal.
