Not good for Modelers

[Justin Stephenson]

Got some bad news that i heard from a local hobby store that all  train related stuff such as,  locos, car, track , bedding(cork ,ect.), decoders,  ect.  are going up 30%.  Man this hobby is expensive enough, but it's all because of the American dollar falling...so low that its forcing prices up. Well, i guess it's better then the hobby dieing out and companies folding up....

[stillbre]

First of all, a lot of what you hear in hobby shops is pure gossip BS.  Secondly, prices have already gone up 30% or better.  It wasn't but a few years ago you could get Athearn locomotives for $25 each.  Now you're looking at $40-50 minimum for an Athearn if you're lucky.  Granted, you also get a nicer drive and handrails.  But even as much as prices have increased on Athearn stuff, other manufacturers have gone up more.  Atlas for example has nearly tripled the price of their locomotives in recent years.  Have you checked out the price of the GP40-2s and U30Bs they just released?  $149.99 MRSP for non-sound units?!?!  You gotta be kidding me!  No drive upgrades.  No electronics upgrades.  Hell, its not even a new drive, just the GP38/40 and U23B drives getting reused.
If the manufacturers aren't careful, they'll price themselves right out of their own market.  As long as people keeping snatching these models up at their, IMHO, ridiculous prices manufacturers will continue to raise the prices.  All I can say is be selective in what you buy and pay.  And support those who still try to keep prices down, like Athearn.  Also, whenever possible, buy American.  There's still plenty of companies that haven't moved manufacturing over seas.

[mbgphoto79]

It is unfortunate that we have seen the price rise over the last five or so years.  When I was a kid in the late 80's I put together two layouts, one HO and the other N scale on two pieces of 4x8 plywood and probably spent less than $500 bucks total over 3 years.  And I had a lot of stuff on those boards!  Granted, the quality and level of detail of the products on the market is much better now.   

I have been really wanting to put something together now that I have my own space and time, but it's going to be hard.  I love details and precision and the manufacturers are catering to that.  With DCC and sound almost mandatory it is hard to see me putting together a shelf layout for less than $2000 if I do it right. 

What I don't get is how often you see products, especially the new loco releases are always sold out or on back order.  Are the companies not producing many models or are people really buying up all of the samples?   

[cjr9703]

I've been amazed by the crazy increase in model RR prices over the last 20 years, but they seem to have really skyrocketed over the last 10.  Yes, you get higher quailty merchandise, but I felt that most of the older stuff was adequate anyway.  I think we only have ourselves (as modelers) to blame for this, though.  People demanded higher detailed locomotives and rolling stock, and the manufacturers listened.  Only problem is those upgrades came with a price.  I was the type of modeler that was happy buying aftermarket model shells and detail parts to create models that weren't available.  Yeah, I may have spent money on all of those additions, but at least I could say that the model I created was MINE.  Nowadays, everyone seems to have the same RTR stuff.  Boring.

Needless to say, I lost interest in modeling.  I may get back into it, but I doubt it.  I always thought that modeling was supposed to be a way of escaping from life's troubles, but whenever I start back into it, I feel like I should be doing something else.  'Course this is MY problem.  I digress....  :

[Gage O'Dell]

I was Hobbytown USA 2months ago and a price for a GP 38~2 Atlas was around 50 or 60 dollars I finally had enough money went back to Lexington last month and the price to 85 dollars its amazing what the economy is going through it sucks for any moderlers!