Hornby at the London Toy Fair

Hornby released their news of new offerings for 2007 on the 1st January and the London Toy Fair provides Hornby with the opportunity to provide more background information and show off some of the new products due for release very shortly.

Visit the gallery to view some of the Hornby products on display and being demonstrated:-

London Toy Fair 2007 Gallery

The Hornby Elite digital console was having its first serious outing since its firmware modifications. Hornby have listened to feedback since the Elite was last demonstrated and the console now very definitely offers 4 digit addressing and will both read and write control values. Some time has been devoted to making sure the instruction manual is clear and a fold out chart will be included that Elite users will be able to follow to help them get the best out of the console and get up to speed quickly. Hornby were demonstrating the Elite linked up to two rolling roads that had two Class 08 Locos operating at the same time. It was very easy to see how the console interacted with the locomotives.

The Elite has a very high specification within the standard package including ports to enable the console to be linked up to a computer and the internet. The information displayed on the screen is in easy to read large characters. Future upgrades and drivers will be able to be downloaded from the Hornby website as Hornby expand the range of accessories and decoders. The Elite has been designed to be futureproof and fully complies with all current and future European legislation currently on the statute. The unit has been designed with NMRA conformance in mind.

I then asked Hornby's Simon Kohler to show me the highlights on the Hornby stand and those items that he felt would be of interest to Model Rail Forum members and visitors. We quickly marched around to the line up of locomotives and he showed me several Bulleid pacifics. He knew that would be of interest to me! Hornby had on display those products that were due for release in the next few months and none of the new prototypes to be modelled announced on 1st January were on view.

Next we stopped at the Virgin Pendolino display and I do have to say this model looked terrific and is bound to be a sure fire winner for Hornby. Now I do not claim to be an expert in Pendolino's or any other prototype but it just looked right and there seemed to be an awful lot of detail on the roof around the pantagraph area.

We then moved on to the Skaledale and Lyddle End building range and it has to be said that the new industrial buildings are works of art and have the appearance of being constructed by Swiss watch makers. It would be absolutely impossible for 99.9% of modellers to recreate the weathered look in kit form and these designs do look stunning when viewed for the first time. Skaledale and Lyddle End now give the beginner and time restricted modellers the opportunity to give scenery and landscapes the look that was formerly only possible by modelling experts who were able to dedicate 1000's of hours to a project. Literally every modeller now has the opportunity of creating works of art with their model railway.

Remember that the entire range is based on real buildings.

Hornby's Simon Kohler was particularly pleased with the new Skaledale and Lyddle End church which features in the gallery. He was not so pleased that somebody had dropped the model and damaged it (Simon does get very emotional about Skaledale as much of the range reflects buildings of his childhood) however was still very happy to have the building photographed. Have a look and make up your own mind.

Next the Hornby Railroad range. For those on a budget this range will provide an opportunity to expand their fleet of rolling stock quickly. The range of products offered will be based around older Hornby products that have been superseded by new highly detailed examples, and former Lima products deemed not suitable for the modeller who requires high level of detail. Hornby have recognised that as they have moved upmarket they may have disenfranchised those who are on a budget and who are happy to own models with less detail offered at lower prices. This is where Railroad comes in. With a Flying Scotsman being offered with a RRP of around £45 this range will have an appeal to those who currently resort to auction sites to buy second hand. The new Railroad range will divert a proportion of this market back to new product ownership. Why buy a secondhand model on eBay when a similar model is available new? The pre-owned market is a very big slice of the hobby for one reason or another and Hornby want modellers on a budget to start thinking new again!

Finally a few words about Airfix. Hornby are looking at how they can best incorporate the very large range of model railway building kits that they have the tooling for into the Airfix range. And there are several new kits planned for 2007. Humbrol paints and The Young Scientist range all had prominent displays and as and when the huge range of model railway kits start appearing there may be new colours offered as required.

2007 promises to be an interesting year!

Happy modelling
Gary