Hornby Digital Website Update!!!

QUOTE As one well known retailer said and I quote:

Are you willing to provide the name of that retailer please? You can PM me if you wish to keep it off the board. Its only fair that Hornby have an opportunity to address a comment such as this made by one of their trade customers. MRF has a good relationship with Hornby hence they have been good enough to provide the Skaledale gas picture that Doug has published today.

QUOTE He was probably too embarassed. Poor move, at least Bachmann packed a decent loco with their DCC startup set.

Have you had any experiance with either the Bachmann or Hornby offerings and do you know the Hornby rep?

Its a bit unfair to pass judgement on either if you haven't or don't.

Its always best to keep personalities and quotes made "off the record " out of Model Rail Forum and stick to the subject of railway modelling. If I was the Hornby rep or the dealer reading this I would be go absolutely balistic!

Happy modelling
Gary

Its the fact that it is a retailer making these comments that gripes. He should keep his own private opinions to himself as he has a commercial (it certainly doesn't sound professional!) relationship with both his customers and Hornby.

The starter set is designed to allow new DCC users the chance to experience playing with 2 trains on the same track at the same time for relatively little outlay. Hopefully those who purchase the set will be hooked and will move forward on the DCC front.

If that stockist is saying what he is saying to all his customers that come in then what chance does DCC have in the territory covered by that stockist?

He thinks he is being clever and that his customers will opt for a more expensive more profitable line. Initially they they won't. They will walk away...

My own local stockist well known to Warley MRC members has an entirely different view of the Hornby starter set and talks the talk to every customer that comes in and has a demo set up so that they can have a play. Which approach seems better when promoting DCC and the Hornby starter set?

Happy modelling
Gary

QUOTE Are you willing to provide the name of that retailer please? You can PM me if you wish to keep it off the board. Its only fair that Hornby have an opportunity to address a comment such as this made by one of their trade customers. MRF has a good relationship with Hornby hence they have been good enough to provide the Skaledale gas picture that Doug has published today.

No Gary I'm not, this comment was made in a very public forum. It's up to Hornby or who ever to track that down. I'm not in the habit of informing on people who I have repect for, and who have many years of experience in the trade. Fact are facts, it's a poor set in my opinion to launch their DCC set with. In this context running qualities and appearance are part of my perception. I'm glad you have a good relationship with Hornby. Many of their new products do deserve credit. I have always given credit when a product deserves it.
Yes I do like the look of the Gas Works although the holder could be bigger in diameter. It looks similar in Size to the Piko ones.



Hornby digital set

QUOTE (Gary @ 25 Oct 2006, 22:42) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I am rather surprised by our Hull friend but there we are.
We don't know how he approaches prospective customers. He is right in that the set is probably not appropriate for many (if any) readers of that newsgroup. On the other hand if a parent comes into his shop looking for a Christmas present for their child, his approach may well differ. What many forget when posting is that their comments are very permanent and also searchable and thus may be seen by those outside the original audience and without any context.

There is a problem for retailers who also appear in places like this. Do they give honest appraisals of equipment or just repeat sales blurb? If they only repeat the sales blurb they may well lose the respect of more experienced potential customers and thus lose sales. Ideally you would just sell equipment that has no faults. As it is what do you think of someone who omits mention of glaringly obvious deficiencies that may be relevant to your intended use?

QUOTE What many forget when posting is that their comments are very permanent and also searchable and thus may be seen by those outside the original audience and without any context.

Point well made.

The first rule of sales is "find out what the customer wants"

The second rule of sales is "sell the customer what they want"

Retailers who participate in forums run big risks of alienating customers.

How is Gerald Ratner these days?

Happy modelling
Gary

Its not a case of being a fan of any particular company although it does have to be said that Hornby topics at MRF do generate more hits than topics that involve other manufacturers and the same can be said for every UK forum!

There is therefore a proven higher level of interest in Hornby and its only fair that any discussion is balanced and even handed.

Anyway, getting back to the subject of the Hornby Digital starter set.

Has anybody considered who the set is aimed at?

The locos included in the digital starter set are able to be freely sold to the under 14 junior and family market. This would not be the case if the superdetailed Hornby locomotives were included.

Same goes for the locos included in the Bachmann digital starter set.

The new Hornby Pendolino will be introduced with the purpose of capturing the interest of the junior and family market so this will limit the amount of fine detail that Hornby can incorporate in any digital starter set. Whether there will be a super detailed version for adults I do not know.

Should we be critical of any manufacturer who puts families first?

Are Hornby and Bachmann right or wrong here?

Happy modelling
Gary

QUOTE (Gary @ 26 Oct 2006, 07:38) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Anyway, getting back to the subject of the Hornby Digital starter set.

Has anybody considered who the set is aimed at?
Of course. It obviously isn't aimed at readers here (or on uk.rec.models.rail).

QUOTE Same goes for the locos included in the Bachmann digital starter set.
The Bachmann class 25 seems to be a rather better representation of its prototype than the old Hornby 08.

One accuracy aspect that doesn't receive as much comment as I think it should is the maximum speed of the model relative to that of its prototype. The Bachmann class 24/25 run at pretty close to the scale speed of their prototype. On the other hand some Hornby 0-4-0 models have been described by another dealer as fitted with "hyperdrive". Having a model that topped out at an appropriate scale speed would not compromise its robustness in the hands of children. Or is there some other reason for having an 0-4-0 approaching 300km/h (scale)? Is the old Hornby 08 another offender in this respect? (Of course a little programming could modify the behaviour of the digital version.)