[34C]

Hornby on the right track with £12m facility from Secure Trust Bank - ToyNews

Leading UK hobby and toy specialist Hornby Hobbies Ltd is set to build on its recent success, after

www.toynews-online.biz

This isn't 'news' (information a fortnight old) but no one else has mentioned it. (Also its not solely model railway news as the Hornby product pile range includes slot cars and Airfix etc..)

The word from Hornby's Lyndon Davies implies to me that the plan for this capital is investment in new product, and specifically mentioning a nostalgia orientation . That suggests to me that the punt on the Hornby-Dublo 'revival' angle has come good (has anything similar been done in slot car or Airfix?). Just so long as Hornby don't nostalge into tinplate coaches...

Speculation: hopefully it's not all 'nostalgia oriented', might Hornby at last roll out a track system that's a better match for their current OO product and specifically DCC? Better selection of points with live crossings, much expanded range of larger curve radii: still backward compatible, but also integrating with existing (Peco) flexitrack systems. In short offering more, better in both appearance and ambition.

Nostalgia product wild card, the turbo car...

 

[dwb]

It's not just about capital investment, it's also about being able to carry more stock so you can make more sales.
I can't be the only person who didn't lay hands on a lot of the 2020 product announcements - no W1, no Rocket 3rd class coaches are a couple that immediately spring to mind.

David

 

[34C]

...I can't be the only person who didn't lay hands on a lot of the 2020 product announcements - no W1, no Rocket 3rd class coaches are a couple that immediately spring to mind...

Difficult to be certain of the causes though, is it the money supply and/or capacity constraints in China that mean less volume? Product also way behind target arrival date from most brands...

 

[kristopher1805]

Dream on 34c, they will probably be looking at world cup tat, olympics tat, latest movie tat, anything but the bedrock business cos its old and boring and because the girls do not understand steam locos and these days the office blocks are filled with girls and older females, nothing wrong with that except they rarely 'do' trains and not much in terms of vintage steamers that we like to buy, so it'll be back to 2012, anything but trains and after the next financial hiccup it'll be the trains that have to save the day once again.

Now should Hornby decide to up the game fine - a better points selection would be good and R5 and R6 radius curves and some attention to getting rid of large plastic blocks in points etc, they are getting left behind in track who uses Hornby on our website? perhaps some but not so many?

Hornby can produce good stuff and I hope they continue to show that whilst they can also produce less desirable product, hope they can make better stuff at a better price then the future is secure, we need a strong and vibrant Hornby whether we like it or not.