[Doug]

Hornby plc, the leading British Model group today announce the agreement to move UK distribution of their International Train ranges to OnTracks Ltd.

Hornby have welcomed the arrangement as they have seen massive growth in the brands they own and the volume of products their internal sales force and warehouses have to support. With their latest acquisition, Corgi, the time was right to look at some of the smaller ranges and how they should be distributed in the UK.

Hornby have identified that the British market for their European & Commonwealth train models was relatively small and would be better supported through a specialist and are delighted to confirm that they have teamed with OnTracks who they know can specialise and focus on the Hornby International ranges for British modellers.

Fiona Mulhall, Managing Director of Ontracks.co.uk explained "We've found Hornby has been, over the 10 years since our launch as an Internet Based retailer, one of our strongest and most competent suppliers. Our diversification into Importation and Distribution of model ranges about 2 years ago has given us the skills to offer this service to a very demanding customer. It's great that we have reached Hornby's high expectations of a territory distributor and we are now looking to grow all the brands we'll take over the distribution for"

The arrangement comes into force on the 1st January 2009. It covers the following brands:

• Lima
• Rivarossi
• Jouef
• Arnold
• Electrotren

Between the brands they offer model trains of countries such as Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, America, The Commonwealth and many smaller rail operating countries. A new website is now available to explain to customers each of the ranges, and also allow potential retailers
the chance to apply for a trade account.

UK site: www.hornbyinternational.co.uk

 

[PhilRMK]

Thats good news as they may be more widely available

Does anyone know if the Jouef railcars or locos are DCC fitted or DCC ready

 

[Kimbo]

Don't shoot me if I get this one wrong, but I think you can get either or....

 

[ME 26-06]

QUOTE (PhilRMK @ 24 Dec 2008, 15:45) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Thats good news as they may be more widely available

Does anyone know if the Jouef railcars or locos are DCC fitted or DCC ready

DCC ready. The AC versions have an MM decoder fitted - at the same price of the DC version.

 

[dwb]

I'm on the look out for the record breaking TGV train pack.

David

 

[60134]

The majority of re-tooled locos are DCC ready but some are appearing fitted with sound as well! Most have lighting and NEM pockets for couplers.

60134

 

[neil_s_wood]

I wonder whether UK dealers will be any cheaper than Continental suppliers?

 

[Brian Considine]

QUOTE (neil_s_wood @ 25 Dec 2008, 00:25) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I wonder whether UK dealers will be any cheaper than Continental suppliers?

Be interesting to see if their retail prices are discounted - distributors usually sell at full RRP so as to not undercut the retailers they wholesale to.

 

[neil_s_wood]

QUOTE (Brian Considine @ 25 Dec 2008, 11:38) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Be interesting to see if their retail prices are discounted - distributors usually sell at full RRP so as to not undercut the retailers they wholesale to.
A bit unlikey. I haven't found them a cheap option. They don't deduct the VAT from their export orders.

 

[clive hayward]

Interesting news, I haven't used On Tracks myself but may well do so in the future. I bought the Jouef x73500 railcar a couple of months ago from my local modelshop here in Toulon for 155 Euros. I've just looked at the On Tracks website and they are offering the identical version for 89 pounds! Even taking into account post and packing that is a considerable saving, especially as the pound has fallen against the Euro. Be interesting to see how long their prices remain like that! Their prices for Roco on the other hand are more expensive than here.

The Jouef railcar is an excellent model (and is DCC ready), highly recommended. The record breaking TGV isn't out over here yet, but will keep you posted. Just received the Electrotren SNCF CC 65500 diesel loco, another beautiful model but at 220 euros it should be!

regards,

Clive

 

[Doug]

Hopefully we'll have more Jouef items reviewed in future. I have a buddy that is quite keen on them and if he is willing, we'll get some reviews on what he buys of the new range.

 

[Tim the GWR fan]

Hi All,

Firstly thanks Doug for publishing the press release - I'm one of the Directors in the firm.

If people don't object I'll attempt to answer any questions about the range and our plans going forward. But some points will have to wait until the International division provide 2009 price and range lists to us! (HI = hornby international from now on).

Dates: We become the distributor on the 1st Jan 2009 - and are busy working through all the changes we need to make to support the ranges here in the UK and in Ireland.

Availability: We have given quite strict demands to HI about availability and delivery speeds - they're more than happy to meet them. So we have an agreement to place orders every week, and stock will be shipped both promptly and frequently. This should mean UK & Irish customers get new releases at the same time as Europe.

In stock data: We now recevie a weekly email listing stock in the factory and also release dates for new items - both are updated on our retail website, and we will produce a monthly newsletter for retailers and interested customers.

Distribution: We want the Lima, Rivarossi, Arnold, Jouef etc brands to be freely available from your local and specialist model shops - so please feel free to ask your local preferred shop to stock the ranges. We are attending the Margate previews throughout January and will be introducing ourselves to all attending Hornby retailers.

Stock: We have identified a number of now 'sold out' items which are still in Margate - these are going to be offered to all retailers in Janaury and will probably be highly sought after by overseas customers as well as locally based modellers.

Overseas sales - I suspect HI stockists in the UK do find people from overseas buying their models here - this is an anomaly in part through the huge change in £- Euro exchange rates and after the 1st Jan this advantage will lessen (so if you want to take advantage of prices buy quick!). The background is Hornby in the UK converted the HI prices at 0.79 Euros to the £. Today we are closer to 1:1 - as we now have to buy and pay in Euros we have lost this advantage and will have to play catch up on our prices (trade and retail). Our prices have gone up 10% today, and I think a further 10% will be required on 1st Jan to cover the exchange rate changes - this is a catch up rather than a deliberate act on our part!

Prices: All items on our site are based on Jan 2008 Margate price list - so as well as the Euro conversion being out of date, there is also the September Chinese manufacturing cost increase to consider - Hornby applied roughly 12% onto their trade prices from the 1st September - they did NOT alter the HI pricing. Therefore, I suspect we will see a big increase in the European prices from 1st Jan to take into account 12 months of manufacturing cost increases - again nothing we can do and the message is buy now to obtain 2008 pricing on available models.

Advance orders: We have been told that all items to be delivered in 2009 will be charged at the 2009 higher prices. This means some pre-order prices from 2008 may be impossible to honour - where this is the case we will write and advise what the new price would be and give the customer the option to change/cancel.

Retail prices through our own retail business: As official importers and distributors we believe it is only ethical to sell current models at the SRP. So from the 1st Jan we will increase our prices to the current SRP (which is shown currently on our website beside the 'Our Price'). This should encourage more retailers to deal with us and stock the HI range in the UK/Ireland - giving it a wider distribution.

I hope this answers most peoples questions,

May I wish all fellow forum members a Merry Christmas

Tim

 

[Doug]

Thanks for posting that information Tim.

If you can send us the stock info from Hornby, we'll put it up if it's interesting. Please send in any photos too.

I find many European stockists are not very competitive on pricing compared to some well known British shops. In France, modellers are used to paying twice what and English modeller would pay for a loco. You prices may go up, but you may still be cheaper than some continental shops.

Lets hope that we see more of what Hornby International produce.

 

[Doug]

The Hornby International (UK) site is now showing the 2009 catalogues for the HI divisions.

The new 2009 catalogues will be available to order shortly, however the PDF versions can be viewed online:

2009 Rivarossi Catalogue 15Mb

2009 Lima Catalogue 10Mb

2009 Jouef Catalogue 12Mb

2009 Arnold Catalogue 10Mb

 

[7113]

Overall a good and varied assortment of European models. I can already see Goedels hand reaching for his wallet.

Thanks Doug for putting these up.

Regards

 

[Kimbo]

It's unfortunate distributors for Continental Europe don't take their job this seriously! It'd be great to have more distributors taking the responsibility to disseminate this information.

Thumbs up for setting the bar so high!

 

[clive hayward]

Many thanks for posting these Doug! The Jouef catalogue is great!

Can't wait for the new 141R, and the 2 new 2D2s (nez de cochon and femme enceinte) should make it another expensive year! And whatsmore should be good sellers in France!

Congrats to Hornby for some outstanding ideas

regards

Clive

 

[PhilRMK]

QUOTE (clive hayward @ 25 Dec 2008, 13:16) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Interesting news, I haven't used On Tracks myself but may well do so in the future. I bought the Jouef x73500 railcar a couple of months ago from my local modelshop here in Toulon for 155 Euros. I've just looked at the On Tracks website and they are offering the identical version for 89 pounds! Even taking into account post and packing that is a considerable saving, especially as the pound has fallen against the Euro. Be interesting to see how long their prices remain like that! Their prices for Roco on the other hand are more expensive than here.

The Jouef railcar is an excellent model (and is DCC ready), highly recommended. The record breaking TGV isn't out over here yet, but will keep you posted. Just received the Electrotren SNCF CC 65500 diesel loco, another beautiful model but at 220 euros it should be!

regards,

Clive

I looked at the Jouef X73500 Railcar only last night at the On Tracks website with a thought of buying one but the current price is £167.18 -- almost double the amount £89 you saw last month

So either it was on special offer then or prices have rocketed since (perhaps the pound/euro rate has something to do with it) which now means it is something I cant justify to buy at that price

 

[PhilRMK]

QUOTE (Doug @ 31 Dec 2008, 15:38) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>The Hornby International (UK) site is now showing the 2009 catalogues for the HI divisions.

The new 2009 catalogues will be available to order shortly, however the PDF versions can be viewed online:

2009 Rivarossi Catalogue 15Mb

2009 Lima Catalogue 10Mb

2009 Jouef Catalogue 12Mb

2009 Arnold Catalogue 10Mb

Looks like the pdfs are no longer available as these links now go straight to the On Tracks website

 

[napster52]

The major piece of news concerns the fact that with effect from January 1st 2009, Ontracks will be the distributor for the Jouef,Rivarossi, Lima and Arnold ranges, and not Hornby themselves.This is not as daft as it may sound, for Hornby have not given the range the best of their attention with information difficult to obtain, as well as releases coming through well after they have appeared in Europe.

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napster

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