I can't think of any situation where a 50/50 chance the model will suffer complete mechanical failure in short order would be acceptable. This isn't nitpicking.
For the record I can only think of 3 British OO locos in a decade where there was a serious mechanical problem : Bachmann's A1 (fullscale product recall for locos to be fitted with replacement motor) , Bachmann Jinty (strong whispers of poor running with the first batch , very few reviews - the model has become something people don't seem to mention , even though there are first hand reports of excellent running from subsequent batches) , Bachmann K3 (2 magazine review samples failed on test, reports of problems from others - although subsequent batches are known to be fine and I've seen an early release that its owner is very pleased with, the model is widely reputed to be a poor seller, and Bachmann have stubbornly declined to produce any further new models of ex LNER locos)
Given that the mechanical problems with the Hornby BR58 are evidently worse than these cases, the model is clearly dead in the water, commercially. Hornby may be making a second batch which turn out to be fine, but the model won't sell , the model will never sell , and Hornby would be well advised to forget about any further new German outline steam models in HO for a long time - say a decade - and stick to diesels and electrics in that market. If a British model which fills a very large gap for a poorly served consituency (the K3) won't sell because of initial mechanical problems, there's no chance for a German HO model with more severe problems - especially as pretty well everything that ran in Germany after 1918 is already available RTR in HO from someone else (often several times over) and there are no gaps to fill
For the record I can only think of 3 British OO locos in a decade where there was a serious mechanical problem : Bachmann's A1 (fullscale product recall for locos to be fitted with replacement motor) , Bachmann Jinty (strong whispers of poor running with the first batch , very few reviews - the model has become something people don't seem to mention , even though there are first hand reports of excellent running from subsequent batches) , Bachmann K3 (2 magazine review samples failed on test, reports of problems from others - although subsequent batches are known to be fine and I've seen an early release that its owner is very pleased with, the model is widely reputed to be a poor seller, and Bachmann have stubbornly declined to produce any further new models of ex LNER locos)
Given that the mechanical problems with the Hornby BR58 are evidently worse than these cases, the model is clearly dead in the water, commercially. Hornby may be making a second batch which turn out to be fine, but the model won't sell , the model will never sell , and Hornby would be well advised to forget about any further new German outline steam models in HO for a long time - say a decade - and stick to diesels and electrics in that market. If a British model which fills a very large gap for a poorly served consituency (the K3) won't sell because of initial mechanical problems, there's no chance for a German HO model with more severe problems - especially as pretty well everything that ran in Germany after 1918 is already available RTR in HO from someone else (often several times over) and there are no gaps to fill
