Who's Buying?

[jettrainfan]

You answered your own question... Its too hard, and takes too much time for them. Some people don't have time or patience, or just want to run trains. Its a personal preference... I prefer scratchbuilding and kitbashing, others don't.
[/quote]

Well....maybe... if you pay attention it's easy it took me 20 minutes but it was a first. my second try took 10. Besides, it makes you know that you built it. something to be proud of like scratch built models...YOU BUILT IT!

[Guilford Guy]

I have actually. I did one of their commuter coaches, but it never really liked the club trackage and is currently in a box in the attic. I got two kits, however one was in worse condition than the other, and the one in better condition was missing a few major components, so I combined the two... I'm excited for the NEW kits, with Laser Cut pieces and whatnot. Should be exciting!
Peace,
Alex

[Les]

I don't buy $400 locos, but notice prices generally are much higher than just a few years ago.  Seems to be fewer rolling stock kits and more RTR rolling stock - I don't like to pay $35 for a boxcar.

[jettrainfan]

I don't buy $400 locos, but notice prices generally are much higher than just a few years ago.  Seems to be fewer rolling stock kits and more RTR rolling stock - I don't like to pay $35 for a boxcar.

Yeah, literally those cars add up...nothing special about them...

[Guilford Guy]

Yeah, literally those cars add up...nothing special about them...

Thank you for that enlightening post!
Someone may choose RTR over Kits because of
Time
Skill Level
Detail

Some people don't have time to build everything to run on their railroad
Some people don't have the skill level to build a car with all the grab irons and whatnot that are found on the new RTR cars
Most kits(excluding red caboose, and some other manufacturers) do not have the level of detail found on RTR.
$35 a boxcar really is an overstatement. Even Kadee cars retail for less than that, and most RTR cars are in the 10-20 dollar range.

[Tylerf]

I have to say Im not at all against rtr especially athearn. most rtr is still expensive and isn't much greater than a good old kit but atearns new tooling is absolutly amazing. Their modern tank cars for example now feature ALL the metal handrails of the prototype, all the pipes, and my favorite all walkways are etched metal, overall a perfect car for the great price of $20. By looking through all the athearn cars at a lhs you can easily see how the slightly older cars still have molded walkways and handgrabs and pretty much assembled versions of the blue box kits but then there's the new ones at the same price that suddenly have metal hand rails and etched walkways. So old rtr is not great but honestly I love this improved rtr an I would never have the patiences to do all that work put into building and applying all those details that the rtr now include.

[Tylerf]

Oh yeah and. As big of a rtr fan a I am I have to agree that scratchbuilding or kit building is VERY satisfying as I had tons of fun building a few old k4 wood cabooses and I am proud of them but I wouldn't be able to do that massive scale of rolling stock I have, need, and want.

[WGL]

 My first kit was an Athearn caboose costing $7.  The weight was already attached.  I was happy with the result. 
My second was an Accurail boxcar costing $11.  I had to glue the weight but it soon fell off.  A closer look revealed that the floor was warped, so I clamped the floor to the weight to make all of both surfaces touch.  The couplers came in halves with the pin a third piece, the poorest couplers I've seen.  When they open, they stay open & must be closed by hand.

[jettrainfan]

Yeah, literally those cars add up...nothing special about them...

Thank you for that enlightening post!
Someone may choose RTR over Kits because of
Time
Skill Level
Detail

Some people don't have time to build everything to run on their railroad
Some people don't have the skill level to build a car with all the grab irons and whatnot that are found on the new RTR cars
Most kits(excluding red caboose, and some other manufacturers) do not have the level of detail found on RTR.
$35 a boxcar really is an overstatement. Even Kadee cars retail for less than that, and most RTR cars are in the 5-20 dollar range.

Wow! I was talking about $35 dollar cars not kits!anyway kits really don't have much detailing not added. For my B&O boxcar....a wheel(brake wheel.). So yeah some are harder than others...but everyone has their own opinions...Am i right?

[Guilford Guy]

The couplers came in halves with the pin a third piece, the poorest couplers I've seen.  When they open, they stay open & must be closed by hand.

That shouldn't be the case. Each Coupler half has a whisker, and every Accu-Mate coupler I've used closes on its own.

Wow! I was talking about $35 dollar cars not kits!anyway kits really don't have much detailing not added. For my B&O boxcar....a wheel(brake wheel.). So yeah some are harder than others...but everyone has their own opinions...Am i right?

Okay, and I was saying most RTR cars are not more than $20.
Sure, Kadee and Intermountain sell for 25 or 30, but the majority of RTR rolling stock sells for $10-$20. Like Tyler said the new tooling on the Athearn is very good, and dishing out $15 for a very well detailed car is not something I'm against. The new Boxcars and Hoppers are stunning, with scale sized grab irons, and all the braking equipment. I do enjoy a kit, but most times its for something that is unavailable in RTR, such as B&M Commuter Coaches, or Scratchbuilding a Double Track plow, or whatever it is that is on my plate.
Lastly, a lot is up to the consumer. If they walk into a shop, and pay MSRP for every item, that will get costly VERY quickly. It takes effort to shop around, and it frequently pays off... $5 Ambroid Kits, $160 for 3 Sound Equipped Atlas units, $50 for a Spectrum 2-10-2.
Peace,
Alex

[SteamGene]

Just what the hobby needs - another HO Big Boy, this one by Marklin!  Is it brass?  But even another brass BB at $1000+ seems a bit much.  But it's Marklin - what can I say?  What was their price for a USRA light Mke? 
Gene

[Guilford Guy]

Marklin has made a big boy for the past few years, and unless Trix is also releasing it, this is a 3 rail version that no one else makes.

[jettrainfan]

The couplers came in halves with the pin a third piece, the poorest couplers I've seen.  When they open, they stay open & must be closed by hand.

That shouldn't be the case. Each Coupler half has a whisker, and every Accu-Mate coupler I've used closes on its own.

Wow! I was talking about $35 dollar cars not kits!anyway kits really don't have much detailing not added. For my B&O boxcar....a wheel(brake wheel.). So yeah some are harder than others...but everyone has their own opinions...Am i right?

Okay, and I was saying most RTR cars are not more than $20.
Sure, Kadee and Intermountain sell for 25 or 30, but the majority of RTR rolling stock sells for $10-$20. Like Tyler said the new tooling on the Athearn is very good, and dishing out $15 for a very well detailed car is not something I'm against. The new Boxcars and Hoppers are stunning, with scale sized grab irons, and all the braking equipment. I do enjoy a kit, but most times its for something that is unavailable in RTR, such as B&M Commuter Coaches, or Scratchbuilding a Double Track plow, or whatever it is that is on my plate.
Lastly, a lot is up to the consumer. If they walk into a shop, and pay MSRP for every item, that will get costly VERY quickly. It takes effort to shop around, and it frequently pays off... $5 Ambroid Kits, $160 for 3 Sound Equipped Atlas units, $50 for a Spectrum 2-10-2.
Peace,
Alex

alright, i see that both of us get each others point...that's good. Yeah usually you gotta look around. I found a !980's snow plow by walthers and got it for $40. Still have it and it beats $60 for the same model. The $60's were baste off todays snow plows. http://www.alaskarails.org/modeling/HO-pix/ath-rotary-3.jpg And the one i got was a great northern 1950's style.