The good and bad

Yes is can be frustrating. Jump on it when you dont really have the funds or you miss the boat so to speak. Then you look forward to the arrival of that Item in many cases several months, only to have the delivery date rolled back.

Sometimes you have to make the advance reservation when you dont even have the money for it to begin with, with the idea that you will have the money put back when this item arrives. Most of the time life gets in the way with its little emergencies and when the hobby shop calls you have nothing put back. Now this is not a big deal when we are talking about a 30 or 40 dollar piece of rolling stock.

However about 3 years ago there were several locomotives announced that I just had to have. I did advance reservations on 4 sound equipped locomotives from 3 different manufacturers with staggered delivery dates.  Delivery dates kept getting pushed back and wouldnt you know they all showed up at once. The wife was understanding though when I explained the thousand dollar bill at the hobby shop.

However the one positive I see to this is that there is more of a selection of models to choose from. I do think the manufacturers should increase the production runs so they dont sell out quite as fast.

Another source of frustration for me is the fact that models get more expensive even though they are doing great work with detail, why is it they still have trouble getting graphics and color right in a lot of cases 

-Scott

Good points

Joe makes a good case. Scott makes a good one about dollar availability too and when you are living on a limited income setting aside money and expecting it to be there when the item finally shows up doesn't work very well all to often.

Which is why before I switched scales to N I started to scratch build my own freight cars. Cost was 1/2 the price and I had a lot of fun doing it.

Now in N for space reasons well as Joe pointed out there are places to go for used stuff or I can bite the bullet and give scratch building in N scale a shot and if I pick up a 3D printer I can try that too and maybe make some cash on the side, like in the book world, Print On Demand. Could be worth an experiment to see if quality is good enough, they keep getting better.

Jack

The biggest drawback I see to

The biggest drawback I see to this from the standpoint of the consumer is one is buying a pig in a poke. Buying an untried unseen product never has appealed to me. Think back to the pre-spectrum days of Bachmann locomotives for example. They had some stinkers in that product line and retail prices were fairly high. The ones I am referring to might not run for more than a few hours and were so bad that another company made a kit that would replace the entire drive mechanism, allowing the modeler to reuse the shell.

I have also purchased other items from manufacturers and been displeased with their operation characteristics, granted I expect a lot from my rolling stock in the way it performs. I have since decided to buy only kits so I get to build them.

I fully expect to take every locomotive I buy apart to clean and lubricate it as well as make adjustments to all contacts, and possibly add weight, and or a sound decoder and speaker. I have seen some that are very poor performers where it comes to pulling power by comparison to other models, and as such might not be good choices to improve on.

I have never bought a house, auto, motorcycle, or piece of furniture with out testing it or seeing the actual item prior to purchase. I see no reason to do this with my hobby. If it means I miss out on items so be it, it also means the maker is missing out on sales. If they are concerned about being able to sell enough of the product they might wish to do a better job of marketing research.

In reference to the generic models there is quite a market for them. This would also be true for many time periods. The USRA era of standard steam locomotive design for example. Individual railroads added details as it suited them. An easy way to have model specific versions is to make the different details in a package for the different versions and have the modeler install them. Also great for the free-lancer as well. Decals could be included and the modeler could apply them as well. The diesel era produces similar chances for standardization but might involve painted and decorated models with separately added details. Some of the paint schemes were fairly complex and might be more appealing if done by the manufacturer.

Think of the economy for the hobby shop owner or online retailer. Buy one model, with included detail pack and decals for all the roads. I have seen 8 or more road names on one decal sheet with data. Easy to keep items in stock no more guessing on how many of each version to buy.

The basic model with add on details could also do well with the example caboose. Think of the wide vision, or North Eastern styles for example with different details. Modeler buys one and paints it and the added details and decals it to fit his era and road. Many freight cars were manufactured and sold to several different railroads, only differing in details. Send me back to the days of the full shelves and detail parts that can allow me to build great models that run well.

There will still be the market for the limited run models just as there was the market for brass but not all of us desire the high priced limited appeal models that come from those efforts.

We are walking that thin line again

Back in 1990 (Yes these locomotives are 26 years old) I was able to purchase a couple of Athearn Blue box

locomotives, one for approximately $15 and the other for approximately $25.

Some Detail West and Detail Associates detail parts, a Cannon and Company cab, Micro-Scale decals and Kadee #5 couplers to create these two locomotives. All told I had about $50 in the GP38-2 and $35 in the SW1500. They have everything that matches their prototypes. Yes I scrapped off rad fans and rad grills to replace them with detail parts that matched the prototype and yes, I hand drilled all the holes for the grab irons, etc. But for me that was part of modeling. I'm not trying to knock any manufacture, but in this limited run world, I've purchased MP15DC's that have the wrong horns and wrong hand rails for their prototype. I did not have an issue reworking a $25 locomotive, but I cannot bring myself to butchering a $100 (mail order price) locomotive to get something that resembles the prototype.  

As others have mentioned, if you happen to model one of the big class one railroads, you'll probably end up with a locomotive or piece of rolling stock that very closely matches it's prototype. If you model one of the lesser known prototypes, you'll end up with a big class one railroad model, painted in your prototypes paint scheme. 

I do understand most of the concepts behind behind todays limited runs. The big name companies in this country are dealing with one or two companies in China. The Chinese companies want payments up front for the production run. To go along with that, the highly detailed molds do degrade after about 5,000 uses, which require new molds to be created.

The worst side of limited run is if you decide you'd like to model something different. Sure you have the online auctions, but sometimes when a produce is sold out, it's gone until the next production run.

Average Modeller

I have a suspicion that the average person doesn't know the difference between a highly accurate model and a generic one, maybe I should rephrase that, and say that they don't really care if that loco has the correct antenna or other detail. I further suspect that most people buy because they like the colour scheme!

I like the latest trend of producing a model without all the details but for a lower price, you are free to add whatever level of detailing you want. Some models come with a packet of details that can be added, and I would bet that 90% of those packets are never opened. While there are some people that get excited about getting the exact details, these are in the minority of the actual purchasers of trains. Note that I say purchasers of trains rather than Model Railroaders.

Further evidence of that is that the undecorated models and the simple kits don't sell, that is why manufacturers aren't making them. It will be interesting to see how Scale Trains does with their kits.

Limited run model frustration?

I think the way to avoid it is to be flexible in what you want to model and choose something that is readily available, preferably cheaply on the used market. I've been a modeler for decades and have never bought a model that I had to reserve ahead of time. Most of the more common typical prototypes are readily available so it's not too hard to forego the pleasures of playing the limited run game......DaveB

Lost our way?

I think the whole limited run thing is a symptom of where the hobby has come to.  Museum quality replication.

When I started out, building your own railroad (what we call freelance today) was very much the norm.  Oh sure you could use some real railroad as inspiration, but the idea was that you created your own little world.  Some folks were primarily model builders and their layout was really a large diorama.  Some were miniature railroads moving imagine goods from one place to another and their layout used whatever RTR or simple kits were available just to get operating.  And there were a lot of folks somewhere in between.  When you do your own thing, it doesn't matter if your 2-8-0 is patterned after a 1904 B&O or a 1935 AT&SF.  You buy what looks good, add details, redecal, etc. or not as fancy takes you.  And a key part of the whole thing was having fun.  

Reading through the threads and arguments (some of which I promote because it's fun), you wonder - Is anyone having fun?  We pay ever increasing prices for ever improving museum quality models and complain about every little mistake or tiny detail left off.  We moan about the fact that no is making the Chesapeake Beach Railway locomotive #5.  We're unhappy that the manufacturer does limited runs, but not many will buy the 1972 BN SW1, they want the 1992 BN SW1, or the UP SW1, or the ...; so the manufacturer makes only a small number and charges more to amortize his tooling costs.  Then we moan about the cost.

Maybe more folks would get into the hobby if it was fun and didn't cost so much.

Paul

And then there's Scale Trains

And then there's new companies like ScaleTrains.com who are rolling back this trend with things like their Kit Classics line and their Operators brand. Yes, they also do Rivet Counters brand and Museum Quality brand, but if you're more budget inclined, they'll accommodate you.

It's my hope that this is the beginning of a trend to broaden product lines to not just one-up the next product with ever more detail and a price to go with it!

So there's still hope - I think the pendulum is starting to swing back the other way.

I really hope your right Joe

Time will tell though.

Jack

There are still kit makers

There are still kit makers that will allow one to build fine models of specific prototypes and some fairly close models that are general representations of models. And you get to build them!

Would this work?

1. Major Manufacturer offers a generic locomotive or car that was known to have various prototype-specific variants. MM does the costly tooling and die work for the generic profile. MM offers said item in numerous paint schemes. As you receive the item from the MM, the item might be painted in your preferred road, which had a lot of variations and details in real life, but except for paint it would not be "correct" because of various details which are not on the model.

2. Concurrent with its development of (1), MM partners with a skilled 3D printing house--perhaps a lone ranger modeler at the start, and over time someone who is full time in the business--to produce all the details you need to replicate Prototype A to Z, on a single 3D-printed sprue, one per prototype class (or even road number). 

3. Upon release of (1), MM provides, on its website, a direct link to where you can order the 3D printed sprue, on demand, for all the parts you need to replicate Prototype N. This link is also printed as a QR code in the instruction sheet that comes with (1). Imagine a whole sheet of QR codes that lead you to Shapeways product-specific pages for the detail parts for your prototype.

4. You buy, install, and paint the 3D printed parts for your specific prototype.

5. MM and the 3D printer engage in revenue sharing; the 3D printer gets a buck or two for each sale sourced from the QR code that the MM printed.  Eventually MM buys and owns a 3D printing operation.

I realize this can't work for every specific car or locomotive that every road turned out; some of the modifications will be profound, but this might be a start. What we need is a convenient way to get all the parts, at once, for Prototype N while relieving MM of the risk involved in producing a niche item.

Chris

Small Shortline Steam

With the exception of Spectrum, it's pretty much brass. I would have very little to run that is halfway close if it weren't for limited runs. I am willing to accept the limited run production model if I can get well detailed models of specific locos or at least well detailed models of generic locos that can be modified and painted to match prototype (or freelance).

It is worth noting that most of the models that I buy were made many years ago in small batches. I am not waiting in real time for them to be produced, I am bottom feeding them off of eBay and through the local modeling community.I agree that it is frustrating to wait for a limited run model only to find that it is a bad model (poor runner etc.) or have it turn out to be vapor ware...

Guy

One thing I noticed with Scale Trains..

is that they are selling lower priced locomotives, with the option to buy all the details for the higher end loco if you want to do it yourself.

This is a great idea IMHO. Price it out bare with the option to add all the correct details later in one package goes right along with what Chris is talking about.