Jeff you're getting more polished on interviewing. National TV will steal you away before long.

I'm impressed with the new offerings by Walthers. (i.e.I'll buy some of the stuff.)

One nit-pick. My other expensive hobby is Corvettes. I owned a 1969 roadster from 1970 to 2000. The nice looking models are 1968 to 1972 style. The previous, totally different body style went from 1963 to 1967. Walthers may want to alert the manufacture.

They do look nice enough to buy one if they offer a 1969 red roadster. (Even though I model the fifties.)

I havent read all the comments, so I hope this isnt a repeat.

Walthers does N scale - they have an entire catalog devoted to it. Also, don't get a chip on your shoulder about this, lots of N scale goodies coming in other videos.

But it's best to be realistic. HO is almost 70% of the market, N is 20%. All the other scales complete over the remaining 10%.

There's no big dark conspiracy or war involved, it's simple math. If you want your business to prosper, you sell to the markets proportionately - bigger markets buy more. It's just marketing 101.

Still, N is #2, so ignoring N isn't wise either. You can bet Walthers knows N is number 2 and they're doing anything but ignoring it.

Walthers has never originated an HO scale product for European 760mm narrow gauge. So I buy them elsewhere. End of story.

Cute , Joe.

You did make me calculate it!

The good news is you can order 760mm NG paint from Walthers, right?

I think it has to be thinner, and pre-weathered. :-)

As an N Scale enthusiast, I have valued many posts made by Irv and I also was concerned about Walther's lack of showing for N scale; however, I feel that perhaps Irv missed seeing Jeff's posting Sunday afternoon of the Walther's N scale product introductions showing that they do want N scale business. So, Irv, had you seen the pictures Jeff had posted (http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/5471#comment-44199) before you responded to the posting of this interview ?

I am not blaming you. But obviously your interviewee didn't think his presentation through. But it all seems to fit the way Walthers does things and it is going to hurt them in a big way. Lack of time is just an excuse for not caring. And that is the impression the video and the excuse I am left with. Maybe having their business shrink to the point where they can plan better would be good for Walthers. As far as I am concerned unless there is a major change at Walthers I will buy my my model railroad stuff at dealers who do not do business with Walthers. And I am not the only one who is doing tat already. Hear that Horizon?

Irv

First it was more than a lament. It was a complaint.

I had not seen those photos until after I had said my piece. Those photos don't really change my complaint much as those particular structures gave no place on my layout since it based on an actual railroad that still runs through Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. It does serve as connecting railroad any more but ,ore as way of getting garbage out of Brooklyn and Queens. What is appropriate are large warehouses and apartment houses including some apartment houses that were created out of empty warehouses and former factories. Ther are very few of those on the market these days and the best way to create them is to use those modular kits But it seems that Walthers has cut back on those.

Irv

Kato.

I don't think Joe could say it any better, though.  If the records indicate that for every kit I design, I sell three times as many in HO as I do in N, I'll make my kits in HO.  Every time.  If it gets to the point where the price of cutting dies comes down significantly, then maybe I'd do more N scale. 

However, it's a simply matter of economics: by the time I've sold enough of the N scale kits to cover the tooling cost of that kit, I've sold two times over that in HO product.  So my HO product has brought me not just the tooling cost, but two lines of profit above that initial line of investment...

It's not always worth spending dollars to go after cents...

Sure, you're right. But, if you want to show a commitment to te hobby of model railroading you might want to do some N Scale kits too. Sure you have to create a mold and the N Scale mold will cost just as much as the HO mold but what signal are you sending when you don't do any in N? Frankly your economics "Uber Alles" methodology does not make sense in the long ru since homes are getting smaller not to mention the average weekly pay check. So keep thinking that HO is the only way to go and you'll find N is growing faster than HO and is now in the position where O was in 1960s when HO took over the market.

So if you are only in the business for a few years or less, then by all means look only at profitability and ignore the future. So unless you and the Democrats are on more than a first name basis, don't expect any government bail out when HO ends up being less than 10% of the market in 20 years.

Irv