6d. Re: General Public and Lionel Marketing
Posted by: "Jonnyspeed" [email protected] jonnyspeedzx6r
Date: Mon Jan 28, 2013 3:31 pm ((PST))
As someone who came from O scale and HO scale just a few years ago, I think
I am safe in saying that it is going to be a bit of a change for this
community when it comes to working with Lionel and MTH. At least as far as
new products are concerned. They both have a long standing policy of not
discussing product until it is cataloged. They are going to make what they
think will sell. They aren't going to be real interested in what individuals
say. I don't think it is good or bad, it just is what it is. But I am used
to it. I've been buying their products for years.
Regards,
Jonathan
Well Jonathan, that's too bad.
If they don't listen they will continue to miss the mark like they did with
the Y3. Yes, miss the mark. I think they lost a lot of sales by thinking
all of S gauge is Am Flyer oriented. I don't know the exact numbers, though
they've been kicked around here for years, but they probably pretty well fit
a bell curve. Flyer on one end, scale on the other with the rest being
plus or minus 2 standard deviations in the middle. going from full Flyer to
pure scale.
Now I'm not a marketer, however I would think smart money would target the
largest group they could find. That would be the middle. Opinions will
vary as the main focus of this group, but they have graduated from Flyer.
First step? Mostly running on DC and more recently embracing DCC (I'll
leave out the other topics -couplers, etc for this argument). DC has been a
main stay in model railroading since the silicone rectifiers made it
economically viable and also bypasses the cantankerous E-unit. DCC is
making inroads because of the NMRA's effort to get manufacturers to
standardize on a design for the system without which we would be stuck with
a bunch of proprietary system.
Now we have a company that showed little to no interest in S scale for
nearly 20 years since they acquired the Am Flyer brand name suddenly
interested in expanding their market share. I applaud this move. However,
what I think is wrong headed for S is any of their proprietary systems,
which keep changing weekly and are already so big and cumbersome they only
fit in the largest of engines.
I did buy a Y3 with the idea of gutting the electronics so it could run on
DC (and not filtered DC either). That solution is far cheaper than
converting everything else I have to Legacy or whatever. I do not
understand what would be so hard about Lionel's taking the boards out for
reuse elsewhere. Cost? No way. The electronics probably cost in the
neighborhood of $150-$200. A worker a Sanda Kan maybe makes $10/day and
should be able to gut at least 10 engines pre day resulting in a less
expensive engine with increased sales to the middle of the bell curve. Of
course it should be DCC ready.
I'd like to add a lot more but I've already been on the soap box too long.
Tom Stoltz
in Maine
