Is there such a thing as Good Value N Scale Modelling?

[Bealman]

I don't buy stuff very often at all anymore (last purchase from NewportNobby), but if I see something new in the press, (including the NGSJ), and I really want it, then I'm prepared to pay top dollar for it.

The post above basically sums it up.

[railsquid]

We interrupt this month's debate on N gauge pricing to attempt to answer the OP's original question:

Can anyone else think of any products out there that buck the seeming trend towards the ever more expensive?

The recent Kernow/EFE/Distributed By Bachmann Class 17 was surpringly not eye-wateringly expensive for a brand new(ish) tooling British outline loco.

(Says someone who has just purchased a brand new tooling Japanese loco acquired at normal retail price for the equivalent of GBP 42.60).

[njee20]

The question is a bit of a contradiction though.

To buck the trend of increasing prices would mean a price dropping, and I'm not aware of any of those. New products can be good value, but they can't buck a trend of rising prices, because there's nothing before to compare them to. Ie it's not like a loco costs x and a wagon costs y, therefore these go against this.

EFE are intriguingly good value given they're Bachmann, and Farish products have been subject to huge price rises in the last few years. The new Dapol Dogfish looks excellent value, as do the new runs of 66s, there are definite examples out there.

[maridunian]

Just to add my own penny-worth, it can be a cheap or an expensive hobby, depending on your approach.

If you want it to be an expensive hobby:
* Model modern mainline trains, so you need many, many almost identical coaches and wagons, plus a stable of matching locos whose liveries flip every five minutes.
* Buy the latest whatever, the minute it's available.
* Go DCC with sound, layout automation and signalling, for infinite opportunities to invest more money.

If you want it to be a cheap hobby:
* Choose a context where short trains suit.
* Buy after the rush
* Buy second hand
* Modify (convert, add details, renumber, repaint) older models.
* Build from kits or 3D prints
* Make things from stuff found around the house.
* Drive trains, uncouple rakes, operate signals and points manually.

Very few people sit exclusively in either one of those caricature camps; we all spend our time and money differently to get the railway we each want.

This makes it a very inclusive hobby - we might envy (say) Rod Stewart's layout and collection, but everyone can own a model railway that suits their pocket.

Mike

[gc4946]

It's much harder (and expensive too!) getting hold of secondhand models of the following:
green diesels and multiple units;
maroon carriages (especially non-Mk1s);

some privatisation era liveries are hard to find e.g. Dapol only did one run of FGW Local Lines 153s.

However BR early crest locos and crimson/cream stock are easier to track down and are often discounted even when new

[njee20]

There's always going to be certain examples of models that are 'rare', but the market is fickle and even those come and go.

I bought a Dapol 86 in Swallow livery for £50 on clearance from Kernow. Fast forward a couple of years and they were going for £200 on eBay. I've no idea what the market's done on those now frankly!

I think it's easy to think that the stuff you want is in short supply, whilst others have it easy. To my mind it appears that steam era coaches and PO wagons are constantly available, and dirt cheap, but the reality is, I'm sure, that if you want a specific livery or model that they're just as hard to come by as something I'd be interested in.

But to that end, if you really must have a certain model it'll be more expensive. I hope Chris Morris of this parish won't mind me using his example lately of the Farish mk2f coaches, which he appraised as too expensive, and instead bought a full Dapol HST for less money; great pragmatism! Where someone who 'needed' the mk2s would have had 'no choice' (heavy emphasis on needing and choice!).

[ntpntpntp]

As a Continental / European N modeller since the 80s (and British N before that) I would say that the prices for brand new locos and stock went way over my subconscious perception of their worth *to me* some years ago, but that's probably because I've been at it so long I still remember the prices from previous decades and I'm still running perfectly fine models from those days.   As a consequence I buy very little brand new nowadays except the occasional "really must have" item.

On the other hand I can regularly find mint or near mint recent production locos etc. on ebay at good prices - say £60-£70 for a loco which would easily retail for £120 - £150 or more, and corresponding reductions for the more expensive models.  I know I can rely on the qualities of all the major brands, or at least have the confidence that I can sort out almost any issue. Restoring cheap bargains I occasionally acquire is part of the fun

There certainly are "start set" packages out there which are worth considering for new starters as a way in, and there are cheap "hobby" items of stock based on old tooling and/or simplified detail but still good (think the equivalent of Hornby Railroad). 

Is this "good value"? I suppose if you look at things objectively then paying many pounds for tiny toys must seem questionable from outside of the hobby, but the same can be said for any hobby.   

[Newportnobby]

I don't have a lot to contribute as I've always had disposable income to spend on my hobby rather than a 'must have' holiday, the latest phone etc so, if I want something that conceivably fits my modelled era/location I will buy it and not think "that's expensive".
I still fail to understand how Farish's prices have risen so much more than Dapol's and agree Dapol's rolling stock is tremendous value in comparison. I won't/can't buy 2nd hand motive power as I'm unable to mend them if they're not perfect. Brand new that doesn't work straight away goes back whence it came.
I do have to congratulate RevolutioN on the level they apply their 'early bird' pricing as, so far, I have found it extremely reasonable (that's probably not a good thing to say in case it changes) and I'll always use that facility.
Maybe the biggest difference nowadays is that, whereas before I'd buy more than one of a class quite happily, it's now mainly just the one

[Snowwolflair]

As for every model I buy I build one, the price of second hand locos is therefore a significant part of my spend and they have definitely gone up during lockdown.

I read yesterday that Hornby's sales have gone up by 34% this year and they are even making a profit.  I can only assume that the across the scales most manufacturers are having a good year, assuming they can get stock from their manufacturers in China etc. and the shortage and demand is pushing up the second hand prices.

[daffy]

I buy what rolling stock I like when I can afford it, and if possible at a lower than SRP/RRP amount.

I think it is good value, based on the fact that whatever I buy makes me happy every time I look at it, run it, or otherwise enjoy it. Yes, most are seemingly expensive to a man in his late sixties with a reduced income, but then everything else electrical/mechanical seems that way these days. But it is only seeming. For instance, yesterday, for quite inexplicable reasons, I found the £35 vacuum cleaner I bought in 1973 (when I was living on a very reduced income indeed) would today equate to a cost of about £326.

Given the vastly improved quality of modern rolling stock in terms of accuracy and detail, prices ain't that bad - though I still reserve the right to exclaim "How much?!?!" whenever I like.

It's all relative, and one of my relatives, my wife in fact, has quite a differing view lately. But then her increasingly questioning comments when a new package for me arrives at the door are matched by my own when packages of this and that arrive for her. And thus we maintain the happy status quo.

And that's important in these uncertain times where the value of 'things' is very much secondary to the value of the enjoyment of life. And life itself.

[NeMo]

Maybe the biggest difference nowadays is that, whereas before I'd buy more than one of a class quite happily, it's now mainly just the one

I can definitely agree with this. Once upon a time there'd be those deals and offers where "it'd be rude not to" take advantage of them, and so I've ended up with two 86s, two 37s, three Class 14s, three 08s, three 'Westerns', two 'Warships' and two 9Fs!

But those sorts of deals don't seem to come up much anymore. Presumably that means Hattons et al don't need to shift a lot of unsold stock, which must, I suppose, imply that selling stock at near-RRP prices is working fine for them.

With this said, I've more or less stopped buying UK stuff and starting looking more at American and Japanese trains. It's not so much the amount of train you get for your money as the greater certainty I have that the train will run reliably out of the box. With prices of even older spec models (like, say, the Dapol 33s) well over the £100 mark, my tolerance for flaky LED lights or split gears has decreased. I don't feel the same 'risk' when buying a Kato model.

Cheers, NeMo

[Newportnobby]

It's all relative, and one of my relatives, my wife in fact, has quite a differing view lately. But then her increasingly questioning comments when a new package for me arrives at the door are matched by my own when packages of this and that arrive for her. And thus we maintain the happy status quo.

@daffy
Are you both buying Choo Choos?

[daffy]

It's all relative, and one of my relatives, my wife in fact, has quite a differing view lately. But then her increasingly questioning comments when a new package for me arrives at the door are matched by my own when packages of this and that arrive for her. And thus we maintain the happy status quo.

@daffy
Are you both buying Choo Choos?

I wish!

I did ask her what particular loco would she like to see running on the layout but she was wise to that and refused to answer.

[Dickydcc]

It's all about how much "disposable" income you have & how you choose to spend it. The kids have all left home, we have "downsized" accordingly so we're doing OK.
I have in the past sent thousands on modifying cars, in terms of resale value I can tell you that N Gauge stacks up  far better than that as a hobby!!!
Anyway, my latest "investment  " should be waiting at home for me tonight.....

[Paul B]

To pinch a phrase and change it slightly - value is in the eye of the purchaser!

I have collected LNER models extensively in the past, and most of my collection was purchased either second hand, or below recommended price. Even today, if I see anything new in LNER livery, I try to get it when the price is reduced (in other words I have yet to buy any of the new Farish Thompson coaches, despite how lovely they look!)

However, I also now model PKP - the railways of Poland. As you can imagine these can be rather few and far between, and so I have bought a collection of stock that, when my garage workshop is ready (yes I have been saying this for years - but at least I now have a garage...  ) I intend to repaint and re-purpose. The trouble I now have is that PKP stock is appearing on the market ready to run - but, as they are from Continental manufacturers, they are rather expensive. I have one truck on watch on E-Bay, which is nearly £40, and I recently purchased one second-hand truck from Germany for just over £15, including postage - which I thought was reasonable!

So, I think that, if you are careful and purchase what you want from sources where the price is what you are prepared to pay, then yes it can be 'good value'! ANd of course remember that what is good value is different to all of us!