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Intermountain down the tubes?
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Shawn Beckert
Don - You're throwing a whole lotta "what if's" around. Are you planning
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on making a living at this? Because if you are, one kit isn't going to cut it. If you're going to do this on the side while you keep your day job, why should you care how many you sell? You sound like you want somebody here to convince you it's a worthwhile project. Only you can make that decision. There's lots of cars needing to be made into decent kits. Pick one and have at it. Shawn Beckert -----Original Message-----
From: Don Winter [mailto:guaruba@...] Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2002 2:57 PM To: STMFC@... Subject: Re: [STMFC] Intermountain down the tubes? OK, let's suppose I choose a car that hasn't been done and is NOT close to another car so it has seemingly high sales potential. Then add the fact I have no painting facilities so the car is offered only unpainted. Then add the fact that I can't compete pricewise with the big guys, so the car sells for $20 plus and you have to glue it together. That car will only sell to the rivit counters, unless it fills a very unique overlooked popular nitch which I doubt that a single one exists. But let's suppose I do a steam era structure, complete with errors that kinda resembles something. Some of those mega kits go for big bucks and are less costly to develop. Comments? Don Winter To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: STMFC-unsubscribe@... Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ |
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Tim O'Connor <timoconnor@...>
Guy Wilber wrote
And then there are the F-70-7 flats from Southern Pacific that every modeler,I could suck up at least 40 of them... half of them for piggyback service, half a dozen bulkhead conversions and the rest for plain old lumber etc. Tim O'Connor <timoconnor@...> Sterling, Massachusetts |
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Don Winter <guaruba@...>
<<Pick one and have at it.>>
I picked several for 1:20.3 and none of them amounted to anything, and some literally nothing; thus I am more cautious this time. No living needed, not too much concerned about profit; life was good to me, now retired and all that jazz; but, it ain't no fun to spend weeks making master patterns and in some cases when the item was ready getting orders for exactly zero, not three but zero...literally zero. Now of I made something so esoteric that no one would want it, I could understand. But an example. Accucraft brought in C&S number 60. No one makes C&S cars or even the hardware. So I made the truck patterns and cast them up, offered them for $33 pair ppd whereas serious trucks in that scale normally sell for $40-$85. To date, have sold zero. Gave one pair to a friend. I do not want a repeat of this in HO land where THEORECTICALLY the number of modellers is higher. But when split into microcosms, maybe the same number in each 'cosm? But twenty years ago, I did around 10,000 kits in On3 and sold them all no matter how goofy. Today's modelers rarely build anything. Kits are passe' for all practical purposes, save structures. I like steam era mainline cars. That's why I joined the list. If nothing else I'll keep buying the available ones for myself and meanwhile ponder if something viable jumps out at me. Don Winter |
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Schuyler G Larrabee <SGL2@...>
Don, I think the number 500 is amazingly low. And I think that there are
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cars that, if done correctly, would sell about that many on this list. Some of the suggestions here have been good ones, and you have the right guys here to "vet" your work. I think I go with the "pick one and get on with it" notion. SGL ----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Winter" <guaruba@...> To: <STMFC@...> Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2002 5:42 PM Subject: Re: [STMFC] Intermountain down the tubes? Most of the plastic guys use big expensive machines and molds. My stuffis small and I make my own molds. So I don't need huge volumes. But I wuold |
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thompson@...
Guy Wilber writes:
And then there are the F-70-7 flats from Southern Pacific that every modeler,Complete agreement on the need for these, Guy. But Don wouldn't be wise to do them. As I understand it, Red Caboose has dies already for these (Jim Booth did the die work), and they are expected to be the convention car for the SP Society meet in Austin. Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA 2942 Linden Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 http://www.signaturepress.com (510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@... Publishers of books on railroads and on Western history |
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Tim O'Connor <timoconnor@...>
Schuyler wrote
Don, I think the number 500 is amazingly low. And I think that there areIt depends what he picks. And also, he is not a "mainstream" vendor and so there are marketing and distribution issues. Don, if you're serious about 500 kits (in plastic? Is that economical?) I like Guy's suggestion of the SP F-50-7, or even an SP steel cupola caboose like the C-40-1 or C-40-3. Those are needed by every modeler of the SP from 1940 to 1980 and are only available in brass. Or how about some nice gondolas -- 48' foot NKP cars, 52' PRR G31D, 65 foot welded cars of the late 50's. Since resin cars usually sell hundreds of kits, I find it hard to believe that one could not sell 500 plastic kits of desirable prototypes. However, I am skeptical that anyone can economically produce 500 plastic kits. Even if you do your own tooling, it's got to be pretty expensive! I tend to agree that freight car kits are fading fast. Some dealers won't stock them anymore. Tim O'Connor <timoconnor@...> Sterling, Massachusetts |
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Tim O'Connor <timoconnor@...>
Complete agreement on the need for these, Guy. But Don wouldn't be wiseOh GREAT another convention car I'll never see... Those Espee USRA gondolas disappeared like hotcakes at a church breakfast. If this is true I'm gonna have to snag me a "convention buddy" who will grab a bunch for me before they're gone too... Tim O'Connor <timoconnor@...> Sterling, Massachusetts |
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thompson@...
Tim sez:
Or howNo, no, TIm, it's a PRR G35 we want, cuz we can use it for SP too. Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA 2942 Linden Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 http://www.signaturepress.com (510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@... Publishers of books on railroads and on Western history |
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thompson@...
Oh GREAT another convention car I'll never see... Those EspeeMaybe there's a message being sent out into the ether by the convention organizers, Tim... Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA 2942 Linden Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 http://www.signaturepress.com (510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@... Publishers of books on railroads and on Western history |
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Don Winter <guaruba@...>
Schuyler, hmmm...500 low? I'll mull that over. Don
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Don Winter <guaruba@...>
I figured a needed missing caboose might be a good bet. Tooling is simply
my labor so not problem there. It is the incentive to do the second car if the first doesn;t sell which means a second car never happens. 500 is ok in volume. Don |
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Bill Daniels <billinsf@...>
Don,
How about an SP steel cupola caboose...there are a lot of SP modelers who would kill for an affordable one. I would hazard a guess that 500 would disappear in a heartbeat (especially if they were of excellent quality). A flat kit wouldn't be any problem...you wouldn't be building a huge fleet of these. You might float a trial ballon on the SP list... Bill Daniels Tucson, AZ --- Don Winter <guaruba@...> wrote: I figured a needed missing caboose might be a good __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com |
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Don Winter <guaruba@...>
The SP Caboose sounds like a better bet. Don
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Bill Daniels <billinsf@...>
Don,
If you get on the SP list, there are a lot of people there who could be of invaluable help. The 1981 Southern Pacific Review carried an extensive article on these cabooses, including a (sort-of) accurate drawing of one. Joe Strapac, who did these books, is on the list. Bill Daniels --- Don Winter <guaruba@...> wrote: The SP Caboose sounds like a better bet. Don __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com |
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Don Winter <guaruba@...>
Bill, I am on so many lists now. If I get that far, I will join. Don
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Ted Culotta <ted_culotta@...>
--- Tim O'Connor <timoconnor@...> wrote:
Or howTim: These are in the works from Sunshine along with a TON of other gons. Ted __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com |
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thompson@...
If you get on the SP list, there are a lot of peopleThere have been rumors for some time about die work being done on an SP caboose in styrene. If I were contemplating such a kit, I woujld touch as many mfgr. bases as I could, starting with Des Plaines or other large hobby shop, and find out the status of that project. Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA 2942 Linden Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 http://www.signaturepress.com (510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@... Publishers of books on railroads and on Western history |
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