N & HO Vehicles


Larry

Larry

Long Winded Old Fart
I couldn't find my topic about 1/87th vehicles, so, I started another one, but included N scale too.
The Walmarts are starting to handle a lot of 1/87th vehicles again. This past week I have bought 6 1/87th Caterpillar tractors, 5 JD tractors of diff. sizes
& today bought some cars pulling camper trailers.
I also noticed a bunch of what I think might be N scale vehicles. Mini tanks,
JD tractors & Cat vehicles.
I think everyone should start keeping their eyes peeled for more & more vehicles, airplanes, trucks, tractors & other stuff. I think WM's toy sales are dropping because of not handling newer stuff.
For years I have been trying to get Hot Wheels to make a line of H.O. scale cars, pickups, motorcycles & custom cars at the price they charge for regular Hot Wheels. Hot Wheels business has dropped dramatically in the last 2 years.
Maybe they ought to change their stratagies & start helping us train people.
I think if all of us that's on this forum contacted them they might do something. What do you think?

Larry
 
Larry said:
Maybe they ought to change their stratagies & start helping us train people. I think if all of us that's on this forum contacted them they might do something. What do you think?
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I think you will be ignored. Walmart doesn't care about what people thing, they care what marketing agencies tell them people think.
 
Wal-Mart and the word "care" are mutually exclusive, no matter what subject or topic being discussed. They simply don't belong in the same sentence.
 
Thanks for mentioning the campers Larry! I'm gonna look, but at the rate the last ones took to get here, I have 2 months left to wait.
 
Larry said:
I think if all of us that's on this forum contacted them they might do something. What do you think?

Larry
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I'm with the others on this. The something they might do is ignore it unless somehow they were convinced they could turn money using their shelf space on model railroad compatible inventory than on alternatives. But that is unlikely since there is not a huge some of money to be made for them in MRR items. If the hobby were to suddenly become "the rage" it would be a different story.

Wal-mart's strategy is pretty simple and effective, since their business is not to help model railroaders, it is to make money and lots of it. I'm not going to bash them since they seem to be pretty effective at that goal. They don't make a lot of money from me, but they are effective none the less.

It's not really about what people think, it is about how they spend their money. Those two things are very different. While bashing Wal-mart has become a national pasttime, their cash registers just keep on ringing. I can't blame Wal-mart for that.

And for those concerned about the health of the LHS, Wal-mart entering the fray would probably be the final straw for a lot of them.
 
I would much rather pay $5.97 for a Cat vehicle from WM than $35.00 for the same thing at a Hobby Shop or on line. The mini cars that I buy at WM are or were $9.00 each at the Hobby Shop I use to go to. I can't imagine what the cars I just bought w/the trailers might cost at a Hobby Shop. I paid $2.97 ea. & then I got my 10% discount off that. I use to buy a lot of stuff at Hobby Shops until I got my PC & found all the online places that give discounts. I also buy a lot from Train shows.
I just thought if WM kept handling all the vehicles I wouldn't have to buy on line. Some people buy all their stuff from Hobby Shops, but the shops around me(50 to 100 miles away) don't carry trains or train supplies anymore, just Radio control cars & planes & boats.

Larry
 
I buy mostly from a handful of online vendors, too, Larry. The closest hobby shop to me with a credible trains selection is about 40 miles away, and he hasn't done a lot in the last year to "wow" me into making the trek. My comment about Wal-Mart's participation being the final straw for LHS was more for those who think those of us who buy online or on ebay are subversives who should be shipped off to Guantanamo Bay! :rolleyes: :D

I just don't think that all of us together will create enough volume business to get Wal-Mart's attention.
 
Adelie said:
Wal-mart's strategy is pretty simple and effective, since their business is not to help model railroaders, it is to make money and lots of it. I'm not going to bash them since they seem to be pretty effective at that goal. They don't make a lot of money from me, but they are effective none the less.

It's not really about what people think, it is about how they spend their money. Those two things are very different. While bashing Wal-mart has become a national pasttime, their cash registers just keep on ringing. I can't blame Wal-mart for that.

And for those concerned about the health of the LHS, Wal-mart entering the fray would probably be the final straw for a lot of them.
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Mall Wart bashing is not just a pastime...... Wally World's tactics go way beyond just "pass(ing) on the saving to you". I just printed out 27 pages of current lawsuits that have been filed against the company for everything from environmental issues to Human Rights violations around the world. The average 200 employee Super Wall-Mart costs the local economy over $240,000 in taxes and lost jobs every year. Americans pay over $1,500,000,000 in Federal Taxes for health care for Wall-Mart employees that can't afford the cost of the insurance available through the company. You can check out some of the issues here: http://www.google.com/u/coopamerica?q=Wal-Mart&x=0&y=0 Or, do a Google search on Wall-Mart and educate yourself on this company. I am part of a national boycot of Wall-Mart and do not shop there.
 
The price of fuel going up and LHS that have to travel good distances, WM much closer, makes it attractive to mrr related supplies.
AC Moore is an other place, they even carry balsa and bass wood, so aplace like this is near by, just do the math.
I my self, every time I go a different WM, I check the aile that has the ho cars.
I wish that company that puts out these ho cars come with varity, imagine a town full of VWS or the other ones they have.
Walgreen's, they sell a matchbox like cars and trucks, they are i believe 1/64 scale, but the trucks are bit larger than the 1/87 scale, but for background and inside a building for me its ok, because they are inexpensive and got alot of construction vehicles.
It is still worth to go to a good mrr shop and hate to see them disappear.
 
rhoward said:
Mall Wart bashing is not just a pastime...... Wally World's tactics go way beyond just "pass(ing) on the saving to you". I just printed out 27 pages of current lawsuits that have been filed against the company for everything from environmental issues to Human Rights violations around the world. The average 200 employee Super Wall-Mart costs the local economy over $240,000 in taxes and lost jobs every year. Americans pay over $1,500,000,000 in Federal Taxes for health care for Wall-Mart employees that can't afford the cost of the insurance available through the company. You can check out some of the issues here: http://www.google.com/u/coopamerica?q=Wal-Mart&x=0&y=0 Or, do a Google search on Wall-Mart and educate yourself on this company. I am part of a national boycot of Wall-Mart and do not shop there.
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Very good post, my friend! It's shocking how many people are oblivious or indifferent towards this unethical and dangerous corporation. So I'm sure you've seen this website?

http://walmartwatch.com/

Anyway, back on topic. What were we talking about? Oh yeah, trains.
 
mtrpls said:
Very good post, my friend! It's shocking how many people are oblivious or indifferent towards this unethical and dangerous corporation. So I'm sure you've seen this website?

http://walmartwatch.com/
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I haven't, but after seeing it, I'm proud to say that my town is one of those that prohibits stores like Wal-Mart from setting up shop within its borders. Then again, it's mostly because there isn't enough space for one, so as a result, we have a SuperCenter just north of the town limit. My last visit there was a year ago, where I was so appalled by the conditions at the store (seemed like some back-alley flea market in a fourth-world country, and yes, I realize that there is no such thing as a fourth-world country, but that store would've certainly qualified) that I vowed never to return. Shortly afterwards, I learned about everything we've discussed here.
 
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Well Hey Larry you never said anything about these little guys!

Walmart has these, near the 1/87 boxed cars and they we also hanging below the Ertl John Deere stuff, and the Norscot 1/87 CAT stuff. This is the ONLY one I saw that looked good enough for HO. They had one of those smaller wheel loaders, but it look just a hair to small for HO and too big for N. They did however have an excavator that look like it was good for N. They have no scale written on them, so its your eyes that have to do the guesswork. Check them out, you might find stuff I didn't see, there was the 3 (one of each) so I don't know if there's more.

Pics show two boxed, and 2 in the weathering process.
 
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