Chinese Factory Closure

[Pete V]

An interesting note that would appear off topic, but it's not:

The $8,000.00 Rolex watch is utterly dead in the water.

The $250,000 dollar one is backordered.

Exclusionary marketing usually works.

 

[Espeefan]

To be honest, Alan, the year's total output from today's tiny cadre of brass importers would not even equal that of just a single modest-sized importer from the early 1960's. Brass is almost nonexistent today by the standards of that bygone era.

When I first came into the hobby there were dozens of importers, with some offering a range of brass locomotives available on a continuous basis, not simply as one-time runs. While runs of today are sometimes no more than 25 units just as you note, some total runs of long ago reached 2,000-3,000 units...as large as runs of the more popular plastic locomotives today!

Incidentally, back in the days the prices of all but the largest brass locomotives were also little more than those of similar examples of diecast engines offered by Mantua, English/PenLine and Varney. As such, brass was widely purchased and run by a broad range of serious hobbyists, not owned mainly by just collectors.

NYW&B

Yeah I remember the $49.95 Santa Fe 2-8-0 that had a run of 6000. But my point was today's brass market, though smaller, is still there and still profitable. I would not call them "all but extinct". They have simply adjusted their business model. Doing so left most of us behind, but I think that the same things caused it that we're seeing now with regular manufacturers. I can't afford $500.00 passenger cars and $2000.00 locomotives, but I guess enough people can to keep them coming. These days if you don't pre-order your brass model, you won't get one.

 

[Espeefan]

An interesting note that would appear off topic, but it's not:

The $8,000.00 Rolex watch is utterly dead in the water.

The $250,000 dollar one is backordered.

Exclusionary marketing usually works.

Another intersting thing I heard from a former brass importer was that the market for a given model is about $150,000.00, no matter what it is. It can be 1500 $150.00 models or 10 $1500.00 models. it does not seem to make a difference. This was a benchmark established by tracking years of sales.

 

[bigB]

Another intersting thing I heard from a former brass importer was that the market for a given model is about $150,000.00, no matter what it is. It can be 1500 $150.00 models or 10 $1500.00 models. it does not seem to make a difference. This was a benchmark established by tracking years of sales.

Is that for locomotives? Or rolling stock too?

 

[Espeefan]

Is that for locomotives? Or rolling stock too?

He didn't say, but I believe he meant everything.