One thing I fail to understand with most all N loco manufacturers is that nothing is available. Especially with Athearn. They announce stuff, but it never hits the market. Even if it is advertised. This has to be something unique to the train hobby, it sure isn't like that in planes or cars. They may announce in advance and people line up to buy, but stuff does actually make it to market. Kato is better than most and I can find their stuff on line and in stores. If you look at Athearn's web site and sort by "available" there is almost nothing save a few expensive steam locos. I don't get it. Specifically, their Northstar line stuff.
Why is it so hard to buy
- Thread starter gouda
- Start date
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IronBeltKen
Lazy Daydreamer
For better or worse, that's the way the mrr market has evolved: Manufacturers announce a model, get people to pre-order it, then when enough customers have pre-ordered they tell the factory folks in China to start producing them. They typically only produce ~10-15% above what was pre-ordered, that's how they avoid the risk of having too much unsold inventory on their hands.
There could be a couple of reasons why stuff seems to go directly from 'TBA' to out-of-stock. In Athearn's case, they usually sell all their stuff to hobby shops and other distributors as soon as it reaches the US, so it will show as out-of-stock on their own website. Other times - and BLI is especially notorious for this - they'll announce a model, wait for pre-orders, then keep pushing back the availability date. Then somebody at the company will decide there aren't enough pre-orders and they'll cancel the production run a year or two after the original announcement.
The business model of the 'old days' (> 20 years ago), when Athearn and others would keep producing the same generic model over and over for decades, is pretty much gone. Ebay is your best bet nowadays if you want a specific model without pre-ordering it.
There could be a couple of reasons why stuff seems to go directly from 'TBA' to out-of-stock. In Athearn's case, they usually sell all their stuff to hobby shops and other distributors as soon as it reaches the US, so it will show as out-of-stock on their own website. Other times - and BLI is especially notorious for this - they'll announce a model, wait for pre-orders, then keep pushing back the availability date. Then somebody at the company will decide there aren't enough pre-orders and they'll cancel the production run a year or two after the original announcement.
The business model of the 'old days' (> 20 years ago), when Athearn and others would keep producing the same generic model over and over for decades, is pretty much gone. Ebay is your best bet nowadays if you want a specific model without pre-ordering it.
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Because there are so many different roadnames and models made now, they run in batches ... just the way it is.
These models sold out rapidly when they were released, although a few are still available at retailers (and on eBay, of course). N Scale Supply has at least one of the Northstar road numbers with sound showing as available, for example.
The Athearn website rarely has older models in stock, they are all shipped to retailers.
These models sold out rapidly when they were released, although a few are still available at retailers (and on eBay, of course). N Scale Supply has at least one of the Northstar road numbers with sound showing as available, for example.
The Athearn website rarely has older models in stock, they are all shipped to retailers.
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