[Gambit]

For the UK its great but does Hornby have a warehouse in the States and where is it located?

If not, then there will only be more delays.

Will Hornby honour the token models which have not been released in the States?

[STARMAN 352ND]

Picked this up over the wire a few mins ago.
JP

LONDON (Reuters) - Hornby plans to invest around 750,000 pounds a year to revive the Corgi brand, its chief executive said on Thursday.

Hornby, which makes eponymous train sets, Scalextric racing cars and Airfix model planes, said earlier on Thursday it had agreed to buy iconic die-cast model vehicle maker Corgi for 7.5 million pounds.

Frank Martin said Hornby planned to branch Corgi out from its core market of adult male collectors in Britain and the United States, and into younger and more international markets.

It plans to do this by striking character licensing deals, in the way it has expanding the appeal of its Hornby trains with Harry Potter and Thomas the Tank Engine licensing deals, and by taking advantage of its international distribution network.

"We want to make it more relevant to younger audiences, which extends the life of the brand," Martin told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Martin added the deal should boost Hornby's pretax profits by around 750,000 million pounds next financial year and that the firm expected Corgi sales to reach at least 10 million pounds within three years, from about 6.5 million currently.

[Black 6]

Originally Posted by Gambit

For the UK its great but does Hornby have a warehouse in the States and where is it located?

If not, then there will only be more delays.

Will Hornby honour the token models which have not been released in the States?

Gambit, to answer your question about the token models, last night I sent an email to Mr. Eldridge, who until a few hours ago was the Director of Global Online Services for Corgi International, asking for updated information on the models for US collectors. He was providing me information and assistance in regard to the program, as administered by Corgi-USA (in which he used the term "fiasco"). He answered me this morning with the news of the merger and that he felt this is a positive move for the Corgi brand. He ended the email by saying he is no longer working for Corgi and cannot, unfortunately, provide any additional assistance.

I don't know what to tell you at this point. Sounds like this will remain unresolved. Personally speaking, I think North American collectors are screwed in regard to the promotion.

[Gambit]

Originally Posted by Black 6

I don't know what to tell you at this point. Sounds like this will remain unresolved. Personally speaking, I think US collectors are screwed in regard to the promotion.

Yes I agree with you on that.

You can probably kiss the US releases goodbye as well.

[Gort]

Not to rain on everybody’s parade, but “ ...branch[ing] out from its [Corgi’s] core market of adult male collectors ... and into younger and more international markets”? What does that mean? Sounds kind of ominous.

Surely Corgi's mad dash after this this younger, more international market won’t brush aside us good ol’ boys, will it? Call me crazy, but I’ve got a hunch the old pooch we all knew and loved will morph into something freakish.

[Folgore]

Originally Posted by STARMAN 352ND

Frank Martin said Hornby planned to branch Corgi out from its core market of adult male collectors in Britain and the United States, and into younger and more international markets.

I hope the Aviation Archive has been at least modestly profitable for Corgi, otherwise they may well ditch the line to focus more on Harry Potter-meets-Batman collectibles. They might keep the Showcase Collection, though.

Brutal assessment, and I hope it does not come to pass, but if that would boost profits and help build the Corgi brand, then it makes business sense.

[Cruver Collecter]

So far this does not sound to promising. Hope they stick with the Aviation Archive series.

[Gambit]

If the sale doesn't include the production facilities then the release schedule we saw a few weeks ago is toast.

[sniperUK]

Originally Posted by Gort

Not to rain on everybody’s parade, but “ ...branch[ing] out from its [Corgi’s] core market of adult male collectors ... and into younger and more international markets”? What does that mean? Sounds kind of ominous.

Surely Corgi's mad dash after this this younger, more international market won’t brush aside us good ol’ boys, will it? Call me crazy, but I’ve got a hunch the old pooch we all knew and loved will morph into something freakish.

Hornby said the something similar when they bought over Airfix and what has happened is they have produced tie ins with Dr Who and Wallace and Gromit but they have also produced new "adult" kits like the Nimrod and 1/48th Canberras,with future items such as the 1/48th TSR.2 and 1/24th Mosquito due the are covering both sides so I can see them doing something similar with the Corgi brand releasing Harry Potter (Hornby already make HP train sets) James Bond etc to attract the younger buyers and keeping the collectors market going as well.

[STARMAN 352ND]

Well are the days of our beloved 4 engines Bombers toast ??..I hope not i really wanted to see that "Friday the 13th" Halifax made.....
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