[smartd]

Originally Posted by jim

YUP,

I think its back to the drawing board again for Corgi.

Who knows what the future will hold.

I'm sure it will only be good things.

[trex0770]

Is it time for the N. American members to start a class action lawsuit to get the token Halifax? Good lord, I could think of a dozen things more worth it to have a fight over than the 'hood ornament' Halifax! Oh well, I guess it's all about the principles!

[timbo]

This is absolutly fabulous news.

Hornby is a company that does listen to the customer and when they can accomodates them. Some of their recent locomotives and rolling stock are a work of art with extremly fine detail. They have also proven with their "OO" train that they are willing to take the quality up a knotch and not sit on their behind till the competition catches up and superseeds them. The main market for these is the adult collector, but have also released a more basic range for the junior market, so they have some understanding of what it takes to get the younger set out for the computer and back into more interactive hobies.

They also have a proven track record that they can turn around failing brands, both with the purchased of Airfix, but also with the purchase of the bankrupt Lima company.

Yes they do have a distribution chain in the states for scaletrix cars, so they should be able to also include Corgi into that mix. Unfortualtly for me as I am also a great fan on the railway products as well those are not well handled here as the US market is very US outline only centric.

[timbo]

[quote=jim;183477]

Originally Posted by dboulais

WHERE ARE WE GOING TO GET OUR STUFF FROM????????

We had better give all our support to Hobby master.

It puzzles me somewhat that Hornby bought Corgi , as we all know Corgi has no factories of its own and commisions out all the manufacturing.
I
it would make more sense to me if Corgi had a factory.

I wonder if Hornby thinks that some of its products would sell as diecast and that combined with Corgi would make owning its own manufacturing facility financial sense.

Then again am I just grasping at straws?

Doubt it - Hornby outsource all their production to China as well. I believe the company they use are Sanda-Kan. They closed down their own plant in the UK about 10 years ago, and from a quality and profitability sense have never looked back.

The first thing that they did with the Lima assets they bought was to ship production out to china. Also before re-release they ungraded and invested in the models to bring them up to a more acceptable standard, (although due to the age of a lot of the tooling there is only so much you can do before you have to scrap it)

As the Corgi tooling is all over in China already, they should have a more easy time in getting it setup in whatever production facility they need to use. Just hope that they can account for it all.

[Agent X20]

7.5 million to take out a major band.. absolute bargain... tis a piss in the ocean....

AA.. IMPO - DOA.. DYOR....

[Celtic]

Originally Posted by parsig9

Does this mean no more gold models?

Ah, parsig, if it is any comfort, they weren't really made of gold....

[Celtic]

I don't think it would make sense for Hornby to buy Corgi and then leave a major portion of that company's customer base out in the cold. If Hornby plans to increase their profits as stated, they will need a broad-based approach to production, design, and distribution. It seems Corgi would be well placed to be part of that base. Since Corgi already has some fine AA products, which Hornby now owns, then there are probably few obstacles to continuing production of those products. That said, they may also discontinue some of the poorer quality Corgi AA molds that no longer compete (the P-51D comes to mind, and maybe the B). This is going to be interesting, and I think the Corgi brand will be with us again. MHO and fingers crossed...

[Celtic]

Originally Posted by trex0770

Is it time for the N. American members to start a class action lawsuit to get the token Halifax? Good lord, I could think of a dozen things more worth it to have a fight over than the 'hood ornament' Halifax! Oh well, I guess it's all about the principles!

Actually, I'd like to get mine just to see if it would really fly!

[Cruver Collecter]

I just took a look at Horby site and they put out some pretty impressive looking Locos and rolling stock. Great looking detail and to be honest quite a bit of old fart engines (Steam). This could be a very good thing.

[theodore]

I agree with Gort in that I feel their main focus will be a younger audience and they will not be producing diecast aircraft or tanks for a few years, perhaps never.

For all of you who were waiting for the 'Friday the 13th' Halifax, I feel bad for you; I purchased the Barton Halifax back in January and it is an excellent model!!

What does all of this mean? Next Tuesday, I will be spending a fortune on Corgi products at 'Tuesday Morning' and I suggest all of you do the same!! These are gonna be worth a small fortune on eBay within the next few months or a year from now!!