[Cruver Collecter]

Originally Posted by 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!!

After looking at what trains the produce, think they still have some pretty good coverage for the older crowd. Engines and rolling stock are sporting some impressive detail, could be a good thing if this goes the same for future diecast aircraft models.

[Gort]

Originally Posted by dboulais

I've looked at the threads here and on the UK forum. Hornby reads like a "mass" marketing firm. They want to sell tens of thousands of SKU's of items taking advantage of pop culture to sell to the younger set. That sounds like reduced marketing and introductions of aircraft diecast. I can envision a deluge duriing the holidays of "Snoopie on a Spad" type offerings. The question for us is, will there be any releases of "real" aircraft (WW II Propeller) and if so how many. Will half a dozen releases a year of stuff we want from them, be enough to keep them relevent? If Dragon has really exited the 1/72 scale aircraft market, IXO's 1/72 products are too cruddy to be considered seriuosly, Gemini looks dead, and Witty releases too few types, WHERE ARE WE GOING TO GET OUR STUFF FROM???????? Sure, it will keep all out wallets in good shape if we have only a half a dozen 1/72 WW II propeller diecast models come out each year, but looking back, that means the past few years will be considered the aircraft diecast golden era. The world of collectible diecast has just changed. Looks like I'm going to have time and money I used to spend on models to build all those display cases to house the models I've got stashed in my closet. Bummer.

Couldn’t have said it better, dboulais. Of course, it remains to be seen what Hornby will do, and I’m rootin’ for them all the way. But I believe the diecast military aviation world did just change—and not for the better.

Three years from today our hobby will look appallingly different. As dboulais wrote so eloquently, collectors will regard the last few years as diecast’s golden era and consider collectors who own Corgi and Witty and Dragon and other 1/72 - 1/48 - 1/32 models fortunate indeed. New product will eventually peter out, and diecast collecting as we know it will all but die.

Que the violins!

[timbo]

Originally Posted by 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!!

The vast majority of Hornby's existing customer base are adult. If you give one of their new generation loco's to a kid then it will last about 5 minutes. The amount of fine detail on them is amazing, and they listen to their customer base.

Their main marketing man regularly feeds back to the enthusiast community though various shows and web sites, and IMHO the do make a great effort in trying to be innovative in product development. How about Live steam "OO" gauge loco's (Similar size to HO gauge). They are not afraid to take risks in new product selection if they see a potential market.

Basically if Hornby can't make a go of the Corgi brand then someone should just put the hound out of it's misery!!!

[Cruver Collecter]

Originally Posted by timbo

The vast majority of Hornby's existing customer base are adult. If you give one of their new generation loco's to a kid then it will last about 5 minutes. The amount of fine detail on them is amazing, and they listen to their customer base.

Their main marketing man regularly feeds back to the enthusiast community though various shows and web sites, and IMHO the do make a great effort in trying to be innovative in product development. How about Live steam "OO" gauge loco's (Similar size to HO gauge). They are not afraid to take risks in new product selection if they see a potential market.

Basically if Hornby can't make a go of the Corgi brand then someone should just put the hound out of it's misery!!!

Hornby quality looks very similar to Marklin products, and they are definitly not kid stuff. Their engine selection alone suggests and adult customer base, excellent selection of steam engines. I have only seen a few Hornby pieces at train shows, and the ones I saw were exceptionally nice.

[1250ships]

I refer you to what I wrote April 18 (Crash and Burn—or Survive and Thrive?):

...I do think we have been living in the golden age of diecast and that the end is near if not already here.

We will look back on what we bought the last few years and what we paid for it and be amazed.

Enjoy Tuesday Morning next week. I don't think we will be seeing anything like that again.

If the Aviation Archive is not a profit center for Corgi then it is bye-bye to it. Hornby won't throw good money after bad. But the toolings might have value and be sold to a third party.

[Gort]

Originally Posted by timbo

Basically if Hornby can't make a go of the Corgi brand then someone should just put the hound out of it's misery!!!

After reading some of these upbeat posts about Hornby, I’m feeling a little more hopeful. I’d sure hate to see the poor pooch piddle in the ol’ dog pound.

[Spinnaker]

Originally Posted by Gambit

First thing Hornby will do is go through the books and save whats been profitable.

Don't you think they would have had a look at Corgi's books before buying the company!!! (Due Dilligence Process etc etc!)

[Gambit]

Originally Posted by Spinnaker

Don't you think they would have had a look at Corgi's books before buying the company!!! (Due Dilligence Process etc etc!)

It was meant as a general statement as I'am not an expert on Hong Kong company financial statements.
Who knows how detailed Corgis records were as to the P/Ls of each product line, probably don't exist anyway.
I am sure they went through the financials and must have had some reason for buying the company.

The first thing Hornby should do is mail out the token models to those that had followed the rules.

[Old Crow]

I'm a little late to the party on this thread, just now reading through. I find it quite interesting how short-lived the most recent owner's tenure was.

Here is an interesting article on the deal in the Guardian business section which suggests more design responsibility will return in-house in the UK. However, the article also suggests cars are the main focus of the Hornby interest. After Scalextric and Airfix, Hornby adds Corgi to its toy collection | Business | The Guardian

Most of the articles I have read on this deal emphasize the model car aspect of Corgi, and various retailers quoted tend to focus on the same thing while extolling the virtue of Hornby's track record in protecting and preserving so-called "heritage" industries, but always emphasizing the model cars. Corgi's own website is all about model cars and trucks; the Batmobile has sold 5 million units, a few more than the Corgi P-51.

I think we will see a continuation of the trend started by the previous owner, albeit with a twist. The last owner significantly reduced production numbers of all releases. I predict Hornby will reduce the pace of new releases. I also think the quality will improve as the aircraft models are brought along for the ride with the cars and trucks.

[Old Crow]

Corgi's statement regarding the sale:

1st May 2008 Dear Customer, Please see below a formal press release announcing some important changes to the Corgi business: HORNBY STRENGTHENS PRODUCT RANGE WITH £7.5M ACQUISITION OF CORGI Hornby Plc ("Hornby"), the international models and collectibles group, has today announced that it has acquired the famous die-cast model business Corgi Classics (“Corgi”). Hornby has agreed to buy the brand, tooling, and intellectual property rights from NASDAQ quoted Corgi International Limited, for cash consideration of £7.5 million. Fixed assets at completion had a book value of c.£1.4 million. The balance of the consideration relates to Goodwill, Trademarks and Intellectual Property. In addition, existing inventory will be acquired for a consideration of c.£0.8 million, subject to a post-closing valuation. The cash consideration will be funded from Hornby’s banking facilities. Corgi is one of the oldest manufacturers of collectible die-cast models of trucks, buses, cars and aeroplanes in the world. Corgi's famous model vehicles captured the imagination of millions of baby boomers and are now highly sought-after in the expanding collectibles market. Currently, its principal markets are the United Kingdom, the United States and Northern Europe. Corgi was established by the Mettoy Company in Northampton, which first started to produce pressed metal toys in the 1930s. The Corgi brand for die-cast models was born in 1956 and at its height, was selling millions of toys a year, including the Batmobile, the Lotus John Player Special Formula 1 car and James Bond’s iconic Aston Martin DB5. More recently, production has been moved to lower cost plants in the Far East. Corgi enjoys an excellent reputation worldwide. Corgi sells a range of products based on aviation, commercial road transport and other vehicles. In the year to 31 March 2008 the acquired assets generated sales of c £6.5 million. As Corgi formed part of Corgi International Limited it did not report profitability as a separate entity. However, performance in the year to 31 March 2008 was disrupted by a number of one-off items. Hornby will focus on managing the brand for growth. Key existing marketing, sales and development personnel will be retained, whilst currently outsourced logistics will be integrated into the Hornby structure along with sales administration, finance and operations. It plans to strengthen the product range and improve the marketing and distribution support. The acquisition is expected to be earnings neutral in the current financial year. The Corgi product range is highly complementary to Hornby’s existing hobby brands, which include Hornby, Lima, Jouef and Rivarossi in model railways, Scalextric slot car racing cars, Airfix models and Humbrol paints. As part of the acquisition, Hornby is also acquiring Bassett-Lowke, an ‘O’ gauge model railway brand. Bassett-Lowke operates at the top end of the model railway market and will add another range of products that complements Hornby’s existing model railway portfolio. Frank Martin, Chief Executive of Hornby commented, “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Corgi. It is a fantastic brand and has a superb reputation worldwide. We intend to build on the brand’s super heritage and invest to build its premier position in the market. The strategic fit with our existing businesses could not be better. We are confident that we will grow the scale of the business rapidly and drive it forward. “The team at Hornby has the expertise and a successful track record in managing a portfolio of famous hobby sector brands that have flourished under our stewardship. We have set in place a detailed integration plan to ensure that we improve Corgi’s performance rapidly. We will focus on product innovation, improving the distribution network and driving sales growth both in the UK and Internationally. “This acquisition is an extension of the Group’s strategy to build an international hobby and collectibles business with a broad range of brands. Looking to the future, we are extremely excited by the potential growth that Corgi can deliver.” -ends- Date: 1 May 2008 For further information contact: Hornby Plc City Profile Frank Martin, Chief Executive Simon Courtenay Andrew Morris, Finance Director William Attwell Tel: 01843-233500 Tel: 020-7448-3244 Web: Home - Hornby or: SCALEXTRIC ELECTRIC CAR RACING Best regards, CORGI