Hornby flogging another dead horse

Discuss Hornby Model Railway products and related topics here. This includes (Lima, Rivarossi, Jouef, Electrotren and Oxford Rail).
CasperGriswoldBacon
Posts: 338
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2011 6:15 pm

Re: Hornby flogging another dead horse

Post by CasperGriswoldBacon »

Meister wrote:
CasperGriswoldBacon wrote:
Meister wrote:When Wrenn closed in 1992 the prices went crazy for a few years then slowly declined. A natural correction, you might say. I would not say that Wrenn have bombed but prices have definitely softened from what they were a few years back. Ironically when I was a youngster in the early 1980s new Wrenn could often be bought heavily discounted as even then interest was waning, the situation no doubt aided and abetted by the deep recession. Oh the Wrenn bargains I bagged back in '82/'83! So if you bought when prices were sky high in the 1990s then yes, you are more than likely going to sell at a loss today. Tastes are always changing so the trick is to buy cheaply and sell when prices are high, which more often than not comes down to pot luck.
I think my Dad did the same. Certainly bought them in the 80's. Just had a look and £29.90 seem reasonable for a Wrenn A4 :D Even with inflation £103 quid sounds okay considering a railroad one will set you back more.
I think ~£30 was Hatton's 'regular' discounted price for the Wrenn A4 in the early '80s, with the Hornby A4 being the thick end of £10 less. You could get Wrenn with huge discounts in clearance sales though. My best buys were probably a pair of 08 shunters for £7.90 each (£19.95 sticker price) and a Brighton Belle EMU for £21.50 (£41.95 sticker price). My best buys of '82!
Have to admit I had no idea they were that cheap as the norm. I know you have inflation, but still I don't remember £30.00 back in the 80's "feeling" the equivalent of what a £100+ pounds feels like now. Seems odd that they cost roughly the same as a Mainline Royal Scot did. Makes you wonder whether we'll all be sitting here in 10 years time fondly recalling the days when a Bachmann Patriot only cost £190. Actually, that's probably almost guaranteed to happen 8)
Meister
Posts: 66
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2012 7:31 pm

Re: Hornby flogging another dead horse

Post by Meister »

CasperGriswoldBacon wrote:
Meister wrote:
CasperGriswoldBacon wrote:
I think my Dad did the same. Certainly bought them in the 80's. Just had a look and £29.90 seem reasonable for a Wrenn A4 :D Even with inflation £103 quid sounds okay considering a railroad one will set you back more.
I think ~£30 was Hatton's 'regular' discounted price for the Wrenn A4 in the early '80s, with the Hornby A4 being the thick end of £10 less. You could get Wrenn with huge discounts in clearance sales though. My best buys were probably a pair of 08 shunters for £7.90 each (£19.95 sticker price) and a Brighton Belle EMU for £21.50 (£41.95 sticker price). My best buys of '82!
Have to admit I had no idea they were that cheap as the norm. I know you have inflation, but still I don't remember £30.00 back in the 80's "feeling" the equivalent of what a £100+ pounds feels like now. Seems odd that they cost roughly the same as a Mainline Royal Scot did. Makes you wonder whether we'll all be sitting here in 10 years time fondly recalling the days when a Bachmann Patriot only cost £190. Actually, that's probably almost guaranteed to happen 8)
Agreed, but remember these are discounted prices not RRPs. Prices are much more tightly controlled now and retailers like Hatton's are no longer able to offer significant across the board savings like they did in the 1980s. The RRP of the Wrenn A4 would have been a lot higher than £30, they offered them at a price that would sell and still make a profit. Mainline big steamers like the Royal Scot could often be picked up new for under £20 so still significantly less than the Wrenn A4, which was of course much older and quite toy-like in comparison to Mainline offerings.
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