Re: BARGAINS!

[centenary]

"Why do we need such fine detail when what we had was admittedly good and reasonably priced?"

Because many modellers and collectors nowadays discern finer details and do not find moulded on \ in detail acceptable. The move across the whole modelling fraternity is towards finer details out of the box.

Ive modelled subjects from warships in 1:96, 1:72, RC aircraft 1:6 and cars in 1:24 scale in my time and I want fine detail. Many 'old time' railway modellers may hanker after reasonably priced (who wouldnt?) good models but many others now want fine detail. That admittedly comes at a cost. Dont forget some people also collect fine scale models including locos just for display and never for running on a layout.

IMHO, most locos and rolling stock from 10+ year old moulds do not cut the mustard any more. Hornby Magazine did a short YT vid yesterday about the Hornby RailRoad Plus sound fitted Deltic. It might look 'good' to some but again, IMHO it looks toy like and a relic from the early 2000s if not before.

Ranges like RailRoad, RR Plus and EFE willfill a niche as others move towards finer detailed models.

[Mountain]

I think you are right that collectors buy them. I tended to be sort of inbetween for about a decade because I was collecting 00 in the hope I could build a large layout to run them, but it ended up being collecting rather than running most of them due to circumstances.
What surprized me was the last but one exhibition I attended where I was actually looking to see modern 00 gauge all wheel drive bogie diesels, but I did not find a single one on a layout and there were many layouts. Loads of older bogie diesels seriously done up, but no central motored type, so I started to ask why they were doing the older ones up and as one modeller told me "I can't afford those things!" and started showing me how he worked on his locos to make them look more realistic. It impressed me because there was hardly a tension lock in sight, and their models actually looked real. A few had built EM or P4 layouts, but nothing had anything one would call " Modern" as far as locomotives or rolling stock go. Triang, Triang/Hornby (Or just Hornby from a few years after), or Lima conversions with the occasional Airfix (And nicely done they were too) were the order of the day!

[centenary]

I think you are right that collectors buy them. I tended to be sort of inbetween for about a decade because I was collecting 00 in the hope I could build a large layout to run them, but it ended up being collecting rather than running most of them due to circumstances.
What surprized me was the last but one exhibition I attended where I was actually looking to see modern 00 gauge all wheel drive bogie diesels, but I did not find a single one on a layout and there were many layouts. Loads of older bogie diesels seriously done up, but no central motored type, so I started to ask why they were doing the older ones up and as one modeller told me "I can't afford those things!" and started showing me how he worked on his locos to make them look more realistic. It impressed me because there was hardly a tension lock in sight, and their models actually looked real. A few had built EM or P4 layouts, but nothing had anything one would call " Modern" as far as locomotives or rolling stock go. Triang, Triang/Hornby (Or just Hornby from a few years after), or Lima conversions with the occasional Airfix (And nicely done they were too) were the order of the day!

Yes, I agree and that's the beauty of these hobbies; different people have different approaches. Some like what Id call the basic look, some like to enhance their models either via aftermarket parts or fashion them themselves and others are happy to pay more for an out of the box fine scale detailed model.

[Mountain]

I think there is a gap in the market for a range of cost effective basic models which bridge the gap between toy and model which is where the likes of Triang and Jouef used to be with their lovely ranges.
A day or two ago I was looking at Triangy things for sale and thinking how wonderfully lovely those things are!
There is something about them that attracts that seems missing in todays ranges as lovely as they are. Something one can't define but is there!

[Morayshire]

Book Law are selling paperbacks of their "Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands" for £5. 9 volumes in total, all £5 each. Amazon was £15 plus. Lots of interesting photos (and not just of the geology.)