I sent this email to Micro-Trains today: ======= To Eric Smith at Micro-Trains While I am pleased to see MTL offering a WP N caboose in the June 2002 releases, I think the MSRP of $33.00 is totally outrageous and uncalled for. This price is 22.4% HIGHER than your recent Smokey The Bear N caboose (# 51210) at $26.95, and almost 11% HIGHER than your recent Popsicle N caboose (# 100130) at $29.85. ====== http://www.micro-trains.com/51220.htm ====== You will neither please many WP N scalers nor realize many sales at the $33.00 level. I will have to think long and hard about spending that much for a "crummy". You are beginning to price your products out of the market. Regards, Don Brown Tucson AZ USA MTL Customer Since 1972 ====================
I'll admit that does seem a bit steep but, that is part of the price you have to pay for being 100% american product. and it more-than-likely is a small production run (at least on MT's terms). I object to paying MT type prices for cheap Chinese nock-offs!
$33 for a caboose is outrageous. I probably should share this with Micro-Trains, too, but here's an interesting observation. Two years ago my wife and I were vacationing in Eastern Europe. I brought with me two N scale models to show a local hobby dealer. He was really impressed by the Kato E8, but when he examined the Micro-Trains caboose his reaction was "This isn't a model - this is a toy". His facial expression and tone of voice conveyed a more negative reaction than just the words. Mike - nyc1956
Don- Yikes!!! I note that you have been an MT customer since 1972. I have also followed along with them the past thirty years. My question for you, as I am not familiar with the WP, how accurate is not only the paint scheme, but the body style? Is this yet another instance of MT decorating one more shell that is completely wrong for the prototype? In thinking on the subject, it's been at least two years since I last bought any MT. I've been spending my money on DeLuxe Innovations, InterMountain, and other manufacturers products instead. BoxcabE50
It certainly is a complex paint job that WP caboose. This probably factored into the price. Of course here in Canada we routinely pay over $30 for Nscale cars. I note that Rio Grande Hobbies has it listed at $24.95. [ 01 June 2002, 00:28: Message edited by: Grantha ]
Don, I couldn't agree with you more! What's so special about the paint job? 4Nscale has the undec for $9.95, so that makes it $15 for the paint job! I dunno, maybe if they did a bay window in the various schemes......maybe! I say buy the undec MT caboose, decals and paint might cost $5 or $6, you're still saving a bundle. I painted a Rio Grande orange and silver caboose, which isn't anymore complicated than this one. 2slim
With all the stiff competition MT is facing today, they have got to be out of their mind. My Kato caboose didn't cost this much and is much nicer and can be lighted.
Let the market decide. Being new to the N scale market I was at first very impressed by the MTL and their "culture" of collectors so to say. However I have now discovered Deluxe Innovations, Red Caboose, and other lines that I am now spending my money on.
Heck no!!! I have a hard time paying 25+$ for a 3-bay ACF hopper. Intermountain makes better detailed cars, and are cheaper!!!!! They're just hard to get.
Unfortunately, there are enough collecters and nuts out there will ing to spend 100 a car that these will probably be just as unavailable as any of the other MT stuff. Unfortunatly for us, those with money have absolutely no sense with spending what is reasonable. If you can do the paint, more power to you.
Yes. Just did. Paid 35 for a caboose that is unassembled and unpainted with no weights or couplers and the wheels that it came with are not very nice plastic jobs. If you think 33 is too expensive, then don't buy it, scratch build it, kit bash from a cheaper model etc. As for the $25 ACF 3 bay hoppers - I wish I could have found some while I was last in the states... I would like to have picked up a couple
Well, For my 2 cents, I have in the past! For a few reasons, ONE I had it to spend freely to spend the same amount twice! But wasn't $33.00 it was $32.50... For the other reason was because, the caboose I bought was HO, (yes I know I'm under cover in the N scale forum) but being that the caboose was HO and normally only avaliable in Brass, till I found the unpainted, unassembled kit, a Wagon Top Caboose! For the Baltimore and Ohio. These cabs were only ever offered in Brass till recently... And now they're offered in plastic resin kits made in Canada! These were never offered in plastic so. and I WAS NOT ABOUT TO PAY $300 for a caboose let alone 2 of them that would have costed me $600! As for the cabeese I bought, I must say they are VERY FINE kits! All hand aplied music wire (preformed) hand railing and grab irons, and marker lights, and stamped metal ladders! Separate window castings etc.... And a fully detailed underbody as well, came with trucks that were electified for interior lighting... The only thing excuded from these kits were couplers for type, and brand of choice! So being I've bought Athearn Bay window cabs, and other various manufacturer cabs these are top of the line for plastic! Superior to brass! I'm a very pleased buyer at the expensive $32.50 I paid for each of the 2 I bought! So I'm pleased with the craftmanship for the cost which is steep but the kit inside the box was very pleasing to see with that kinda money forked out for it... But as I said, I wasn't paying Brass prices so... And For the $60 some I paid was alot better then $600 I would have if I'da bought brass ones!
What he said!!! If I were the guy that paid 600 bucks for cars off eBay, then maybe yes, I'd buy this caboose- otherwise, no flippin' way!
FYI I have also sent the URL filestring for the thread for this topic to Eric Smith, President of Micro-Trains. If and when he responds to me I will post his reply in full here. ===== From the MTL archives here is the release info on their very first caboose, stock number 50000 50000 undecorated DATA n/a 06-75 bcr The tooling has been in regular use for 27 YEARS NOW so it should have been amortized long, long ago. eNjoy
