Clearance sale at MB Klein, US, Japan and Euro Prototypes

[David]

Looks like ModelTrainStuff is trying to clear out the inventory that isn't moving.

 

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Clearance-Items-s/2640.htm

 

Among the N-scale stuff I think they've marked down all of the Kato foreign prototype models they've had in stock. $60 for most locos ($50 for DD51) plus a few sets like the Thalys and E5.

 

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/N-Scale-Clearance-s/2642.htm

 

If you live in North America the savings are compounded by the cheaper shipping.

[bikkuri bahn]

As an aside, this can be seen two ways- either Americans aren't interested in N scale foreign prototypes, or, those that are, usually get them from other (ostensibly cheaper or better stocked) sources.

[Hobby Dreamer]

Thanks David, for the heads up!

 

This store carries a ton of inventory so anything that does not move quickly takes up valuable space for stuff that does. Their prices are very competitive and they have real-time inventory so you never order something and find out later that they had sold out.

 

Times are tough, so I welcome a sale anytime!

 

Rick

[cteno4]

Kleins does this every couple of years. they stock up on a dozen or so sets and some locos. then after a year or so they will have a clearance sale on whats left in inventory. on the last round they had stock of like 12-18 for each of the sets! expect they got a good volume deal. they are a unitrak distributor and dealer and i expect one of the biggies for kato in the states for volume.

 

i finally picked up the e5 set last week from you earlier post. price was much better than anything ive seen in the past and i can just pick it up next time over there! have been sorely tempted by the dd51s!

 

jeff

[westfalen]

As an aside, this can be seen two ways- either Americans aren't interested in N scale foreign prototypes, or, those that are, usually get them from other (ostensibly cheaper or better stocked) sources.

There could be a bit of the former. On another, US based, forum there was a thread recently wondering what had happened to the rumored Union Pacific 4-8-4 from Kato. I remarked that Kato had been releasing new steam, just not American, and offered the C56 as an example and got the following reply.

 

"I believe we are all talking about Kato USA in this thread, we dont really care about what they come out with in japanese engines. Unless of course they are a good candadate for kitbashing."

 

Not everyone is as enlightened as us.

[KenS]

I suspect MBK was at least in part "testing the waters" to see if there would be interest in Japanese-prototype trains. Implicit in that is that some things won't sell, and you need to get rid of them eventually to recover your capital for other uses.  I'm sure they factored that in to their original plans.

 

And I think there's potential there.  But perhaps it's less from those like us who want to model Japanese prototypes than from people who are just tired of looking at models of 50-year old prototypes. While I like some of the older U.S. prototypes myself, nostalgia doesn't mean anything for stuff that was out of service before I was born. I like a few things because of some unique appeal (I never saw a GG1 in motion outside a film, but I love the way they look). But at the same time most of the 1950's era modeling I see leaves me bored. I doubt I'm alone there. As the population ages, the people who grew up with that era become less of a factor in the planning for new products, as the real win is to attract new people with disposable income. And even the middle-aged prospects these days likely never saw mainline steam, and think of boxcars as from the same era as biplanes.

 

I've heard from one of the people at my LHS that he's seen potential buyers who are interested in "modern" trains rather than a specific prototype. That's probably why MBK has 2 of the E5 left, and 15-20 of all the EF locos (which don't look all that "modern" to me, even the ones that are).

 

And Kato's Japanese trains are modern at a more reasonable price than a lot of the European imports would be. It may not be "Japan" that's the appeal there.

 

Although it could be.  A lot of the "18 - 30 year olds" that marketers obsess over have grown up watching anime, and seeing Japanese trains in it.  There may be some familiarity for them, even though few of them will ever have seen a Japanese train in person.

 

I'm tempted to pick up some more DE10s myself. The price is good, and I like the model.

[cteno4]

Kleins seems to have been the one store outside of brooklyn loco works that has stocked much of japanese trains. for the last decade or so ive been collecting japanese trains they have always stocked some. the do seem to do this big buy, sell for a year or so then clearance the rest, wait a bit then repeat. Not sure if this is just a cycle for them with how they run inventory and ordering, or that they tire of it when sales slow get rid of stuff and then go again when interest builds. this time around it seemed to be larger inventory when they first popped up with the new batch (like 12-16 each), but its only been for a while here they showed inventory on the website to know that data. only kato though on the trains that i ever saw in the store or on the site.

 

They use to be a big carrier of greenmax buildings, but a few years back they cleared those out (couple of jrm members were in the shop and they offered them a good price to walk away with the remaining couple of dozen buildings).

 

they do know there is a japanese club locally and many of us stop in there for all sorts of stuff. Unfortunately most of the japanese trains are ones that we mostly have in the group so not as much business from us there, but we do point folks to them when they ask about buying japanese trains. one of their clerks that use to work for them a lot was a big fan of the jrm layout and would always visit us at the timonium shows. once kleins moved from downtown baltimore out to timonium (where the quarterly train show is) they stopped selling at the show as their shop is about a mile away now! its packed on those weekends as everyone stops by the shop now and im sure  they make way more money than renting truck and tables and schlepping everything to the show.

 

i think ken is spot on with newer modelers wanting something more modern. we get lots of newbies really wowed by the variety of trains on the layout and the futuristic look. many are sure these are not real but scifi! kids are just riveted. more so than with a regular steam train, they see that all over the place, everyone has to do thomas this or that and i think they get a little blase, but the are just captivated by the cool japanese trains. we judge how well we did by how many kids crying we get per show (time to go. NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!).

 

jeff

 

jeff

[Hobby Dreamer]

time to go. NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!).

 

Ah, come on Jeff....  that was you saying this..  ;)

 

Cheers

Rick

[cteno4]

thats me when we have to leave kliens... ;-p

 

jeff

[Tecchan]

Kato Thalys at 299$ is telling me "Buy.me.buy.me.buy.me.buy.me.buy.me.buy.me.buy.me.buy.me.buy.me.buy.me" 

[Darklighter]

From their newsletter: "For this week only, take an additional 25% off all Aoshima products by using coupon code 25AOS in your shopping cart!"

 

If the shipping wasn't so high, I would order the "Modern Parking Garage". ;)

[Mudkip Orange]

...people who are just tired of looking at models of 50-year old prototypes. While I like some of the older U.S. prototypes myself, nostalgia doesn't mean anything for stuff that was out of service before I was born. I like a few things because of some unique appeal (I never saw a GG1 in motion outside a film, but I love the way they look). But at the same time most of the 1950's era modeling I see leaves me bored. I doubt I'm alone there. As the population ages, the people who grew up with that era become less of a factor in the planning for new products,

 

Yes, yes, yes. If I ever spend any more money on HO it will be strictly unit tanker trains and intermodals, of the type I see crawling through the sprawl down here. Maybe an entire train of roadrailers.

 

I have sometimes thought about doing an HO module of the IH-10 "grape arbor" underpass at the UP Terminal Sub. It would be about 8-10 feet long...

[cteno4]

Darklighter,

 

thanks mucho! i think at least three of the parking structures are being gobbled up by jrm members as we speak! going to be funny if one member goes over to pick them up!

 

jeff

[cteno4]

we took a road trip over to kleins on tuesday, it was matthew's birthday. lots of aoshima was consumed and we picked up another club's order. $30 for a parking structure, quite a deal!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Spaceman Spiff]

The parking structure is nice. Just waiting for the cars with functional headlights to arrive from China. ;-)




Spiff

Edited May 20, 2013 by Spaceman Spiff