Full Version: Another Era Ends.
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Greetings,

Effective immediately, we here at Athearn have made the difficult decision to discontinue the production of our Blue Box line of kits. There were several factors that contributed to this extremely challenging decision however, the primary issue revolved around affordability and ensuring that our Blue Box kit pricing remain aligned with what the market can bear. Unfortunately, due to increased manufacturing and labor costs it has been determined that we are no longer able to continue offering kits at competitive price points as compared to our already assembled products.

For over 50 years the Athearn Blue Box kits have been sold worldwide, bringing happiness, joy and excitement to thousands of model railroad enthusiasts. Your passion for these products has allowed us to thrive and grow into the industry leader you still support today, and for that we are eternally grateful. Moving forward this will allow us to dedicate more resources to new and exciting projects in our Ready To Roll, Genesis and Roundhouse lines for another 50 years, or more.

We will continue to support all service and warranty needs on Blue Box kits from our headquarters in Long Beach, California. You can find our contact information here.

The Folks at Athearn
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Another era comes to a end..However,this one doesn't surprise me since Athearn has release very little in the way of kits...I know of a hobby shops that has the same BB kits on its shelf that been there for years and another still has lots of BB locomotive kits..

Many of us cut their modeling teeth on these simple car kits and learn the secret behind building these kits,while many struggled building these kits-mostly in achieving the correct coupler height.I suppose the majority of us will moan the passing of this era while many will applaud it.

I dunno but,I haven't assembled a BB kit since 2005 since I preferred the better looking RTR cars-including the former BB kits...

So,in a salute to another fallen flag and with taps softly playing I present:

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:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:
Labor costs?
What....They had a strike in China for more wages?

Hmmmm...Me thinks Horizon might of had something to do with this......
That's a shame. I guess I'll buy what BB twin hoppers my hobby shop has, and then it will be Bowser or Accurail for the rest of my hopper fleet needs. I like the detail of RTR, but the prices and ability to easily paint and decal my private road rolling stocks goes to undec kits.
Sad. But companies need to follow the market. I have always felt like some model manufacturers are simply in in for the money, others care most about supplying a needed product to the hobby. Both types of companies are needed to keep the hobby strong.

With all the prefab and RTR stuff on the market today, it would be quite easy to build a great-looking layout with minimal modeling skills. Some say that is a good thing. But for me, I wouldn't feel interested in my layout unless I was doing something to build or paint the models themselves. Otherwise, it would feel like a christmas village display; all the pieces come completed, all one needs to do is arrange them.
I wonder if Irv, would of approved.
How many times, have I sat with the grand anklebiters, and let them put a BB together, while I put together a more difficult model. The smiles on their faces because "They were helping grandpa with the trains".
I guess the only thing left are the memories.
eightyeightfan1 Wrote:I wonder if Irv, would of approved.
How many times, have I sat with the grand anklebiters, and let them put a BB together, while I put together a more difficult model. The smiles on their faces because "They were helping grandpa with the trains".
I guess the only thing left are the memories.

That's probably what everyone said when they switched to plastics! Big Grin

The hobby will go on.
Well,

With a good set of plans you can always scratch build some of your rolling stock. Misngth
Their story is full of crap! but we all know why they got rid of BB's, it's because they can't make money on them like they do with the RTR stuff
Why is their story full of crap? They came right out and said they could no longer sell them at a competitive price. As far as I know (and it's not too far!) the BB stuff was still being made and packaged in the US. Pobably as much as increasing costs, another big reason to discontinue the line is diminished sales. Among the fends I have in MR'ing, none have bought a BB freight car kit in probably 10 years. It is sad, from a sentimental view. The BB stuff was top of the line, cheap and easy to build when I started in the late fifties, early 60's. I still have a lot on my layout, and many more still in boxes, who knows if I'll ever build them now that much more accurate cars are available.

It does seem too bad that such an easy wasy to learn kit building is leaving us. Although there is still Accurail.
One of the major reasons Athearn and Horizon have pulled the plug on the BB line is because they could produce an RTR car for about the same amount of money they could produce a BB kit for, and the RTR car they make WAY more then they do on the BB kits. BB kits have really flooded the market and it was just time for them to be discontinued, Athearn was just not selling enough of them to make it worth there time and money to produce them. No body was buying new BB kits, instead they were buying used and old ones that had already been bought before. Athearn doesnt see an of that money from those sales, so when they stop getting the orders for the BB kits, its time to stop production. Its a sad sight to see that these kits that have been around for so long and basically are the backbone of this hobby are going away, but this is what the hobby is coming too. Most guys want the RTR stuff now, they dont wanna sit and assemble the models. They want the instand gratification of taking it out of the box, having it fully detailed, and running it in a train, my self included. I would rather work on scenery and building kits, rather then assembling a freight car or engine. I loved the BB kits when i first started in the hobby, they were a good learning tool, but unfortunately they are no more.
I have built, bashed, and re-bashed Athearn BB kits. The end of the line of the BB kit is, for me, much like ending the line for Northeast Scale lumber, or Evergreen Styrene sheet and strip. The material I use for building.........is getting harder to find.

When I first started in this hobby, it was still mostly a scratch builder's hobby. Athearn was one of the few, inexpensive, easy, kits for beginners to get started on.
Yes Mountainman, the "hobby will go on", but it will be a bit more difficult for the first timers, without the BB kits to introduce them to model building.
I no longer need BB kits for what they "are", but I will miss them for what I could make out of them.

That said......how about a tribute to a "fallen flag", Athearn BB kits. Post photos of your built, or bashed Athearn kits. Here's one of Athearn's "four to a box boats", and a bashed version.[attachment=3282]
Those look nice Pete.
I set up a "Tribute" thread in the Photo section.
Trucklover Wrote:One of the major reasons Athearn and Horizon have pulled the plug on the BB line is because they could produce an RTR car for about the same amount of money they could produce a BB kit for, and the RTR car they make WAY more then they do on the BB kits. BB kits have really flooded the market and it was just time for them to be discontinued, Athearn was just not selling enough of them to make it worth there time and money to produce them. No body was buying new BB kits, instead they were buying used and old ones that had already been bought before. Athearn doesnt see an of that money from those sales, so when they stop getting the orders for the BB kits, its time to stop production. Its a sad sight to see that these kits that have been around for so long and basically are the backbone of this hobby are going away, but this is what the hobby is coming too. Most guys want the RTR stuff now, they dont wanna sit and assemble the models. They want the instand gratification of taking it out of the box, having it fully detailed, and running it in a train, my self included. I would rather work on scenery and building kits, rather then assembling a freight car or engine. I loved the BB kits when i first started in the hobby, they were a good learning tool, but unfortunately they are no more.

This opens up the market to new companies that want to provide undecorated kits. I like that idea...
From the manufacturer's viewpoint, a kit is a headache in the offing. Someone has to count all the bits, package them and put the right packages in the box. Then someone at the hobby shop opens the box and drops a bit or two out. The next guy buys the kit and finds it short a door or a roofwalk or a truck screw and writes in for a replacement and they have to find the right bit and mail it out, trusting that the customer actually bought a kit missing a bit.
An RTR model has all the bits applied at the factory, goes into a sealed box and that's it.
Ah, well. Who remembers the complaints about putting "$1.29 plastic squeeze bottles" behind $100 brass articulateds? (or was it $50 then?)
I spoke to one of the owners of Athearn at a trade show in So Cal before they sold out to Horizon. It was right after they started to emphasize the r-t-r line of locomotives. I think it was Geddes, he told me then that they were pretty much dropping the line of blue box locomotives because they had received so much grief and complaints from customers (I won't call them modelers) about how hard it was to install the metal handrails and stanchions on locomotives. He said at the time that the biggest problem they had with the car kits was people who bought a kit and then contacted them because a truck was missing. They trusted that the customer was being honest and always sent out a replacement, but the cost of having someone pull the missing truck out of inventory, package, and mail it was more than the profit that they made on the kit originally. Unfortunately, it isn't China who is going to lose the jobs. As far as I know, the blue box kits were all packaged here in So Cal. at the Athearn factory. I think the parts are all cast here and then shipped off to China for assembly and painting on the r-t-r stuff.
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