Athearn "Blue Box" Line Bites the Dust

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salidawest · Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 7:36 pm Post subject: Athearn Blue Box Discontinuance

I agree with your concern over pushing the modeller to more expensive products. I thought the detail the Blue Box line contained was higher level and certainly more competitive that Roundhouse though that is what we are left with.
I must also admit that I pay more for resin and other high ly detailed "craftsman" kits vs the doing the necessary work to bring the less expensive kits up to the same level of detail.
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scroland

Sounds to me like another product transfer to China disguised as something more politically correct. Have the retail prices of model trains eroded so that we can no longer afford to produce simple molded and finished parts in the USA.? I highly doubt it! Maybe it's due to the high cost of the polystyrene molding resin. The typical car weighs about 2 ounces, and at about $1.00/pound cost that would equate to $0.125 cost per car. Doesn't look like that's the problem either. I wonder if Horizon would be willing to sell the tooling?

Scott

railtwister · L1: Learner Joined: 29 Oct 2009 Posts: 3

Actually, the Blue Box Line was discontinued a long time ago, they have only admitted it since the Email was sent out. I have had Blue Box kits on "Special Order" through my local hobbyshop, some for as long as 5 years, and they have NEVER come in, even though the same moldings have been released in the ready-to-roll line more than once during that time. If they have to make the moldings for the RTR line, there's no good reason that they can't release some of them in the Blue-Box line at the same time (at least enough to cover orders they have already taken on good faith from the shops), they just don't want to. It's pretty obvious that they would rather sell a <$20 RTR than a >$10 kit, and they sure don't want to carry inventory on either one. I have a feeling I have bought my last "brand new" Athearn product, though I might still pick up an occasional Blue-Box at a train show, if one shows up that I want. In the past, I always preferred the Athearn kits, even though there were more detailed kits available from other manufacturers, but I felt that the Athearn kits (and especially their diesel locomotives) were a better quality product of American engineering, and they were made in the USA. Sadly, this is no longer the case. For years, the competing manufacturers pressured Irv Athearn to raise his prices so their own over-priced products could be more competitive, it looks like they've finally won out. I wonder what Irv would say about it all...

Bill

LionkingCMSL · L1: Learner Joined: 22 Dec 2009 Posts: 1

Personally, I think this is just a non-model railroading company that has no idea what the model railroader wants making decisions on what it thinks the model railroader wants.

I feel it is a shame the Horizon Hobbies, which specializes in radio control products, went and purchased Athearn. I wonder if some other model railroading company can purchase Athearn out from under Horizon and restore Athearn to the leader it once was. Hey it happened with Model Power buying Mantua.

As for me I will miss the "Blue Box" line and the chance to get undec models so I can paint them into my own scheme.

It is coming down to the point that undec kits are getting rarer and rarer. I hate to think at some point I'm going to have to de-paint so I can repaint to my own scheme.