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RE: (erielack) Re: Rapido
As "the one who did" I'll observe that my silence is due to having to work for a living, Randy. At
2:57 this afternoon, I was in my third meeting of the day.
I completely understand the issues, Jason, and commend you for undertaking such amazing cars; we're
lucky to have them. And of course, now you have to pay that huge salary to Bill Schneider, but
well, he's probably worth it . . . 8^) (no question in my mind, actually.)
But I guess I'm with Randy in this comment from his note: " my view that using a real number on a
fantasy car was misleading. I felt that Rapido could have followed the lead of the groups that
restore real railroad equipment to a prototype paint scheme and then number the piece one up from
the last real one."
Historical facts (the best kind) are fragile, and when there are totally credible cars manufactured,
as these will be, I expect we will see more modelers believing that these new cars ARE accurate,
when they're not. That's why I agree with Randy's other point: "Fantasy" might well be employed. I
think the fear that manufacturers have that this will kill sales is way overblown. The proportion
of the model buying public that cares enough to refrain from buying models like these is miniscule.
But I have a few too many cars that I believed really existed because I gave great credence to
particular manufacturers' adherence to the Real Thing, that are bogus, bogus, bogus. It's annoying
and to a degree, a waste of money.
I bought the Rapido Youngstown cars. I already have a full fleet of 6-6-4s in brass (though I admit
only one is painted). I didn't buy the coaches (do I regret that? Maybe.) But I won't buy these
newest cars because they're not, in my terms, even close. The roof is so wrong as to be instantly
not right.
Whatever, those are MY standards. I'm not maintaining that they're better or worse than anybody
else's. I'm not maintaining that this makes >me< better or less than anyone else, either. They're
just my standards and that's what makes me happy.
(And yes, I do know that there is a minor detail on the Youngstowns that make them not >perfect<.)
SGL
> Well, I guess I have to comment.
>
> 1. I welcome Jason's evaluation of the situation and his explanation of Rapido's approach. I
agree that the Rapido cars
> are among the best HO cars available at the price, if not THE best.
>
> 2. I did not start this thread. I am bemused and a little disappointed at the silence of the one
who did. He asked, ". . . or
> is there more to the story?"
>
> 3. I reponded that yes, the overriding concern is sales. Jason has said that; everyone else has
said that; but I said it first!
> We are all sophisticated enough to recognize the tremendous costs involved in bringing any model
to market.
>
> 4. I did not use the word "Bogus." Jason did. I said "Fantasy", a word direct from the Rapido
website.
>
> 5. I then expressed my view that using a real number on a fantasy car was misleading. I felt that
Rapido could have
> followed the lead of the groups that restore real railroad equipment to a prototype paint scheme
and then number the
> piece one up from the last real one. Why not? Tim Stuy has mentioned his wish that ELDCPS could
offer a model of
> EL 741. Perhaps he should get together with Jason: a little pad work would produce an EL 741 on
a highly detailed
> high quality passenger car that everybody would be glad to buy. Accurate? Well . . .
>
> 6. Finally, I hope that we will all remember this discussion the next time we devote megabytes to
the correct placement
> of lettering or the correct shade of maroon on the nose decal or whether a specific piece of
equipment was appropriate
> for a specific time period.
>
> Randy Brown
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> Hi all,
>
> . . .I joined because I would like to reply to Randy's comments directly on the Rapido thread.
>
> Randy, you are welcome to front the tooling costs and we will make accurate cars for every paint
scheme, including
> Erie. ;-)
>
> With passenger car tooling approaching six figures per car, the only way to break even in this
business is to paint them
> in as many paint schemes as possible. . .
>
> I hear comments like Randy's all the time, and I know I will not convince everyone of the economic
realities of this
> industry. . .
>
> Regards,
>
> Jason
>
> --
> Jason Shron
>
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