How did 'Barnard' manage to sell this Train Set back in the day?

[JJ73]

Hiya

Back in the early 1980's (When I was about 8 yrs old) my late Dad bought me 3 Train Sets, & 1 of them is (& I've still got it now!!!) a "B. R. Diesel Mix Freight Train Set" from Barnard's (A Toy Shop which used to be in Berkhamsted (The Town in which I grew up in)) & at the time this Train Set cost only - get this £15.50p - which included :-

1 A1A-A1A Class 31/1 Diesel Loco

1 Lowmac with Load Wagon

2 Ventilated Goods Vans

8 Double Curves (by the looks of it I think they are radius 2) with Power Clip

1 Battery Controller - 2 Speed Reversible (Batteries Not Include (of course!!!😀))

All by Airfix Railway System 00 Scale - Code :- 54055-7

Now I was wondering how much it would cost today & I was shocked!!! W😮W

R30120 1 A1A-A1A Class 31/1 Diesel Loco £217.99 (Well that has just blown it right out of the water for the old price just for the Loco on it's own!!!)

R60033 1 Lowmac with Load Wagon £23.49

R60027 2 Ventilated Goods Vans £26.99 each (x2 = £53.98)

R607 8 Double Curves (by the looks of it I think they are radius 2) £4.35 each (x8 = £34.80 (needs a Power Track R8206 £11.99 + a R600 Straight Track £2.99 (for the gap the other side))

1 Battery Controller - 2 Speed Reversible (Batteries Not Include (of course!!!)) - Don't think you can get this any more - the same would today be a R7229 Analogue Train Controller £19.49 + a P9000 Standard Wall Plug Transformer £27.49.

Which is a GRAND TOTAL of £393.22

W😮W - How much things have changed!!! 🤔😉🚂

[Brew Man]

Doesn't do to dwell on things like that, JJ, you'll only upset yourself.tired_face

[Mahoganydog]

I think the scary part is that the well wagon is near certainly out the same tooling. Not sure who now has the tooling for the van. It was an LMS design I think. Maybe Dapol has it?

[Rog RJ]

It was an expensive hobby back then, just as it is now.

[Bulleidboy]

What £15.50 would have bought you in 1980, would cost you £85.04 today.

Unfortunately any hobby is expensive once you get past the initial entry level/set-up purchases.

[Fazy]

JJ batteries not included, in 1978/9 it was Plug not included! I think it was the mid 1980s where the law changed where electrical items must come with a fitted plug. Others might remember better than me. But I do remember having to wait to play with some things tilll my dad fitted a plug.

[JJ73]

@ Brew Man :- Ok, I won't dwell on it - then I won't upset myself!!! 😉

@ MA :- LMS design??? well it it a nice little Van - shame you don't really see them on the real railways any more!!!

@ Rog & BB :- Ok may be - perhaps £15:50p was a lot of money then!!!

[Bulleidboy]

@Fazy - Plugs became a mandatory fitment in 1994 - not really that long ago?

[AndyMac1707817969]

Two sides to this, what was your Father's weekly wage back then? People might find early 1980s prices attractive but not early 1980s wages.

Of course this was all before we got Jonny Foreigner to work for a lot less than a Great British worker would work for.

[Fazy]

94 seems longer then that. I don’t remember ever getting anything without a plug as an adult.

[ColinB]

The easiest way to compare prices is to do it as a percentage of the average wage at the time. I think in 1980 the average was about £2000 to £3000 a year, now it is about £34000. I let someone else do the maths. As a rough approximation the set should be 10 to 12 times the price it was in the 80's, so just under £200. You can still get sets for £200, although the locos generally are 0-4-0s. I think Hornby have overpriced themselves, although a lot of people on this site disagree. I generally compare the price of a competitor loco with similar complexity with that of Hornby and generally Hornby are at least 10% more expensive. Now disagree if you want, but that is my opinion.

[Tony57]

Hi JJ

The Airfix company ceased trading in 1981 so it may have been reduced just to move it on by the shop owner.

I have just looked at my old catalogues and found I still have a 1979 catalogue with its price list and a 1990 and 93, the prices than till now would make you cry.

1979 LMS express set Duchess of Sutherland, 2 brake coaches, 2 composites oval of track rerailer/uncoupler, tunnel, level crossing, signal RRP 46.26 individual prices 54.04

[Stubaggieboy]

You are comparing that Airfix class 31 with a super detailed class 31 which would not be in a set, it would be a Railroad quality loco which is half the price!

[96RAF]

As an indirect comparison of inflation take a look at old adverts for houses and new and second hand cars from around those times - as stated eye-watering difference. £1000 got you a decent motor then, nowadays 20-30 times that. House prices 10-20 times 1980 prices.

[Rana Temporia]

My local toy shop must have got a job lot of the Airfix sets with the black prairie tank and some wagons as they were selling them off for £10 for years. Even then that was less than the loco on its own.

[HornbyinNC]

No comparison at all. Locomotive prices started hitting the £100.00 range around 2005, as more super detailed variations arrived from Hornby and other manufacturers, including the current detailed version of the Hornby class 31.

Even then, if one were to look at the price index, they’d say, “that’s ridiculous”, but people brought them anyway.

Here we are in 2023, models have more than doubled since 2005, yet we buy them anyway, although there are definite cracks in the infrastructure.

Perhaps the market is finally saturated and really no one manufacturer has anything special to offer anymore. I already have 10 class 31’s and could care less about another. Same goes for 37’s, 47’s and many others.

[Bulleidboy]

According to Google the average wage in 1980 (UK) was £124.50 for men and £78.80 for women. So about £6.5K for men and £4K for women. I've still got my P60's from that time - but we will leave it there.

[HornbyinNC]

The original post got me thinking and Tony57 comment only added to that thought process, so I did some research from materials I have in my possession.

Tony 57 made a comment about the price quoted by the OP as being likely being discounted, as Airfix were no longer trading. Research absolutely proves his statement correct and that by the 1980's, the set was being offered at fire sale pricing. My 1979 price list shows the referenced set 54063-8 "Kings Cross to Newcastle Goods" set retailing at £30.95. At that time, the class 31 locomotive alone, retailed at £11.50.

If you want to compare "similar" pricing to the 1967 Tri-ang RS.51 set, it retailed for 112/3 (approximately £5.60). The locomotive was 50/9 (approximately £2.50. So using that comparison, pricing increased nearly six times in ensuing 12-years. If that were the simple case, then the Airfix set by 1979 was quite exorbitantly priced!

By 2005, the then new full spec model of the class 31 had an MSRP of £89.99, today (2023) Hornby class 31's list for £217.99, whilst a Railroad version, more equivalent to the Airfix model lists at £96.99 .

My point is, people will pay what is appropriate with the times. For me, now that I'm retired, my spending power is down and therefore my desire to spend over £200.00 for a locomotive, while I already have over 350 of them in my collection, is not a priority.

Also, as indicated earlier, the current batch of super detailed models from all manufacturers has less interest. There are enough nice models out there now from the past 20-years without needing to spend huge amounts to replace ones already in my collection.

[JJ73]

W😮W -what have I started here - thank you all for your input - very interesting to read - I just got those prices today from the Hornby Web Site - I didn't know about Airfix ceased trading in 1981 - Interesting to look at old catalogues to see what changed!!! I think i seem to remember something about the Plugs - I seem to remember my late Dad got me my H&M Duette but it didn't have a plug - so we had to get a plug for it!!! 🚂

[Simmo009]

Airfix did not cease trading in 1981, but they did cease their model railway system at that time. It was an additional range to their core business, model kits. I bought many throughout the eighties, especially new ones.

Interestingly, my first job in the late eighties paid £90 per week. I earn considerably more than that now, but somehow it feels like less. I think it's called life.

[What About The Bee]

What JJ doesn't tell us in this thread, but does in the video, is that this was a train set that JJ's Dad bought him when he was 8 years old. What JJ is sharing here is a very special and treasured memento of his childhood and his father.

The set could use a bit of sprucing up, maybe a touch of repair, but that is unimportant. Irrelevant. In my eyes, its perfect.

I found this video immensely touching. Thank you for sharing it JJ.

Bee

[JJ73]

Thank you Bee - yes I saw your Lovely comment on my video - no problem - Glad you found it immensely touching. ☺🚂