Tic.... Tic... Tic...

[Moccasin]

It think the step up for Montana would have been too much too soon. Hornby marketing has not been without more than a few gaffs in recent years and as good as the good bits are the mistakes are hard to hide from.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Lego made more railway related products than Hornby! Considering Techno Lego and the high profile partnerships Lego have developed (Ferrari etc) someone with this experience and expertise is definitely good to have on board.

It’s probably likely most of the ‘24 range launch was already pretty fixed before ‘23 range launch. TT:120 has shown how far ahead plans have been made in recent years.

 

 

I agree with all of that. I don’t think Montana was what Hornby needed and clearly the CEO wanted someone with greater experience for Group marketing. It’s a shame she didn’t stay though.

Until TT120 arrived, Lego was pretty much where I went for relaxation but I’ve run out of room, not least because I had my brother’s Star Wars Lego foisted upon me and it’s proving hard to get rid of. Like model railways, Lego doesn’t always work well with cats (especially if they’re chasing a fly!). The new Concorde IDEAs set is very tempting though, as is the Titanic model. The point is that their marketing, loyalty points and retail strategy are all things that Mawer will know well.

I imagine the 2024 OO range largely consists of items that didn’t make it into the 2023 catalogue, given that was pared back to try to catch up. The only difference in OO is that they have competitors who can disrupt plans. It’s likely too that the new team will be looking very closely at what’s planned and possibly pruning the planned range. One advantage of a new team is that they can be more ruthless with models that were favoured by SK et al but which didn’t sell well. They will certainly want to reduce their inventory.

Many complain about Hornby having too many LNER locomotives, but the Gresley P2s seem to have landed very well and I doubt they expected so many customers to buy several of them each.

[Aussie Fred]

My son went to a Lego exhibition here in Aussie a few weeks ago and they had a fantastic train layout of which he sent me a few pictures, and yes, they were all made out of Lego, including the buildings and scenery. It was incredible, he said.

[LTSR_NSE]

I dare not tell you of my 4 year program...

Always remember the 5 Ps of Engineering...

@bee - I well remember being taught about those pesky ‘Ps’ in general education (when I was approx 18). Despite completely understanding the theoretical value & importance of both planning & prioritisation, they are not things that come naturally to me! However anticipation also has a 2nd meaning (involving hope/anxiety) - which is the part that I find entirely incomprehensible! 😉

Hornby do now have a new marketing chief (formerly of Lego)...

@Moccasin - Perhaps Hornby intend to expand their ‘BrickPunk’ range! 🤭