TT Talk, Friday 18th August

[Ivans Rails]

Oh…. I feel I may have oversold this thread.

A hint that something previously undisclosed may be released… as long as it’s not a Coke Cola Christmas wagon in TT 🤣

 

 

laughing I was actually hoping for a Coca-Cola Set. My bet is on TT gear that a local shop can turn out quickly.

[david_watts1]

7 mins of my life I'll never get back.

[Skelton Junction]

Tbf if SK hadn’t set anything up for TT members these folks have only just started. I’ll take the view that a communication was good if not that informative. Having read the last few posts at least I know I missed little.

[ntpntpntp]

Maybe that green 08 everyone wants…they did promise club exclusives after all. Maybe something to celebrate the first anniversary of the launch?

 

 

Better hurry up then - my club memberships expires in October :(

[GMD]

I’d agree with the general tone, that was underwhelming indeed. You knew when they were half way in and just showing existing product that there was not going to be much new. However getting clear dates for new products is good (assuming it’s accurate). Really hope they don’t tease some secret thing and then drop us a feeble effort of marketing hype. Still waiting for club exclusives too and my membership expires soon!

Rant over! Probably Just had too high expectations and too little patience. 😀

[Too Tall]

So stuff coming back into stock that isnt out of stock (Falcon non sound), stuff coming in October that the website says winter 23/24 which is December onwards (LMS coaches).

And what I am waiting for allegedly in October ... so on course for schedule hopefully.

[Porfuera]

My two pence-worth is that there won't be any Club exclusives until all the current free memberships (and therefore 15% discount) runs out and people have started paying for their membership.

I also think that any 'surprise' will not be something previously unannounced - not even a re-livery of and existing product like a green 08 or a new wagon livery. Hornby don't seem to have sufficient production capacity for things that they've already announced, never mind throwing something new into the mix. That's also another reason why I don't think there will be Club exclusives any time soon.

And if Hornby were to suddenly release something completely new then it would be instantly 'collectable' and there would be a total buying frenzy with many, many people missing out and being disappointed - just think of the social media response to that!

I tend to think that the 'surprise' will be the early release of something we're already expecting. In the latest TT Talk there was no mention at all of the Class 66, Class 50, HSTs or Duchess and I'm hoping that the 'surprise' will be that one of these will be released before Christmas and therefore earlier than the current shop estimate.

Notably the 66s and the 50s are not available with sound options so it will be easier to get all the pre-orders for these out in a single shipment in time for Christmas (that's assuming they can make enough of them) without a wait of weeks or months for the sound versions.

And fulfilling pre-orders would be a nice way to 'reward' people who have committed money to TT:120 rather than just having a first-come-first-served buying frenzy for some completely new and previously-unannounced product. But maybe I'm hoping for too much with that one!

[Moccasin]

Yes you’re probably right @Porfuera. My suggestion of a green 08 was partly to tease @Rallymatt. grinning

Expanding on your point, the 21T and MGR HAA wagons are known to have had decorated samples sent to Hornby a while ago and conceivably they could arrive during the autumn.

There’s been no mention of the Duchesses at all for a while, whereas we’ve seen that the diesels are still going through the design process. The blue/grey HST is another contender I guess. Hopefully we wont have too long to find out.

The next TT Talk will maybe showcase some of the diorama competition entries.

Finally, it might not be the announcement of models arriving at all, but instead might be news of Phase 3 models etc.

[Porfuera]

Yes you’re probably right @Porfuera. My suggestion of a green 08 was partly to tease @Rallymatt. grinning

Expanding on your point, the 21T and MGR HAA wagons are known to have had decorated samples sent to Hornby a while ago and conceivably they could arrive during the autumn.

There’s been no mention of the Duchesses at all for a while, whereas we’ve seen that the diesels are still going through the design process. The blue/grey HST is another contender I guess. Hopefully we wont have too long to find out.

The next TT Talk will maybe showcase some of the diorama competition entries.

Finally, it might not be the announcement of models arriving at all, but instead might be news of Phase 3 models etc.

 

 

These are all great points. I was just looking through the dates in the shop and the analogue InterCity Executive HSTs are "Expected Winter 2023-24", which is the same as the TTAs so you'd have thought that those might have got a mention.

But then if they told us everything in this episode then they wouldn't have any news to give us in the next one so I guess they want to give out information a bit at a time rather than all at once.

[Rallymatt]

@Moccasin, Peter you are a bad man… Anyway I have a black 08 looking well worked and grubby, Green is so last year 🤣

[Moccasin]

These are all great points. I was just looking through the dates in the shop and the analogue InterCity Executive HSTs are "Expected Winter 2023-24", which is the same as the TTAs so you'd have thought that those might have got a mention.

But then if they told us everything in this episode then they wouldn't have any news to give us in the next one so I guess they want to give out information a bit at a time rather than all at once.

 

 

Well I think they were announcing stuff until Christmas, so maybe the Executive liveried HSTs are January - in fact I think one of the new retailers are/were saying January for these.

[Moccasin]

@Moccasin, Peter you are a bad man… Anyway I have a black 08 looking well worked and grubby, Green is so last year 🤣

 

 

Guilty as charged. Your grubby black 08 looks great, who needs green?

Incidentally, there was one upcoming product they didn’t mention - you’d have thought double straights might have got a nod (unless they’re the “surprise”!).

[Postman On The Rails]

@Moccasin, Peter you are a bad man… Anyway I have a black 08 looking well worked and grubby, Green is so last year 🤣

Guilty as charged. Your grubby black 08 looks great, who needs green?

Incidentally, there was one upcoming product they didn’t mention - you’d have thought double straights might have got a nod (unless they’re the “surprise”!).

 

 

Now you spoilt the surprise lol 😆

[Peachy]

I thought it was ok-ish, unfortunately pretty much what I was expecting, nothing particularly exciting.

And although we all would like to know more about what’s been going on at least they’ve started to engage again, even if it was a bit beige….

[Generic Hornby Username]

This all struck me as a transition month. TT Talk seems like it's being reinvented as a more polished video segment. I enjoyed the old format, but this one should be more pithy and direct. Instead of live interviews and Q&As, we'll get a few segments each month.

It's good to see Hornby's marketing team posting again. They clearly had some turbulence due to Simon's departure. There was less content being posted in its aftermath. Now they've resumed posting, so hopefully we see more information going forward.

We should get a more regular stream of content out of Margate about TT120. In long run this should probably be for the better, but right now I'm a little disappointed. Of course, I'm willing to be patient.

[BritInVanCA]

What a waste of time for anyone following what’s going on with TT. I think I’ve got my last Hornby TT order set now. Just waiting until just before my club expiry to press the button and use up my points with the 15% discount

[Generic Hornby Username]

My two pence-worth is that there won't be any Club exclusives until all the current free memberships (and therefore 15% discount) runs out and people have started paying for their membership.

I also think that any 'surprise' will not be something previously unannounced - not even a re-livery of and existing product like a green 08 or a new wagon livery. Hornby don't seem to have sufficient production capacity for things that they've already announced, never mind throwing something new into the mix. That's also another reason why I don't think there will be Club exclusives any time soon.

And if Hornby were to suddenly release something completely new then it would be instantly 'collectable' and there would be a total buying frenzy with many, many people missing out and being disappointed - just think of the social media response to that!

I tend to think that the 'surprise' will be the early release of something we're already expecting. In the latest TT Talk there was no mention at all of the Class 66, Class 50, HSTs or Duchess and I'm hoping that the 'surprise' will be that one of these will be released before Christmas and therefore earlier than the current shop estimate.

Notably the 66s and the 50s are not available with sound options so it will be easier to get all the pre-orders for these out in a single shipment in time for Christmas (that's assuming they can make enough of them) without a wait of weeks or months for the sound versions.

And fulfilling pre-orders would be a nice way to 'reward' people who have committed money to TT:120 rather than just having a first-come-first-served buying frenzy for some completely new and previously-unannounced product. But maybe I'm hoping for too much with that one!

 

 

I think your reasoning is spot on. If there were to be a surprise product or products, I would lean towards it being TT1003M or TT1004M. These are the "British Pullman" and "LNER East Coast Mainline HST" sets. I have this suspicion for a few reasons.

 

 

The first is that the original two train sets (Scotsman and Easterner) were supposed to be the original blockbuster releases out of the TT120 range for Christmas of 2022. While they would ultimately slip back to early 2023 due to the wheel problems, it shows Hornby's thinking. The train sets are their headliners. It would make perfect sense for TT1003M and TT1004M to drop in time for Christmas. We know the HSTs are pretty much ready to go based on the samples of the 43s and MK IIIs we've seen. Launching the new Class 43 tooling in a train set just like they launched the A1 in a set is consistent with their thinking. It also sets up 2024 for a good year of sales growth.

 

 

The second reason is that we know the TT train sets are the absolute priority right now at Margate. The train sets are the entry point for many consumers into TT120. Increasing the selection of train sets makes total sense (especially before Christmas). Bachmann is also preparing an onslaught of N-Scale train sets for release. So, competition will be fierce. These two sets are just the ticket to ensure strong sales.

 

 

If my conjecture is right, then Hornby might release the Era 7 Mainline Express set ahead of Christmas of 2024 with either the Class 37 or Class 47 to usher in Phase 3 in 2025.

 

 

This is a pretty solid lineup.

 

 

And I totally agree with your point on the TT120 Club exclusive model. Of course, there is a possible reason why they might announce a TT120 Club exclusive. Suppose they announce a club exclusive Class 08 shunter in green. They could announce preorders will open in late November. Suddenly, all the free TT120 Club signups will have a strong reason (in addition to the extra points) to renew their membership for another year. Hornby had really strong momentum and signups the first year. While they obviously can't expect every person is going to buy the membership, the Class 08 shunter in an attractive livery is an extra nudge to renew.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rallymatt]

@GU, you have put some thought into this although I am not sure it will play out this way. A green 08 is a range staple so highly unlikely to be restricted to TT Club only, although there are probably not many customers who are not TT Club members. The British Pullman set is not the HST based train (that was just a paint job) that we have seen recently, it’s the original era 3 Western Region unit, many think it’s the spiritual predecessor of the HST as it was really a fast streamlined DEMU.

I’m not expecting a TT Club exclusive being a top flight loco or piece of rolling stock, I fear it will be a something tacky, pointless scribbling on an existing wagon. I really hope I am wrong and everyone tells me so 🤣

[Generic Hornby Username]

@GU, you have put some thought into this although I am not sure it will play out this way. A green 08 is a range staple so highly unlikely to be restricted to TT Club only, although there are probably not many customers who are not TT Club members. The British Pullman set is not the HST based train (that was just a paint job) that we have seen recently, it’s the original era 3 Western Region unit, many think it’s the spiritual predecessor of the HST as it was really a fast streamlined DEMU.

I’m not expecting a TT Club exclusive being a top flight loco or piece of rolling stock, I fear it will be a something tacky, pointless scribbling on an existing wagon. I really hope I am wrong and everyone tells me so 🤣

 

 

Surprise- your TT120 Club Clock will be shipping! joy

 

 

https://uk.hornby.com/products/hornby-tt120-clock-tt2004

 

 

 

 

 

 

[John-L]

Definitely an underwhelming video, it felt a bit like filler content to me, perhaps understandable given the delays in production? Shame this video had nothing noteworthy. I guess it goes to show how much SK brings to these things in terms of showmanship.

Hopefully better news on upcoming releases at some point soon.

[Moccasin]

I imagine they’re all going through a bit of a transition with departures of some of the old team and arrival of new faces.

It’s possible we’ll see different formats before they settle on one that works. The brand managers don’t seem to want the limelight or maybe it’s a conscious management decision not to put them in front of the cameras.

[PeterM67]

If they keep the same format going forwards at least I know to skip to the end for the latest release date. Avoiding the attempts to sell me stuff I already own and numerous pictures of cup cakes. They basically said that anything interesting from a technical perspective is in the train terminals.

[taunmarc88]

Well I did think before the TT talk that I was concerned about going with TT as a scale and watching it originally I was quite irritated but now I’m actually starting to think I liked not having all the Q&A and promises for the distant future. Just a simple run down of available and soon to come items - not many but at least it was honest. It gives me some confidence that things are heading in a more sensible

and realistic direction - things were a bit mad at the beginning of TT and then whatever happened in Hornby happened and it all went quiet for a few months. Hopefully this is a readjustment.

As such I’ve just ordered the two LNER vent vans and the matching brake van which I’ve been dithering about for a while to give myself that push to carry on with TT and creating something to run trains on. Im definitely hoping to have the funds for a flying Scotsman DCC ready model next month and a Falcon DCC before my club membership runs out with discount. I’m sure I’ll join up and pay for the next year after that for the bonus points and hopefully some exclusive models even it is just a different paint job on a piece of rolling stock.