The news that Hornby is trying to buy parts of the moribund empire to which Lamer belongs has, predictably, already provoked speculation, much of it fueled by fantasy. There never was much of value to the serious UK modeller in the Lamer range, and this has been diminished still further in recent years by releases from Hornby and Bachmann - to imagine that a host of upgraded Lamer items would flood onto the market by a week next Wednesday is delusional in the extreme.
Lamer Myth #1 is that there's a goldmine of useful products in the range that the modeller is currently being denied. Leaving aside the fact that most of it is readily available second-hand, this simply isn't true. Off the top of my head there's the Class 60, Class 73, Class 101, Class 156, a couple of coaches and the odd wagon. I might have missed one, but generally the products are either unspeakably awful (Class 37, Class 66,) already part of somebody else's catalogue (Class 20, Class 40, Class 47, etc,) or in some cases both. The Bachmann Class 37 might be a very poor model, but at least it's a very poor model with a vaguely useful chassis.
Lamer Myth #2 is that the products were a good, cheap option for beginners. That's utter rubbish as they were famously over-priced and under-specified, indeed the ability of the likes of Bachmann to produce substantially better products for less money shouldn't be overlooked in the context of Lamer's financial troubles. Even if you assume that a manufacturer such as Hornby would switch production to the far east, you'd have to expect that the resultant prices would be similar to comparable products in their existing range. So whilst Hornby's Hymek and Class 47 do indeed come in a fair bit cheaper than the atypical Danish equivalent, the bulk of the product line is head-to-head with the comparably priced Bachmann range. So you'd be looking at a significantly inferior product for the same money.
Lamer Myth #3 is that a new owner would suddenly release nice, upgraded versions of the products. Yeah, right! Hornby already has a vast array of bought-in products from the Airfix/Mainline/Dapol product lines and has had them for years. It has done absolutely nothing to enhance any of these beyond minor tweeks, so why should this suddenly change if the Lamer tooling was acquired? Bizzare! Similarly, when Hornby has already shown marked reluctance to expand it's Mark 3 coach range, why should it suddenly want to release a Lamer TGS when it doesn't match it's existing vehicles at all?
No, for my money the obsolete Lamer range is best left to rot. If you want cheap'n'cheerful and aren't too fussed about accuracy then Bachmann have already got it covered rather more adequately, and even with their somewhat optimistic approach to release dates they churn out new models faster than Lamer ever did. All it needs is for Hornby to produce a Mark 3 TGS and sleeper, Bachmann to produce a Sealion or Seacow and the most significant problem areas are covered. Some folk will bemoan the lack of a Class 60 (and I can't believe one of the players won't produce one of these before long) along with the 156, but these have already been produced in quantity. Why didn't people buy them when they were available? I did - on the basis that I don't expect a manufacturer to build a business plan around me if I'm all mouth and no wallet.
Of course, the smart money seems to be on Hornby's interest being in the overseas ranges rather than the lowly UK product line. While this seems entirely sensible financially, it's still not good news for the struggling UK D&E modeller. No matter what the Hornby spin-machine might say, this represents a substantial amount of time, effort and money going elsewhere, as with the recent live-steam range. Hornby does not give the impression of being very D&E friendly at all. How about a high quality first generation DMU release? One that's not too limited geographically as the 110 was and is a little more kit-bashable than the 101. These would be equally at home on steam and diesel layouts and a high-density variant such as the Class 116 above would be especially welcome, with the DC Kits range including nothing of that ilk. I'd favour a 116 personally, not just because it's an ideal Midlands unit, but because it's easier for the modeller to fit a larger headcode box to it if taking the 117 route than it is to remove one and get a nice rounded end. Don't even think about mentioning the aged Lamer offering - it's not remotely DMU shaped. If you haven't noticed it's 'individuality' then keep visiting here until you can see it!
Currently On My Stereo: Martin Barre - Stage Left.