It's a rare day when I don't get at least moderately enthused* by a new Bachmann wagon release. Squadrons of reasonably priced and basically accurate freight vehicles enable me to think beyond the plank in a way that I've never achieved with etched brass and pipe dreams. However, having inspected a few samples of the new TEA bogie tank in the last week, I've decided to leave them on the shelves.
Now, I don't think Bachmann's TEA is a fundamentally bad model, or even just a poor one. If pressed I'd say it's slightly below par when compared to many other Bachmann releases, and I'd write 'must try harder' on the end-of-term report, but every range has it's ups and downs and the contemporary VAA/VBA van is certainly an 'up' to my eyes - so it's not as if Bachmann has completely lost the plot. Unfortunately for me, I personally can't get on with the ill-fitting ends and dangling-bogie look of the tank wagon. If I'm still going to have to travel down the filler and repaint route then the new Bachmann wagons offer me no real gain over the large pile of ancient Hornby equivalents already languishing in the loft. I'd emphasise that this is a purely personal perspective when it comes to retail therapy, more a result of stocks of unfinished projects accumulated over the decades than anything else. I'd probably be buying the Bachmann offering in quantity if I was starting afresh and I'm sure it'll prove to be the proverbial useful/popular addition to the range in the coming months, but why on earth am I in a position where I'm even thinking about typing this?
From the old 'Good Of The Hobby' perspective, Bachmann's TEA doesn't signal the end of the world, but, equally, if a brand new product doesn't completely wipe out an aged Margate clunker that must be around 40 years old, it must surely give pause for thought. When I've got 1980s vintage European tank wagons that wholly eclipse (wheel flanges like Odd-Job's hat-brim excepted) this recent release, I'm likely to spend the odd moment or two contemplating which way the hobby is heading.
Over the last month or so, a good many chat-channel folk have expressed concern that the general standard of UK D&E RTR seems to have peaked and even started to decline slightly. I'd certainly agree with that, although I couldn't hazard a guess as to whether it's anything other than a momentary blip. Bachmann's 47, whilst appealing in many ways, also has a definite air of the retrograde about it in some areas, especially the bogie and tank department. These steps backward have already got modellers ordering older Heljan spares to upgrade the newer model, indeed I can see why many enthusiasts who aren't too fussed about accurate shape might plump (sorry!) for the older Heljan model where I'd personally opt for Bachmann. I'm not trying to say there's a right or wrong choice here, but I am saying there bl**dy well should have been.
With a smattering of prominent but slightly lacklustre recent releases, an increasing number of detail/livery errors and a whole tide of tired old Lima re-issues, it's no suprise if the average D&E enthusiast begins to have doubts. The rise of the post-pancake UK product lines started late and could easily be thought to have peaked before reaching full potential. Whether this is true or not, only time will tell, but I can understand people's fears. Although I'm 100% convinced that there's a largely untapped market out there for better quality products, I can't see why any of our existing manufacturers would want to try and exploit it. If you have limited production slots in an eastern factory and can already sell the majority of your relatively small production runs quickly enough to an existing and safe market, why bother taking any further risks? Crank out the lowest quality product you can get away with for the highest possible mark-up - If I were a corporate bean-counter I'd be watching the current Italian renaissance with glee.
As I said, I don't honestly know if we've peaked and I'm certainly not in a doom'n'gloom frame of mind. But the possibility does worry me. Whilst I've always believed that theoretically ranges of products for both more and less discerning tastes would happily exist side-by-side, indeed overlap to a fair extent, I'm no longer convinced that this will happen here in the UK. Quite possibly we were too late off the blocks and have been overtaken by the restrictions of limited production slots.
Someone once said to me that we get the models we deserve. That seems fair enough to me, but increasingly I'm worried that I'll always be getting the models somebody else deserves. That isn't quite so fair..
* By design, I'm avoiding tea-related punnery for the duration of this ramble. Those feeling short-changed might like to substitute 'infused' to alleviate any resultant discomfort.
Currently On My Stereo: Ian Hunter - The Artful Dodger