Bachmann begin to bring out Aristocraft models

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Just seen the new 2017 Bachmann catalogue.
Not much new stuff for Large Scale at all....but...
Evidence that Bachmann (whose parent company, Kader, built the Aristocraft products) have bought the rights to some of the Aristocraft moulds .....

One of the he original Aristocraft Egg Liner models
Very much a 'fun' item
ART22701.jpg


The Aristocraft Egg Liner is now Bachmann Egg Liner.....
One US retailer is listing the 'ladybird' one for $119 so should be the same number in stirling

eggliner.jpg
 
I can see the charm of these but can't see my buying one.
So far as I can see the body is the back end of two observation cars and I guess the power truck is the truck used by many of the Aristo locos. This suggests that Bachmann has access to a fair bit of Aristo tooling. It has been said somewhere that Aristo owed money to the manufacturer and no more stock would be shipped while this was the case. If this is true then maybe Kader are using the tooling by way of compensation.
Thinking about it maybe I should buy one . If this is successful more models may follow but if it bombs there probably won't be any more.
 
We might see another run of 66s then! They were a collaboration with Bachmann anyway.
 
Yes, a bit old news here, was cause for a lot of speculation last year.

1. Yes, eggliners are made from the ends of 2 Aristo-Craft streamlined observation cars.
2. Yes, the power truck is the same one as used in their older 2 axle locos
3. Bachmann is owned by Kader
4. Kader has ALWAYS owned the molds for Aristo-Craft products except the Crest electronics line and the Tie strips for track.
5. Yes Aristo-Craft owed money to Kader for ordered products not paid for (and not shipped, but manufactured)
6. Kader forced the purchase of the remaining Aristo-Craft order upon Lewis Polk's nephew, Scott Polk who had formed GeneratioNext to sell Aristo products after Aristo-Craft closed.
7. After Scott "finished" the outstanding orders, Kader cut him off, no more product for him.
8. Yes, we all hope that Kader will produce more, and the only company to produce anything from the ex-Aristo-Craft company is Bachmann.

Greg

chris m01 said:
I can see the charm of these but can't see my buying one.
So far as I can see the body is the back end of two observation cars and I guess the power truck is the truck used by many of the Aristo locos. This suggests that Bachmann has access to a fair bit of Aristo tooling. It has been said somewhere that Aristo owed money to the manufacturer and no more stock would be shipped while this was the case. If this is true then maybe Kader are using the tooling by way of compensation.
Thinking about it maybe I should buy one . If this is successful more models may follow but if it bombs there probably won't be any more.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for that Greg.... puts the whole Aristocraft story into perspective. So, in essence, GeneratioNext was just a runout exercise.
 
In most of the world you pay for the tooling to be made you own it and can move it. In China you still pay for the tooling to be made but you aren't allowed to take it away from the manufacturer.
 
I also did know the whole history but was just posting the inclusion in the new Bachmann catalogue
Sorry about giving old news....... I'll keep stum next time.
 
The Egg Liner would be a charming thing for children to see. As to Aristocraft, I wish that they were still in business. The scale is slightly smaller than LGB but their products were first rate.
 
chris m01 said:
In most of the world you pay for the tooling to be made you own it and can move it. In China you still pay for the tooling to be made but you aren't allowed to take it away from the manufacturer.
Click to expand...

Chris,

The comment about owning the tooling is not always so, even outside China: This is off topic, but I hope will be of interest...

Many years ago a chum and I wanted to extrude the replacement trapezoid rubber strip for the Minic Motorways Slot Car System. We approached a manufacturer who agreed to undertake the work. They wanted a one off contribution to tooling as well as the cost of producing the first batch.

We agreed to pay this and luckily the demand has continued with repeat orders, steadily for over 25 years. We are not talking about the amounts of cash featured in 'Breaking Bad', but we have not lost money.

We never owned the tools, had them in our custody, or even saw them, as frankly there would be no point. However a few years ago we went back to our supplier to order yet more and found that they had an issue: It seems that our order had been 'subbed out', which we never knew! The Sub-contractor had gone into liquidation and our tooling was lost! Doh!

Our supplier replaced the tooling themselves at no cost to us and production continues today, as and when we need it. We still don't own the tools and have still not seen them!

Anyone need to replace thier perished organic Minic Motorway slot rubber with some nice newly extruded silicon rubber?

End of off topic excersion!

James
 
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chris m01 said:
In most of the world you pay for the tooling to be made you own it and can move it. In China you still pay for the tooling to be made but you aren't allowed to take it away from the manufacturer.
Click to expand...

Not always the case, firm I do electrical work, own all there tooling, they wouldnt do the deal with the chinese unless the moulds and tooling belonged to them, took months of talks.
 
Trainman 864 said:
I beg to differ - the true moral of the story is to be sure to have an effective Chinese speaking representitive in China - either full time or part time - whose loyalty to you is greater than his loyalty to the manufacturer.
Click to expand...
Yep, it's all about supply chain management which, in another country with language, cultural and legal differences will always take a lot of hard work.

In our hobby, LGB didn't manage it. Hornby have struggled. Bachmann have managed it, and so have Accucraft (US) - don't know about the UK outline stuff but assume it's made in China. Aristo managed it, until the economic slump gave them problems already stated. Don't know much about the n gauge manufacturers.

That caboose that I featured is brass, advertised as museum quality and, yep, it's made in China :clap::clap::clap::clap:
 
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