Firstly, I would like to thank Stephen for all his hard work in obtaining links and posting them in this thread for all us lazy chaps to follow and enjoy.

Secondly, I would like to say that I am extremely disappointed with this HO scale offering from Marklin, for me it lacks imagination and offers a lot of average content product reissued. (My comments are restricted to HO scale offering)

[There now follows a short rant on behalf of GlennM, which is intended to be an objective comment on what I dislike about the so called new offerings, and it is not intended as Marklin bashing, for the sake of bashing]

If we look at the brochure, I would estimate between 20-25% of the items are reissue items and are in fact not 'new'. This could possibly be extended if you add in the rehash of items issued numerous times before such as Item 47300 (klmmgks). Realistically how many times are you going to buy the same items with a different product number.

In addition the new items contains items such as NOHABS and Dutch Bi-level car set and loco item 26596 which was announced last year and for sale when I was in Holland in October, these items are not new. Likewise I thought the Swedish loco item 37943 was also announced last year.

Looking at the locos and sets;

1) Is it me or should the Marklin Magazine loco not be the E41 offered as the 25 MHI see item 39415, at least this loco is blue, why issue a Fantasy E103 straight off the back of the Nuremburg Fantasy loco E103 of last year???
2) Another Wurrtemberg Class C *yawn*
3) The re-issue of the Lufthansa Express. This is a nice set, but it's all been done before, I would prefer to see the Touristik set (E103 + coaches) instead of this. The Touristik could even be the 25MHI loco in place of the E41 (which should be the Marklin Magazine loco).
4) The new G5/5 and its variants - excellent offering
5) There is a nice new Era 1 loco and some nice era 1 rolling stock to go with it
6) The G 2000 BB - bravo, excellent model (and all its variants).
7) Yet another V200 in maroon livery item 37801. I they have to issue another surely they could offer a new livery??? *yawn*
8) The reissue of Diesel Railcar 37775 in DR colours, nice but hardly exciting
9) OBB 1020 - item 37223 - Re-issue with MFX+ *yawn*
10) Seetal Croc item 37526 - A welcome reissue but a reissue nonetheless
11) The SBB Brown croc item 39566 - a modified reissue with sand details added. Not enough of a change to entice or excite me
12) A reissue of the TGV, with working windscreen wiper. *biggest yawn yet* They would be better off issuing a proper model of the ICE 2, than this.
13) Airplane Transport set 45090 - reissue, this time the planes have the military markings they should have had in the original issue
14) Orient Express item 42795 - Great set (and I may well buy this one) but let's be honest this is a reissue of the previous set but painted blue, instead of brown.

Looking at coaches, and I am sure the new offerings have different scale lengths or different running number or destinations, but with the exceptions of the IC red and white bistro (43842) I am struggling to find anything that is genuinely new. There are no new liveries, there are no new sleepers or couchettes, dining car for OBB, or Italian services, no Touristik livery coaches (HO scale). Yes the red bi-level cars now come with lights, but is this really the advancement in new items we want from Marklin, after all there are a number of collectors who think that coaches should come with lights as a matter of course. The IC Express coach car sets look like rehashes of the 'sudwind' sets issued a couple of years ago.

Looking at the freight rolling stock, with the except of beer car liveries, what's genuinely new????? If you want me to define new, look at the Max Vogel series, this was new and I think exciting, and genuinely new.

At the end of 2014, we were all very excited by the new S2/6 and so we should be as this is a fantastic and quality offering, but is this the future of Marklin, one or two quality offerings per year, followed by lots of reissues and Fantasy models, based upon existing moulds.

Okay I am sure the above will be controversial but I feel better now

BR

Glenn


PS: I would observe on the reissued SBB tinplate coaches and 30501 double Ae 6/6 set, I have no issue with this as this is genuinely a stated reproduction for collectors in retro boxing, and I welcome such issues as these are different in my view to the rehashed items above.

Hi Glenn,

Of course we are all entitled to our own opinion, but I think you are being a wee bit harsh about the new items. Historically Marklin never issue more than one or two new toolings per year, and already this year we will have new tooling for the SBB Ee3/3. the G5/5, the G2000 and the Br18.5, as well as other significant improvements in many other models.

We also see significant investment in new products in the ranges for children and for new entrants to the hobby, which should be applauded.

I don't have a problem with re-issues of previous models. Some are straight forward re-issues, but many are improvements on the originals, with either more detail, new liveries, or new technology involved. The re-issue of the Eurofima coaches in the longer length was well overdue and very welcome to most enthusiasts.

You do make good points in some cases, and I agree entirely with the "Yawn" sentiment about yet another new Wurttemberg "C", much as I adore the model. The V200 also must be very similar to a dozen recent releases of this model.

Your observations are mostly very true, but as I said above, pehaps a little harsh....

Hi Glenn I see your point.
And I know there are collectors who have large collections and who perhaps do not want to repeat models.
I don't! And I don't like buying secondhand!
And there model offering I think is very good and much more current on today's railways which I prefer. I will be having the G2000 SNCB, I would also like the Dutch/polish 189. But I can't stretch to both this year. Because I don't have the income.
Maybe next year, I may also get the Eurofima coaches which are a long time coming!!
Sorry to here your disappointed but it would annoy me if they did not offer reprints because you would not necessarily want the loco in one paint scheme but might fancy it in anther best wishes Dan

Edited by moderator 16 January 2015 21:27:29(UTC)  | Reason: No need to repost the entire post to respond to a specific point.....

Dan,

I have no objection to locos being offered in different liveries (reprints), as I said I would welcome another V200, but just not another in the maroon livery. Over the years I have been a huge fan of the variants of the SBB Re460, with their colourful liveries, and would note that Marklin decision to issue the G 2000 BB in various liveries follows a model undertaken by other MRR manufacturers for some time. As an example the Class 66 produced by ESU came in a variety of different liveries from the outset.

I think also you have touched on another issue, which I did not raise in my original post, which is this continuing obsession with one off series items, which places more pressure on people who like to buy new and who have a limited budget. I welcome one off series, and this leads to sought after models and collectors specials which I am all for, but at the same time is there really a need for 70%+ of the items to be one off series items and only available for a restricted time?

I would also agreed that the Eurofima coaches have been a long time coming.

BR

I'm happy to see more Era II rolling stock than usual, even if it's not new tooling. Can't seem to ever find enough.

Good news is new tooling in Era2 Bavarian Lok.

There are quite a few taste treats. Bankruptcy looms.

Ray,

Indeed and my rant was my opinion of where I feel my favourite MRR brand is going.

I would like to point out that I would agree that the My World stuff is excellent, as is the Z gauge and 1 gauge, but I did say that my post dealt with only HO scale, but in truth I overlooked the Start Up series, but then I would add that with all their old moulds for items made for years that maybe the Start Up range could be bigger, offering even more choice to young kids with limited pocket money, and maybe they could reduce some of the reissued main HO to allow for this.

Maybe we were spoilt from last year, because if we compare this years offering with last year, last years key new models / new toolings were (this list excludes reissued models of which there were several, reissue MFX+ models of which there were a couple and also excludes locos reissued under new liveries, weathered and snowy versions);

E93
BR05 Cab Forward
Class 42 new tooling
T16.1
Koploper
Class 95.9 (new tooling)
Class 648.2 with video doors
S2/6
new NOHAB (multiple versions)
(was the Class 223 also new last year?)

and I would add the Lyria SBB version of TGV, although using the shell of TGV it was a thorough overhaul of the model, and would be happy to say this is effectively a new model.

Maybe I am being a little harsh, but I was jut expecting a lot more this year.

All the best

Glenn

Yes,there is one coach too many,but who cares,you sometimes see these double-deck coaches coupled with regular intercity coaches,within NS everything is possible.

Edited by moderator 16 January 2015 21:25:28(UTC)  | Reason: No need to repost the entire post to respond to a specific point.....

Will there be any export models this year?

If you look the export catalogue did Marklin in 2014, is only non Germany items of normal catalogue in a recapitulation...no new items there

Very nice to see a modern timberwagon.

Disapointing the expansion of C-track isn't there.

24906, 24032, 24724, and so on, where are they?

MHI 1/2015 - Delivery date!

26671-Q4
30501-Q4
39374-Q2
39415-Q2
40661-Q4

See https://www.marklin-user...releases.aspx#post479825

Yes, those are the ones referenced recently. I didn't expect a general release wagon quite so soon, but I guess they want to amortise the tooling quick ...

My guess too, haha We can expect one or two more in near future...

Hm. Strange. Cant open "New items" at Lokshop when using Firefox, but it works with Explorer and Chrome. Maybe some plug-in is missing. Have always considering Firefox as prime, but no so sure anymore. No big deal, just a little bit annoying sometimes.

Not yet Matt, but when they do you will be able to download the pdf from

http://www.maerklin.de/d...iefertermine_preise.html

You are correct, the new items brochure and the App erroneously depict a CS for the 29484 set, whereas the M* website and the box correctly show an MS2.
Nobody would have expected a CS in this type of starter set anyway.
My positivism on the €400 price range was because M* now have added a full mfx sound decoder compared to previous Swiss starter sets.

IIRC that would match the 2014 Messe Loco, is that correct?

Some 39550 now on ebay.de

Well my new items brochure came today and after looking at all the nice goodies decided I better get something. So I ordered set # 45090 Airplane Transport Set, as I have been looking for something similar for a long time. It looks to be a very nice set and I cant wait to get my mitts on it. Take care Eddie