K-Val Hobbies in Buffalo to close

[lakeshoredave]

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/ ... n-20150105

shocked but in this day in age of the internet its not that surprising. the article sums it up well. he once built a layout for me. great guy and a great store. i was lucky enough to meet a well known railroader there who recently retired from the csx and i think his kids work for the railroad now. to quote the late stuart scott: "kval hobbies was cooler than the other side of the pillow"!

[Todd Cline]

Sadly that's the trend. I've lost several hobby shops nearby in the past 10 years or so. I think it has kind of a "WAL*MART" flavor to it though. You see that "Walthers" has taken over the mail order end of the hobby, but in the past 5-6 years they have almost DOUBLED their prices on the SAME items. Destroy the competition, then dominate/monopolize the market. That's what Walthers has done. 20 years ago, who would have guessed a plastic HO scale diesel engine priced at $300.00??? THAT IS INSANE!!!!!!! Walthers is going to either price themselves out of the market, OR, as I fear, DESTROY the hobby alltogether.

Todd

[hoborich]

Well, I bought quite a few Proto 1000 diesels for around $49. I bought Proto 2000 diesels with sound for $89$. I bought 2 Proto 2000 Pere Marquette diesels with sound for $89 each, 10 or 12 years ago. Today they are around $300.

[Racer]

Sadly that's the trend. I've lost several hobby shops nearby in the past 10 years or so. I think it has kind of a "WAL*MART" flavor to it though. You see that "Walthers" has taken over the mail order end of the hobby, but in the past 5-6 years they have almost DOUBLED their prices on the SAME items. Destroy the competition, then dominate/monopolize the market. That's what Walthers has done. 20 years ago, who would have guessed a plastic HO scale diesel engine priced at $300.00??? THAT IS INSANE!!!!!!! Walthers is going to either price themselves out of the market, OR, as I fear, DESTROY the hobby alltogether.

Todd

One of the many reasons I will never give business with Walthers again....EVER! They never update their website and advertise items that have been out of stock for 3+ years, many common items are never in stock, but plentiful at any other distributor (Such as ModelTrainStuff.com), and their shipping charges are insane.

ModelTrainStuff.com has been the best and I will be a lifetime customer to them.

[Typhoon]

20 years ago, who would have guessed a plastic HO scale diesel engine priced at $300.00??? THAT IS INSANE!!!!!!!

Take a look at the detail of a locomotive built today vs a locomotive built 20 years ago. Add in the cost of that detail, sound, and DCC and it is not hard to understand why engines cost so much. The amount of railroad specific detail that is put into an engine built today was only available 20 years ago if you bought brass, which cost more than $300 in the 90's, and ran like junk. The price is far from out of line for what you get.


BTW Walthers web site breaks things down via price.

In HO there are 3550 different diesel engines priced at $250 dollars and under.

$251 and over has 2159 options. Many of those options appeared to be sets, such as both a F7 A and B unit. So you are getting 2 engines for that "insane" price.

[SD80MAC]

You get what you pay for. I have no problem shelling out $200+ for a locomotive with road specific details and sound. Less work for me later.

[erie2882]

I liked that he had odd ball stuff, Every time i went there he had what i needed . Not like the other hobby stores in the buffalo area ! that stock a piece of" track and a car " they say its a" love "to have a shop ,this is true my friends . I can tell that for myself i know that things will go up in price .but if i had a store and was a little older and, and did not need a big income i would have a shop because its a love if you make five dollars on a engine then so be it . K-val was a nice store to go to!!!! I had bought a lot of things from there over the years and will miss it truly . so i guess it time for auctions,on the computer , and shows out of town to get the good good deals . so long K-val hobbies

[CSX_CO]

You get what you pay for. I have no problem shelling out $200+ for a locomotive with road specific details and sound. Less work for me later.

Bingo. DCC board with sound is $100, base engine $50 to $75, detail parts $50, paint decals $10, plus the 'time' factor. Try doing all those things you get as 'stock' for less money and to the level the manufacturers do it.

Practice Safe CSX