Insider March-April 2012 - G Scale News

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The Production Cost Time of Year Is Just The Beginning (Continued from page 1.) for purchase at this show. Seminars Dear All Aristonauts: The piece price of a model train is only the first cost. If an item cost’s $200,000 for the mold and you only make 2,000, than the mold cost needs to be apportioned out at $100 each. This is not a good business model and we wish that was the only cost, In addition we need to spend on average $5,000 for each of the paint scheme masks and pads or $50,000 on average for each run. We had also paid and average $20,000 for engineering drawings to make the reverse drawings needed to make the molds. We need to make packaging artwork and foam molds to safely enclose the item, which runs about $10,000 per model. Of course, we need to pay $5,000 per container to deliver the product from China to the U.S. and then $500 for delivery to our warehouse from the port. That is what goes into a first cost, but it’s just the beginning! The day a container arrives we need a crew to unload the container and more people to put the shipment on to shelving. We need to pay several thousand dollars a month for rent, taxes, heat and electricity, plus warehouse maintenance and payrolls for 10 people that keep us running. Than there’s the ever-present advertising and Internet costs as well as trade shows. We also pay freight to the dealer to even the cost around the country and this is becoming more and more burdensome year by year. All and all it’s not a business model that others try to copy and most business people are aghast about! We’re not worried about new competition and it would take 10 times the business we do to make it into a real business. So…why do we do it? Aristo-Craft was doing better until the depression hit and we hope to do better again when the housing market recovers at some point in the future. For now we find the market challenging and we hope to survive in spite of many other small businesses closing down. China is still the best place to make a production line item as Apple Computer found out when they went to make the iPod, iPhone and iPad. Our own work is mostly hand crafted and we do not make the same item every day. It’s short run production and China does this best. So, back to my point — what is the real cost of the product. It can only be a guestimate and considering the size of the business, do we want to spend a lot of time calculating such a figure. We certainly do spreadsheet estimates, but the variable is selling quantity. With rising first costs in a declining economy, it’s a very complicated figure. We have never raised our prices more than what we’re being charged by the first cost maker of our products and that does not encompass the other secondary costs we have spent over the years. We added O Gauge trains to spread the overhead over a larger base and that has helped. Most companies in the train business use more than one scale for the same cost sharing reasons. It’s not that G Gauge is any less of a passion than before, but O Gauge is a compatible market to sell into. It’s complicated, but we haven’t dropped or changed our standards at any time regardless of the challenges. The talk about a move back to the U.S. is not practical in a tiny market as model trains and it’s quantity that drives this decision. Just be thankful that Sol Kramer of Life-Like and W.S. Ting of Sanda Kan envisioned a combined factory for a multitude of U.S. makers in China, that allowed this miracle to even happen in China. — Aristo-Craft Trains are another part that make these shows great to attend. You have companies putting on seminars/ clinics about their products as well as individuals sharing their techniques with people who attend the shows. Another exciting part of this show is meeting people for all parts of the WORLD that attends the ECLSTS. We have people flying in from Germany, England, Ireland, Australia and Canada. As stated before, these shows are an event looked forward to each year. The photograph albums come out and groups get together to exchange ideas during the shows and after the shows. The information exchange continues during dinner and back at the hotel. If you have not been to an ECLSTS, you need to get to one as soon as you can. Remember, this year the show engine is a Pittsburgh PCC in the red, white and blue paint scheme with two different destination boards. As we always tell you, make sure you arrive early to make sure you get your Show engine for 2012. No mail orders, no phone orders, no email orders. You have to come purchase it or have a friend purchase it for you. The 2012 ECLSTS Show tee shirt is all white with the PCC in its red, white and blue design. If you look close enough you can find the show number. This 2012 ECLSTS is our 17 th show. On the next page, you will find the list of vendors that have committed to the Spring ECLSTS. This list will probably change by the time the show opens so to get the up to the date list, be sure and check out http://goo.gl/gLheF and the Aristo-Craft Forum at http://goo.gl/t05OB Both will have the up to date show information. Check there for the list of times and topics for seminars for the Spring 2012 show. We hope to see you at the show. It will be an exciting time for all. – Harry Hartman Aristo-Craft Insider 2 March–April 2012
OK Aristo-Nauts. Here is what many of you have been waiting for: The 2012 Vendor List for the As of today (March 14, 2012), this is the list of vendors that have committed to exhibiting at this month’s show. As in the past, I will change from time to time. Updates may be viewed at our website: http://goo.gl/HnUFx If you dont see your favorite vendor listed here, you may want to call and encourage them to come to the show. Also, be sure to thank those vendors for coming to the show. Let them know you are glad they came. When you attend the show, make sure you tell the vendors you are glad they came to the show. Remember to tell your friends about this show and bring some new people with you. It is truly amazing to hear someone tell me, “Well I never heard of that show.” If you have a vendor you would like to see at the show, please contact them and encourage them to request a vendors registration form from jjproductions@atlanticbb.net or J J Productions P.O. Box 142 Ridgeley, WV 26753 Hope to see you there! Since 1 935! – Harry Hartman !ECLSTS! ☛ Accucraft ☛ Albert’s Hobbies ☛ Alighan Shrine Railroad ☛ All About LGB ☛ American Lawn Lights ☛ Appalachian Gardens ☛ Aristo-Craft Trains ☛ B & B Hobby Supplies ☛ Bachmann Industries, Inc. ☛ Big Top Toy Co, Inc. ☛ Bridgewerks ☛ Cedarleaf Custom Decals ☛ Cordless Renovations ☛ Charles Ro & Co./USA Trains ☛ Colorado Model Structures ☛ Dallee Electronics Inc ☛ Eaglewings Iron Craft, LLC ☛ Empire Rail Works ☛ Excelle Lubricants ☛ Garden Backshop (The) ☛ G Scale Junction ☛ Garden Railways Magazine ☛ Garden Tracks ☛ Herb Carlton ☛ Hillman-Stewart Company ☛ Hot Wire Foam Factory ☛ Jamie’s Collectibles ☛ John’s Trains ☛ Just Plain Folk ☛ Kern Valley Railway ☛ Large Scale Online ☛ Michae’ls Custom Woodworking ☛ Mike Setzer Hobbies ☛ Mulberry Creek Herb Farm ☛ National Christmas Center ☛ Nat’l Garden Rwy Convention 2012 ☛ Nicholas Smith ☛ N Pire Models ☛ Phoenix Sound ☛ P & R Hobbies ☛ RLD Hobbies ☛ R K Enterprises/High Rails ☛ Ram Track ☛ Remote Control Systems (RCS) ☛ R K Enterprises (High Rails) ☛ RLD Hobbies ☛ RY Models ☛ Rolling Stock Trains ☛ Room To Grow Landscaping ☛ Rulers of the World ☛ Shawmut Car Shops ☛ Sidetrack Hobbies ☛ South Bend Signal Company ☛ Split Jaw Products Inc ☛ St. Aubin Trains ☛ Star Hobby ☛ Town & Country Collectibles ☛ Train-LI-USA ☛ Train World ☛ Tuscarura Creek Miniatures ☛ Vanco’s Model Railroad Structures ☛ Unionville Depot ☛ VES Interprises ☛ Wallace, Lawrence (Yogi) ☛ West Virginia Railroad ☛ Woo Woo Express Company 698 S. 21st Street Phone: 973-351-9800 Irvington, NJ 07111-4109 Fax: 973-351-9700 Aristo-Craft Insider 3 March–April 2012
Page 1: It’s That Time Of The Year Again!
Page 5 and 6: ASSOCIATION OF A.A.R. 1999 ARISTO-C
Page 7 and 8: New Arrival List • Mar.-Apr. 2012
Page 9 and 10: New Arrivals • March-April 2012 (
Page 11 and 12: On-Hand List • March 12, 2012 (pa
Page 19 and 20: STRAIGHT TRACK EURO STAINLESS STEEL
Page 21 and 22: ARISTO-CRAFT TRAINS 2012 PRICE AND
Page 41: ARISTO-CRAFT TRAINS 698 S. 21st Str

Insider March-April 2012 - G Scale News

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?