Opinions sought

[beevee]

Anybody got any views on International Hobby Corp products. They aren't available here in the UK, but they have a couple of wagons that interest me from their adverts in Model Railroader.
Before I buy and get them shipped I was wondering what others thought of them.
I was looking at the short oldtime flatcar and the bunkcar.
They seem good value for money, or are they? How much work to bring them up to a reasonable standard, if any?
Thanks everybody

(Delete this thread Moderators if you think it may be contencious, although my enquiry is genuine.)

 

[nachoman]

are these ones you are looking at from the "maintenance of way" collection? If so, i bought the flat car, and converted it to HOn3. pluses - heavy metal frame means the car will track well. minuses - little detail. But, with a little paint and a few add on details, I think they are a good value.

kevin

 

[shaygetz]

Welcome to The Gauge

I've found that IHC fills a needed niche in the hobby, that step up from Life-Like and Tyco without blowing the budget. They've picked up where AHM/Rivarossi left off and carried the ball quite well. I still buy their Premier Series without hesitation. :thumb:

 

[jim currie]

Welcome to The Gauge

I've found that IHC fills a needed niche in the hobby, that step up from Life-Like and Tyco without blowing the budget. They've picked up where AHM/Rivarossi left off and carried the ball quite well. I still buy their Premier Series without hesitation. :thumb:

Ditto.
also they seem to me to to go out of there way to help .

 

[beevee]

Ok thanks for that. It was a question about how they stand up against Bachmann, Atlas etc. General view seems to be they are not exceptional, but functional.

That will do for me. I have already been in contact with them about shipping costs ( they cost more to ship than to buy) and you are right they are helpful. Unfortunately they are out of the wagons I am intersted in at the moment so I will have to wait a bit.

Thanks everybody

 

[Pitchwife]

Do a search on ebay. There's a good chance you can pick one up there. Just know what you are getting and how much it should cost.

 

[beevee]

Yes thanks.
I use ebay for all my purchases, but IHC doesn't seem to feature anywhere, or anytime. The new prices are very good anyway but the shipping is the thing.

I bought three Walthers wagons the other week via ebay, and bid on another three of the same type. The one I won cost me fifteen dollars to get it here airmail, the other, I didn't win fortunately, would have cost me $30, more than the cost of the wagons themselves.

You have to be very careful with these ebay things, I got caught very badly once when I bid for 2 Bachmann On30 moguls hoping to win one. By mistake I won both, the postage for one was twice the cost of the other. Generally everybody is very honest about the postage, its just the odd one making up his profit by jacking up the postage cost, especially when you get it and can't see how much was actually paid.

I will keep my eyes open, or wait for IHC to get some more in of what I want.
Thanks once again.
:thumb:

 

[shaygetz]

As a general rule, knowledgable modelers and dealers place IHC in the AHM/Rivarossi column of eBay as they are the companies from which IHC came.

 

[GeorgeHO]

As I remember it, AHM - ASSOCITATED hobby manufacturers - was formed as a conglomerate to import European manufacturers products into the US. IHC - INTERNATIONAL hobby corporation - is an outgrowth (reorganization ??) of that company. Rivarossi is one of the manufacturers whose products are imported to the US. I wonder if a person in UK could save money by dealing with the European companies directly? Of course everything is probably made in China today.

 

[beevee]

Thanks for all the information I have been getting on this subject.

You cannot deal with European manufacturers because they will say they have retail outlets in Europe to handle their sales. Also if they are American outline they are not always readily available.

We do have dealers in the UK many of whom actually have to import American outline from the US, regardless of whom the manufacturer is. As you say they are mostly built in China now regardless of the name on the box.

I tried dealing with Fraschetti who are located in Brazil to buy 6 ore hoppers of a particular design. The wagons amounted to $48, and it was $74 to send them ! Fortunately, after a lot of Googling I found a dealer in Germany who is selling them to me at $7 and about the same in postage.

The wonders of the worldwide web !

Costs in the UK of American outline locos or stock seem to calculate out as one pound = one dollar, and as we get $1.75dollars = £1 you can work it out as being expensive. As I said before I buy off ebay, have had good service at a fraction of the cost of buying here, and even with the postage I have paid up to 40% less than buying in the UK, providing you are careful.

For those on a limited budget like myself I find ebay an ideal way of getting the stock I need.

Anyway I think we have answered my original query, and thanks to everybody who replied.

 

[Steve Lancaster]

I have a IHC Barnhart Log Loader. The detail is great, the base is cast and the rest is plastic. It will not fit on a Keystone log buggy, so i bought the IHC log buggy. Again the detail is good, the rails and chains are brass, the logs are wood ,and the frame is plastic.
I replaced the trucks and couplers with Kadee products. These items came off Ebay and were very reasonablly priced. I am sure you can find what you are looking for there.
Steve