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Post by Rob Albritton on Sept 27, 2019 12:40:53 GMT -5
Ugh. OK, here is the deal:
We go through several stages of product planning, development, ordering, managing, and finally delivery.
We've had some products that we delivered in 90 days from first idea to finished product. It is rare, but it does happen. We have had others that have taken over 5 years.
Much of the process is out of our control. Sometimes the factory sticks to the timeline, sometimes not at all. The most honest thing a factory owner has ever told me is that "The locomotive will be ready when it is ready."
So here is the way we handle it:
Once we have a project commissioned, and start to see signs of progress from the factory, we announce it. If we know the road names, we announce them too. Frequently we do NOT know the road names at that time because paint and pad printing is the last development step.
Once we know that the product has actually been produced, we announce it again. Frequently this is when we will announce road names *BUT NOT ALWAYS* an example of this is we may have produced passenger cars for the Disneyland Railroad, but the matching locomotive is a part of another project, so we will hold the rolling stock announcement until we have the locos to match.
Sometimes we need to hold a road name for a while because of another product release. So an example of that would be that we got Union Pacific caboose, boxcars, and hoppers all in the same month. We would need to juggle the calendar a bit to make sure we did not have an all UP products in month.
Anyway, as you can see, it's complicated.
The simple answer is we announce as much as we can, when we can, while still preserving our reputation of being able to deliver what we promise.
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Post by markm on Sept 27, 2019 13:17:50 GMT -5
And Rob you didn't even mention all the fun diversions for manufacturing like floods, typhoons, earthquakes, work slowdowns, labor strikes, new government regulations; all of which can add weeks to months delays, even to schedules cast in concrete.  But just to be clear, I think the answer is: we'll know when you know. Oh, and sign me up for the Disneyland train set  |
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Post by DAZed on Sept 27, 2019 15:04:26 GMT -5
ME: Asks what time it is.
ROB: Tells us how to build a watch. (and we still don't know what time it is)
Way to generate buzz for a new product.
I can understand not releasing estimated quantities produced, for a number of reasons. But c'mon, really you announced these things well over two years ago so don't act like you're being all conservative and careful about your reputation here. And yes, we all know that was a factory ago....we get all that.
All I'm asking is....throw us a bone. We've learned ZERO more about this release since it was announced two years ago. We can look at the HO and N Maxi-I releases and get a decent idea of roads but.....are we more than six months out at this time? 12 months? 12 days? I think the latest rough estimate was something like "Spring 2020" but then you hinted at much earlier on another forum so clearly you can serve out info at some level. Create some interest for cryin' out loud....this is a huge product for Z being one of the first articulated cars and I believe the first R-T-R articulated North American prototype Z-scale car ever produced. I would be shouting that from the rooftops if I were you.
Anyway, some of us have kids in college and could use a heads-up more than 2 days about what is showing up at our favorite e-tailer. I am *asking nicely* to please consider what further information you can provide without dragging that "precious AZL reputation" through the mud.
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Post by ProgressRail on Sept 27, 2019 16:10:53 GMT -5
Doug, there have been a few limited [keyword here is *limited...not mass produced like AZL has the means & capability of doing] releases of articulated cars:
[li]Alan Curtis/EDM released: 48' 5-Unit All Purpose Spine Car's.[/li][li] FR - Harald Freudenreich produced: Maxi III.[/li][li] Tim Buehring/Hobo_Tim produced: Maxi IV [distributed through former StoneBridge Models/SBM].
[/li][li] Gerd Kurz/eNKay produced: Dynastack 40[/li][li] *I believe someone did create a prototype_sample of an Auto-Max year's ago...then disappeared...*poof.[/li]
[/ul] I agree with you 100%. Not to be redundant, again, those of us that have invested heavily into AZL over the years [or simply model railroading in general], we all understand the factory issues & variables, no it's not that complicated, we get it...especially those of us with careers in logistics and manufacturing; we don't need to be co-owner's of a company to understand it...or handed one, or born into one.  All I got from that answer was a run-around that they sit on roadnames for month's and choose not to inform customer's in advance of roadnames and releases. I think we do know though, from earlier in the thread, that without container's Rob A. mentioned they are going to "estimate" an msrp of $199.99; I would just play it safe and budget $220.00-$250.00 a set...[hopefully, they don't use the higher price, lol]. Not to assume anything, but I would imagine new containers will/might be produced for these sets... [/font][/font]
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Post by Rob Albritton on Sept 27, 2019 16:11:26 GMT -5
No worries, I’m happy to leave out the “how to build a watch” bit - less typing for me!
Sticking with what I know regarding the Maxi-I:
All pre-production steps were completed many, many months ago.
But I have no firm production date.
As soon as I know something, I’ll pass the information on to the community.
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Post by DAZed on Sept 27, 2019 17:25:41 GMT -5
Doug, there have been a few limited [keyword here is *limited...not mass produced like AZL has the means & capability of doing] releases of articulated cars:- Alan Curtis/EDM released: 48' 5-Unit All Purpose Spine Car's.
- FR - Harald Freudenreich produced: Maxi III.
- Tim Buehring/Hobo_Tim produced: Maxi IV [distributed through former StoneBridge Models/SBM].
- Gerd Kurz/eNKay produced: Dynastack 40
- *I believe someone did create a prototype_sample of an Auto-Max year's ago...then disappeared...*poof.
Yeah, I was really just trying to make the point that it could be argued with enough qualifiers. It's funny I'm not sure anything in Z is *mass produced* in the pure sense, but yes that is what one would want to use to describe the difference between the above list and most AZL releases I would think. I have several of the AC/EDM kits, and I generally can't afford the FR Maxi-III's that I've seen. The Dynastack is just too much of a rarity in the wild. (and especially in my era ~2004) Tim keeps threatening to do another run of Maxi IV's but I think work has him busy for the short term...I keep hounding him though. Interesting about the Auto-Max's...never knew about those although I'm fairly new to Z. Yep. While AZL refuses to acknowledge the term "MSRP", that is basically what the earlier post stated regarding price. But depending on whether or not we're talking MSRP or street price (and with or without containers) that's a pretty big swing of potential pricing. It would also be interesting to know if the containers are new tooling or not, and which shipping companies will be represented. Guess they have absolutely no idea  at this time. I would personally really like to know if they even know that BNSF had a bajillion of these with the Circle logo, or if there's gonna be another BNSF snub. Same question about the older TTX scheme versus the newer Pennsy red logo. |
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Post by ProgressRail on Sept 28, 2019 7:48:57 GMT -5
I found it again...not to stray off_topic; Allan Borg [Mohican Models] had/has(?) prototype samples of the Auto-Max. The video is from 12 years ago though...it's stamped as an upload from September 12th, 2007:
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Post by ztrack on Sept 28, 2019 16:14:33 GMT -5
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Post by DAZed on Sept 30, 2019 13:21:28 GMT -5
I found it again...not to stray off_topic; Allan Borg [Mohican Models] had/has(?) prototype samples of the Auto-Max.
Thanks for finding/sharing the video. Those look pretty good. That's a model that should lend itself fairly well to being printed assuming Mohican Models doesn't eventually push those into production. (likely a safe assumption, and that's not a dig at Mr. Borg...stuff happens) The expansive side panels are basically flat, (meaning an easier job of sanding the print-orientation artifacts out of the model) and you can use decals for the perforations. (as Athearn did in N) The hard part is the articulation joint. |
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Post by DAZed on Nov 15, 2019 9:52:16 GMT -5
So with the new Ztrack Magazine, we once again have "news" about these cars.
Above quote taken from the NTS 2019 New Items Report.
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Post by DAZed on Nov 15, 2019 10:26:50 GMT -5
So with the new Ztrack Magazine, we once again have "news" about these cars. Above quote taken from the NTS 2019 New Items Report. So, in late September we get: So pre-production completed....not just MANY months ago, but MANY MANY months ago.  So, roadnames are decided, (a decidedly pre-production task, although I'm sure we're going to hear how it's not in Bizarro AZL world where we've also learned that apparently decoration/imprinting is virtually free) but for some odd reason AZL can't do what 100% of the rest of the model railroad industry does and generate interest in their products and give their customers a feel-good experience by actually announcing roadnames (and in this case the complementary shipping container roadnames as well) some significant period of time before shipping them to dealers. No firm production date, yet we're still sticking with "possibly by the end of 2019". (and yet...wait....lemmecheck.....yep STILL no roadnames!) So they're not slated for production as of 6 weeks ago, yet somehow they've been put in some schedule, slated for production, produced, shipped across a big pond, in-hand/QC/other administrative tasks...all in a sub-12 week timeframe? Amazing!!! I guess not selecting roadnames REALLY shaves off a lot of time in this process....who knew? "Expect a wide range of road names to be released". Can we? Should we? If I were a betting man, I would bet large sums of money that we won't get one of the top 3 roadnames based on prototype production run numbers. Any takers? I feel like we're not even going to get roadnames even when the cars are being shipped to dealers.  They'll just come in non-descript white boxes completely sealed and you just have to buy them and hope for the best.  "You'll take the white boxes and like it!!!!" - the AZL *No Soup For You* marketing department. |
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Post by Commodore on Nov 18, 2019 16:59:03 GMT -5
??
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Post by Rob Albritton on Nov 20, 2019 18:11:24 GMT -5
Hi Folks,
I just got word from the factory that the Maxi-I is now in production (hooray!)
If things play out as they usually do: small delays in production, followed by normal shipping time, inventory, dealer notification, distribution, etc, etc. The Maxi-I *should* be available for you to buy from your dealers in about 60 days. The real race is to get them shipped before Chinese New Year. That is when all of the workers return to their hometowns from the factories on the coast. Its about a 30 to 45 day break, as the factories typically have to re-hire for all positions after Chinese New Year, so it really takes them 2 to 3 months to get back up to full swing again. You don't want a car built on a friday, or consumer products made the week before Chinese New Year. This year it starts Feb 5, so I think we are pretty safe that the Maxi-I will be delivered well before that.
Please do not bug your dealer, as they have no more information than the above, and they probably don't even have that.
Road names are being held back so your dealer can surprise you a bit, but lets be practical here: major road names will be included <cough!> TTX <cough!> BNSF <cough!> Oh, I need a drink of water! We always produce more than a few additional surprise road names too.
Best,
-Rob(A)
AZL
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Post by scanrail on Nov 29, 2019 20:23:51 GMT -5
Will there finally be Mærsk? That's what I'm waiting for years... I did not wait for Mærsk SD40-2 from MTL (asked them several times), so maybe there is a chance I get a luck with AZL? Greetings, Alex |
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Post by Rob Albritton on Nov 30, 2019 7:19:06 GMT -5
Will there finally be Mærsk? That's what I'm waiting for years... I did not wait for Mærsk SD40-2 from MTL (asked them several times), so maybe there is a chance I get a luck with AZL? Greetings, Alex Good news! Yes, Mærsk will be produced. |
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All I got from that answer was a run-around that they sit on roadnames for month's and choose not to inform customer's in advance of roadnames and releases. 
at this time. I would personally really like to know if they even know that BNSF had a bajillion of these with the Circle logo, or if there's gonna be another BNSF snub. Same question about the older TTX scheme versus the newer Pennsy red logo.
So, roadnames are decided, (a decidedly pre-production task, although I'm sure we're going to hear how it's not in Bizarro AZL world where we've also learned that apparently decoration/imprinting is virtually free) but for some odd reason AZL can't do what 100% of the rest of the model railroad industry does and generate interest in their products and give their customers a feel-good experience by actually announcing roadnames (and in this case the complementary shipping container roadnames as well) some significant period of time before shipping them to dealers.
