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Lately, and by that I mean over the last year and a half we have been ringside for Bachmann's introductions of two very different but equally innovative products. Unfortunately, we have also been privy to much of the behind-the-scenes drama that has accompanied these models.
The first was the 55 ton three-truck Shay. It seemed strange at the time that they would introduce a three-truck Shay when they had just come out with the 38 ton two-truck Shay but it was one of the models that had been asked for so I'm not going to dwell on that particular decision. What was decided was to introduce a digital sound system that was advertised as utilizing "Tsunami technology." Without going into the whole spiel again and to keep it short, the sound system, as installed, was NOT a "Tsunami!" It was an interesting idea that didn't live up to the hype. There were problems with cold soldered wires that would break with minimal movement and circuit boards that were actually bent due to the necessity to cram the wires underneath!!
In addition, Bachmann decided to issue half with sound and half without. This in and of itself wasn't a bad decision as it turns out because the sound equipped models had no provisions for external triggers rendering aftermarket r/c systems useless! The questionable part came when the decision was made to make certain models with sound and completely different models without! Most of this can be found in the "Quasinami" threads.
Fast forward to the middle of this last year. We were being very patient about the K-27 but were hearing almost nothing about it! Of course, there were rumors and behind the scenes stories (which turned out to be true...) about deals with Soundtraxx's Blackstone and how there could be NO MENTION of the K-27 in Fn3 for six-months after Blackstone's introduction of their HOn3 version(!!) No pre-hype. No pictures. No confirmation. No NOTHING!! All of a sudden we are told the K-27 is at a show...almost! It turns out that the K that was being shown was a mock-up that had to be assembled by the Bachmann sales staff before the show! Again, this wasn't exactly a bad decision as it did allow us a glimpse at what Bachmann had in store for us!
It was about this time that the "Super socket" idea began to circulate. After the "Qasinami" incident is it any wonder that this new rumor had us so energized? Without naming specific people, suffice to say that Bachmann or more correctly, certain people in high places in Bachmann's management were convinced that this new approach was the way to go. This led to some brutal postings and some really scandalous and despicable behind-the-scenes shenanigans trying to quash them!
By the time that the K-27 did arrive (strangely enough, at one particular person's home) it was being "managed" by certain people with ties to Bachmann. Apparently, there were troubles with the sound interface optical trigger as well as other issues that needed to get worked out in a controlled manner!
Now, we all have heard the problems that have surfaced. We have seen the posts that have advertised "fixes" and we now know that Bachmann is actively trying to correct these problems. My concern has now turned to "When is it too much?" Has all of our posts had the cumulative effect of "piling on" Bachmann so that the powers that be will get the wrong message? We WANT the K-27!! We just want it to work out of the box! Bachmann has chosen this method for introducing new models. So be it. I just wonder when criticism gets to be too much? Are we already past that point and if so, is there anything that can be done? It's just something that has been bugging me over the last week or two..../DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/unsure.gif
The first was the 55 ton three-truck Shay. It seemed strange at the time that they would introduce a three-truck Shay when they had just come out with the 38 ton two-truck Shay but it was one of the models that had been asked for so I'm not going to dwell on that particular decision. What was decided was to introduce a digital sound system that was advertised as utilizing "Tsunami technology." Without going into the whole spiel again and to keep it short, the sound system, as installed, was NOT a "Tsunami!" It was an interesting idea that didn't live up to the hype. There were problems with cold soldered wires that would break with minimal movement and circuit boards that were actually bent due to the necessity to cram the wires underneath!!
In addition, Bachmann decided to issue half with sound and half without. This in and of itself wasn't a bad decision as it turns out because the sound equipped models had no provisions for external triggers rendering aftermarket r/c systems useless! The questionable part came when the decision was made to make certain models with sound and completely different models without! Most of this can be found in the "Quasinami" threads.
Fast forward to the middle of this last year. We were being very patient about the K-27 but were hearing almost nothing about it! Of course, there were rumors and behind the scenes stories (which turned out to be true...) about deals with Soundtraxx's Blackstone and how there could be NO MENTION of the K-27 in Fn3 for six-months after Blackstone's introduction of their HOn3 version(!!) No pre-hype. No pictures. No confirmation. No NOTHING!! All of a sudden we are told the K-27 is at a show...almost! It turns out that the K that was being shown was a mock-up that had to be assembled by the Bachmann sales staff before the show! Again, this wasn't exactly a bad decision as it did allow us a glimpse at what Bachmann had in store for us!
It was about this time that the "Super socket" idea began to circulate. After the "Qasinami" incident is it any wonder that this new rumor had us so energized? Without naming specific people, suffice to say that Bachmann or more correctly, certain people in high places in Bachmann's management were convinced that this new approach was the way to go. This led to some brutal postings and some really scandalous and despicable behind-the-scenes shenanigans trying to quash them!
By the time that the K-27 did arrive (strangely enough, at one particular person's home) it was being "managed" by certain people with ties to Bachmann. Apparently, there were troubles with the sound interface optical trigger as well as other issues that needed to get worked out in a controlled manner!
Now, we all have heard the problems that have surfaced. We have seen the posts that have advertised "fixes" and we now know that Bachmann is actively trying to correct these problems. My concern has now turned to "When is it too much?" Has all of our posts had the cumulative effect of "piling on" Bachmann so that the powers that be will get the wrong message? We WANT the K-27!! We just want it to work out of the box! Bachmann has chosen this method for introducing new models. So be it. I just wonder when criticism gets to be too much? Are we already past that point and if so, is there anything that can be done? It's just something that has been bugging me over the last week or two..../DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/unsure.gif
