Greg Elmassian said:
Ha! I have lived to see the day Rooster accuses me of stirring the pot! I think you may have outdone yourself! LMAO!
When is the last time I beat up on Aristo, and more importantly WHO CARES?
The only recent comment I can think of is an allusion to how Navin was treated at the shutdown of Crest. Now that is a crime.
Greg
" Rooster " said:
Greg Elmassian said:
Come on back to chat David, and try it again, I’m trying it again, BUT I want to talk TRAINS… and learn or share stuff about TRAINS.
Greg
Yes …but you also like to stir up the pot. Especially when the Aristo horse has been beaten dead,skinned,deboned and thrown into the kettle many times. The vultures really have nothing left to pick at these days. I’m not really even an Aristo fan but respected the company for what they were.
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It’s all good though!
I care. Aristo made good stuff. I have their track. I met the man and he was honest with me. Maybe I should start a website and dedicate a page publicly attacking someone???
Greg Elmassian said:
Ha! I have lived to see the day Rooster accuses me of stirring the pot! I think you may have outdone yourself! LMAO!
When is the last time I beat up on Aristo, and more importantly WHO CARES?
The only recent comment I can think of is an allusion to how Navin was treated at the shutdown of Crest. Now that is a crime.
Who’s Navin?
Joe Paonessa said:
I care. Aristo made good stuff. I have their track. I met the man and he was honest with me. Maybe I should start a website and dedicate a page publicly attacking someone???
You met Mr. Polk?
Sweet!
Lewis Polk bold face lied to loyal customers for over a year before he pulled the plug on Aristo Craft. Navin bold face lied for him for the last 6 months that I know of, cuz I was the one getting lied to. I don’t care who is paying Navin’s check, I will not buy from him/them.
Joe, maybe you feel he was honest, but I wouldn’t trust either of them any further than I could throw them. I went with AirWire, and am glad I did.
It is unfortunate for the rest of the hobby that Scott didn’t make it, but I believe that was a forgone conclusion before he started. Lewis set it up that way by screwing the PRC, making it impossible for Scott to do honest business. He paid the price for Lewis’ actions.
This is my opinion and it will not change.
Oh I thought you were lied to about the size of his caboose too!
Nope…he is ALL CABOOSE!!
Bob, you are dead right. Lewis was a good salesperson, but what he said and what he did were different.
He did not help Scott at all, and Kader took out their issues that they had with Lewis on him and GenerationNext. I thought that was pretty crappy.
Navin was a faithful employee, whose ability to be completely honest was hampered by Lewis, I have a lot of firsthand experience, I cannot blame Navin.
So, while many of you may have met Lewis and he was nice to you, if you talk to any of the people in the industry who ACTUALLY dealt with him, you would get some different views.
I have a lot of documentation on this, as Lewis threatened me with legal action because of my opinions… and I told him to bring it on… but this is old news… I and others have seen both sides.
If you go back in time, Lewis used to quote me and use me as a reference for technical matters. I was in the development of the Revolution. But the instant I said something about a product that was not complimentary, the wind shifted 180 degrees.
All of this is there on the forums for anyone to see. Enough this talk, don’t come at me about Aristo, unless you know the ENTIRE story. Do some homework.
Greg
Well, when I spoke to Louis in person, he told me the truth. It wasn’t the answer I wanted, but I respect the fact that he told me the truth. As for his public misrepresentations and lies, what do you expect? I know of no business owner who is going to stand up in front of the world and say “Oh yes. My company will be out of business in 6 months.” No, they want to put on a good game face, and try and make a few more dollars before the walls come crashing in.
As for Navin and Scott. I had my hopes that Scott could make it, and my doubts that he could. And Navin, I only spoke to him once or twice and… He gives me an odd feeling.
The fact that the designer of Crest electronics wanted Navin by his side for the new company should mean something.
I’ve dealt with Navin for a long time… you gotta understand he was basically at risk for speaking his mind for a long time.
Come on chat some time and I’ll recount the great “motor block” episode… you may laugh your butt off, but it’s a sad story of ignoring reality.
Greg
Long before the AristoCraft Train Engineer ever saw the light of day Lewis Polk showed my original RCS Titan R/C at a Nuremberg Toy Fair.
At the end of the Toy Fair I collected my sample and was told barefacedly that if I did not accept his offer to make it for me, he would put me out of business. I declined to take his offer and a couple of years later the Train Engineer arrived to much Hoo ha.
All I can say is I am still in business and he is not.
My Mother always told me that if you cannot say something nice about someone, say nothing. I am saying nothing!!!
Dam it. I know nothing about nothing other than I like Aristo cars and want more.
Tony, I never heard that story from you. I have no reason not to believe you.
As far as the other history, we all had to hear about it. There’s no substance to study. We had to hear about it and we always will.
I have dealt with Lewis Polk as much as a regular customer can and should. Anyone may notice, what brand I prefer. Ooops, I’m not allowed to mention that without attack?
I have files stored away on a previous computer of some attacks towards me. I look over them whenever I need a laugh. Even though they were magically erased to help someone here look better.
Devon Sinsley said:
Dam it. I know nothing about nothing other than I like Aristo cars and want more.
Devon,
FYI, RLD Hobbies has many Aristo items for sale (used, apparently in good condition).
-Ted
I like the Aristo boxcars, and some other Aristo rolling stock. I just with their powered units didn’t have some of their “features”.
Everyone has their viewpoints, and many folks can back up why they have their viewpoint. We can hash it over and over again forever if we want to. Me, I would prefer to move on, and hope that Kader does bring back the best of the Aristo line. And maybe, just maybe, improves the other stuff and brings that back too. Even if they only do short “available for a limited time only” runs.
The rumor is that Bachmann will “make” some of the Aristo rolling stock/motive power.
Nothing firm yet, but clearly beyond the eggliner and PCC cars.
Greg
Greg I’m sure they will make whatever of ACs best 1/29 sellers were. I would love to see an upgraded 0-4-0 switcher and reissue of the Centercab drive blocks in any form.
@Joe - Other than as mentioned by others, the less than optimum quality of the motive power, I own and enjoy a fair amount of Aristo rolling stock. Nothing wrong with it, especially as I can repair most issues with either a bit of styrene or someone else’s trucks/couplers/wheel sets. The basic rolling stock is fairly bullet proof. It is not necessarily the product I have a beef with, it’s the people who misled the public.
@Greg - No doubt Navin had his tongue tied to one degree or another, however as I said in another post, he had options other than the one he chose. That said, I have no faith in what he says. I can’t see his nose to tell if he is lying. Your mileage may vary.
I am happy for all those folks that are heavily invested in the Revolution products that they are coming back, and with all compatibility in tact. My club is pleased as we are invested. I on the other hand have no interest.
As for Kader bringing back the Aristo product under another (possibly Bachmann) name is likely, although time will tell what they will do. They have quite possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in the molds, they will use them. Altering the molds to change the name embedded in them is not that big a deal. The Egg Liner and the PCC were testing the waters to see if folks were in the ‘spending’ mind set. Depending on how those went, more will likely follow.
As for us narrow gauge folks, I don’t have any real hope of new product from any of the manufacturers. The marked is way too soft, and until the economy improves markedly, I don’t see many folks spending upwards of 500 or more for new stuff. And depending on the investment costs to make the run that number could easily double or triple if the run is shorter.
I think that Kader would be most wise to improve the drive lines of the errant locomotives and sell updated drives, especially for the steam profile locos. Those seem to have the most issues, and folks I know that have them would likely purchase an updated reliable drive.
My opinion, FWIW.
Bob C.
I agree Bob, it would seem that the investment to upgrade/improve the drivetrains of their existing products would be cost effective.
It is sad that the big push from Bachmann into 1:20.3 seems to have fizzled, but we really don’t have a good “calibration” on what and how Kader is thinking. If they think they can make money, they can instruct Bachmann to sell it.
Greg
I see it as simple economics. All hobbies are ‘disposable income’ driven. And as the economy has tightened for many, that income has dwindled or gone away completely. Possibly add an ‘event’ in their life and nothing left for hobby. I can’t speak for others, but I don’t spend what I used to, other costs of life have increased taking some of that disposable income away. Kader will definitely look at that, and I am sure it will be a driving force in decisions made. That was the point I was making on the ‘test run’ of 1/29 in the Bachmann name. Kader will invest the minimum possible to gain the greatest return. Only time will tell where the hobby as a whole is headed.
Personally I believe there will be a slide back to the days of small ‘garage vendors’ selling parts and pieces. The hobbyist will be headed back to kits/kitbash/scratch build. As the price of smaller laser cutters continues to get more affordable, so will the garage kit sellers. I am hoping that a move in that direction will breath some new life into the print mags and bring readers back.
Opinions vary…
Just checked my join date and found I gave myself a Christmas present and became an LSC member on December 25, 2000… (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
