New Company's "Mud Tramping" Model: PB Models HO Scale DH2 Dutch Wadloper Diesel Multiple Unit

Notice
It looks like Stroodel Goatchese's post may have been shadow banned by fanboys of PB Models, so I'm going to post it here since it deserves to be read. My channel is a "no fanboy zone" and opinions other than fanboys' deserve to be read. Remember, this is a no-famboy zone.
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There seems to be some misunderstanding about what a "review" is by both people here and on a particular forum that seems to have driven traffic here.
While it's great that so many people (seemingly Dutch, maybe or maybe not associated with PB Models either directly or indirectly) take pride in their countrymen's achievements, PB Models is not above critique and a company is just that - they exchange money for a product and rely on this money to continue to produce more products (especially as a new company). As a nascent producer they SHOULD welcome critique so that they understand what their customers expect and want from them.
What some less than refined people have misconstrued as "whining", "moaning" and "complaining" are actually known as "critiques" and that is primarily the purpose of a review such as this. If you don't want to hear or read critiques or criticisms or you aren't sophisticated enough to understand the difference between those and "whining", "moaning" or "complaining" then just don't bother with reviews as the entire concept is lost on you - you whining, moaning, complaining dolts.
Dr. Hobby is right to critique the anachronistic shipping policy because as someone who lives in North America this WILL affect me and I'm glad to know what PB Models' response is - it tells me that they don't care if I purchase their models or not. Remember, Dr. Hobby PAID his OWN money for this product and instead of being grateful that someone across the pond wanted to purchase their first model and give them money (something they'll need in the future to produce more models) they were intractable and wouldn't even walk down to the post office to get one of these in his hands and save him the VAT. Their shipping process should take customers outside Europe into account (like any and all modern businesses) and the fact that all they had to offer Dr. Hobby was a terse F.U. message isn't acceptable to me and it's understandable that it wasn't acceptable to him either. After ALL OF THAT Dr. Hobby still PAID for the model when he could have said "just forget it," but since he (according to him) wants to promote small producers he - the customer - did everything to make up for PB Models' lack of attention. TY;DL - he STILL bought the model even though PB Models acted like they couldn't have cared less - he cared more for them than they cared for him. That's a bummer that many American companies don't ship to Europe but that's not HIS problem and that's not what he's concerned with. If you try to get a model from Walthers, Bachmann, etc. and they won't ship it to you in Europe, you have a valid concern. Dr. Hobby doesn't have to drop HIS concern about this because of some tit-for-tat ideal that he has no control over. In fact, I've been to his online store and he offers several overseas shipping options.
He's right - F0 handles the lights, F1 the motor (in European models), F2 the primary horn. If there are more lighting functions they are always far down in the function list. As someone who uses an automated layout this matters to me since I have to create and entirely new profile to handle this non-standard function list. PB Models should welcome this critique and keep it in mind in the future.
He's right - While it's great that there are brake lights the operator should be able to turn them off. Why people don't get this I don't have any idea. PB Models should welcome this critique so they can better understand what their customers want.
He's right - there's nothing interesting or chivalrous about not including literature. Interesting literature is part of what I pay for (especially at the price point PB Models is charging). PB Models should welcome this critique so that they can better understand what their customers want.
He's right - this model is overpriced (from what I saw in the review) and for him it was over 80 Euro overpriced on top of that and he still bought it anyhow, thus helping PB Models produce more models in the future, hopefully ones that are priced more appropriately and ones that ship to the U.S.
He's right - the real thing has multiple motors and it would be neat to hear them in the sound file. Certainly this is a small concession that PB Models could make and even blind, robotic fanboys of PB Models could appreciate?
Looking forward to future, non-biased an honest reviews that ignore the fanboys and hurt idiots who aren't worldly enough to hear ideas that aren't the same as their own.
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Music
Title: Brazil Samba
Music: www.bensound.com
Genre: World
Mood: Inspirational
Download: goo.gl/cBZgNz

[@stroodlegoatcheese4384]

Looks like someone is starting to up their video creation skills a little bit?! Great review, BTW!

[@DoctorHobby]

Thanks tons! I'm looking forward to learning more video creation and as I do, I'll roll it out to everyone! Thanks tons for watching!

[@kkrices]

I notice the windows seem particularly clear. This is .in contrast to at least my north american models which to me show imperfections or have some dirt or visible glue on them...

[@DoctorHobby]

That's a good point! Didn't notice that. They did a good job on the model, overall. Looking forward to their future releases.

[@BastiaanBlinksma]

The translation of 5:10 is the orange braketestlamps are functional, the orange light which you mentioned later on as well.

[@jeffreyrule8143]

Nice Euro train. Looks like Santa brought you some new buildings for your layout.

[@DoctorHobby]

It is a very nifty train, indeed! Yes, and I’m actually going to work on the buildings and document the improvements I’m going to make to them!

[@Datboi169]

The orange lights are "remlampen" or brakelights

[@DoctorHobby]

Ah.., very cool! I guess they don’t require the one in the middle of the rear window, then ;)

[@eloc1600]

nice review but i noticed one thing that just hurts my eyes as a dutch train spotter the locomotive that you got pushing the icr stock you got a traxx in the back now but irl these are or pushed by a ns class 1700 or there is a traxx loco on both sides of the stock apart from that a great review again

[@DoctorHobby]

Thanks tons! I really enjoyed running it and like to take it out and plop it on the track! As far as the NS 1700 thing--yup, I know, but the Traxx was speaking to me so it got the nod!

[@fredrick5152]

Very nice detail on that model.

[@DoctorHobby]

They did a good job for sure! Appreciate your comment :)

[@Datboi169]

Yes! Dutch trains!

[@DoctorHobby]

More to come!

[@lucasrem]

I did the walk, and took that Wadloper train to Fryslan too These Diesel Electric trains were just too weird, short bus on Rails. Models of these ? variants too, EU only, LOL ! Try to get US delivery in that EU thing, MAD here !

[@DoctorHobby]

Is the walk worth it? It looks interesting, but I need a bit more if Mrs. Dr. Hobby is going to be convinced. As for the primitive shipping from PB Models, It's 2023, no reason that something can't be shipped anywhere easily. It's something PB can improve upon in the future--there's no reason they have to stay wed to the "not shipping except to Europe model." As Rocky IV demonstrated--we can all change! ;)

[@rastaman5105]

Yes i like Dutch trains , the Wadloper is not my favourit train , it,s a horrible ride when you travel with this bus on rails , it,s noisy and slow, my favorit Dutch train is the heavy train called Hondekop Mat 54 , this is an EMU train that used by the NS [ Nederlandse Spoorwegen ] for long distence Intercity trains in the Netherlands , greetings from the Netherlands !!

[@DoctorHobby]

Oh haha! It seems that many people are not very fond of the Wadloper! I guess maybe it would have been better just to use an actual bus instead of this. The 54 is really wonderful, I think! I have one of these produced by Artitec, but did not review it. It can be seen here: instagram.com/tv/CYOLd06KXxJ/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[@stroodlegoatcheese4384]

There seems to be some misunderstanding about what a "review" is by both people here and on a particular forum that seems to have driven traffic here. While it's great that so many people (seemingly Dutch, maybe or maybe not associated with PB Models either directly or indirectly) take pride in their countrymen's achievements, PB Models is not above critique and a company is just that - they exchange money for a product and rely on this money to continue to produce more products (especially as a new company). As a nascent producer they SHOULD welcome critique so that they understand what their customers expect and want from them. What some less than refined people have misconstrued as "whining", "moaning" and "complaining" are actually known as "critiques" and that is primarily the purpose of a review such as this. If you don't want to hear or read critiques or criticisms or you aren't sophisticated enough to understand the difference between those and "whining", "moaning" or "complaining" then just don't bother with reviews as the entire concept is lost on you - you whining, moaning, complaining dolts. Dr. Hobby is right to critique the anachronistic shipping policy because as someone who lives in North America this WILL affect me and I'm glad to know what PB Models' response is - it tells me that they don't care if I purchase their models or not. Remember, Dr. Hobby PAID his OWN money for this product and instead of being grateful that someone across the pond wanted to purchase their first model and give them money (something they'll need in the future to produce more models) they were intractable and wouldn't even walk down to the post office to get one of these in his hands and save him the VAT. Their shipping process should take customers outside Europe into account (like any and all modern businesses) and the fact that all they had to offer Dr. Hobby was a terse F.U. message isn't acceptable to me and it's understandable that it wasn't acceptable to him either. After ALL OF THAT Dr. Hobby still PAID for the model when he could have said "just forget it," but since he (according to him) wants to promote small producers he - the customer - did everything to make up for PB Models' lack of attention. TY;DL - he STILL bought the model even though PB Models acted like they couldn't have cared less - he cared more for them than they cared for him. That's a bummer that many American companies don't ship to Europe but that's not HIS problem and that's not what he's concerned with. If you try to get a model from Walthers, Bachmann, etc. and they won't ship it to you in Europe, you have a valid concern. Dr. Hobby doesn't have to drop HIS concern about this because of some tit-for-tat ideal that he has no control over. In fact, I've been to his online store and he offers several overseas shipping options. He's right - F0 handles the lights, F1 the motor (in European models), F2 the primary horn. If there are more lighting functions they are always far down in the function list. As someone who uses an automated layout this matters to me since I have to create and entirely new profile to handle this non-standard function list. PB Models should welcome this critique and keep it in mind in the future. He's right - While it's great that there are brake lights the operator should be able to turn them off. Why people don't get this I don't have any idea. PB Models should welcome this critique so they can better understand what their customers want. He's right - there's nothing interesting or chivalrous about not including literature. Interesting literature is part of what I pay for (especially at the price point PB Models is charging). PB Models should welcome this critique so that they can better understand what their customers want. He's right - this model is overpriced (from what I saw in the review) and for him it was over 80 Euro overpriced on top of that and he still bought it anyhow, thus helping PB Models produce more models in the future, hopefully ones that are priced more appropriately and ones that ship to the U.S. He's right - the real thing has multiple motors and it would be neat to hear them in the sound file. Certainly this is a small concession that PB Models could make and even blind, robotic fanboys of PB Models could appreciate? Looking forward to future, non-biased an honest reviews that ignore the fanboys and hurt idiots who aren't worldly enough to hear ideas that aren't the same as their own.

[@DoctorHobby]

I'm looking forward to purchasing from PB again as I think they have a great future, but i certainly have faith that they can do better as a company in many areas so I hope they keep we, the customer, in mind when creating products are policies.

[@dinglebopsmoothedwithshlee6830]

Very, very well written! The last thing any new company needs is a bunch of fanboys jumping in for them making them look bad. Hopefully they'll be appreciative and maybe even thank you for reviewing their product so quickly after release.

[@DoctorHobby]

I figure it this way. People like this will have absolutely being grateful that someone left reviews about a particular refrigerator or car they want to buy, but when they read a review about something they care about, it's now personal. Human psychology has always been fascinating to me and that's partly why I became a historian. To see this type of thing play out on both the mircro and macro level throughout history is fascinating. Then again, I also have training in mathematics and analytics, and this if someone's claiming that a review is tantamount to "whining," "complaining," and "moaning," then that person, themselves, is outing themselves as a whiner, complainer, and a moaner when they review the reviewer and we transitively apply their own standards.

[@DoctorHobby]

Oh! I wasn't sure what you were talking about, so I looked at the analytics and, sure enough, a lot of traffic driven here by a dutch model railroading forum. Really bad self-selection bias here so I won't go over it, but there was one comment that made me laugh for about 30 minutes: Nice from the US. A whiner yes and he also needs a lot of time for that. ;D After 10 minutes I was done with it. ;D ;D ;D ;D The average view period for this video is slightly under 7 minutes (as a percentage it's about the same as all my other videos), so this guy actually HELPED my video by viewing it around 70% longer than average. "Mouth, meet foot!"

[@stroodlegoatcheese4384]

@@DoctorHobby hahaha! Yup. Interpreting a critique as a "whine" is definitely the sign of a weak mind, but pwning yourself on top of that is priceless!

[@marktegrotenhuis]

The instructions on website only is something they probably do to save paper and therefore be more friendly to the environment. Even the LEGO company has recently annouced that from now on their LEGO Ideas sets (which are meant for adults) will only have online/digital instructions in order to save paper.

[@DoctorHobby]

Pretty weak argument. The model is made out of foam, plastics, rare earth minerals, and metals such as copper and they’re worried about the one item that’s made from renewable resources and to top it off, it saves them money that they don’t appear to pass on to the customer.

[@marktegrotenhuis]

@@DoctorHobby I know...

[@stroodlegoatcheese4384]

@@marktegrotenhuis Also, they're forgetting about potential collectors in the future who will look to see of a model is "complete" and one of the things they'll look for is the literature. This wasn't well thought out on PB Models' part. As the Doctor states model railroading is a holistic hobby and literature is part of the whole.

[@rjprivate]

Cool dutch trains!!

[@DoctorHobby]

Very cool, indeed! Thanks tons for checking in!

[@terielrand8344]

I have run into the same thing with EU ebay sellers who refuse to ship to the USA. Good thing I have a friend in Germany...🙂

[@DoctorHobby]

I can sortof see eBay sellers doing this (that’s why I have a forwarder) but when it comes to a commercial company who makes a mass-produced product I’m less sympathetic. It’s been an interesting ride, that’s for sure.

[@roperdoper7812]

FWIW, I have to deal with people from Holland a lot in my job and their emails and other written and typed messages often seem terse, cold, unfriendly., and even rude. I think it might have something to do with the way their language is structured or the way their culture presses the concept of language. Or, maybe it's just that their rude? Regardless, they could have easily gone down to the "Place to Mail Your Nonsense" and shipped it if anything to just be a sensible business and take money when it's offered. Hopefully they'll grow up, put on some big boy pants, and ship their next product overseas--like any modern company would and should. Definitely they need to include literature in the box. Utterly bizarre decision not to. Maybe it's another way the Dutch can think of to be rude? lol. I think some lights like the orange lights and the fuel lights on the Auscision NRs are on because in real life they're on regardless of anything else. This maybe be correct in real life but there is no doubt that they should have an option to turn things like that off for whatever reason the operator wants. Models are in the operator's world, not the manufacturers. Good on ya for going in and changing the function so that they adhere more closely to established standards! Again, utterly bizarre choice on their part. But it is a cool model! I agree from what I've seen that it's somewhat overpriced, but it's good that you're willing to support smaller manufacturers even if they are a bit "terse" and unpliable towards you and your money ;)

[@DoctorHobby]

I've been there a bunch of times--people seem to be nicer in person--at last to me. Maybe PB Models will write me a message thanks to this video, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to determine if it's nice or nasty if the language leans toward "rude anyhow." Thanks tons for watching!

[@Datboi169]

It's not rudeness. It's trying to get the message across with as little words possible, together with sentences translated in a manner that maybe received as rude but def not meant.

[@roperdoper7812]

"Terseness" isn't necessarily rudeness, true, but even the Dutch rank themselves as a "rude" people. For what it's worth, there is a type of rudeness in not understanding how your terseness is coming off as rudeness.

[@Datboi169]

@@roperdoper7812 we rank ourselves direct, not rude

[@DoctorHobby]

RD is correct, they rank themselves as rude.. but only third most rude? QED this thread lol www.chron.com/news/bizarre/article/Dutch-are-rude-if-they-say-so-themselves-1852869.php

[@Raginmund33]

Good to see appreciations for Dutch railways and models in the US, as I like US Railroads. Lot’s of Dutch locomotive have and US-ish appearance. I do not understand your reaction against the policy of PB Models not to send their products to the US, the are lots of US based companies who do not send to the EU.

[@DoctorHobby]

It's 2023--easy to ship something anywhere so i don't understand what's difficult to understand? I'd complain the other way if I were in europe and I couldn't get something from the US as well

[@dinglebopsmoothedwithshlee6830]

@@DoctorHobby It's a fair criticism and the doctor doesn't have to wait for all American manufacturers to start shipping to the EU before he feels free and clear to critique PB Models for doing the same thing.

[@roperdoper7812]

@@DoctorHobby I do not understand why water is wet. There are a lot of liquids that don't make things wet.

[@stroodlegoatcheese4384]

@@DoctorHobby Hunh? He doesn't understand why he questions why something can't be sent to the mail to him? What in the world? Who cares if American companies do or don't ship to the EU? He's got nothing to do with that.

[@lucasrem]

The sounds, it has multiple horns, mist and regular. In both directions it's the same train, ticket service in it was never used. Do we need to write better software, any party that supports that, Merkin Digital ? Call them ?

[@DoctorHobby]

Marklin doesn't work differently than any other system other than it supports MM, MM4/MFX as well

[@linolampers2024]

nice review, I notice you disagree with the way the functions are set, but most models come in this way, lights first, horns later!, the red lights are from the braking system

[@DoctorHobby]

Thanks tons for stopping by and checking out the review! Most models have main light settings on F0, any further light settings are down in the stack because F1 is for the engine function. Mine works properly now ;)

[@stroodlegoatcheese4384]

@@DoctorHobby This - yes. I won't buy this since I don't want an F.U. message from PB Models but if I did I'd make these changes immediately.

[@roperdoper7812]

@@stroodlegoatcheese4384 PB Models is wrong, the Doctor is right. Full Stop.

[@bartschuchart7315]

Sight lights are the break lights