MTH Warehouse Auction

[KeithL]

MTH has announced the first in a series of auctions to clean out their warehouse:

ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/fileSendAction/fcType/0/fcOid/148675927482436001/filePointer/148675927482436021/fodoid/148675927482436017/2020-07-22%20TCA%20Ad-MTH.pdf

[G3750]

Gee, I can't wait to pay too much for junk.

Oh, did I say that out loud?

George

[ScaleCraft]

History here: When the Boy Genius was trying to introduce the #1 gauge line, there seemed to be some cash flow issues, and Sammy wasn't stepping up to the plate.
So, young Mikey decided to sell a bunch of stuff direct....mostly (if not all) 0 scale....and he sold it for less than the dealers could buy it from him for.

Whole lotta dealers gave up on Mikey after that. Of course, the mind doesn't remember pain, so most eventually came back. Looking for riches untold!

Now, dealers stuck with orphan equipment on their shelves, in their own warehouses....what if all this stuff sells for less than the dealers paid for it?

They're just gonna sit on the stock and hope the prices go back up?

This could be bad.

I wonder how the mindset that something is worth what it sells for fits into this. If it cost, oh, $50 for the dealer to purchase, and they sell it for $75, and Mikey's stuff, same piece, goes out the door for $40.....what is it really worth?

I hold my own opinion on value of any of Mikeys cr...err....stuff.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Now, dealers stuck with orphan equipment on their shelves, in their own warehouses....what if all this stuff sells for less than the dealers paid for it?

They're just gonna sit on the stock and hope the prices go back up?

The joys of capitalism in action,

If it cost, oh, $50 for the dealer to purchase, and they sell it for $75, and Mikey's stuff, same piece, goes out the door for $40.....what is it really worth?

Less than than before,

[ScaleCraft]

Apparently "Ryan" has a jump on dumping MTH useless stuff:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/ryan1961/m.html

13 MTH items, 12 are engineering samples, non-operating, no motors (gears?) smoke, boards, sometimes no coal. And no paint other than possibly gray primer. Can't imagine buying these to just display....or trying to get them to run.

And guess where they mail from? And guess where the former World Headquarters of MTH was?

Stange, i a passing-interest sort of way.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Those have been listed for a while and not even the 1st cycle on the listings either - recycled several times now since same as your questions.....why would anyone want any of these? Oh, wait! They're collectables!

[ScaleCraft]

Seen them off and on. Never investigated, as neither the Boy Genius or any of his wares holds any interest to me.

I decided to look into it today for the first time.

Curious, is all.

Quick perusal of the algore shows me a black widow, new, functional, for what he's asking for a kludge.
SP Daylight with added Christmas Lights, new, functional, a whole lot cheaper.
Did see one predatory site asking more, but who knows.

Found one site calls it "Imperial" until you get deeper, then they call it "RailKing". New, $390.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Seen them off and on. Never investigated, as neither the Boy Genius or any of his wares holds any interest to me.

I confess to having torn apart and converted 3 of the underscale gondolas into traction gondolas as they then do scale out correctly. I also have somewhere a PRR H3 that I just liked and have no other good reason to have on the roster.

Eventually I'll overcome that separation anxiety associated with departing steam engines and clear off 4-5 of the things.

[Norton]

Apparently "Ryan" has a jump on dumping MTH useless stuff:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/ryan1961/m.html

13 MTH items, 12 are engineering samples, non-operating, no motors (gears?) smoke, boards, sometimes no coal. And no paint other than possibly gray primer. Can't imagine buying these to just display....or trying to get them to run.

And guess where they mail from? And guess where the former World Headquarters of MTH was?

Stange, i a passing-interest sort of way.

A few of us have turned these into working trains. Some even have all their internals save the electronics, some are pretty well stripped. The problem with Ryans stuff its all way overpriced. I had a chance to buy the Big Boy at half its current price but found out it had no gearbox or axle gear. Easy to add a motor but no way to get a gearbox so even at half price its would be just a doorstop.

Pete

[G3750]

Seen them off and on. Never investigated, as neither the Boy Genius or any of his wares holds any interest to me.

I decided to look into it today for the first time.

Curious, is all.

Quick perusal of the algore shows me a black widow, new, functional, for what he's asking for a kludge.
SP Daylight with added Christmas Lights, new, functional, a whole lot cheaper.
Did see one predatory site asking more, but who knows.

Found one site calls it "Imperial" until you get deeper, then they call it "RailKing". New, $390.

"Imperial" is a variant of RailKing that is supposedly scale size. MTH has sliced their marketing onion so many ways and violated almost all of the classifications in one way or another over time. "Premier" was supposed to be fanatically scale and true to the prototype, i.e. until the fantasy items showed up unannounced. At least Lionel tells you in their catalogs that their fantasy items are "What if's".

George

[Neil]

With the increasing evidence that MTH is truly going away, it is a bit strange and worrying to see all the optimism in some quarters that there really will be a parts supply company in the future, and, even less believable, that a DCS/PS3 development company will survive this wholesale selloff.

I can definitely see hanging onto MTH products one likes and uses. If they develop problems, you figure a way around them. Same as with any product for which current parts aren't available.

On the other hand, assuming that DCS/PS3 products will continue in production/development seems to be willful disbelief of the reality before us. And the continued conviction that the remaining employees will magically find a way to turn an apparently non-viable business (for which there is no market) into a prospering business seems the most self-delusional illusion of all.

But I could be wrong.....

[Rufus T. Firefly]

............ a parts supply company in the future, and, even less believable, that a DCS/PS3 development company..............

If the IP has a short life ahead, then this is all dying and probably also why there was no buyer.

[Neil]

Good point. It's also possible that the company was just breaking even (or worse). No one wants to acquire such as company, even for free, and the existing employees probably have minimal to no motivation for taking the risk of using lines of credit just to maintain their salaries, which are nonetheless at risk during this transition.

If Mike Wolf genuinely thought there was a chance of a viable succession plan, he didn't do it any service by the way this has been handled. It's possible that particular dog whistle announcement was just to entice a few more people to purchase items from the last catalog, and there is no real chance of the company surviving under employee ownership. We'll know, but only in retrospect. Personally, given his history of paying no attention to the consequences of his reckless actions (such as his many lawsuits, which cost people their jobs), I don't have a positive feeling about this. One is tempted to say "good riddance" but it's still early .

[Rufus T. Firefly]

One is tempted to say "good riddance" but it's still early .

Nah. Then again while the early bird may get the worm, the 2nd mouse gets the cheese.

[ScaleCraft]

I have personally experienced end of product lines when I was in business. RC, first company I dealt with, over 20 years, owner retired. Sold it to some clown in the midwest. They changed the product in frequency, operation, size, then decided to not honor orders or refund money, closed down and decided to raise and sell Koi.
And I quit.
Support goes away isn't so bad if the product is effectively bulletproof (as my first RC with through-hole circuit boards still are today, or MicroSoft XP) but you have a glitchy product that needs trained repair personnel and lots of parts to keep running....no.
Probably not a good business model to buy into, especially with Barry and his fix-it books gone.