MTH Warehouse Auction

[Norton]

The biggest looser at York with MTH gone won't be the attendees but Eastern Division. Those spots in the Orange Hall cost well into four figures. Just another nail in the coffin for the show as we knew it.

Pete

[Rufus T. Firefly]

The biggest looser at York with MTH gone won't be the attendees but Eastern Division. Those spots in the Orange Hall cost well into four figures. Just another nail in the coffin for the show as we knew it.

Just have to down size scale and scope, and move on if moving on ever really happens.......

[G3750]

You can gut any of them, TMCC, DCRU, anything, and you miss out on all the fun parts of "loco not found" or whatever error message it was.

Only DCS gives you the lovely messages. I have been extremely happy with TMCC and would never go back to conventional operations. I can run at extremely slow speeds, switch cars, and run multiple trains on the same track.

George

[Neil]

MTH disappearing will have no effect on future York train meets. Particularly as compared with influences such as the pandemic, changing demographics and electronic commerce. John was being sarcastic above. MTH and their most enthusiastic fans have never engaged in modesty to my knowledge. Or reality testing.

[G3750]

With the closing of MTH and warehouse sell off, I worry most about the TCA and York. I was going through some MTH newsetters and they read that the MTH booth was the focal point of York. After the lockdown is over where will York be without the MTH booth? Also according to the newsletters, MTH saved and revolutionized the hobby. So why didn't Mike donate his warehouse collection to the TCA museum? How can the museum function without displaying the history saved the hobby? Seems greedy to me. Like he never cared about the TCA in the first place.

The above is awesome satire!!!

George

[ScaleCraft]

You can gut any of them, TMCC, DCRU, anything, and you miss out on all the fun parts of "loco not found" or whatever error message it was.

Only DCS gives you the lovely messages. I have been extremely happy with TMCC and would never go back to conventional operations. I can run at extremely slow speeds, switch cars, and run multiple trains on the same track.

George

Roger was asking about gutting DCS out of MTH. You miss out on the error messages with a gutted MTH loco.

[G3750]

You can gut any of them, TMCC, DCRU, anything, and you miss out on all the fun parts of "loco not found" or whatever error message it was.

Only DCS gives you the lovely messages. I have been extremely happy with TMCC and would never go back to conventional operations. I can run at extremely slow speeds, switch cars, and run multiple trains on the same track.

George

Roger was asking about gutting DCS out of MTH. You miss out on the error messages with a gutted MTH loco.

Oops. OK, thanks.

George

[Neil]

Lots of MTH special runs lately. I'm guessing to reassure people that they are still in business and will produce the final catalog or three of product. If it gets people stuff they like, seems not to be a problem, but one should be under no illusions. MTH is almost certainly going the way of the dodo, since we haven't heard anything about the company continuing beyond the next 9 months or so.

[healey36]

Dun & Bradstreet's most recent estimate of Lionel's annual sales is $21.4 million (financials are not released by Guggenheim Partners, majority owner of Lionel). To put that in perspective, in 2006, Lionel's annual revenue was reported at $42 million. That's a 50% drop over the last 14 years. I wouldn't be crowing.

[Neil]

" I wouldn't be crowing."

No doubt, but it's always better to be alive and poor than rich and dead .

[healey36]

lol

[G3750]

" I wouldn't be crowing."

No doubt, but it's always better to be alive and poor than rich and dead .

That's true, especially since dead men tell no tales.

I would guess that Lionel's fortunes (and Mike's decision to pull the plug) are both influenced by the shrinking old-fart train market and the vast gluttony of product chasing the dwindling pile of cash.

George

[KeithL]

Dun & Bradstreet's most recent estimate of Lionel's annual sales is $21.4 million (financials are not released by Guggenheim Partners, majority owner of Lionel). To put that in perspective, in 2006, Lionel's annual revenue was reported at $42 million. That's a 50% drop over the last 14 years. I wouldn't be crowing.

BTW, the D&B info on Lionel is absolutely meaningless. Lionel is a private company and does not "report" revenues. D&B acknowledges that its number is "modeled"; and for a small, private company with no public comps, the modeling can only be based on zero hard or relevant data. If you believe that Lionel's most recent revenue figure is $21.4, then you would have to believe D&B's info on MTH:

COMPANY PROFILE

D-U-N-S
13-220-1682

Business Form
Corporation

Ownership
Not publicly traded

Mailing Address
United States

Telephone
(410) 381-2580

Website
http://www.mthtrains.com

Annual Sales
US$ 267

Employees
12

Age (Year Started)
40 (1980)

Named Principal
Mike Wolf, President

Line of Business
Mfg games/toys

[healey36]

I would have to agree. I looked at a number of other privately held companies that I have reliable data on, and the D&B annual revenue numbers were way off. Makes you wonder why D&B would publish such misleading data. Worse, it states the MTH number is based on "actuals". Back in the day we relied heavily on D&B for various metrics...makes you wonder.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

................ Makes you wonder why D&B would publish such misleading data. Worse, it states the MTH number is based on "actuals". Back in the day we relied heavily on D&B for various metrics...makes you wonder.

Because people used to pay for it?