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Post by rockymountaineer on May 17, 2021 16:05:11 GMT
Received another email early this morning on what now feels like a daily announcement from MTH this year. This one unveiled two more special-run SW1500 locomotives from Stockyard Express.
At this point, I've lost complete awareness of all the offerings MTH has announced this year. My brain remembers a few select goodies, but by and large I really miss having a catalog to page through. Yes... MTH's website has a "news archive" with most of these announcements featured. But it's not the same as paging though a catalog. Sigh...
Ironically, MTH has announced enough offerings, where they COULD HAVE easily issued a 2021 catalog earlier this year. But they chose a different strategy. Should be interesting to see what other goodies they'll be announcing in coming days/weeks, which will fill out production and delivery through 2021... and most likely into 2022 as well. Certainly an interesting business model that I don't recall ever seeing in this hobby -- aside from many years ago when Lionel issued a small handful of "special introductions" throughout the year, featuring high-end locomotives that were allocated to their largest dealers. But in general, nothing to the degree MTH is doing in 2021.
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Post by Adam on May 17, 2021 16:33:55 GMT
This approach probably takes significant pressure off. By not issuing a catalog, and thereby not committing, they were free to make decisions along the way. Smart in my opinion.
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Post by JDaddy on May 17, 2021 17:46:27 GMT
Plus - everything they make is in limited quantities, they sell out very quickly. Very smart. Waiting for new steam engines to surface...
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2021 18:08:46 GMT
Wish there was a better way to keep track of all these custom runs.
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Post by ptc on May 17, 2021 18:26:43 GMT
I'd say their approach was pure genius.
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Post by rockymountaineer on May 17, 2021 19:25:36 GMT
I'd say their approach was pure genius. Given Mike's decision to retire, it was pure genius... but only to a degree. The harsh reality is we all have our financial limits, when it comes to spending $$$ on our toys. So unveiling the "catalog" products one week at a time -- while intriguing -- brings its own set of challenges, because enthusiasts soon realize they can't just order something willy-nilly every week. MTH would WANT peeps to do that, but there comes a point when even us train enthusiasts will say "enough is enough already".
I've ordered a few goodies. And truth be told, there are one or two I would NOT have ordered had I seen the ENTIRE suite of product offerings FIRST... and then crossed items off my "wish list" as reality of spending hit. That's pretty much what I do with Lionel's catalogs: start with the goodies I like; make a list; give it a rest for a week or so; then review the list and whittle it down to something financially REASONABLE. That's tough to do when products are being unveiled every other week (or even more frequently), and a short pre-order period requires quick decision-making. Even the big dealers don't order many -- if ANY -- "extras" of MTH products. So if you don't pre-order, there's very little chance you'll find what you want when products arrive Stateside. Fortunately, for Lionel items, the big dealers still order "extras", so I don't feel the need to pre-order much of anything from the Lionel catalog -- especially given Lionel's haphazard production issues in recent years.
Thankfully, I'm blessed to say I have more trains than I'll ever "need"... which I honestly think is true of many of us in the 50+ age-bracket these days. So model train production could stop ENTIRELY tomorrow, and I wouldn't skip a beat. I'll admit MTH will get a few more dollars from me this year than I would have had I seen a complete catalog early on. But now I -- like many others -- are wise to the fact that MTH isn't really going leaving model train production behind. True, MTH sold its building to whomever as well as a good degree of tooling to Atlas, while another entity will handle DCS. But they've solidified a vision that a model train company here in the USA can be nothing more than a TINY group of people taking orders, getting products made overseas, then shipping those products out to buyers/dealers... with little or no need for a customer service entity or inventory warehouse. Admittedly, a LOT has gotta go smoothly with the products for that to continue long-term. Otherwise, I'd suggest this is NOT a wise long-term business model. It's working for 2021. I just don't know how many years this kind of ultra-streamlined, "everything built to order" business model can last.
Then again, that's precisely the business model Scott Mann uses for 3rd Rail and Golden Gate Depot products. I don't think Scott even has half-a-dozen full-time employees here in the States. At least that's my PERCEPTION. Containers come into Oakland, then they turn them around quickly when pallets arrive in San Ramon. But he does spend LOTS of time in China overseeing the projects through various stages of production. Prices are in the stratosphere, and shipping across country can be cost-prohibitive. But Scott sells to a very particular market who seem willing to pony up the big bucks. Very different than MTH's market.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2021 20:17:36 GMT
One another forum, one of the dealers wanted to do a special run of wood sided passenger cars but was told no due to MTH is in negotiations for selling that tooling. The dust has a long time to go before this all settles
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Post by rockymountaineer on May 17, 2021 20:45:48 GMT
One another forum, one of the dealers wanted to do a special run of wood sided passenger cars but was told no due to MTH is in negotiations for selling that tooling. The dust has a long time to go before this all settles
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Post by jimsandman on May 17, 2021 21:42:06 GMT
I pay attention to a new Catalog, I grow numb of a new email announcement each day.... I also won't go back and review every email and make a list - odds are they are limiting my involvement but if it works better overall for THEIR BUSINESS and profitability go for it.
Jim
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2021 21:47:22 GMT
I actually have responded to two of the emails and have a diesel switcher and reefer on order. Any that I couldn't make a decision on, get deleted. I figure I didn't really want them anyway.
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Post by kstrains on May 18, 2021 2:41:51 GMT
I am hoping MTH might introduce some more Christmas items but timing is running short for getting them produced before the holidays. I have only seen a couple cars for Christmas so far. MTH in the past few years has done great job on Christmas products. The products with Christmas LEDs have been a great hit and would like to see it continue. However, most everything seems to be custom runs by dealers so it is questionable if much of any Christmas products will be offered.
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Post by rockymountaineer on May 18, 2021 21:46:14 GMT
Interesting timing for this newsflash from MTH. I wonder if they were reading this thread. LOL!!! 
www.mthtrains.com/news/701
Or read it right here:
May 18, 2021 - One year after announcing M.T.H. owner Mike Wolf's 2021 retirement plans, the company's evolution is coming into focus with the move from the current Columbia, Maryland facility at the end of May to a smaller location in nearby Elkridge, Maryland. The new location will house two of three smaller spin-offs from M.T.H. Electric Trains including MTH Parts & Sales, LLC. The parts company will feature an all-new parts website with a new on-line ordering platform slated to go live this Summer. M.T.H. Electric Trains' R&D Division will continue developing DCS and other electronic products on its own in the satellite location it has occupied in Western Michigan for the past 24 years.
The third spin-off, to be managed by a few long-time M.T.H. employees will be operating alonside the parts company in the smaller Elkridge, Maryland facility. The train company will continue to operate as M.T.H. Electric Trains - marketing and producing new model train products - after many discussions with various companies to purchase the entire portfolio of M.T.H. tooling were unsuccessful. The new products will include select RailKing and Premier O gauge models and occasional production of RailKing One Gauge G Scale models.
Although the entire tooling portfolio wasn't sold to a single buyer, this past Winter several tooling sales did occur, including the sale of the HO and S Gauge tooling assets to Scale Trains in January 2021, followed by the March purchase of select O gauge tools by Atlas. At this point, approximately 20% of the O Gauge tooling portfolio, including the Atlas purchases, have been sold to date. The as-of-now unnamed buyers of the other O Gauge tooling will be revealed later this Summer.
The final 2020 cataloged items have or are about to exit production and will be arriving over the course of the next two months. In addition, subscribers to our E-newsletters as well as visitors to the M.T.H. website have learned of many new product announcements over the course of the past few months. These products, slated for delivery in the second half of 2021, represent the first of the items to be marketed and sold by the smaller "new" M.T.H. Electric Trains. You can identify these items by visiting the M.T.H. website and selecting the "2021 All Scales Catalog" at mthtrains.com/product_locator.
Subscribers to our newsletters have also received near-daily announcements of many custom-run products exclusively offered through specific M.T.H. Authorized Retailers. Because our new, smaller location offers no room for inventory of trains, all new items announced for 2021 and beyond are being built-to-order. Customers are encouraged to contact their M.T.H. Authorized Retailer early in the promotional process to get any desired item(s) on order and avoid the disappointment of missing out on these unique releases.
All M.T.H. items will continue to carry a limited warranty, though defective items delivered after June 1, 2021 may only be eligible for a refund from the M.T.H. Authorized Retailer from which it was purchased if that retailer doesn't offer in-house warranty service. Full details about the warranty policy are available HERE.
M.T.H. owner Mike Wolf is deeply indebted to all of M.T.H.'s loyal customers over the past 41 years as he embarks on retirement. He and all those who remain at M.T.H. Electric Trains are especially grateful for the hobby's support over the past 12 months and look forward to the continued interest by all M.T.H. fans as new releases are announced.
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2021 21:51:01 GMT
About time, I see MTH rising again in the future.
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Post by Adam on May 18, 2021 22:52:47 GMT
Wow, that’s actually very exciting! So glad MTH will live on albeit in a different way.
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2021 23:41:38 GMT
Excellent news!! Thank you for posting!
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