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Model Forum / General / Railroads / June 2004Horizon purchases MDC
Horizon Hobby, Inc. is pleased to announce that on June 14, 2004 it purchased the assets of MDC/Roundhouse of Carson City, Nevada. The company, which was originally founded as The Roundhouse in 1938, offers a wide variety of HO and N-scale products, with an emphasis on HO kits, N-Scale steam locomotives and early era rolling stock. As part of the acquisition, MDC/Roundhouse’s operations will be relocated to Carson, California, where they will join those of Athearn under the direction of Athearn President, Tim Geddes. Let the Flames begin................................!!! > Horizon Hobby, Inc. is pleased to announce that on June 14, 2004 it purchased > the assets of MDC/Roundhouse of Carson City, Nevada. The company, which was [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Let the Flames begin................................!!! Thats sad. Another independent disappears.  SignatureJim McLaughlin Please don't just hit the reply key. Remove the obvious from the address to reply. *************************************************************************** > > Horizon Hobby, Inc. is pleased to announce that on June 14, 2004 it > purchased > > the assets of MDC/Roundhouse of Carson City, Nevada. > Thats sad. Another independent disappears. In /this/ case, perhaps this move saved the line. CTucker NY >> > Horizon Hobby, Inc. is pleased to announce that on June 14, 2004 it >> purchased [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >CTucker >NY You mean the way Hudson was saved by the American Motors deal? Captain Handbrake > >> Thats sad. Another independent disappears. > >In /this/ case, perhaps this move saved the line. > You mean the way Hudson was saved by the American Motors deal? I guess gone is gone. CTucker NY > You mean the way Hudson was saved by the American Motors deal? > > > Captain Handbrake The Stepdown will always live - at least in my memory Steve Newcastle NSW Aust (and closet Hudsonophile) >> You mean the way Hudson was saved by the American Motors deal? >> > >> Captain Handbrake > >The Stepdown will always live - at least in my memory My granddad was a Hudson man. The last one he bought was a '52 Hornet sedan. Black (of course) with a two-tone blue checkered velour interior. Five liter inline six and a four-speed automatic transmission. It was a really swell car. Captain Handbrake wrote: > Five liter inline six and a four-speed automatic transmission. Can't compare to my '54 Pontiac straight-8 with Slush-o-Matic. SignatureSteve Caple > wrote: >> Five liter inline six and a four-speed automatic >> transmission. > > Can't compare to my '54 Pontiac straight-8 with > Slush-o-Matic. I learned to drive in a '49 Packard straight-eight with a three- speed on the column and a "semi-automatic" overdrive. It was as old as I was. Sure wish that I still had that car. > Sure wish that I still had that car. I wish I still had my '55 MG-TF 1500, piss-poor electrics (from Lucas, the Prince of Darkness), rotting elm floor boards, missing side curtains and all. SignatureSteve Caple > > Sure wish that I still had that car. > > I wish I still had my '55 MG-TF 1500, piss-poor > electrics (from Lucas, the Prince of Darkness), > rotting elm floor boards, missing side curtains > and all. Somebody once told me that the reason that the British like warm beer is because the Lucas refrigerators were so bad. Signaturehttp://www.skypoint.com/~hudsonl On 6/17/04 2:42 AM, in article MPG.1b3aea654809ec098a0f2@netnews.comcast.net, "Steve Caple" <stevecaple@commoncast.net> wrote: >> Sure wish that I still had that car. > > I wish I still had my '55 MG-TF 1500, piss-poor > electrics (from Lucas, the Prince of Darkness), > rotting elm floor boards, missing side curtains > and all. Even my Dad's MGA Coupe (which I learned to drive in) had a marine plywood floor. It got interesting when the exhaust was pushed up against it, causing smoke to fill the cabin! And yes, I was chasing a train at the time @ 90 per. SignatureBrian Ehni > Horizon Hobby, Inc. is pleased to announce that on June 14, 2004 it purchased > the assets of MDC/Roundhouse of Carson City, Nevada. I couldn't find this on the web. Please give a reference. BTW, when I went to the Horizon Hobby web page, they told me I didn't have cookies and/or Java enabled - I did. If this acquisition story is true, I hope the rest of the company is more talented than their web designer :-). SignatureWhere ARE those Iraqi WMDs? > I couldn't find this on the web. Please give a reference. It's on the MDC/Roundhouse page http://www.mdcroundhouse.com Click on the LINK TO AN IMPORTANT NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT SignatureTerry Link Bramalea, Ontario, Canada www.canadasouthern.com : It's on the MDC/Roundhouse page : http://www.mdcroundhouse.com : : Click on the LINK TO AN IMPORTANT NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT The URL of the news annoucement is: http://www.mdcroundhouse.com/general/announcement.htm Important News Announcement --Jerry Leslie Note: leslie@jrlvax.houston.rr.com is invalid for email consider this. What was the major advertising tool for both Athearn and MDC? Who owned it? How will Horizon get the same visibility for Athearn and MDC? The Athearn and MDC purchases are a coup only if Horizon can get enough visibility to make the products saleable. > consider this. What was the major advertising tool for both Athearn and MDC? > Who owned it? [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > The Athearn and MDC purchases are a coup only if Horizon can get enough > visibility to make the products saleable. This is a VERY important point. Dave Henk is right, that Walthers is not the best place for a dealer to buy Athearn or MDC, since there are much better deals available elsewhere. So the loss of Walthers as a distributor of those lines is not a tragedy, per se. However, once an item is not in the Walthers catalog, its much less visible to the general public. Sure, you can advertise, but only so much. The Walthers catalog advertises your entire line every day, for a full year. Magazine ads cover a handful of products for a month. Consider what happened to Bowser when they pulled out of other distributors. How many Bowser kits do you see around? Sure, the web has replaced the catalog in some instances. But where do I start when I'm looking for something? The Walthers website! Because the vast majority of what's available is there. If I search on "EJ&E boxcar" on Walthers, I'll get a list of models of EJ&E boxcars. Put the same search into Google, and you'll get tons of things you don't want to see. And, despite having the web, I still depend a lot on the catalog because sometimes it's easier. It's much easier to search one place than to look at dozens of different web sites or catalogs. I still believe that Horizon has vastly underestimated the value of the Walthers catalog and website. But they won't begin to feel the effects until the fall. Peter King in NY >I couldn't find this on the web. Please give a reference. This message was sent to Horizon dealers late this afternoon. > Horizon Hobby, Inc. is pleased to announce that on June 14, 2004 it purchased > the assets of MDC/Roundhouse of Carson City, Nevada. The company, which was [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Let the Flames begin................................!!! No big loss; they've been selling crap for years, IMO. SignatureBrian Ehni >> Horizon Hobby, Inc. is pleased to announce that on June 14, 2004 it purchased >> the assets of MDC/Roundhouse of Carson City, Nevada. The company, which was [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >No big loss; they've been selling crap for years, IMO. Sadly, I agree. Their locomotives are freelance and don't look at all like what they're meant to be. Their cars aren't any better. The least bad are their old time freight cars, but even these are still too generic. > >No big loss; they've been selling crap for years, IMO. > > Sadly, I agree. Their locomotives are freelance and don't look at all > like what they're meant to be. Their cars aren't any better. The least > bad are their old time freight cars, but even these are still too > generic. I'm going to have to disagree here -- at least somewhat. I would not classify the MDC models as "crap." The MDC freight cars can be the starting point for very fine models. Sure -- their models aren't up to the same standards as some of the new releases from Life-Like or Intermountain or others (minimal underbody detail, no interior details), but some of the MDC kits are the closest HO scale matches to some prototype cars. To write them off as "no big loss" is a disservice to modelers who use and enjoy their products. Here's a freight car I modeled earlier this year by starting with an MDC 40' steel gondola: http://www.greenbayroute.com/kgb7109model.htm#kgb7109model Crap? Maybe my modeling is, but I feel that the results I obtained with the MDC kit are far better than what I would have achieved by starting from scratch. And I could find no closer match to the prototype than the MDC kit. SignatureMark Mathu "I started out with nothing and I still have most of it." On 6/14/04 9:50 PM, in article Gttzc.21693$Fd.6928@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com, >>> No big loss; they've been selling crap for years, IMO. >> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > MDC kit are far better than what I would have achieved by starting from > scratch. And I could find no closer match to the prototype than the MDC kit. Whoa! Nobody said you modeling was crap. I said MDC's product line was, and I repeat "IMO". When compared to the old Athearn shake the box, it was one rung down the ladder. Perhaps some of what they make is OK, but then, so is some of what Athearn makes. I had an Athearn ATSF caboose with AMB laser windows, Overland roofwalks and such that people thought was brass. You can take a sow's ear and turn it into a silk purse, I guess, but it's much more likely with Athearn than MDC; I wasn't even thinking of them in the same category as P2K/InterMountain/Red Caboose, etc. SignatureBrian Ehni > You can take a sow's ear and turn it into a silk purse, I guess, but it's > much more likely with Athearn than MDC; I wasn't even thinking of them in > the same category as P2K/InterMountain/Red Caboose, etc. Yes, but their price point is about 1/2 of what the quality kits are. If you are attempting to build up a large fleet, MDC is the way to go. Purchase one of their 12 packs, give them some weathering and you have an instant fleet. If you want, you purchase a couple of "P2K/InterMountain/Red Caboose" cars and locate them near the front of your layout. SignatureWill N Scale - Credit Valley Railway www.muskokacomputes.com/CVR_Home.htm >Yes, but their price point is about 1/2 of what the quality kits are.< Yes but with a sale that price point will change to amortize the cost of the sale. How much is the question. This was the same concerns folks brought up when Athearn was bought. Basically hasn't happened. Horizon has been steadily adding all the part SKU's and intends to stock these. They have always been good about having parts for their proprietary items. Note that when Athearn had the Warehouse moving sale that no parts or current production items were involved only older items. I look forward to seeing Athearn upgrade paint and finish of the MDC items. I expect the inflated MDC RTR prices to drop in line with Athearns and dump the horn hooks on the RTR MDC. Dave Henk > > >No big loss; they've been selling crap for years, IMO. > > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > classify the MDC models as "crap." The MDC freight cars can be the starting > point for very fine models. For those of us modelling the period around 1900, MDC is a valuable resource. I don't care if their models are "generic", they allow a good representation of a forgotten era. And the prices are (were?) reasonable. I just bought one of their "generic" old time 2-8-0s for $50 from their web site. It'll run smoothly at less than 2 scale miles per hour. For a low priced steamer, that's great. I can only hope Horizon leaves a good thing alone - but I doubt it. SignatureWhere ARE those Iraqi WMDs? >For those of us modelling the period around 1900, MDC is a >valuable resource. I don't care if their models are "generic", [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >I can only hope Horizon leaves a good thing alone - but I doubt >it. They already shut down online ordering....... >>> No big loss; they've been selling crap for years, IMO. > I'm going to have to disagree here -- at least somewhat. I would not > classify the MDC models as "crap." The MDC freight cars can be the > starting point for very fine models. I'm with Mark - some of the more recent MDC releases are quite good models, with great detailing or conversion potential. Their 50' single sheath boxcars are quite nice kits, and can be reworked fairly easily to represent specific prototypes. http://marknewton01.fotopic.net/p5180531.html shows a Mopac car I'm building, which is an MDC car with new ends and free-standing details. The auto doors are cut from a P2K 50' steel car, while the brake end is a Tichy 3/3/3 Dreadnought casting. It's not perfect, but it's close enough to satisfy me. Likewise, the MDC 36' meat reefers are nice little models. What Walthers does not buy, Horizon will. And then there were 2. Dave Decker > Horizon Hobby, Inc. is pleased to announce that on June 14, 2004 it purchased > the assets of MDC/Roundhouse of Carson City, Nevada. > > Let the Flames begin................................!!! Another product line disappearing from stores. Good thing they don't make anything anybody Has to have. I wonder how far sales of Athearn and MDC products have to drop before they reappear at Walthers? Bill Dixon What makes you believe there is a significant drop? I for one could care less about Walthers carrying Athearn or MDC. There were several distributors that had better pricing and quicker availability. Since Jan '02 I have discontinued Atlas, MDC, Accurail, and Athearn products from Walthers entirely due to the cost to my shop. I can name several other sources that had better deals for the same models. We've been using Walthers for 25 years. Unfortunately they have kept up with other sources. I use them solely for the parts, structures, and proprietary lines I can't get elsewhere. Dave Jacksonville, FL > Let the Flames begin................................!!! What, they're burning the replacement parts? SignatureSteve Caple > As part of the acquisition, MDC/Roundhouse’s > operations will be relocated to Carson, California, where they will join those > of Athearn under the direction of Athearn President, Tim Geddes. Rather curious, since MDC moved *out* of SoCal around 9 or 10 years ago to Carson City. It was, I think, because of the severe environmental restrictions in place for manufacturers in the area, or else just for cheaper taxes, etc. SignatureRick Jones Remove the Extra Dot to e-mail me The Lake Erie & Oregon Railroad http://www.geocities.com/seventysixinchesoffun/ "I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior." - Hippolyte Taine Athearn's not in Carson anyway are they? I thought they were in Compton. dlm > > As part of the acquisition, MDC/Roundhouse’s > > operations will be relocated to Carson, California, where they will join those [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > restrictions in place for manufacturers in the area, or else just for > cheaper taxes, etc. > Athearn's not in Carson anyway are they? I thought they were in Compton. They're practically next door to each other. The map at the link below shows the relationship, with Carson at the red star and Compton about 4-5 miles NE of there. http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?csz=Carson%2C+CA&state=CA&uzip=90745&ds=n&name =&desc=&ed=uiOw5up_0ToET.89wpleckICoeJM.ve9SJFdWF7FNKXI0Hy0RQKCOj_NnCZ2kzKGxoTvW oFpY2W3Gt_uEsVL4QA-&zoomin=yes&BFKey=&mag=7&resize=s&compass=ne#mapcontent SignatureRick Jones Remove the Extra Dot to e-mail me The Lake Erie & Oregon Railroad http://www.geocities.com/seventysixinchesoffun/ "I was provided with additional input that was radically different from the truth. I assisted in furthering that version." -Colonel Oliver North, from his Iran-Contra testimony The news release mentions that MDC will be merged with Athearn is in Carson, CA. I think Athearn moved from Compton in the past year. MDC has been in Carson City, Nevada(used to be in Hawthorne, CA - IIRC???). Jim Bernier > > Athearn's not in Carson anyway are they? I thought they were in Compton. > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > the truth. I assisted in furthering that version." > -Colonel Oliver North, from his Iran-Contra testimony |
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