Large Scale Central

Holy Crap. LGB files for German bankruptcy protection-hostile ta

General Discussion
#21
Warren Mumpower said:
I'll bet Lewis Polk is laughing his butt off. LGB almost ran Aristocraft into bankruptsy over the track fiasco back in the early 90's. So Aristo survived....and LGB eats dirt.

Warren


Warren, you need to be careful about making statements on that track case.
That court case evolved because the very first generation of AristoCraft track was a dead set pantographed copy of LGB track. In that instance I believe LGB was justified in protecting its patents by taking the legal action it did.

BTW, I still have a sample of that AristoCraft track in possession. Plus side by side pix with the LGB original.

Editing notes.

I wish to make it known that I was misinformed re patents held by LGB on their brass track which was the subject of the court cases both in Germany and the USA.
I am now reliably informed that LGB did not in fact have any patents on the track. The successful German court case against AristoCraft was based on copying of product which apparently is not illegal to do in the USA.
My apologies to AristoCraft.

#22

Tony, you might feel that way, but the courts didn’t share your feelings. They said that “track is track” and threw the case out in the end. I do agree with you about the copying. I have some of it still on my indoor layout. Even the grain pattern in the ties is the same. Then again, USAT seems to have gotten away with copying LGB’s NG freight cars. One look and it’s obvious where they came from. Even the ugly screws on the outside are the same.

Warren

#23
Fred Mills said:
.....Don't worry, lads......Mikey from MTH is in the wings waiting to make his move, with lots of Yen from HK.....the German Banks just have to squeeze a bit more and he moves in......gives them a bunch of Yen, and then has a new toy shop.....remember he has/had a good Chinese connection.....
Not since he was divorced from the Korean Daughter of Sam!
#24

So, is this a hostile takeover from a German bank because LGB didn’t pay the money they owed? I didn’t realise that was considered a hostile takeover. I love the politcal spin. I guess it depends on what is is. :wink:

#25
Ric Golding said:
So, is this a hostile takeover from a German bank because LGB didn't pay the money they owed? I didn't realise that was considered a hostile takeover. I love the politcal spin. I guess it depends on what is is. ;-)
.......and who is doing the spinning.
#26
Ric Golding said:
So, is this a hostile takeover from a German bank because LGB didn't pay the money they owed? I didn't realise that was considered a hostile takeover. I love the politcal spin. I guess it depends on what is is. ;-)
Rick I can't change the topic header, its based only on the original press release from Kalmbach which reads like a hostile takeover bid.

In hindsight, had I known then what I’ve learned now from all the replies here, there, and elsewhere, I wouldn’t have added that part of the header.

#27

Vic,

They said it, you didn’t. Its good for a laugh.

Tony,

You said - “…and who is doing the spinning.”

And that, Kind Sir, may be the real question to this whole conundrum.

Man, I love a good story that starts with “Once upon a time”.

#28
Warren Mumpower said:
Tony, you might feel that way, but the courts didn't share your feelings. They said that "track is track" and threw the case out in the end. I do agree with you about the copying. I have some of it still on my indoor layout. Even the grain pattern in the ties is the same. Then again, USAT seems to have gotten away with copying LGB's NG freight cars. One look and it's obvious where they came from. Even the ugly screws on the outside are the same.

Warren


Warren,

While all that “track business” was a long time ago, there is still no European type Aristo track available through the Aristo dealers in Europe.

Interesting,eh!?! :wink: :slight_smile: :wink:

#29
Ric Golding said:
Vic,

They said it, you didn’t. Its good for a laugh.

Tony,

You said - “…and who is doing the spinning.”

And that, Kind Sir, may be the real question to this whole conundrum.

Man, I love a good story that starts with “Once upon a time”.


Ric, :slight_smile: :smiley:

So do I,

From Andersen to Grimm it all makes for very interesting reading and as kids - we were brought up on the stuff :wink: :slight_smile: - absorbing the lesson/moral was easy.

So was absorbing the physics of a spinning top - as long as the velocity was sufficient it would just go around nicely, but then towards the end it would develop a real wobble and finally tumble to a stop.

On the spinning, would you like me to translate the insolvency court’s instructions to the appointed trustee?? :wink: :smiley:

Let me tell you it would/should bring the spin generated in certain quarters to an abrupt stop.

#30
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
On the spinning, would you like me to translate the insolvency court's instructions to the appointed trustee?? ;) :D

Let me tell you it would/should bring the spin generated in certain quarters to an abrupt stop.


Yes please.

#31

Please do, Hans…long overdue

#32

Once up-on a time ,
there were three com-pan-ies , Frank-lin Mint , Dan-bur-y Mint and LGB . These com-pan-ies made over-priced and tack-y
stuff and sold it to gull-ib-ble pe-ople They also made some good stuff , for they were not fools . A lot of pe-ople bought the good stuff and liked it .
But many more pe-ople bought the tack-y stuff bec-ause it had a “NAME” and they thought this was good . So the com-pan-ies went a-long their me-rry way until one day a wick-ed gnome from zur-rich de-ci-ded to be a cle-ver clogs and at the same time make him-self look im-por-tant . So he made it his bus-in-ess to lis-ten for crit-ic-is-m of the LGB com-pan-y (he could not crit-ic-ise the oth-ers be-cause they were Am-er-i-can and the Am-er-ic-ans would be an-gry) and lo and be-hold , he found some-thing to moan ab-out . This made the gnome ve-ry hap-py , be-cause he was
rea-lly a mis-er-ab-le litt-le man who en-joy-ed cau-sing up-set . And so he knock-ed the pro-duct when-ev-er he got the chance and e-ven-tu-al-ly
o-ther peo-ple join-ed in and they were all hap-py be-cause they all-look-ed cle-ver to-ge-ther .
One day , ano-ther gnome from zu-rich de-ci-ded to make things awk-ward for the com-pan -y and call-ed in the loans that all com-pan-ies have to make it ea-sy to de-vel-op things , and the com-pan-y be-came troub-led and all the oth-er gnomes laugh-ed . Oh how they laugh-ed .
But lit-tle did they know that all these com-pan-ies need cus-tom-ers to buy their stuff with-out be-ing call-ed twits for buy-ing old crap , and sure e-nuff , the cus-tom ers- stay-ed a-way in droves , and it be-came diff-i-cult to get mod-el trains a-tall be-cuz the lit-tle shops nee-ded lots of dif-fer-ent stuff to att-ract cus-tom-ers . So they stop-ped sell-ing an-y-fink and all the sil-ly gnomes were hap-py .
This , chil-dren , is cal-led be-ing sel-fish and a smart-ass .
You would not be-have like that , would you ?
The mo-ral of the stor-y is grown-ups who play with toys can be ve-ry child-ish . Grown-ups who en-cou-rage oth-ers to play with toys will always be nice peo-ple cuz the toy mak-ers can make a lot more .
Unca Mikey

#33

Mike, if you had a clue, even a sliver of a clue, you would be worth listening to.

The problem is, with the litigious stance of some, even though a WHOLE LOT of stuff is out there, absolutely NOTHING can be published.

Yet.

#34

Dave , if you had a sense of homour , just a sliver of one , you would recognise that Ric asked for a fairy story .

#35

and that was.
A swiss one, quite transparent.

#36

Ok , because of Dave’s message , I have to tell you that I have no wish for this to descend into personality clashes .
My arrangements with Hans are well understood between us .
So let me put something in the forum for you all to think about .
I know a lot is going on .
Further , I know in some detail what is going on --in Europe .
LGB aside , for those who would like to know the future of their supplies of LGB non American outline ought to know what happens in most of the cases like this in Europe --I can give you examples ,then you may be confident of continuing your hobby–but only non American outline–which may include some stuff which was American but used in sugar plantations , mines and so forth outside America .
The examples are , not in order of importance , of model companies who have “gone to the wall” in EUROPE
ROCO , Italaeri who became Italeri , Hornby , Triang , Airfix, Revell Europe , Meccano , Frog , and others .
All of these company named equipments are still made and marketed . The companies are never advertised as being bankrupt , they “go to the wall” which has no legal meaning , but everyone thinks they know what it means .
LGB has gone to the wall .
I am assured that my facility to buy models of (mainly) European equipment is safe .
Fortunately this means that my supplier does not have to rely solely on Aristocraft , Accucraft ,Bachmann and similar to keep his shop going . He sells as much LGB as the otheres put together .
That is why LGBoA was made separate .
So whatever anyone says , I am not entirely without knowledge , but I do have a sense of humour which is usually at the forefront of my mind when writing posts . OK ? So stop staring at your navels and DO try to enjoy the hobby without spoiling it for others .
Mike

#37

“Flatbread” Mike, That is very good, but not very original! Do you happen to know how “deja News” works?? If you do, do all of us on LSC a favour and look up the nice fairy tale (several installments) I wrote in 96/97 on a certain Swiss newsgroup to get rid of some trolls. Not only were they the joke of that particular newsgroup, they were THE joke of at least three more newsgroups - that I know about - because their behaviour on those groups was “just as pleasant”. Well, they took their leave from all those groups, to much laughter and snickering. Satire is a very effective means to de-troll. You should, by now, know that pushing buttons doesn’t work with me, but from what I gather it works well with you and your kindred spirits.

Oh BTW, how do you like that RhB D4016, too bad it’s too old time for your layout, eh! :wink: :slight_smile: :smiley:

#38

Hi all,

And who thought that the Germans lacked a sense of “humour”? I was in meetings this morning, but will do my best to get on with the translations that are pending.

#39
Mike Morgan said:
........................... So whatever anyone says , I am not entirely without knowledge , but I do have a sense of humour which is usually at the forefront of my mind when writing posts .

…

Mike


“Flatbread” Mike,

No one would dare even imply that, the burning question is usually the quality of knowledge and how well it can be verified. And we all (I believe) appreciate your humour, whenever we get the point, that is. :wink: :wink:

But Dave already alluded to the verification question. Prudent people are very careful in what they post and how they phrase it. Some of us do that in more than one language - simply because we can - and also gather the
info from many different, verifiable sources; one owes that the groups/fora one participates in!

Blind brand loyalty is best left to those who are in dire need of a “crutch”, in that respect it isn’t unlike religion. :wink: :slight_smile: :smiley:

#40

“I have no wish for this to descend into personality clashes .”
So Hans prompltly descends into addressing my disabilities .
Nice one Hans .

ps I have to use crutches .