Large Scale Central

LGB insolvency progress

General Discussion
#1

Hi all,

There wasn’t much to report in recent weeks, but things moved a step ahead.

The Temporary Trustee has now been appointed as the Insolvency Trustee. The official Insolvency is now proceeding!

The translation of the official court proclamation follows

proclamation translated by HJ said:
Public proclamation

8071 IN 1608/06

The Insolvency Proceedings regarding the assets of

Ernst Paul Lehmann Patentwerk OHG, represented by the personally liable partners Rolf Richter and Johannes Richter, Saganer Str.1-5, 90475 Nürnberg; HRA3811

Business section: Production of toys

commenced on December 1st 2006 at 08:00.

Attorney at law Dr. Steffen Goede, Peuntgasse 3, 90402 Nürnberg has been appointed as the Insolvency Trustee.

All creditors are requested

a) to register their Insolvency demands (Article 38 of the Insolvency Regulations) no later than January 29th 2007 with the Insolvency Trustee;

b) to immediately inform the Trustee of any and all securities held which are applicable to assets or rights of the debtor.
The asset to which the security applies, the reasons and circumstances of origin of the security as well as the secured demand need to be stated.
Anyone willfully failing to inform or delaying the process, will be liable for the resulting damages (Article 28 Section 2 of the Insolvency Regulations).

Entities, who have obligations to the debtor, are requested to no longer submit those to the debtor, but to the Trustee (Article 28 Section 3 of the Insolvency Regulations).

A court session is scheduled for Thursday, December 21st 2006 at 13:15 in courtroom126/I to:

report on progress; decide on the possible election of a different Trustee; decide on the appointment/continuance of a creditors’ committee; as well as matters concerning Articles 66, 100, 149, 157, 160, 162, 233-271 of the Insolvency Regulations.

a session of examination is scheduled for

Wednesday, February 28th 2007 at 10:00 in courtroom152/I

both sessions at Amtsgericht Nürnberg, Flaschenhofstrasse 35

Creditors whose claims are verified, will receive no notice.

Nürnberg, December 1st 2006

Administrative Court Nürnberg
-Insolvency court -


There are also two official announcement on the LGB Website the first one is certainly a matter of much “positive thinking” the second one is much closer to what the “background information” indicates.

But putting a happy face on things is nothing new from that department, remember everything was just “peachy” at the 125th celebration; this despite the wholesale flogging of anything that would convert to quick cash.

#2

And there is a queue of buyers .

But nobody likes to hear that , do they ?

#3

It has been on the “grape vine” and in the press for many weeks that there are plenty of interested parties.

First in line in most reports is Kingsbridge Capital - the investment company who rescued Märklin. Also in the press was a quote from the new Märklin CEO that regardless if Kingsbridge/Märklin will be the winning bidder, that they have firm plans to enter the garden railway market.

Following the press reports regarding Märklin - new brooms work efficiently! - and from what circulates on the “grape vine” I’d say Kingsbridge would be a good fit.
My guess: first priority would be a rigorous tightening of the product line and a complete rethinking of the marketing.
If Märklin is any indication - would you believe they are running fullsize Billboard ads in different cities and towns complete with the name and address of the local Märklin dealer(s); the German model railroaders were rubbing their eyes in disbelief! - there would be a concentrated effort to address both the toy and the model fraternity.

Quite possibly one would have a very hard look at the many “licensed” products (Coke, Disney etc. etc.), one would also put a stop to the “me too” syndrome and instead coordinate who would produce what in order to avoid the duplication.

Could that have been done before? Certainly, just not with the mindset that was prevalent at Saganer Strasse in the recent past.

It will be very interesting to see what 2007 has in store.

BTW some of the LGB items which have been flying off the shelves in Germany are in short supply due to (reasons mentioned by LGB staff at different shows):

will be dropped from the product line

can not be pad-printed in house and outside provider has a delivery bottleneck

Hmmmmmmmmmm perhaps there are a few peripheral problems???

BTW#2 Märklin now markets the former “MAXI” line (45mm track gauge) simply as “Spur 1”, similarly the former “MiniClub” is now “Spur Z”.

“Suitable for G” anyone??? :wink: :smiley: :smiley:

#4

Hmmmmmmmm

Going on what I read on the fora in Germany and here in NA, it would appear the die-hard LGB Fans are still in deepest denial.

Perhaps they just haven’t followed events in the model railroad industry for the past two or three decades; perhaps they can’t read the signs even when they’re clearly visible - myopic LGB vision with blinders to prevent looking left or right; perhaps they read only from “the book of true LGB”!

Of course some people are strictly “consumers” - lots in that category - who hardly give a second thought to how goods are designed, produced and marketed.

Anyway here are a few names from the last 30 years to jog the reluctant memories - yeah, I know we’re all getting older - and as a reminder of “Where are they now?” (or who owns them now!).

NA: Athearn, Cal Scale, Delton, Inter Mountain, Lionel, Mantua, MDC, Roundhouse, Stewart, REA…

Europe: Arnold, FAMA, Jouef, Lima, Liliput (Austria), Märklin, PIKO, Rivarossi, ROCO, Trix…

The list is far from complete, but perhaps it jogs some gray matter in certain places. :wink: :slight_smile:

What was the most common factor that lead to major changes at the large companies? Mindset of management e.g. we can cover all of the market, we are by far the best, we know exactly what we’re doing, we don’t have to change anything.

Does that ring a bell???

#5

Yesterday , I purchased items made by the failed Mantua company , and then splashed out on some ROCO stuff as well . All made in 2006 .

I topped off those buys with some new LGB and ordered a forthcoming LGB item .

Wishing won’t make it go away , you know .

#6

Penn Line, Globe, Varney, John A. English, Lobaugh, ScaleCraft, Westbrook, Mi-Loco, Pearce, Heinz, General Models, Kemtron, Thomas, the list is possibly endless.

On a side note, I finished the restoration to operation of my Uncle’s John A. English Pennsy Yardbird.

I have his Varney (1947?) F-3 ready to paint, got the new spring drive belt.

Also his original die-cast Varney Docksider all ready for paint.

We got a used Mantua Type Two 2-8-2 in oh, 57 or 58, and it was pretty rode hard when we got it.
Ran one set of rods and crankpins off it, replaced them, and now I have it all ready for paint (worm is worn, but works), parts ordered for the worm.

Penn Line mini-dismal all done.

This outfit in Missouri has the parts. Go figure.
The die-cast cab for the Mantua Mike is a bit twisted.

Many years of use and moves. I straightened it a bunch, could do more, but he has them…

On the “0” front, Babbit ended up with the Varney line, Loco Workshop has General Models.

When we needed stuff, often we could order by part number off the original instruction sheets and get it.

Have a General Models Mountain some yay-who put together with a hammer and painted the whole thing with a big brush…and threw all them detail parts out.

To do it as-built, we ordered out all the “bits”…

#7
Mike Morgan said:
Yeterday , I purchased items made by the failed Mantua company , and then splashed out on some ROCO stuff as well . All made in 2006 .

I topped off those buys with some new LGB and ordered a forthcoming LGB item .

Wishing won’t make it go away , you know .


Mike,

Those who can read have a clear advantage

Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
Anyway here are a few names from the last 30 years to jog the reluctant memories - yeah, I know we're all getting older - and as a reminder of "Where are they now?" (or who owns them now!).
Putting your spin on my statement doesn't change an iota!

Here’s looking forward to what 2007 brings, lots of good stuff from the various manufacturers as well as new owners and management at LGB.

#8

And in the country of the blind , the one eyed man is king .

#9

Hi all,

Latest from Nürnberg http://www.lgb.de/english/scrapbook/scrapbook.htm

This will be very interesting!

#10

Well thats settled finally, now lets see what happens in the coming months…the possibilites:

The GOOD, if the new owner comes from a background of both scale models and real life railroads, methinks we may finally get new products that are more scale accurate, and less goofy fantasy products.

The BAD, being from a European railroad background, maybe less or no more new US profile models.

The UGLY, el cheapo quality MIC sets being hawked at Walmart? (a longshot but thats what happened to Schwinn bicycles, the former LGB of the bike world)

Time marches on…

#11

Actually, Vic, as for the US profile models, I think we will see more because LGBoA is now owned by US interests and they will finance the models to be built by LGB.

#12
Victor Smith said:
Well thats settled finally, now lets see what happens in the coming months...the possibilites:

The GOOD, if the new owner comes from a background of both scale models and real life railroads, methinks we may finally get new products that are more scale accurate, and less goofy fantasy products.

The BAD, being from a European railroad background, maybe less or no more new US profile models.

The UGLY, el cheapo quality MIC sets being hawked at Walmart? (a longshot but thats what happened to Schwinn bicycles, the former LGB of the bike world)

Time marches on…


Vic,

Aaaah, but if you google “Hermann Schöntag” there are many interesting tidbits which don’t show up in press releases.
Just don’t ask me how well Google will translate them, but in German they are “interesting”.

#13

Oh, good grief!

Sigh.

#14
Steve Featherkile said:
Oh, good grief!

Sigh.


Steve,

I fully agree, let them do their own reading. :wink: :slight_smile: :open_mouth: I’ll get back to hunting RhB LGB supplies on eBay. :wink:

#15

HJ,
I was complaining that my college German had failed me. Haven’t used it since the last final exam some (deleted) years ago. I guess I can’t expect too much.

#16
Steve Featherkile said:
HJ, I was complaining that my college German had failed me. Haven't used it since the last final exam some (deleted) years ago. I guess I can't expect too much.
Steve,

No problem!
I guess it’s “use it or lose it” to a certain extent, even though I’m a bit puzzled on that score. :wink:

#17

I know I’ve lost it…42 years now…:frowning:

Oh, and Steve, don’t feel too bad. German is Jens Bang’s native language…and now he doesn’t remember any of it…:frowning: :frowning: