Large Scale Central

This just in: Silvergate and Märklin settle

General Discussion
#21

Ralph Berg said:

Tim Brien said:
Now the question is who will distribute the product and considering the current prices on the mostly Chinese made Euro prototype items in the black marketplace, who can actually afford to purchase the product?

I would guess Walthers will be distributing in the US and it will be expensive. Just look at Walthers HO Marklin prices for a preview of what is coming. Ralph

Thats the way I see it too, remember way back when all this began and we were speculating about Marklin/LGBs future in the US and Criswell predicted that Marklin come LGB would end up a high priced, hard to find beautique brand? Criswell still sees this …

(http://www.criswellpredicts.com/images/book2.jpg)

#22
John Joseph Sauer said:
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
John Joseph Sauer said:
So in other words now everyone can p_ss and moan to Märklin about parts, repairs, a website database, etc...... and Silvergate can get on with distributing PIKO.
And everyone lived happily ever after, right? :P :) :P Did you order your PIKO starter set yet? :D
Yep! And my Tarp car, Railbus and Gondola as well! And now you can start ordering your Märklin/LGB products!
In case you haven't noticed yet, I'm a patient man :). I can easily wait for the "R" cars, in the meantime they do test service on TrainOps. Other than that, welllllll I guess I heard "Those are the last ones" so many times when ordering from RRS that my roster is up to scratch as far as LGB RhB stuff is concerned. :lol: ;) :lol:
#23
Victor Smith said:
they apparently [i]did[/i] get everything.
But not without additional cost!! Is that the same as "getting it" the first time around?
#24
Jack Barton said:
Victor Smith said:
in court,
Märklin is in court. They are being sued by a past Lehmann employee. Looks like it might turn into a class action.

http://www.nn-online.de/artikel.asp?art=899631&kat=5&man=3

Victor Smith said:
Marklin got everything, including the proverbial kitchen sink.
funny, in court they are claiming they didn't get everything, since they didn't compensate the employees on their way out the door in March 2008.
Interesting, very interesting. I guess [b]if[/b] she wins, they could offer Anna Müller (no relation :P ) a job in Göppingen or Györ. :) BTW last year I read about Wolfgang Richter saying goodbye to the LGB employees when Schöntag's LGB went bust. (Not a sign of his son or nephew on that occasion!)

However since the Richter cousins were also working for Schöntag this could get to be more than just interesting. :lol: :lol:

#25
Tim Brien said:
Jack, past employees problems lay with Schontag, as he purchased a 'going concern'. As Marklin purchased tooling and trademarks then hardly any legal requirement to satisfy past employees' claims. If anyone has a moral obligation then look to your buddies. Strange how since 2007 they have fallen off the face of the earth and left the ringmaster and his clowns to clean up the mess. I believed that it was only LGBoA's bid that guaranteed employment and continued production in Nurnberg. Even the ringmaster has abandoned ship and gotten on with his life. Maybe time the clowns followed their master's example.
Or the clowns could attempt to also sue Märklin. For such things as depriving them of their happiness and enjoyment. :D Leaving their Kollektor errrrr I mean collective future in limbo by not producing oodles of reprints etc. etc. etc., leaving them out on a limb since they couldn't possibly source anything other than OEM packaged in Red Boxes. ;) :) ;)
#26

Jack Barton said:

Victor Smith said:
they apparently did get everything.

But not without additional cost!! Is that the same as “getting it” the first time around?

Jack, As the old saying goes: You can spend most of your money on lawyers or you can spend the same money on tangibles! :slight_smile: :wink: :slight_smile: BTW do you get a negotiating bonus?

(http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/teufel/devil-smiley-023.gif)

#27

Jack,
Marklin did not take on all the ex-Lehmann employees, as did Schontag, but only a few select workers to assemble parts on hand. I hardly see how a ‘class action’ is possible.

#28
Tim Brien said:
Jack, Marklin did not take on all the ex-Lehmann employees, as did Schontag, but only a few select workers to assemble parts on hand. I hardly see how a 'class action' is possible.
Tim,

I am far from a German labor expert. I’m simply reading from the article. I’m assuming you read it also. I was referring to this quote:
“It is at least conceivable that also further former LGB coworkers, … can … submit complaint.” There are a ton of other “ifs” in the article. I can only guess if this woman is one of those “select” workers.

#29
Tim Brien said:
Jack, Marklin did not take on all the ex-Lehmann employees, as did Schontag, but only a few select workers to assemble parts on hand. I hardly see how a 'class action' is possible.
Tim,

Jack still has “dreams”. Accepting the “down the tubes” fact of EPL Patentwerk oHG takes getting used to and time to sink in. :wink: :open_mouth: Throwing out yet one more red herring - about a “class action” suit - is just part of the “getting used to”. If you consider that it was going to be a long time - didn’t they say 2012? - before Märklin would get access to the NA market, welllllllll how time flies. :wink: :slight_smile:

PS having a little diversion to detract from the real News is just part of everyday life in Tennessee.

#30
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
If you consider that it was going to be a long time - didn't they say 2012? - before Märklin would get access to the NA market, welllllllll [b]how time flies.[/b] ;) :)
Are you saying that you predicted that Märklin would [b]BUY[/b] their way back into the N.A. market? I was under the understanding that you were among those stating that Märklin "has all the rights" and implied that the situation would "end up in court". If I were you, I would try to deflect the memories of those misguided opinions also.

BTW the published negotiations were between the current owner of G45/LGBoA and Märklin. Silvergate was not a party as the article indicates.

I also recall that there is new leadership at Märklin, Dietz is gone. (Third time is charm?) I would guess that we might see several changes to decisions that have been made previously.

#31
Jack Barton said:
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
If you consider that it was going to be a long time - didn't they say 2012? - before Märklin would get access to the NA market, welllllllll [b]how time flies.[/b] ;) :)
Are you saying that you predicted that Märklin would [b]BUY[/b] their way back into the N.A. market? I was under the understanding that you were among those stating that Märklin "has all the rights" and implied that the situation would "end up in court". If I were you, I would try to deflect the memories of those misguided opinions also.

BTW the published negotiations were between the current owner of G45/LGBoA and Märklin. Silvergate was not a party as the article indicates.

I also recall that there is new leadership at Märklin, Dietz is gone. (Third time is charm?) I would guess that we might see several changes to decisions that have been made previously.


Jack,

Predicting is much more your method , the “Just wait until next week!” mantra springs to mind. Your understanding was incorrect, I figured Märklin had all the time to wait and get the rest of their LGB market in shape. As I wrote in another post in this thread

HJ said:
You can spend most of your money on lawyers or you can spend the same money on tangibles!

.

Just think back to the grand announcements by Phoney Tony about all the exclusive rights that LGBoA was holding - all of them, every last one except for Germany - it certainly looks like time has proven the exact opposite, with only “minor matters” remaining with the remnants of LGBoA. But I guess that is as hard to swallow as the demise of EPL Patentwerk oHG.

As your sidekick Marvin wrote it is now up to Märklin to serve the NA market, distribution, service and all.

BTW keep on predicting and prognosticating, your batting average is not quite at the bottom, yet. :smiley:

#32

Diffuse all you wish! Show me the money.

G45/LGBoA got the money. Plus all claims by Märklin are ended. Last week!

#33
Jack Barton said:
Diffuse all you wish! Show me the money.

G45/LGBoA got the money. Plus all claims by Märklin are ended. Last week!


Sooooooooo, didn’t Märklin also have to pay off the Chinese OEM on the outstanding balance that EPL/LGBoA left behind. To refresh your memory perhaps you could re-read the announcement regarding the spin-off of LGBoa (lots of spin in that one) along with the English and German language announcements of the insolveny by EPL and LGBoA. :lol: :lol:

#34

Give it up! Who’s really living in the past here? It’s over! It’s time for you to move on.

Be sure and let us know when you shell out for the new Märklin “R” wagon. I have a hunch it will cost more than the hand made metal Scheba “R” wagons I have. Never thought that they would seem to be a good deal.

#35

Always get a kick out of these LGB rambles, some people really get wound up. I don’t care, have no LGB stuff, nor plan to ever get any, but have fun with these posts.

#36
Jack Barton said:
Give it up! Who's really living in the past here? It's over! It's time for you to move on.

Be sure and let us know when you shell out for the new Märklin “R” wagon. I have a hunch it will cost more than the hand made metal Scheba “R” wagons I have. Never thought that they would seem to be a good deal.


More prognostications? :wink:

Price?
Who knows, one either buys them or builds one’s own. Has all been down before. :wink: One could even design a kit for that, that has been done before, too. There are always people who don’t mind building their own stuff, from old proto to brand new proto.

#37
Jerry Barnes said:
Always get a kick out of these LGB rambles, some people really get wound up. I don't care, have no LGB stuff, nor plan to ever get any, but have fun with these posts.
Hey Jerry,

Jack has to maintain his “Ventilator” reputation in one way or the other. All other things being equal, you gotta admire the fine “Ventilator” job he’s doing. :wink: :slight_smile: If he’d ever get to read some of Bert’s Newletter missives he would go completely apoplectic. :open_mouth:

#38

Interestingly enough the announcement only says an agreement. Nothing about money! Normally, when a company buys something, they use the word purchase. So unless the “intangible asset” shows up in Marklin’s next set of financial statements, we’ll never know. September 2006 to October 2008 - 2 years and 2 months - how time flies. What are Jack, Marvin and HJ going to argue over next - that’s what I want to know.
Les

#39

Les,

Are you kidding. :wink: :smiley: I’ve been busy all summer working on the layout, I’ll be busy all winter working on my gazillion projects.

But I’m looking forward to the reviews of the PIKO stuff, that should be entertaining.

And right now I’m getting back to the operations software surprise party … and in this case I’m not referring to TrainOps.

#40

In other words he has a new “target” in mind…