Large Scale Central

Will the real Märklin please stand up!

General Discussion
#21

Or maybe they were just saying hi?

Could be after years in the business they just stoped in to say hay and see what is going on in the world of toy trains.

I see it like this. If they go under they go under and I can’t get parts to get my stuff fixed. I then sell it or send it off to someone on this site to bash fix it for me. If they pull out of it then great they make a lot of stuff I can’t afford new so I wait for it to show up on ebay and hope for the best.

See how easy it is. Now smile and play nice. :smiley:

#22

Pluta’s view:

“One clearly sees the disadvantages of globalization”, says Pluta. Forms, designs, rights are distributed “in the world”. The investor sits in the USA, the subcontractor in China, a manufacturing plant in Hungary and in Göppingen the “actual family” of the Märklin enthusiasts dreams.”

Maybe he wishes for the “good ole days”?

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

#23
John Joseph Sauer said:
.........

Perhaps Märklin was looking for someone to show them how to use that LGB tooling correctly! ;););):):):):):slight_smile:

Amazing how you take press releases as the pure truth when it suites your purpose.


There you go, no value judgments from me on the press releases or the Richter Boys’ visit to the NTF. :smiley: :wink: :smiley: Mind you on the latter there was a “little birdie” telling me a bit more.

You’re still in that spot where sometimes you can read, but you seldom comprehend. :stuck_out_tongue: :wink:

#24
Jack Barton said:
Pluta's view:

“One clearly sees the disadvantages of globalization”, says Pluta. Forms, designs, rights are distributed “in the world”. The investor sits in the USA, the subcontractor in China, a manufacturing plant in Hungary and in Göppingen the “actual family” of the Märklin enthusiasts dreams.”

Maybe he wishes for the “good ole days”?

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …


Yeah well, there are line-ups of more or less prominent journalists who all of a sudden remember “the good old days” when they had a Märklin set and and and …! (full disclosure: I never had a Märklin set!).

Oh BTW Pluta forgot to mention the Adler Toy segment in Luxembourg, that’s where all the money is being saved! :slight_smile: :wink:

#25

Geoff,
the actual circumstances of the current economic crisis are as bad as in 1929. The difference is that governments, these days, supposedly know how to avoid the traps that resulted in the depression of 1929 onwards. It really took up until WW2 to drag most countries out of their global recession. The secret these days is to spend, spend, spend to buy our way out. Funny how I thought that it was spending that got us into the problem in the beginning.

     Marklin and Lehmann found out the hard way,  that you cannot spend more money than you actually have,  without exposing yourself to a downturn in the economy.
#26

I remember my 8th grade Social Sciences teacher saying that we now have laws and institutions in place to prevent another “Great Depression.” Perhaps she was wrong? Or, more likely, someone decided that we didn’t need those draconian brakes on greed anymore.

Sigh.

Line them all up against the wall and hose them down. Let G_d sort them out.

#27
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
John Joseph Sauer said:
.........

Perhaps Märklin was looking for someone to show them how to use that LGB tooling correctly! ;););):):):):):slight_smile:

Amazing how you take press releases as the pure truth when it suites your purpose.


There you go, no value judgments from me on the press releases or the Richter Boys’ visit to the NTF. :smiley: :wink: :smiley: Mind you on the latter there was a “little birdie” telling me a bit more.

You’re still in that spot where sometimes you can read, but you seldom comprehend. :stuck_out_tongue: :wink:


Mr. innocent… you crack me up…

I guess innuendo, insinuation, allusion, etc… don’t count in your book.
Do “Little birdies” count as credible sources of information? ;);):):):););):wink:

#28
John Joseph Sauer said:
...................

Do “Little birdies” count as credible sources of information? ;);):):):););):wink:


Of course they do, provided they have credibility. :slight_smile: BTW on that count you’re always out.

#29

People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones!

#30
Tim Brien said:
Geoff, the actual circumstances of the current economic crisis are as bad as in 1929. The difference is that governments, these days, supposedly know how to avoid the traps that resulted in the depression of 1929 onwards. It really took up until WW2 to drag most countries out of their global recession. The secret these days is to spend, spend, spend to buy our way out. Funny how I thought that it was spending that got us into the problem in the beginning. 
     Marklin and Lehmann found out the hard way,  that you cannot spend more money than you actually have,  without exposing yourself to a downturn in the economy.</blockquote>

NO Sir Tim

Oct 24th 1929 market falls 9%
Oct 28th 1929 market falls 13%
Oct 29th 1929 market falls 12%

Thats a 34% loss (give or take a % or 2) and we have not seen that. That is assuming that we use Oct. 2008 as a start point.

bottom is hit in July 1932 with the market down 90% from its highs in the 29

So, make the adjustments with the % and the market has not fallen to these levals and with luck they will not.

Now the only way to get to those numbers is to back up to the dot com highs but we had a fall then a uptrun so we can’t use those highs.

#31

Geoff,
certainly the percentage loss was greater in the Depression, but the conditions that existed then to cause the depression are as bad as those of today. I am not looking at stock price losses, as in reality, in a boom market there is little relevance between the stock price and reality. A recession shows the true value of stock as it takes speculators out of the market. As previously stated, “the actual circumstances of the current economic crisis are as bad as in 1929.” I am talking of the circumstances causing the loss, not the actual percentage drop.

#32

Tim,

No where near as bad as '29, has a long way to go… Not saying we will not get there…

#33
Tim Brien said:
Geoff, certainly the percentage loss was greater in the Depression, but the conditions that existed then to cause the depression are as bad as those of today. I am not looking at stock price losses, as in reality, in a boom market there is little relevance between the stock price and reality. A recession shows the true value of stock as it takes speculators out of the market. As previously stated, "the actual circumstances of the current economic crisis are as bad as in 1929." I am talking of the circumstances causing the loss, not the actual percentage drop.
Tim I responded to your post were you did not say the circumstances.

here is your post

Steve,
good try. I do not blame W., personally. His government did allow a situation to develop on his watch. A few cheap home loans to those who could not afford the repayments resulted in a depression, exceeding the infamous 1929 stock market collapse on Wall St. Unfortunately, this time around there were no bankers jumping out of the Empire State building.

Last edited by Tim Brien (Yesterday 04:47:08 MST)

that is what I responded to. So I stand by my No its not as bad as 29.

I do agree that there was a period of growth in the 20’s and that lead people to invest and think the good times would go on for ever. As we now know or should have know that is not the case. In the 90’s we had a period of growth with the Dot coms, that went bust then we had the housing market and it now went bust. In the free market I do not think you can govern the market it will always have things like this. The best you can do is try and be ready and know how to invest.

It was a long time coming and it wil take some time to get out of. the answer is not a bailout with tax money. I belive the bankers and people like J.P.Morgan and others tried that in 29 and it did not work then.

So, I don’t feel we should repete it again.

#34

A snippet from the Märklin insolvency front

According to “ferpress - Internationale Eisenbahn-Presse-Vereinigung”

ferpress said:
Nach Ungarn sollen rechtzeitig vor dem Insolvenzantrag noch für die dortige Produktion notwendige Maschinen gebracht worden sein. Mehrere Ungarinnen wurden Ende Januar dafür in Göppingen noch angelernt. Gleiches war bereits in noch viel größerem Umfang im letzten Jahr zu beobachten.
In essence: Prior to the insolvency application Märklin apparently moved several pieces of equipment to Hungary. Hungarian personnel spent time at Göppingen toward the end of January, receiving instruction on the equipment. The same but in a considerably larger manner could be observed last year.
#35

HJ,
are you inferring the infamous location of tooling episode from 2006? Or maybe a handshake LGBoA acquisition? Or maybe container loads of free goodies? Going on ‘legal’ statements made in the infamous 2006 discussion, divesting of assets is counter to German insolvency laws.

#36

Curiouser and curiouser!!!

#37

Well, we have departed Western Washington.
Several times I have been able to use internet connections other than the home connection.
I was certainly amazed, while discussing various topics with several, just how convoluted this whole mess is.
And how uttery clueless several seem to be.

I personally wonder exactly what outcome these “Ventilators” (I think that is the term) want.

Obviously, the prior managment screwed the pooch.
Yet all these “Ventilators” seem to want to do is cut down the new management.
I spent far too much time researching the past postings.
I shall continue watching as time permits, but it does seem to be a huge waste of time.

#38

The paraphrasing and sentence construction are very familar. It is like old friends at a reunion, only one has had his name changed by deed poll.

All very much deja vue. Did we not have this discussion back in 2006???

No doubt the ‘boys’ were at the Marklin stand giving out free advice as to how the company can work through the situation.

#39
Tim Brien said:
HJ, are you inferring the infamous location of tooling episode from 2006? Or maybe a handshake LGBoA acquisition? Or maybe container loads of free goodies? Going on 'legal' statements made in the infamous 2006 discussion, divesting of assets is counter to German insolvency laws.
Nothing that sinister, looks like they are making sure that production keeps rolling. A discussion regarding their annual report brought up the question "why would there be such an increase in xxxx items". Well, that expansion of the Györ facility, while not as expensive as Germany, would cost a tidy sum. ;) :) ;)
#40

HJ,
another site (forum) has prices increased more than the anticipated 20% and this is on items that have not even gone into production. By the time deliver is upon us we will come to terms with the Marklin brandnames pricing policy.